Here’s a simple recipe for Portuguese Fish Stew (Caldeirada) that can be made with fish or shellfish in a fragrant yet simple, saffron broth, studded with potatoes. Rustic and light, this summer stew can be made in just 30 minutes! Serve with Rice or Crusty Bread! Video.
This rustic fish stew hails from Portugal, called Caldeirada, is light and flavorful and infused with saffron. Today I’ve used a mix of salmon and wild cod, but in the past, I’ve thrown in mussels and shrimp. It’s a nice way to use what you have. New potatoes give the soup a little body. Serve it on its own or with crusty bread to mop up the flavorful saffron broth.
The best part? This Portuguese fish Stew comes together in under 30 minutes! A delicious dinner in no time flat.
Portuguese Fish Stew | Video
It starts with sauteing the onion and garlic until golden and fragrant. Add the diced tomatoes and cook until they soften and begin losing their shape.
Add a generous pinch of saffron, crumbling it a little in your fingers.
Add the stock, bay leaves, salt, spices and potatoes. to keep this lower carb- feel free to sub cauliflower. Not traditional, but it works!
Bring the potatoes to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
Then add the fish and thyme.
The best firm fish for soups or stews:
You generally want to use firm white fish for most stews and soups, because they will hold their shape and not disintegrate in the liquid. Here are 10 the best fish (and seafood) to use in soups and stews.
- sea bass
- halibut
- black cod
- haddock
- escolar
- ono
- red snapper
- salmon
- scallops
- shrimp
Simmer gently until the fish is just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
Try not to stir too much, but rather gently ladle the saffron broth over top.
Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro, a squeeze of lemon, and if you like spice- some chili flakes.
Dish up the Portuguese Fish Stew and serve with crusty bread or rice if you want.
I hope you enjoy the stew!
More recipes you may like:
- Clam Chowder
- Pan Seared Branzino
- Balinese Fish Curry (Kari Ikan)
- Portuguese Peri Peri Chicken
- Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)
- Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth
- Simple Authentic Cioppino Recipe
- Simple Lobster Bisque
- Simple Salmon Chowder
- Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca!)
- Sinigang (Filipino Sour Soup)
xoxo
Portuguese Fish Stew (Caldeirada)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Fish, Stew
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Portuguese
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Here’s a simple recipe for Portuguese Fish Stew (aka Caldeirada) that can be made with fish or shellfish in a fragrant yet simple, saffron broth, studded with potatoes. Rustic and light, this summer stew can be made in just 30 minutes! Serve with Rice or Crusty Bread!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 4 cups chicken stock (or fish stock, or use half clam juice)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce ( skip if using fish stock/clam juice)
- large pinch saffron, crumbled
- 1/8 teaspoon ground clove (or allspice)- optional see notes
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh thyme (lemon thyme is nice)
- 1 lb potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes (yukon, baby red or white) thin skins ok -but peel russets. Or sub cauliflower for a lower carb version.
- ——-
- 1.5 lbs fish fillets- (boneless, skinless) wild cod, haddock, sea bass, salmon (or feel free to mix in or substitute shellfish- clams, mussels, shrimp, etc.) cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces.
Garnish: Lemon wedges, fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, Crusty Bread, chili flakes
Instructions
In a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic, stirring until softened, fragrant and golden, about 6 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices. Cook until tomatoes soften, about 4 minutes.
Add the white wine, and simmer until most has evaporated, about 2-3 minutes.
Add stock, fish sauce ( if using chicken broth), saffron, a pinch of ground clove or allspice, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, bay leaves and fresh thyme. Add potatoes and bring to boil. Cover and simmer on low heat until potatoes are fork-tender, about 15 minutes.
Add fish, bring to a simmer over medium heat, give a gentle stir ( don’t over stir or fish will break apart) and cook fish until it is just cooked through about 3-4 minutes. Turn heat off.
Taste broth. Adjust salt, adding more if necessary.
Garnish with fresh torn Italian parsley leaves, lemon wedges, chili flakes and crusty bread.
Notes
Traditional Portuguese Fish Stew varies from village to village and is typically made with the day’s catch, or the addition of shellfish, or a combo of two types of fish, one oily and one not. Some varieties include cured chorizo that has been browned which add depth and smokiness (it doesn’t take much).
Feel free to sub fish stock.
The pinch of cloves or allspice is optional – you’ll see these in some Caldeirada recipes but not all. If in doubt leave out. I really liked the allspice- up to you. 😉
Not all saffron is the same. Generally the darker the color, the more flavor. If you are craving the saffron flavor, keep in mind the smoked paprika will mute that somewhat.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 447
- Sugar: 6.7 g
- Sodium: 305.6 mg
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.2 g
- Fiber: 5.5 g
- Protein: 41.6 g
- Cholesterol: 86.7 mg
We just returned from Portugal. This dish was every bit as good as what we had there and certainly what we consider “restaurant quality “
We used fresh cod and served alongside yellow rice. We also added Garam that we purchased in Portugal which added a delicious depth of flavor along with some piri-piri sauce. Fresh thyme and parsley and a simple salad and it was amazing!
