A delicious seafood recipe cooked in a tomato-based broth with potatoes. This slow cooker seafood stew is comforting and is an easy-to-make dinner idea!
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Easy Seafood Soup Recipe
When it comes to comfort food, a hearty soup or stew always does the trick. You just can’t beat a warm bowl of flavorful soup. We love this seafood stew, as well as my hearty vegetable soup, corn chowder and crockpot jambalaya.
Don’t you just love how easy and delicious slow cooker meals can be? They are great for busy weeknights and long weekends. This slow cooker seafood stew is a delicate, rich stew that is easy to prep and is a healthy dinner option.
The great thing about this slow cooker seafood stew recipe is that you can use fresh or frozen shellfish, just like in my garlic butter shrimp scampi. That way no matter where you live you can enjoy a delicious seafood recipe. Also, I like to use fresh vegetables whenever I can and they are perfect in this slow cooker stew. Easy, healthy and super tasty!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy slow cooker dinner. This seafood soup recipe will convert you to a slow cooker lover if you aren’t already. All of the ingredients cook in just one pot, giving this dish the true meaning of an easy dump-and-go meal!
- Healthy. All of the ingredients are fresh, low in fat and pack a punch of nutrients and protein. This is a healthy soup recipe you can feel great about eating!
- Hearty and comforting. Each bite is filled to the brim with chunky potatoes, shrimp, scallops and a flavorful and savory broth. This stew is the epitome of comfort food!
Stew Ingredients
The great thing about stew recipes is that you can modify the ingredients to your likes and needs. This seafood soup is hearty and healthy with all the great fresh vegetables and seafood. A good loaf of crusty French bread is what you need for soaking up all that amazing broth!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Seafood: I recommended using any two pounds of seafood you would like for this seafood stew recipe. I used large deveined shrimp and large scallops You could also use lobster, crab, crawfish, mussels, clams or white fish like cod or halibut.
- Broth and tomatoes: The base of this stew is made with a savory vegetable broth mixed with crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Vegetables: Diced yellow potatoes, a few cloves of minced garlic and chopped onion add aromatics and texture.
- Seasonings: Lots of dried seasonings are the key for giving this seafood stew the perfect flavor! I like to use a mix of dried thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne and salt and pepper.
- Fresh parsley: Right before serving, sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top for the perfect finishing touch!
Substitutions and Variations
As mentioned above, feel free to use your favorite type of fish when making this seafood soup. You can also add in other veggies such as carrots or peppers, or even mix in some fresh spinach or kale to wilt at the very end of cooking.
Make it a bit spicier with a little more red pepper flakes, cayenne, a dash of hot sauce or some cajun seasoning like my chicken, sausage and shrimp gumbo recipe. Or add in a bay leaf for more flavor or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for a small punch of citrus for brightness.
How to Make Seafood Stew
Only 15 minutes needed to prepare this recipe for seafood stew! Then the soup will cook low and slow all day until you’re ready to enjoy dinner. An easy dump-and-go meal at it’s finest!
- Add tomatoes, broth and spices to slow cooker. Add all the ingredients (minus the fish) in the bottom of your crockpot.
- Cook the soup. Cover with lid and cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low.
- Add seafood. Mix in the thawed seafood and cook on high for an additional 30-60 minutes, or until the fish is fully cooked.
- Serve and enjoy! Add fresh parsley on top if desired and serve with hot French bread!
What a delicious way to use seafood!! It’s packed with so much flavor and the shrimp goes so well with the tomato flavor. Definitely making again!
Expert Tips
- Shrimp shells. I leave the shells on the shrimp during the cooking process because that’s where a lot of the flavor comes from. Just make sure to remove the shells and tails before eating.
- Broth. Using veggie broth will make the seafood flavor more subtle, however you can also use seafood stock for a bolder taste.
- Low and slow. Although you can cook the stew on high heat in your crockpot, I recommend using the low setting if you have the time. The longer the soup simmers, the more flavor it will have. The fish will also stay super tender this way.
- Serving suggestion. A side of Red Lobster cheddar biscuits goes perfect with this stew!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can make this seafood soup recipe on the stove. I like to sauté the onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil or butter first and then add the remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
A few others names it goes by is fish soup, shellfish stew, Cioppino, bourride, brodetto, cacciucco, zarzuela and gumbo.
We love to serve this stew with a loaf of artisan bread, a French baguette or homemade dinner rolls. You can also serve the soup over cooked white rice to make it even heartier.
Although it does taste best the day of preparing, you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Just make sure not to overheat the stew when warming back up so the fish doesn’t get too chewy!
Love seafood? You’ll also love my sheet pan salmon, shrimp skewers and lemon baked fish. My ceviche and recipe for bang bang shrimp are some our favorite recipes with shrimp!
More Slow Cooker Soups
Slow Cooker Seafood Stew
Video
Ingredients
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 3 clove garlic , minced
- 1 pound yellow potatoes , cut into bitesized pieces
- ½ cup chopped white onion
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt , to taste
- Ground black pepper , to taste
- 2 pounds seafood (I used 1 pound large shrimp and 1 pound scallops), defrosted if frozen
- Chopped fresh parsley , for topping
Instructions
- In a crockpot, stir together tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, garlic, potatoes, onion, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.
