This incredible steamed mussels recipe is my favorite way to cook mussels! We cook them in a flavorful broth made with white wine and garlic. It is easy, quick, and delicious.
I love making steamed mussels in white wine at home. I prefer the mussels I’ve made at home to those I’ve ordered at restaurants. As the mussels steam, the broth gets trapped inside the shells.
It’s divine, plus the leftover broth is fantastic for soaking up with a good loaf of bread.
Key Ingredients
- Mussels: I use fresh mussels in this recipe. Buy them from a trusted seafood counter. The nice thing about mussels is their price. Even at a gourmet or pricy store, they cost $7 to $8 a pound. Cleaning and storing tips for mussels are below.
- White wine and broth: Mussels and white wine are a classic combination. Use a dry white wine like Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, or unoaked chardonnay. In addition to the white wine, we add a splash of broth. I use chicken broth, but vegetable or seafood stock works, too.
- Shallot and garlic: We want lots of cooked shallot and garlic. As the mussels cook, the shallot and garlic fall into the shells.
- Cream: It is optional, but I always add a splash. It mellows out the broth and makes it more luxurious.
How to Prepare Mussels for Cooking
Remember that mussels are alive when you buy them. When stored properly, live mussels will last 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator (sometimes longer). Do not store live mussels in water. When you get home from the store, remove them from any ice and airtight bags (the mesh bags are okay). Store the mussels in a colander set over a large bowl. Cover the colander with damp dish towels. Check on the mussels daily (or more often, if possible). Do not let the mussels sit in water, and keep the dishtowel damp so they do not dry out.
Look through your mussels. If you find any cracked or chipped shells, discard them. If any mussels are open, give them a quick tap on the counter and watch if they close again. If they do not close, discard them.
I remove the beard. Most mussels have a beard (the fibers that emerge from the shell). It’s not great to eat, so I remove it. To debeard mussels, hold a mussel in one hand using a dry towel. Then, pull the beard out and away from the mussel with your other hand. Sometimes, removing it can be tricky, but with a good wiggle, it will eventually come out.
Clean your mussels before you cook them. Use a firm brush to remove extra sand and the odd barnacle. Then, rinse the cleaned mussels under cold water.
How to Steam Mussels
This steamed mussels recipe is easy and quick to prepare. Start by cooking shallots and garlic in butter, then add white wine and a bit of broth. Stir in the mussels, cover the pot, and let them steam.
You know the mussels are cooked when most of the shells are open. It takes 6 to 10 minutes. If you notice any that have not opened, discard them. To finish, I take the pot off the heat, then stir in a splash of cream and parsley, and squeeze over a little fresh lemon juice. So easy and so delicious.
Make sure that you have some crusty bread to soak up all the wonderful white wine broth.
Perfect Steamed Mussels
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Shallots, garlic, and white wine make the perfect broth for steamed mussels. Serve the mussels in a big bowl with bread on the side so you can sop up all that delicious broth. The article above has tips on storing live mussels and cleaning them.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
2 pounds mussels, cleaned
1 tablespoon butter
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup (236ml) low-sodium chicken stock
½ cup (118ml) dry white wine
Splash heavy cream
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Lemon wedges, for serving
1 baguette, warmed for serving
Directions
1Melt butter in a large pot with a lid over medium heat. When the butter begins to bubble, stir in the shallot and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2Add the chicken stock, white wine, and mussels, then give them a good toss. Cover the pot with its lid and cook until the mussels have opened 6 to 10 minutes. If any mussels do not open, discard them.
3Remove the pot from the heat, then stir in the cream and parsley. Taste the broth, and then adjust to taste with salt, pepper, or more cream.
4Serve in big bowls with lemon wedges and plenty of warmed bread to sop up the broth.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
This recipe was quick, easy and absolutely gorgeous. I’m now looking for a use for the leftover broth.
We are so happy enjoyed the recipe! We usually end of using the extra broth by serving the mussels with bread so we can soak up the broth. Yum! 🙂
My son loves mussels.. so we purchased about 4 lbs of them at the local seafood market (so we all could share). I was looking for a recipe that used chicken broth as well as white wine and came across your recipe. I doubled the recipe as it was written for 2 lbs of mussels. I kept the ingredients similar except for substituting onion for shallots and adding extra butter and some lemon juice to the broth. We all agreed that the mussels and broth came out great and the broth was rich and savory. After we finished we had a foody discussion about whether or not to add the heavy cream next time. We came to a concensus that next time we’ll try the same great recipe just skipping the cream to see how comes out.
It was GREAT! Poured it over bucatini
Great idea! Yum!
This was simply divine. Served it with garlic bread to enjoy the broth. My new go to mussel recipe!
You have made our day with this review 🙂
This recipe is simple perfect 10. I combined mussels & manila clams it turned out perfect
Amazing recipe. I use it all the time. My family loves it.
Amazing! The broth flavor is out of this world – thanks for sharing!
