An authentic moqueca recipe isn’t as hard as you think. This one is rich and savory with firm white fish, creamy coconut, tomatoes, lime and peri peri seasoning. If you have a craving for Brazilian fish stew, you will absolutely adore this one. Thank you Chef Mireille for sharing this incredible recipe from your heritage with me.
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How to Make Moqueca
- Season fish and mussels with juice of 1 lime, salt and pepper and marinate for 30 minutes.
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Saute for a few minutes, until softened.
- Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and quite mushy.
- Add coconut milk and piri piri seasoning. Bring to a boil.
- Add fish and mussels. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, until fish is cooked through.
- Add cilantro and stir to combine. Adjust salt as needed and finish with the juice of ½ lime.
- Serve with lime wedges and yuca, rice or farofa (cassava meal).
Moqueca Recipe
This Authentic Moqueca (or Brazilian Fish Stew) is made perfectly savory and comforting with firm fish, creamy coconut, tomatoes, lime and spiced peri peri seasoning.
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Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb white fish chopped – see note below
- 1/2 lb mussel meat see note below
- 1 1/2 limes divided/ you will be using the juice from the limes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp red palm oil see note below
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 4 plum tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 13.5 oz coconut milk can
- 2 tsp piri piri seasoning see note below for replacement
- 2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Season fish and mussels with juice of 1 lime, salt and pepper and marinate for 30 minutes.
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat.
- Add onion, garlic and bell pepper. Saute for a few minutes, until softened.
- Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and quite mushy.
- Add coconut milk and piri piri seasoning. Bring to a boil.
- Add fish and mussels. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, until fish is cooked through.
- Add cilantro and stir to combine. Adjust salt as needed and finish with the juice of ½ lime.
- Serve with lime wedges and yuca, rice or farofa (cassava meal).
Notes
To store, bring to room temp any leftovers and transfer to airtight containers. Pop in the fridge. It should be all good for 3-4 days. If you want to store longer, freezing is good and should last about 2 months. You can thaw overnight and reheat on the stove low and slow.
Nutrition
Calories: 467kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 776mg | Potassium: 1047mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1625IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 5mg
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Ingredient Notes
- Red Palm Oil: You can swap in vegetable, sunflower, or grapeseed oil.
- Fish – Use any firm, white fleshed fish like cod, sea bass, haddock or basa.
- Coconut Milk – Use canned coconut milk only or fresh, but do not use carton coconut milk. Carton coconut milk has less body.
- Piri Piri Seasoning – Although this will definitely add more flavor, you can also use just 2 teaspoons of paprika and 1 teaspoon of cumin if you cannot source piri piri. However, you can make the piri piri seasoning yourself.
- Tomatoes – You can use fresh tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes.
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More Seafood Recipes
Thank you Chef Mireille for sharing this wonderful recipe.
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Planning to make this recipe next week. I’ve made other variations before. Any suggestions on appropriate vegetable side dishes, or vegetables I could include in the stew? Just want to have something green for balance, but also want to respect the authenticity of the recipe. Thank you for the recipe!
I ended up adding about 1.5 cups of fish broth to have enough liquid but the flavors are absolutely wonderful.
Made this last night using scallops and shrimp in lieu of the mussels and OMG it was so good!! My husband and I both agreed this is going in the rotation. We didn’t have the Piri piri seasoning so I did 4 tsp of paprika and 2 tsp of cumin. I served it over brown rice and we devoured it. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this last night for dinner and it was excellent! I used sea bass, mussels and shrimp. I made my own piri piri seasoning and used about 3-4 times the amount in the recipe because we like to amp things up here with the spices. I couldn’t find red palm oil locally so I used coconut oil.. Definitely a keeper recipe.!
Can you use shrimp instead of mussels?
Surely try it out but don’t overcook the shrimp.
This soup is spicy and creamy, perfect for these cold winter days!
Fish and the yummy flavors with this creamy coconut touch sounds super delicious. Love this comforting meal. Fish is my favorite too.
Such an amazing recipe, made this today and it was a hit!
Made this for dinner tonight and it does not disappoint! So bold and hearty and hands down delicious!
Made this with shrimp, cod, and scallops. It was absolutely delicious and more flavorful than I imagined. I used smoked paprika and will seek peri peri to use that next time. Be careful with using shrimp, because it cooks so much faster than the other proteins used. Lesson learned but no food will be wasted! Looking forward to my next bowl!
Recipes with big flavors like in this fish stew are my absolute favorite! This sounds so amazing!