Savory Steamed Mussels in White Wine Broth Recipe
Steamed mussels in white wine broth are so easy to make at home and absolutely delicious when you combine white wine with butter, garlic, onions, cajun seasoning, and fresh herbs to create a delicate broth for the mussels to open up and take on the flavors of the broth.
No need to wait until you are at a French restaurant to enjoy mussels.
Be sure to take advantage of the hot sale on Next Wave mussels at Safeway and prepare these at home. While the Next Wave Mussels are already in a sauce, I like to make more sauce to enjoy the broth with a chunk of fresh-baked bread from the Safeway bakery. I love the Kalamata Olive bread and the rosemary bread – it’s the perfect vessel for sopping up the extra broth!
How to Make Steamed Mussels
- Purchasing Mussels: The most important thing to do is make sure you are purchasing live mussels. To check, lightly tap the open mussels with your fingers to see if they close. Some will already be closed and are alive, so do not discard. The mussels should have a light ocean fragrance and not a strong fish-like smell. Make sure to discard any with broken shells.
- Storing Mussels: Once purchased immediately take them out of the plastic bag and store the mussels loosely in a bowl over ice. Cover with a damp paper towel or cloth. Drain any expelled liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Do not soak mussels in water or clean them until ready to cook.
- Cleaning Mussels: You do not need to soak the mussels before cooking, the freshwater can kill them. Instead, right before cooking clean them by running under cold water. Scrub the shells with a brush if you have one, or use your fingertips to remove any excess dirt. You may notice a fibrous brown string coming out from the side, this is the beard (byssal thread) of mussels and is inedible. Remove the beard by pulling it towards the hinge and outwards of the shell. Some mussels will already come debearded. Note that once the beard is removed, the shellfish will only be alive for a short period so you should cook it right away.
- Cooking Mussels: Steaming mussels is a delicious and fast way to cook shellfish using a moist heat cooking method. Using a large pot with a lid, you can first build the aromatic flavors to infuse into the steam and broth. Add mussels, cover, and cook over medium-high heat. The liquid will turn into steam when the heat is above 100 °C (212 °F) in the covered pot. The mussels take about 6 minutes to cook, or until they open. You can check about 3 minutes into cooking, stirring to distribute the ingredients and then recover for a few more minutes. Once the mussels open they are ready to eat, do not overcook as they can become very tough. You can discard any unopened shells. The cooked mussels add a savory seafood flavor to the broth from the juices during steaming.
Watch a video below for how to clean mussels:
Savory White Wine Steamed Mussels
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs Butter
- 1 Tbs of Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves - finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of Red Onion - finely chopped
- 3 lbs of Fresh Live Mussels
- 3/4 cup of white wine
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbs of Cajun seasoning
- 1 Tbs of garlic powder
- 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 lemons – 1 cut into wedges and 1 squeezed
Instructions
- Agitate fresh mussels in a colander while rinsing under cold tap water. Set aside for a few minutes. Tap any mussels that are open and discard those that do not close.
- In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic and onions and sauté until onions become translucent.
- Add mussels, wine and the juice from one lemon. Cover pot, raise heat to medium/high and steam until shells open, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add additional spices and stir.
- Pour mussels and cooking liquid into a serving bowl, season with ground pepper and sea salt and garnish with parsley and lemon wedges. Serve Immediately.
Nutrition
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