Elevate any soup or stew recipe with this rich, savory homemade seafood stock. Made with plenty of seafood shells, fresh herbs and a punch of white wine, this stock is much more flavorful than anything you'd find on a shelf. Plus, making your own seafood stock couldn't be easier.

An aerial view of a bowl of homemade seafood stock on a napkin with a spoon.

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Ingredients
Step-by-Step Instructions
How to Use
Can You Freeze?
Perfect Pairing
Love a Comforting Bowl of Soup?
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If you’ve never made your own stock, you're in for a treat. Any soup gets an instant flavor upgrade when homemade stock gets involved, especially of the seafood variety. Can you imagine a richer base than slowly simmered roasted seafood shells in a pot full of aromatics? Doubtful.

Besides adding such a depth of flavor to your favorite soups, making this homemade seafood stock doesn't require any fancy techniques or expert culinary know-how. A little roasting, a little chopping and a little simmering are all you need to make a pot of this seafood stock.

While this seafood stock is simple to make for cooks of all experience levels, it does take some time. I love making this stock on a lazy weekend when I have a chance to relax and enjoy the process.

These days, I see so many recipes that emphasize quick, quick, quick. And I get it. We're all busy, but if we can't take a moment to slow down and enjoy the process, where's the joy in cooking? Quick recipes certainly have their place but so do leisurely, slow-cooked meals.

Let's clear our weekend schedule and spend some time making this wonderful homemade seafood stock, shall we?

Ingredients

Making a good homemade seafood stock takes a few basic aromatics, white wine and seafood shells. For the aromatics, here's what I like to use.

Celery
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Leek
Tomato paste
Black peppercorn
Parsley
Rosemary
Thyme
Bay leaf
Salt

A cutting board with the aromatics used for cooking this homemade seafood stock.

When it comes to seafood shells, I typically like to use a variety, such as shrimp shells, lobster shells, crab shells and fish bones. That said, if you only have one type of shell, that's perfectly fine too. I've made this stock using only shrimp shells with success.

In the recipe card, you'll notice I give a range of seafood shells in cups. This is just a guideline. While I measured my seafood shells to give you a range this time, I normally don't bother.

Whenever I have leftover seafood shells, I stick them in a gallon-size zipper bag and throw it in the freezer. As I collect more seafood shells, I keep adding them to the zipper bag until it's full, and then I make my stock. Sometimes my bag is filled but not at full capacity, and other times, it barely zips.

Just know you have some leeway when it comes to measuring your shells. Making homemade stock isn’t a precise science.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To start, we roast our seafood shells in the oven for 10 minutes. This brings out the shells’ rich flavor, so don’t skip this step. We can easily take care of this step while prepping the other ingredients.

A large sheet pan with sea fish shells to roast for the homemade seafood stock.

Now we toss the roasted seafood shells into a large pot and add enough water to cover them along with the rest of our stock ingredients.

The sea fish shells and aromatics in a large pot to cook for the homemade seafood stock.

From here, we bring our stock to a boil and then drop to a simmer. The stock will foam as it simmers, so we just skim that off as it forms.

At this point, we've taken care of most of the work, so pour yourself a drink, like this triple citrus tequila smash, and turn on some music or Netflix as you relax. The stock needs to simmer for another hour or so, and I find this is the perfect chance to enjoy some me time.

After simmering, we simply add salt to taste, strain our seafood stock and call it a day. We now have a delicious batch of homemade seafood stock ready to use in all sorts of recipes.

How to Use

Of course, you can use this stock in your seafood soups, chowders, bisques and the like, but those aren’t the only uses. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy this seafood stock recipe.

Risotto
Bouillabaise
Paella
Cioppino
Steaming mussels or clams
All sorts of Cajun cooking, like seafood gumbo or my summer shrimp etouffee

Can You Freeze?

Without a doubt. In fact, I always make a huge batch to freeze leftovers. Making a double or triple batch doesn’t take much additional effort, so if I’m going to take the time to make homemade stock, I want to keep plenty on hand.

I find the frozen stock is at its best if you use it within six months. That said, it will last longer and still be tasty if you don’t use all of it within that timeframe.

Perfect Pairing

Obviously, your exact pairing with this seafood stock depends on how you plan to use it. Rather than giving a specific pairing like usual, I’ll share a few beer and wine styles that go well with seafood. Given that seafood is so light and delicate, you can generally rely on these go-to styles.

If you’re in the mood for beer, give these a try.

Hefeweizen
American wheat ale
Cream ale
Blonde ale
Berliner weisse
Kolsch
Saison

However, if wine is your drink of choice, these are good bets.

Champagne
Sauvignon blanc
Chablis
Chardonnay
Pinot grigio
Pinot gris
Chenin blanc

If you're looking for a way to take your soups and stews to the next level, I hope you try this homemade seafood stock.

Cheers!

A bowl of homemade seafood stock with carrots and celery cut in the background.

Love a Comforting Bowl of Soup?

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Comments

5 from 15 votes (1 rating without comment)