How to Make Bouillabaisse

How to make bouillabaisse comes down to two things: a saffron and fennel broth built first, and seafood poached in it in stages so nothing overcooks. It is a Provencal fish soup from Marseille, served with garlicky rouille on toasted bread. The cooking is quick once the broth is ready, so the real work is the base and the timing.

This is the home version: firm white fish from your own market in place of Mediterranean rockfish, a broth you can finish ahead, and a rouille made the traditional way with bread and egg yolk instead of a mayonnaise shortcut.

A Short History

Bouillabaisse began with Marseille fishermen, who made it from the bony rockfish they could not sell to restaurants or markets. The name comes from two Provencal verbs, bouillir, to boil, and baisser, to lower the heat to a simmer. That is the whole method in one word: get it boiling, then keep it gentle.

Marseille restaurants still dispute which version is the real one. A group of local restaurateurs wrote the Bouillabaisse Charter in 1980 to set down the ingredients and the method. The charter calls for rascasse, a bony rockfish, usually alongside European conger and sea robin, and the Michelin Guide Vert names four essentials: rascasse, very fresh fish, olive oil and excellent saffron. You can read the background on the bouillabaisse reference page.

The recipe below is a home version. It is not a charter bouillabaisse, because those fish are not sold in most markets, but it keeps everything that defines the dish: the saffron broth, the fennel, the orange peel, the staged cooking and the rouille.

The Four Components

• The broth. Fennel, onion, leek, tomato, orange peel and saffron, simmered in fish stock until it tastes like the sea in a good way.
• The fish. A firm white fish that holds its shape, and a second, more delicate fillet that goes in later.
• The shellfish. Mussels and shrimp, added last because they cook fastest.
• The rouille and toast. A garlic and saffron sauce on crisp bread, which thickens the broth as you eat.

Choosing the Fish

Buy the freshest fish you can find, and buy more than one kind. Different textures are what make the bowl interesting. A firm fish such as halibut or monkfish goes in first because it takes longest. A softer fillet such as red snapper or sea bass goes in after it. Cod, haddock, grouper and hake all work in a pinch.

Ask the fishmonger for the bones and heads of any white fish. Simmered for 30 minutes with an onion, they make a better stock than anything in a carton. If you use store-bought fish stock, taste it first: some are salty enough that you should skip the salt in the broth until the end.

The Technique That Makes It: The Stagger

Staggering the seafood into the broth by cooking time is what actually matters here. Firm fish goes in first, delicate fillets and mussels follow, and shrimp go in last for only a couple of minutes. Dump everything in at once and you get rubbery shrimp and mushy fish. Keep the broth at a steady simmer, never a hard boil, so the fish cooks without breaking apart.

Bouillabaisse

Serves 4 | Prep time: 30 minutes | Cook time: 50 minutes | Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

Broth

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb (about 10 ounces), trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 leek, white and light green part, sliced and rinsed
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 6 cups fish stock
• 2 wide strips orange peel, no white pith
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon pastis (optional)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Seafood

• 1 pound firm white fish such as halibut or monkfish, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 pound red snapper or sea bass fillet, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 8 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Rouille

• 1 slice white bread, crust removed
• 3 tablespoons hot broth from the pot
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• Salt, to taste

To Serve

• 8 slices baguette, cut 1/2 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, halved

Method

Mise en place

1. Soak the saffron in 3 tablespoons of warm water for 10 minutes. Cut the fish into even pieces and keep it, the mussels and the shrimp cold in the refrigerator until the broth is ready.

Build the broth

1. Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion and leek and cook for 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and just starting to color.
2. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes until the paste darkens slightly.
3. Add the tomatoes and wine, scrape the bottom of the pot, and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour in the fish stock, then add the orange peel, thyme, bay leaf, pastis if using, and the saffron with its soaking water.
4. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove the orange peel, thyme and bay leaf.

Make the rouille

1. Tear the bread into a small bowl and soak it in 3 tablespoons of hot broth for 2 minutes. Mash it to a paste with the garlic, egg yolk, cayenne, saffron pinch and a little salt.
2. Whisk in the 1/3 cup olive oil a few drops at a time, then in a thin stream, until the sauce is thick and glossy like loose mayonnaise.

Add the seafood in stages

1. Bring the broth back to a steady simmer. Add the firm white fish and cook for 4 minutes.
2. Add the snapper and mussels, cover, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that stay closed.

Plate

1. Brush the baguette slices with the tablespoon of olive oil and toast them until golden, then rub each with the cut garlic.
2. Ladle broth into warm shallow bowls, divide the seafood among them, and serve with the toasts and a spoonful of rouille on the side.

Doneness

The fish is done when it turns opaque all the way through and flakes when pressed with a spoon, usually 4 to 5 minutes for thick pieces. Shrimp curl into a loose C and turn pink. Mussels are done when the shells open wide, and any that stay shut should be thrown away. Pull the fish the moment it flakes, since it keeps cooking in the hot broth.

