How to Make Homemade Seafood Stock (Easy Recipe!)

Ever felt intimidated by making seafood stock from scratch? It's much simpler than you think - and so delicious! This seafood stock recipe is so flavorful, with notes of sweetness and savory complexity from toasted seafood shells, fresh herbs, and aromatic vegetables.

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Seafood stock is a super flavorful and easy way to bolster your seafood soups and stews! Water (or broth) is infused with seafood shells (or bones/carcasses), vegetables, and aromatics. I toast the shells in a pan to bring out their flavors.

The shells then simmer in a liquid with vegetables until the stock turns a deep golden-brown color. I frequently use it for crab stew, shrimp cacciatore, or mussels in cream sauce. Making your own homemade stock is also a great no-waste option for using up seafood shells and vegetable scraps.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Hands-off: This seafood stock is made in a single pot and is very hands-off! No need to roast the seafood shells or vegetables separately. It yields just about 4 cups, so it's a perfect small-batch option. 
• Versatile: My method is very flexible, depending on what you have! I've used crab shells, shrimp shells, and a mix of both, and they all yield delicious results. You can even add in some fish bones if you have them.
• Quick: The stock comes together in just twenty minutes of simmering.

Ingredient Notes

• Seafood shells and bones: Seafood shells provide tons of briny, sweet flavor in this stock. You can use any combination of shrimp, crab, and lobster shells - or fish bones. We'll discuss more on that below!
• Aromatics: Garlic peels, onion peels, carrot peels, and fennel fronds provide lots of allium flavor and sweetness. If you don't have fennel, use celery instead. A bell pepper would be great, too!
• Clam Juice: Clam juice provides a nice base for the stock, but you can use chicken stock if you can't find it.
• Herbs and Spices: I typically use fresh dill, parsley, and bay leaves.

Optionally, I like to deglaze the shells with dry white wine for better flavor. Just make sure to reduce the wine to boil off the alcohol!

For a full list of ingredients and their quantities, please refer to the recipe card.

Variations

• Citrusy: Add a few lemon or orange peels to the liquid when simmering.
• Tomato: For a deeper stock, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste after toasting the shells. Once the paste has caramelized nicely, add the liquids.
• Spiced Up: If I'm looking for a super jazzed up stock, I might stir in some smoky paprika, coriander seeds, or dried oregano.

Where to Purchase Seafood Shells

There are two methods of "prepping" for this recipe: 

Method 1: If you prepare seafood often, you can proactively freeze leftover shellfish shells, crab shells, lobster shells, and fish bones as you cook with them. Simply store the shells in a sealed Ziploc bag in the freezer for 1 - 2 months. I will often freeze leftovers when I make my shrimp oreganata.

Method 2: This second option assumes you don't have much prep time. Let's say you're looking to prepare a seafood risotto over the weekend, and you need seafood stock -- or maybe you want to prepare something later tonight.

In this case, I recommend purchasing unpeeled shrimp or pre-cooked shell-on crab. You can also ask your fishmonger if they have any fish bones available.

Tip: Don't be afraid of asking your fishmonger questions. They love helping and providing suggestions!

Crab

The easiest way to source crab shells is to purchase pre-cooked crab legs in their shells. Live crabs require some skill to cook and clean, so I highly suggest purchasing the pre-cooked variety unless you're already comfortable cooking them.

• Supermarket: You can find crab at your local supermarket - it's also likely to be the most affordable. You can usually find them in the frozen seafood section of the grocery store labeled "Pre-Cooked and Frozen Crab Legs."
• Local Fish Market: If you have a particular fish market you like to go to, call them up and ask about their availability.

Check out my step-by-step instructions on cracking open crab legs.

Shrimp

• Make sure to purchase shell-on shrimp so that you can use the shells here! I typically purchase a large bag of frozen wild shrimp to keep in the freezer.
• If you're planning on making the seafood stock in a few hours, you'll want to buy thawed shrimp from the seafood counter.

Fish Bones

• Contact your local fishmonger to see if they have any fish bones available. You can also check the seafood counter at your grocery store.
• Alternatively, if you regularly prepare whole fish, you can save and freeze the bones for stock. 

How to Make This Recipe

Step 1 - Saute everything: In a large stockpot set over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Add the seafood shells, garlic, onion, carrot, fennel, bay leaf, and peppercorns, and saute for 2 - 3 minutes, or until everything is nicely golden-brown and aromatic. 

Step 2 - Add the liquids: If using wine, add the wine first, then bring to a boil and allow it to reduce by half, 3 - 5 minutes.

Once the alcohol smell has dissipated, add the herbs, clam juice, water, and bring to a boil.

Step 3 - Simmer: Skim off any scum on the surface, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes until the stock tastes aromatic and is golden brown.

Step 4 - Strain: Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids.

Step 5 - After straining, you should be left with about 3 ½ - 4 cups of this beautiful orange-hued stock!

Season with salt and black pepper, then cool to room temperature and use as desired.

Storage Instructions

Homemade seafood stock lasts 3 - 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. For longer term storage, freeze in an airtight ziploc freezer bag for up to 2 months.

Looking for more individual portions? Freeze the stock in an ice cube tray. Once frozen, pop out the cubes and store in an airtight ziploc bag.

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