- Cover and cook on high 2 to 3 hours or low 4 to 6 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
- Add seafood to crockpot and return to high heat. Cook 30 to 60 minutes, or until seafood is fully cooked.
- Top with parsley. Serve hot with crusty bread.
Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
WalT
Absolutely delicious. I also added sweet potatoes, baby sweetcorn and pak choi. A bit of cornflour thickens the liquid. Lovely flavours, healthy and low fat. Very easy for anyone to make with a slow cooker
Sarah @IHeartNaptime
So glad you could make it how you like it! Thanks for the review!
Brenda
Great recipe!! We love it !! Thanks you!!!
Dan
Great taste, but after 5/6 hours the potatoes were still not fully cooked. I used shrimp, scallops, and near the end a freshly cooked lobster.
Jenness M Stock
Absolutely delicious! I used frozen Aldi cod filets and a bag of frozen shrimp. So flavorful.
Jenness M Stock
I did not use the celery salt. Hubby doesn’t like celery. It was great without it!
Crystal
The idea of a tomato base with seafood didn’t seem too appealing to me at first but I didn’t have the ingredients on hand for chowder, so decided to give this recipe a try. I tweaked the spices a bit based on our preferences. Used haddock and scallops. SO GOOD! My husband loved it too!
Deborah Logan
Excellent Stew!
Made this yesterday. I didn’t have celery salt or fresh parsley, but the stew was amazing. I used 1 Lb of large, peeled, deveined shrimp with tail and 1 Lb bay scallops. Cooked on high 5 hours and seafood cooked in 30 minutes.
All you need is French bread! Enjoy!
Alison
This turned out great! We added celery and clams because we had them on hand. Big hit in our family!
Justin
Making this right now. I pretty much did every step!
Added some hot sauce and mixed the broth with clam juice. Wife came home from work, and needless to say she was surprised and excited! Shoot I’m excited too.
Wait till my mom tries this!
TY for the recipe! Next time I’m throwing in shrimp in addition. I only used red snapper this time
patricia heidle
today i’m making it for the second time, the first time i loved it but it was a tad too spicy but still wonderful, i used zoup fish broth, shrimp, haddock and scallops. this time i’m using half vegetable broth and half seafood broth with semi cooked russet potatoes, since i started late, bigger shrimp, haddock and scallops, lots of onions and garlic, chili tomatoes instead of the cayenne pepper and pepper flakes.
i love this recipe because i can change it depending on what’s on hand, in my house, that’s important. i will let you know, it smells wonderful. l love slow cooker recipes, please keep ’em coming.
Jamielyn Nye
Sounds delicious! Thanks for your review :)
Paula Robinson
Can you freeze this stew? I made a large crockpot full of Tuna, Minced clams, Shrimp, and Crab meat and have lots left over (including the potatoes onions, and the rest of the ingredients. I can only keep so much in the fridge. Hopefully, I can freeze the remainder in containers. Thanks!
Jamielyn Nye
Yes you can definitely freeze it in containers and pull out as needed :)
Kristyn
What a delicious way to use seafood!! It’s packed with so much flavor & the shrimp (what we use) goes so well with the tomato flavor. Definitely making again!
Sunnie @ I Heart Naptime
So glad you liked the combination of flavors, Kristyn. Thanks for sharing.
Toni
This is such a great addition to our weeknight favorites! My family loved it! I will definitely make it again soon! Thanks!
Sunnie @ I Heart Naptime
Thanks for sharing, Toni. I am glad your family enjoyed it!
Allyssa
This is my new favorite seafood stew recipe! Turned out really delicious and super tasty! Perfect for any gatherings! Will surely have this again! Thanks a bunch for sharing!
Sunnie @ I Heart Naptime
Thanks for trying something new, Allyssa. Glad you found a keeper!
April
I have to say that I was a naughty girl and I added cream cheese and milk. I subbed the potatoes for carrots and it took so long, over 3 hours on high in the Crock-Pot and carrots were still hard. So I switched it over to the Dutch oven on the stove. 40 minutes at a low boil later, carrots were finally softer so I added the seafood, cream cheese and milk. Delicious! Garnished with parmesan.
I Heart Naptime
Your substitutes sound delicious! So glad you enjoyed the soup :)
SK
I’m going to make this today, but I have a question. My store was out of vegetable broth/stock so I decided to try using Clam Broth. Should I use just 2 cups instead of 4 so the taste isn’t overpowering?
Jamielyn Nye
I never tried but you could try 2 cups and mix in 2 cups water.
Hooks
This is absolutely delicious! We used scallops and a fish medley from our local co-op (halibut, salmon and tuna steak pieces). We dropped the broth to 3 cups and also sauteed the onion plus added red peppers and grated carrots before putting the other ingredients in the crock pot. Loved it and will be adding this to our recipe rotation!
I Heart Naptime
That sounds delicious! Glad you were able to make substitutions that work for you :)
Julie Blake
May I ask what size you cut the fish pieces?
Susan Cary-Hanson
This is an amazing stew! I subbed carrots for potatoes and had to use parsley flakes for oregano. It’s a delicious broth with the right spices. I used salmon, cod and halibut because that’s what I had in the freezer.
Honeyman
Delicious! My wife loves this….the base of the soup/stew is so flavorful. Really easy too