Mussels in White Wine Sauce is a classic seafood recipe made with fresh mussels that are steamed with garlic, shallots and herbs. Inspired by Julia Child's moules marinière, this simple and elegant dish comes together in minutes.
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🌿 About This Recipe
Mussels in white wine sauce is a classic seafood recipe made with fresh mussels that are gently steamed in a light, buttery garlic and white wine broth. It’s simple, elegant and comes together quickly!
This recipe is strongly inspired by Julia Child’s famous moules marinière from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This version stays true to the original, keeping every bite buttery, briny and beautifully simple. And that’s why white wine mussels continue to be my annual birthday request!
If you love this style of simple seafood, be sure to try my Clams in White Wine Sauce, which is another reader favorite made with the same bright, buttery sauce.
📋 Ingredients
- Mussels: Look for fresh mussels without any cracks on the shell. Mussels should be cooked the same day they are purchased and always kept cold.
- Shallot: Shallots are mild and slightly sweet and give the mussels delicious flavor. If shallots aren't available, you could substitute with finely chopped red onion or chives.
- White Wine: Use a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris.
- Herbs: Bay leaf, parsley and thyme steep in the wine and butter sauce and bring a fresh and simple layer of flavor.
- Butter: Mussels can be salty as is, so I suggest using unsalted butter to control the amount of salt in the mussels recipe.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🧅 Variations
- Make it creamy: Add a splash of heavy cream or a dollop of crème fraîche at the end for a richer sauce.
- Add Dijon: Whisk in 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard for a classic French-style finish.
- Swap the aromatics: Instead of shallots, add ½ of a sliced leek and sauté for 5 minutes before adding the butter and wine.
- Brighten it up: Finish the sauce with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for a lighter, brighter flavor.
💦 How to Clean Mussels Before Cooking
Now before we get into the steaming, let's talk about how to properly clean mussels first. Honestly, it takes longer to clean mussels than to cook them, but it's worth it so you don't bite into a hard piece of sand.
Place Mussels on Ice. Once you bring home the mussels, place them on ice and chill in the fridge until you're ready to cook (usually on the same day).
Debeard the Mussels. If you haven't worked with mussels before, it's pretty easy. Each mussel comes with a little "beard". Pull that out (it may be a bit hard at first).
Soak and scrub the mussels. 30 minutes before you're ready to cook, place the mussels in a large bowl of cold water with a bit of Kosher salt. This helps the mussels spit out any sand that may be inside.
When you're ready to cook, use a shellfish brush and scrub the outside of each mussel. Then, you're ready to cook!
If you want a more detailed walkthrough, I share exactly how to clean mussels step by step here.
⏲️ Instructions
- Start the Sauce: In a large pot or skillet over medium heat, add the butter, shallots, garlic, white wine, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a good simmer and let the wine reduce slightly, about 2-3 minutes.
- Steam the Mussels: Add the mussels to the pot, cover with a lid, and cook until the mussels just open, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any mussels that remain closed.
- Serve: Transfer the mussels to wide bowls. Ladle the white wine sauce over the top, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately with crusty French bread for dipping.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Mussels should smell fresh and briny and not have an unpleasant odor.
- Cook mussels the same day they are purchased.
- Discard any mussel shells that are broken or cracked and mussels that don't open after being cooked.
- Mussels will give off some water when being steamed, which makes a great dunking sauce!
🍷 What to Serve with Mussels
- Crusty Bread: Serve mussels with warm crusty French bread, baguette, or garlic focaccia to soak up every drop of the buttery white wine sauce.
- Simple Salads: A crisp Nicoise salad, shaved fennel salad, or arugula with Parmesan pairs beautifully with the rich, buttery broth.
- French-Style Sides: Try classic French fries (moules-frites), steamed baby potatoes with herbs, or a simple buttered green bean or asparagus on the side.
- Wine Pairings: White wine mussels pair best with crisp, dry white wines that complement the briny seafood and buttery broth.
- Sauvignon Blanc: Bright and citrusy, a classic pairing
- Muscadet: The traditional French choice for moules marinière
- Pinot Grigio: Light, clean, and refreshing
- Dry Riesling or Albariño: Crisp with subtle minerality
Tip: Use the same wine for cooking and serving. If you enjoy drinking it, it’s perfect for the sauce.
🦀 More Shellfish Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds mussels
- Kosher salt for soaking mussels + more for seasoning
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 cup white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 bay leaf
- 4-5 parsley sprigs + more leaves for garnish
- 4-5 thyme sprigs
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Clean the Mussels: Scrub each mussel with a shellfish brush and remove the beard from each one. Place the mussels in a large bowl of cold water sprinkled with kosher salt, toss gently, and let soak for 20 minutes to release any sand.
- Rinse and Drain: Use your hands to lift the mussels out of the soaking water and transfer them to a colander. Rinse well under cold running water, being careful not to pour the mussels directly into the colander so any sand left behind stays in the bowl.
