Oyster Stew

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Oysters are great, and don’t have to be just a tasty appetizer. They can also be combined with some delicious vegetables and some cream to make a tangy, thick and nourishing stew.

For more great recipes utilizing oysters, why not make some Oyster Dressing? Or go fancy and make some Oysters Rockefeller instead?

Oyster Stew

Oysters a lot more versatile and useful in recipes than you might think.

While the best quality of oysters should definitely be reserved for slurping out of the shell, there are loads of ways to turn oysters into a hearty, meaty, and delicious meal.

Oyster stew is one of those dishes commonly associated with the holidays. In New England, it is served on Thanksgiving, whereas in the South, it is mainly a Christmastime dish.                          

However, don’t feel like you have to save this dish for a special occasion – anytime you feel like something briny, rich, and delicious, a can of oysters is just a trip to the supermarket away.

Oyster Stew Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Butter

• Celery

• Onion

• Red & green bell pepper

• Russet potatoes

• Garlic

• Flour

• Cream

• Dried parsley

• Salt & pepper

• Can of whole oysters

• Louisiana-style hot sauce

How To Make Oyster Stew

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until it begins to gently foam

• Add in your chopped celery, peppers, onion, and potato to the pan, cooking for about 8 minutes until soft

• Add in the garlic to the vegetables

• Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, stir to coat and continue to cook for about 2 minutes

• Stir in the half-and-half cream and add the parsley to the vegetables

• Add salt & pepper to taste

• Bring the mixture to just about a simmer, and then add the chopped oysters and the liquid from the can

• Add the hot sauce, if using

• Bring everything back to a light simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, being careful to not boil it

• Remove the pan from the heat, let the stew sit for about 5 minutes before serving 

What Kind Of Oysters Should You Use For This Recipe?

Oyster stew would traditionally have been made using fresh oysters towards the winter season, mostly to use up leftover oysters, as well as those ones that don’t quite pass muster as raw oysters.

These days, however, oysters are pretty expensive, so it seems a bit of a waste to use some high quality oysters in stew.

Instead, keep an eye out for cans of oysters in brine at your local supermarket. There are a variety of different brands that offer different kinds of oysters, as well as different preserving liquids. Most will have the cans filled with brine, but there are a few that store them in olive oil like anchovies.

For this recipe, try to stick to the ones that have regular brine; for the exact type of oysters, just pick whichever types of oysters you generally prefer to eat raw. If you aren’t sure, rock oysters are always a good mainstay.

How To Make This Oyster Stew Extra Spicy

Just like all good recipes predominately eaten in the south, this oyster stew calls for liberal dashes of a Louisana hot sauce.

Feel free to add as much hot sauce as you like – the only potential problem with adding too much, besides excess spiciness, is that the stew might start to turn a deep red.

IF you want a more organic and less colorful way to add spice, why not add some diced chilies directly to the stew?

You can either used fresh diced chilies, like a jalapeno, or you can rehydrate some high quality Mexican chilies and add that instead.

Simply add boiled water to a dried chili, leave it for 10 minutes, and then dice the now soft chili into tiny pieces and add it directly to the stew when you add the garlic.

That should add plenty of deep, smoky and spicy flavor without affecting the color too much, leaving your oyster stew a thick, luscious, velvety cream color.

Looking for more delicious Soup & Stew recipes? Try these out:

• New England Clam Chowder

• Seafood Chowder

• The Best Seafood Stock

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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