Oh HELL yes!!!! Amazing recipe! VERY simple and quite delicious!!! Thanks
Wow this recipe was amazing.,it,was delicious . Thank you so much for sharing it
Wow this recipe was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing it
I came into possession of three pounds of mussels, and needed a recipe quick! This suited the bill. I took a few liberties with the recipe as written, but think I adhered to its spirit: I added salt and pepper to the broth rather than at the end – I figured I wanted them to more fully flavor the broth, rather than be an add-on at serving time. I also added some lemon juice to the broth for the same reason. I brought the broth to a boil before adding the mussels, figuring that that was slightly more merciful to the mussels than the slow boil. All my mussels opened up, so that is something I’d recommend. Oh, and I added some crushed pepper flakes for heat!
Very easy recipe with amazing results! Instant classic
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it. We love making this one. One of our favorites!
I have been making this twice a week for several months. It’s extremely easy to fix. I serve a salad and hot bread with it. My family lives this recipe!!
I made this receipe for myself on mothers’s day. Delicious thanks
This was one of the best recipes I’ve ever made for mussels! It was super easy to prepare and just absolutely delightful to eat. I did slice a whole lemon and added it to the cooking process and it added a nice right flavor to the sauce. I didn’t have any white wine on hand, but I subbed with white cooking wine, and it was perfectly fine.
Hello, this recipe looks like it will be delicious! If I want more of the broth for dipping, can I double the recipe without doubling the amount of mussels? Thank you.
Absolutely.
Thank you! This was super easy to do and delicious!
The muscle recipe sounds delicious. I’m gonna make it tonight. I’ll be back with my review.
Simply simple and delicious. I’ve done this twice already and it’s a hit.
Excellent recipe. Quick easy, delicious. I didn’t warm the bread, btw…Thanks!
This is the best mussels recipe I have ever had ! Perfect!
Quick and easy and pretty tasty. Must have crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Will make again for a quick meal.
Absolutely amazing and easy!!! It was my first time making mussels and you wouldn’t even know, it tasted like it came from a restaurant.Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Perfectly perfect. My first try and I just loved the flavours. Nice bottle of white sauvgnion…….perfect. Thank you so much. It was just the receipe I was looking for.
One word – ridiculous. Ridiculously delicious and easy to make. The cream sauce and mussels over pasta was amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This was absolutely delicious! Super easy and will definitely be making it again 😊
This was absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this recipe again. I’m lactose intolerant so I didn’t include the cream and it still tasted fantastic.
Thanks for letting me know! I am dying to make this but didn’t want to use the cream.
Very easy and so good .Thank you.
Love your recipes!
I learn something new every time I read one of your recipes or emails. You’ve taken my culinary talents to a new level. THANKS! and Bon Appetit
So I cooked this recipe, and it was delicious! It was my first time eating mussels. However, one of the mussels opened completely and had a huge “foot” hanging out of it! It looked a bit…. Yucky. Would it still be ok to eat? Does this happen often? Thanks!
So delicious and easy to make! FYI: As I was soaking them, I made sure to remove any dead mussels (cracked or open shelled mussels that did not close with a gentle tap or pinch). I noticed that 20 min later, more than half my mussels that were previously alive ended up dying and opening their shell (and I was unable to make them close after a gentle tap or pinch). I read online that soaking them in tap water causes the mussels to die. They said that rinsing them under running water is okay and still allows the mussels to clean themselves by expelling stuff. Feel free to read up on this yourself to confirm. I’m so glad I googled it, because otherwise I would have ended up throwing most of my mussels out! Delicious and easy to follow recipe! Will try adding thyme next time as another reviewer has mentioned. Simply delicious and better than other recipes I’ve had!
Hi Sirena, We are thrilled you enjoyed the recipe. We’ve amended our mussels cleaning tips after your comment about soaking them in water. This is something we picked up years ago, but you are correct, soaking them in water before cooking is no longer recommended. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
I Like the comment “ don’t soak them in water”. They are used to salt water. Good advice.
After reading all the review, i need to try this recipe. I’m making it tonight for my husband and my sister and brother in law. I will let you know how everyone liked it.
Wow! We love mussels and I have always been afraid to make them. This is a great easy DELICIOUS recipe that anyone can make. Thank you also for all of the tips about how to prepare the mussels. My husband and I both loved them ?
Omg! Amazing.. Better than many restaurant..
As an alternative I use Tomato juice from our fresh tomatoes a hint of chilli and after fine straining the juice from the mussels put together with coconut milk. With your ingredients.
I made this for dinner on New Year’s eve, and it was absolutley delicious. It was the 1st time I’ve ever cooked mussels, so it was a little daunting. For anyone else making these for the 1st time, DON’T throw away all the opened mussels. They open up to breathe, so pinch them closed between your thumb and index finger a few times and you’ll see them pull completely closed if they’re still alive. Also, some that are cracked are also still alive, so no need to waste them. Thank you for the recipe, I will be making these again.
Adam and Joanne, I have made mussels many times and ways, but your recipe is absolutely the best ever. I made it last night for friends and became an instant hero. Just delicious! Thanks so much for sharing it.