- Start the Sauce: In a large pot or skillet over medium heat, add the butter, shallots, garlic, white wine, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a good simmer and let the wine reduce slightly, about 2-3 minutes.
- Steam the Mussels: Add the mussels to the pot, cover with a lid, and cook until the mussels just open, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any mussels that remain closed.
- Serve: Transfer the mussels to wide bowls. Ladle the white wine sauce over the top, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve immediately with crusty French bread for dipping.
Notes
-
- Mussels should smell fresh and briny and not have an unpleasant odor.
- Cook mussels the same day they are purchased.
- Discard any mussel shells that are broken or cracked and mussels that don't open after being cooked.
- Mussels will give off some water when being steamed, which makes a great dunking sauce!
Sharon says
Nowhere does it say how to obtain the "floury water" you mention in Step 2. Do you mean to sprinkle the water with flour rather than salt, especially as it gives no mention of salt at the beginning of the ingredients??
Samantha Ferraro says
Hi Sharon, Apologies as that was a typo on my end. Within the step by step photos and ingredients, I mention flour but wrote "salt" in the instructions by accident. Soak the mussels in floury water for 20 minutes, then remove and continue with the recipe. The post has been updated, thanks for bringing that to my attention. -Samantha
Blake says
If you see FRESH Mussels at the store get them and make this amazing recipe. Do not get any Mussels that are open and look dry. The girl behind the counter tapped an open mussel and it closed right away so that one was good. The cooking happens fast so be careful to not overcook. SCRUB and debeard the mussels, it will make a huge difference.
New2Cooking says
We Officially love Mussels now. This recipe was easy and fun. We started scrubbing mussels and it makes a huge difference. The water after scrubbing is funky which tells me in the past when I didn't scrub them the recipe would have been better. This was my first time using Shallots. WOW!
Skylar says
Julia Child was Amazing and We love MUSSELS. Most importantly so does my family. This recipe is WONDERFUL it's fantastic. I go to Little Ferraro Kitchen for the Mediterranean recipes but thought I should try something different. We are waiting for her latest cookbook that we ordered yesterday. The first cookbook is Wonderful.
Anton says
One of the easiest, most delectable, more-ish and wonderfully social dishes in the world.
Groups of us, our friends and family used to share giant pots of freshly harvested sweet moules marinière right on the seaside in Belgium with lashings of warm freshly baked "stockbrood" (baguette) and more wine to drink. Here they will insist that this is not a French dish at all but all Belgian. Of course Belgium being small and never far from the coast you can also get fresh moules marinière in most of the finest Bistros across Belgium and there are many, very many, from Brussels to the deeply wooded Champagne-Ardenne and beyond.
Suffice to say moules marinière it's a firm national favourite of the Belgians, even saying so is nothing short of a gross understatement.
I can't be as dogmatic as the Belgians are about this dish's provenance but from only the tinniest bit of research needed the difference might all boil down to just one ingredient, cream, and the distance from Zeebrugge to Normandy.
Putting aside the fact that French speaking Belgians only just out number the Flemish speaking Belgians in Belgium, the national language still favours the Flemish, it's Dutch. Collectively however and this includes the tiny German speaking regions of far Ostbelgien they don't use cream in their moules and the French in France do. Just 2-tbsp of cream mind. Top French chefs from Raymond Blanc to Hélène Darroze will insist.
The taste of the sea however is nowhere as magically, simply and beautifully made cuisine by a mussels own delectable liqueur, reduced briefly with a little dry white wine, herbs, unsalted butter and diced onion as in moules marinière. So personally I go with Julia and the Belgians on this matter.
Unsalted butter is just enough dairy to make it rich hearty and divine.
Now of course the question of the other most essential ingredient of moules marinière besides the mussels themselves, the baguette must be mentioned here. Yes Im afraid the French can't lay claim to that either, but suffice to say here nor can the Belgians. So one all is a good place to leave it.
Either way you make them, enjoy. A more satisfying, simple and delicious feast as this is very hard to beat.
Samantha says
Anton, thank you so much for sharing so much history into the dish! I did not know it was connected to Belgium at all! I agree, the butter is just enough creaminess and I love the light broth the mussels offer.
ManySummits says
Belgian here. Forget the baguette.
Fries + a nice glob of mayo are non negotiable with our mussels.
Samantha Ferraro says
Agreed Many, We just returned from a foodie tour of the EU and as stated you do things a Bit differently, it's fantastic. Have a wonderful day, Samantha.
Dick says
Masa harina in lieu of flour for our gluten intolerant friends
Samantha says
That is a wonderful idea! Thank you!
Tara says
Reminds me when we did our 15 weeks of Julia Child, how I loved doing her recipes. This looks amazing!!
Claudia says
So delectable! That seems impressive.