Pacific Northwest Cioppino
Oct 05, 2019, Updated Aug 26, 2025
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Pike Place Market is a must-see for tourists visiting Seattle. The iconic fish throwing and neon entrance sign draw out thousands of cell phone cameras every day. It’s also where I go to grab ingredients for this Pacific Northwest Cioppino.
Year-round you’ll find tourists slowly sauntering down the hall of the market, looking at fish vendor after flower vendor after fresh produce vendor. Maybe sampling a sliver of apple or pear or stopping for a bite of chocolate pasta.
The Seattle landscape wouldn’t be the same without Pike Place Market, and I certainly wouldn’t be the cook I’ve become without this spot for constant inspiration. Even though the market offering looks similar day after day to tourists – give or take the seasonal flower display differences – I like to dig a bit deeper.
Inspiration for Pacific Northwest Cioppino
After what felt like a never-ending work week, I took a late Friday afternoon trip to the market for some dinner inspiration. I squeezed my way past tourists gawking at types of seafood they’d never seen before and stopping to take a colorful photo of the perfectly placed produce.
It’s worth noting I’ve stopped for those photos many times. It doesn’t get old, unless you’re on a mission.
I needed to find seafood that would inspire a delightful dinner. So, as I made my way through the crowd to my favorite seafood vendor, I saw the inspiration right front and center of Pure Food Fish Market – local mussels from Taylor Shellfish.
I got so excited, I didn’t even take a photo of the display. Generally, I turn into the guy who takes a photo of the before, during and after. Just in case, you know? I just grabbed two pounds of the mussels, and immediately knew it would be the start to a Pacific Northwest Cioppino that would also include some shrimp and Alaskan cod.
Cioppino: A Brief History
Cioppino is a seafood stew that gained popularity in San Francisco. Today, you can find it on restaurant menus up and down the West Coast.
This rustic seafood stew has roots of Italian fishermen who settled in the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1800s. They brought with them this traditional tomato-based fish stew, called ciuppin in Italian, which means “to chop” and is translated to Cioppino.
The fishermen would finish their day by pooling their scraps and tossing them in a pot with tomatoes, wine, garlic and whatever herbs they had on hand. Their daily catches would include crab, clams, shrimp, scallops and whatever other fish they caught in the Pacific Ocean. Together, they would make one hearty pot of soup similar to this Pacific Northwest Cioppino recipe.
This version is Whole30-friendly and checks all of the boxes for a paleo diet. I simply skipped adding white wine, a mainstay for those traditional recipes, in the broth. Otherwise, the flavors and tradition can be tasted in every bite.
Pacific Northwest Cioppino
Ingredients
- 2 pounds mussels
- ½ pound shrimp
- ½ pound cod, or other white fish
- 1 large onion
- 1 shallot
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 fennel bulb
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 6 ounces canned tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 8 ounces clam juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables by dicing onion, shallot and red pepper. Cut fennel bulb into half-moon slivers, and fine dice garlic.
- Once vegetables are prepared, add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in diced onion and shallot, stirring to cook for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent.
- Stir in diced red bell pepper and cook for another 3 minutes or so, careful not to burn vegetables. Toss in minced garlic and fennel bulb slivers, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add in 4 cups vegetable broth, clam juice and crushed tomatoes. Once the broth begins to boil, add in bay leaf, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes (optional), salt and pepper.
- Reduce heat to medium-low to simmer, and stir in tomato paste. Let simmer for about 20 minutes. While broth is simmering, prepare seafood.
- Clean mussels, removing beards and rinsing thoroughly, discarding any ones with cracked shells. Peel and devein shrimp, if needed, leaving tails on (optional). Cut cod into chunks about the same size as shrimp, or approximately 1-inch cubes.
- Once broth has been prepared, return heat to medium-high and add in mussels. Put a lid on the pot to allow steam to help mussels open up. This should take about 7-10 minutes.
- After mussels have opened, remove lid and add cod chunks and shrimp, stirring to combine. Cook for about 5 minutes, until cod is cooked through.
- Serve.
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