In just about 30 minutes, you can make a robust homemade seafood stock that rivals any store bought stock! A simple seafood stock is a great way to use up leftover vegetable scraps and shrimp shells and instantly elevates your favorite seafood dishes, such as French bouillabaisse and garlic steamed mussels.
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Homemade seafood stock is one of those "back pocket" recipes that we should all have in our repertoire. Making an easy homemade stock doesn't need to be an all day process and can be made in just about 30 minutes and instantly intensifies any recipe you add it to.
A simple seafood stock is the perfect use for any leftover vegetable scraps or leftover shrimp shells (after making a chilled seafood platter, perhaps?) Keep all the vegetable and seafood scraps in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer and once it gets full, you're ready to make an easy homemade seafood stock!
Make an extra batch and keep the seafood stock in the freezer and add to your favorite seafood dishes, such as steamed clams with white wine.
🍤 Recipe Highlights
- Homemade seafood stock done in nearly 30 minutes and trumps any store bought stock!
- Great use for leftover vegetable scraps! Save all those onion peels, carrot peels, herb stems and shrimp shells. Keep them in a large resealable bag in the freezer until ready to use!
- Use any shellfish or fish carcases that you have leftover, such as the leftovers fish remnants from grilled branzino.
- Homemade seafood stock elevates your seafood recipes, such as Cioppino, or linguine and clams.
📋 Ingredients
- Shellfish Shells: Shrimp shells, crab shells and lobster shells are perfect for a shellfish stock. You can also use fish bones and carcasses for a seafood homemade stock. Though, stay away from clam shells and mussel shells, as they won't provide much flavor.
- Onions and Garlic: Both are aromatics that flavor the stock. You can also use shallots, leeks, ramps and fennel.
- Celery and Carrot: Use orange carrots, which will give the stock a lovely orange color and stay away from dark purple carrots, which can change the broth color.
- Herbs: Use your favorite herbs to flavor the homemade seafood stock, such as fresh thyme as listed here or parsley, dill, bay leaf and rosemary.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🥕 Substitutions and Variations
- Other seafood additions to add to the stock are lobster shells, fish bones and fish carcasses.
- Instead of onions, add leeks or shallots.
- Other herbs you can add to flavor the seafood stock are parsley, dill or rosemary.
⏲️ How to Make An Easy Seafood Stock
Step 1: Drizzle olive oil into a Dutch oven and bring up to medium heat. Add the shellfish shells and saute for 5-7 minutes until fragrant and lightly toasted.
Step 2: Add the carrots, onion, celery, garlic and herbs.
Step 3: Pour enough water into completely cover all of the ingredients and simmer the stock for 30 minutes.
Step 4: As the stock simmers, skim away any impurities or foam that float to the top.
Step 5: Once the stock is done and deepens in color, turn off the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the large aromatics.
Step 6: Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and line the strainer with a layer of cheesecloth. Pour the stock through the strainer to catch any small particles leftover.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Keep veggie scraps. Keep a gallon sized resealable bag in the freezer and as you accumulate onion peels, celery ends, etc, add all the leftover scraps to the bag. Once the bag is full with vegetable scraps and shrimp shells, make the homemade seafood stock!
- Don't add red onion or purple carrots to the stock. The dark color will turn the stock a purple-gray color (Trust me, I know this from experience).
- If you don't have a cheesecloth, layer a few sheets of paper towels over a fine mesh strainer and strain through that.
- Take the time to skim any foam that floats to the to as the broth simmers. This will ensure a clearer broth.
- Add salt to your taste. Shellfish can be salty as it is. Once the stock has reduced, taste and adjust as needed.
- To freeze, let the shellfish stock come to room temperature and store in a resealable ziplock bag. Lay flat in the freeze to freeze flat.
Recipe FAQs
Seafood stock is made up of shrimp shells, crab shells and sometimes fish heads and flavored with aromatics including onions, garlic, carrots and herbs.
If seafood stock isn't available, substitute with clam juice or vegetable stock.
Homemade seafood stock will last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipes to Use Homemade Seafood Stock
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Easy Homemade Seafood Stock
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups shrimp shells, shrimp heads and crab shells
- ½ yellow onion
- 1 celery
- 2 carrots
- 2 garlic cloves smashed
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 5 ½ cups of water
Instructions
- Place medium sized pot over medium-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Add shrimp shells and cook for about 5-6 minutes, lightly toasting the shells.
- Next add onion, garlic, and thyme and pour in water. Cover pot with lid, bring to gentle boil, and cook for 30 minutes.
- Once done, drain stock through mesh strainer, pressing onto the solids to get every last bit of stock out.
- Allow to cool completely before storing or freezing for later use.
- Yields approximately 5 cups stock
Notes
- Keep veggie scraps. Keep a gallon sized resealable bag in the freezer and as you accumulate onion peels, celery ends, etc, add all the leftover scraps to the bag. Once the bag is full with vegetable scraps and shrimp shells, make the homemade seafood stock!
- Don't add red onion or purple carrots to the stock. The dark color will turn the stock a purple-gray color (Trust me, I know this from experience).
- If you don't have a cheesecloth, layer a few sheets of paper towels over a fine mesh strainer and strain through that.
- Take the time to skim any foam that floats to the to as the broth simmers. This will ensure a clearer broth.
- Add salt to your taste. Shellfish can be salty as it is. Once the stock has reduced, taste and adjust as needed.
- To freeze, let the shellfish stock come to room temperature and store in a resealable ziplock bag. Lay flat in the freeze to freeze flat.
BrightLemonyKitchen says
Normally we would have tossed away the shells from Lobster crab and shrimp but instead saved them and saved money by making a seafood stock better than any store bought product. Follow this recipe and save money and make your own superior ingredient.
MrnMrsindkitchen says
We saw Seafood stock for $5.00 for 32 Ounces and the Ingredients were all crappy. Most of the ingredients are (Anchovy, Salt, Water, Sugar), Vegetable Stock (Carrot, Mushroom, Tomato, Onion, Celery, Red Bell Pepper. So we made our own and know EXACTLY what went in. We used exactly what this recipe calls for. Over the last Month we threw shells from crab and shrimp into a plastic bag into the freezer them bade a Big Batch of Seafood stock.
Skylar says
I will never Buy seafood stock again. In the past we used Boxed seafood stock and really, who knows what and where the ingredients come from. Now I will have control of what's in my Seafood risotto or my seafood Paella just to name a couple of recipes. Low and slow and such an easy recipe to follow.