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

This is a calculated estimate based on standard ingredient values, not a lab-verified figure. It includes the broth, the rouille and two toasts per serving.

Get Ahead: A Timing Plan

• Two days ahead: make or buy the fish stock, and make the rouille. Keep both covered in the refrigerator.
• One day ahead: cook the broth through the 25 minute simmer and chill it. The flavor improves overnight.
• One hour before: cut the fish, scrub the mussels and peel the shrimp. Keep everything cold.
• Last 15 minutes: reheat the broth, toast the bread, then add the seafood in stages and serve.

Wine Pairing

You want a wine with enough acidity to stand up to tomato and saffron, and no heavy oak to fight the fish. Provence makes the obvious match, and the local wines were built for this soup.

• Bandol rosé, made mostly from Mourvedre, has the structure and dry, herbal edge to carry the saffron and garlic.
• Cassis blanc, from the village next to Marseille, is a crisp white with a salty minerality that suits shellfish.
• Picpoul de Pinet is a lean, lemony white from the Languedoc that cuts through the olive oil in the rouille.

Building the Meal Around It

Bouillabaisse is a full meal, so keep the rest simple. Start with olives and a salad of bitter greens dressed with lemon and olive oil, and keep extra toasted baguette coming. Skip a second soup course, since French onion soup and bouillabaisse are both full statements. Finish with fresh fruit or a lemon tart. More ideas live on the French recipes page.

Cooking for a Crowd

Double the broth and rouille, but cook the seafood in two pots rather than one overcrowded one, so each piece sits in the liquid instead of steaming on top. Keep the finished broth hot on the stove and add the seafood in batches as people sit down. Put the rouille and toasts on the table in bowls so guests build their own. A pot with real capacity helps: a 7 quart stainless steel stock pot holds the broth and seafood for a family dinner with room to stir.

Shop the 7 Quart Stainless Stock Pot

Troubleshooting

• Thin, watery broth. It did not simmer long enough before the seafood went in. Give the base the full 25 minutes, and simmer uncovered for a few more minutes if it still tastes weak.
• Rubbery shrimp. They went in too early or the broth boiled hard. Add them last and cook only until pink.
• Fish falling apart. The broth was boiling, or the pieces were cut too small. Keep a gentle simmer and cut pieces to about 2 inches.
• Broken rouille. The oil went in too fast. Start again with a fresh yolk and whisk the broken sauce into it a spoonful at a time.
• Bitter broth. The orange peel carried white pith, or the saffron was overused. Peel only the zest and measure the saffron.

Variations

Fish only. Skip the mussels and shrimp and use extra fillet for a shellfish allergy at the table. It will not be traditional, but it works well.

With potatoes. Add 12 ounces of sliced waxy potatoes to the broth for the last 15 minutes of its simmer, then add the seafood as written.

Lighter rouille. Replace half the olive oil with warm broth and whisk well, for a thinner sauce that melts into the soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is bouillabaisse a soup or a stew?

It sits between the two. The broth is thin enough to drink, which makes it a soup, but the seafood is cooked in it and served in large pieces, which is closer to a stew. Marseille cooks usually call it a fish soup, and the dish was built from the unsold catch of the day.

What fish is traditional in bouillabaisse?

A traditional Marseille bouillabaisse uses rascasse, a bony rockfish, usually with European conger and sea robin. Versions can also include gilt-head bream, turbot, monkfish, mullet or European hake, along with shellfish such as mussels. At home, use firm white fish from your own market.

How is bouillabaisse traditionally served?

In Marseille the broth is served first in a soup plate with bread and rouille, and the fish is served separately on a platter. At home you can also bring the broth and fish to the table separately and serve them together in large soup plates.

What can I use instead of saffron?

Nothing replicates saffron, and it is one of the defining flavors here. If you cannot find it, a small pinch of turmeric will get the color close, but the broth will taste noticeably different.

What is rouille?

Rouille is a garlic and saffron sauce from Provence, thickened with bread or egg yolk and olive oil, with a little cayenne for heat. It goes on toasted bread and is stirred into the broth at the table.

Can I make bouillabaisse ahead?

Make the broth and the rouille up to two days ahead and keep them in the refrigerator. Reheat the broth to a simmer and add the seafood just before serving. Cooked seafood does not reheat well, so do not make the finished soup ahead.

More French Recipes

The full French recipes collection covers more classics from across France, including French onion soup.

Who Is Writing This

Chef Alan Guerin spent 35 years in professional kitchens, from fine dining rooms to hotels and catering, and earned the Four Diamond distinction six times. He built Wine Drop Cookery to put that experience into plain guides anyone can cook from. More about Chef Alan.

Cook Bolder, Serve Wiser, Eat Better.