Easy Seafood Stew

This seafood stew proves you don’t need a fish market trip to get a bowl of rich, briny, tomato-based shellfish stew on the table. Canned clams (with their juice), canned crab meat, and baby shrimp do all the work here, and the results taste far better than the ingredient list suggests.

The secret is the clam juice. Using the clams undrained means all that concentrated ocean flavor goes directly into the broth. Combined with reduced-sodium tomato soup, hot water, and Italian herbs, it creates a tomato-shellfish base that tastes like it simmered for hours.

The onion and garlic get a slow, covered cook for 15 minutes before anything else goes in. This patient approach softens the onion completely until it’s translucent and sweet, building a mellow aromatic base rather than a sharp, raw-onion bite. Once the onion is soft, everything else goes in at once and simmers covered for just 10 minutes.

Pimentos add little pops of sweet red pepper that brighten up the reddish broth and give each spoonful a hint of color against the seafood.

Kitchen Tips

• Don’t drain the clams. The clam liquor is concentrated flavor that forms the backbone of the stew’s broth.
• Rinse the canned crab and shrimp before adding. This removes the tinny, preserved taste and excess sodium.
• Cook covered on low heat after adding the seafood. High heat toughens shellfish, even canned shellfish. Gentle heat warms everything through while keeping it tender.
• Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the broth. The tomato-clam liquid at the bottom of the bowl is too good to leave behind.

Variations

• Add a splash of white wine to the onions before adding the seafood for a more Mediterranean flavor.
• Stir in diced potatoes during the onion stage and simmer an extra 15 minutes for a heartier, chowder-style stew.
• Finish each bowl with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and fresh parsley for a brighter presentation.