Thank you for the recipe, simple and delicious, definitely will make again!
So great to hear Robin!
There are no tomatoes in the ingredients list
In the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Tomatoes are the 4th ingredient listed. 🙂
Excellent just using scallops and shrimp. I used an heirloom tomato and an Italian Pino, though it seems a Portuguese wine would be a nice bit of authenticity. For the fun of it, I added a pinch of coriander. Be sparing with the fish sauce (if used) it can become overwhelming. I wonder how Tasso ham might work, too.
Thanks for sharing your process Lloyd! Glad you enjoyed!
This is fabulous! So easy and too die for! I am lucky and live nera the sea, I throw in whatever is in season and it never fails – weekday ease with party flavor
That sounds perfect, love that it is so versatile for you!
I had some nice fish, including black cod, tuna, and salmon in the freezer, so decided to try this recipe to feed an impromptu gathering of friends and family last night. I’m so glad I did. It came together very quickly (less than 40 minutes, including preparing the accompaniments) and was absolutely delicious. We served it with quinoa, crusty bread and a green salad with chive blossoms. This will definitely be on our roster of fast, festive meals fit for company.
Wonderful, love when it all comes together easily!
Similar to the Fish Moilee of Kerala
I’ll have to look that up!
Delicious flavors. 2 for 2 with dinner guests. Wanted a veggie so mixed in some bok choi and it worked like a charm.
Great to hear Rand!
This was so nice. We were looking for something light, healthy and delicious. This ticked all the boxes.
The broth had so much flavour. I just served it with a simple green salad. Trying to cut out bread. This is a keeper, thank you. 😊
Wonderful, happy you enjoyed!
This was delicious!
Excellent!
Delicious!
I used a can of fire roasted tomatoes because that’s what I had. As far as variation, I added crushed pepper flakes, 5 whole spice balls, smoked paprika, white wine, dry Thyme and half a sachet of EL Avion paella season because it has saffron in it and again, that’s what I had on hand. I added tuna steak and shrimp. I will definitely making this again and will share with my Portuguese mother tomorrow, because, ya, I aim to impress! Hahaha
So great Mariana! Let us know what mom says…
The addition of fish sauce is pure genius! Flavors were super yummy and complex. Increased the smoked paprika and added some red pepper flakes
Will try with cannellini beans next time instead of potatoes
Love the adaptations!
Delicious! I didn’t have saffron so I used a little tumeric instead.
Oh nice idea!
Really good.I will try a few more recipes for fish stew from this site
Glad you are enjoying!
Mmmmmm…
Love this recipe! Very flexible and easy to do for guests ( make broth and hold til almost time to serve and then 5 min for seafood to cook)
Added a scoop of rice for main dish.
Perfect Vicki, so happy you are enjoying!
This is the best fish stew I’ve ever tasted! Thank you so much for such an easy great recipe that I’ll have on high rotation.
Awesome Angela!
Stunning dish.
Simple and quick yet so tasty and comforting.
Nom nom.
Happy to hear you enjoyed!
Tasty. I can’t comment on authenticity, but this recipe produces a tasty soup. I used a mix of pacific cod, salmon and argentine shrimp for the protein. I had a bottle of commercial clam juice and I made a “stock” from the tomato skins, salmon skin and liquid from the frozen fish fillet pouches. I had a pretty small pinch of saffron but it still came through subtly. Smoked paprika, extra black pepper, a shot of soy sauce for umami (and a pinch of msg for good measure) in place of fish sauce. Ripe tomatoes from farmer’s market. Probably a little more salt than the recipe calls for. And jalapenos. Two sweet jalapenos that had turned red (and a bit wizened) plus one green jalapeno with normal jalapeno heat level. Soup was very good, heat level perfect for my fam.
If you are making fewer than five or six servings, I might scale the recipe down, or more likely, remove some soup base and scale down the seafood so that i am making the number of servings to match the diners. I found that my second serving had fish that was more done than I prefer, even though the pot was off heat a few minutes before serving the first round.
Wow, thanks for sharing all your details. Love the stock elements! Great tip on the fish, I wonder if you could pull it back out after it is cooked and then ladle the hot broth back over it for second helpings? Kind of a lot of effort but it could keep the texture better.
Tasty
Glad you enjoyed!
This soup is amazing, honestly better than the ones I had in Portugal. Thank you
Awwww… thanks Anik! Appreciate this so much!
Delicious! Enjoyed by the whole family.
Yay!!! thanks Bonnie!
Loved this. I added an 1/8th tsp of cayenne pepper as a personal taste.
I love cayenne in soups too, thanks Peter!
Hi – can you freeze this?
Hi Jane- that is a great question. I haven’t tried freezing but I don’t see why not?
Delicious. I make it regularly 😋
Great ot hear!