Healthy moules marinieres mussels. Easy to prepare, low cost and made with no cream! If you're a lover of fresh mussels but not the original recipe with cream then you’ll love this dish. And so will your waistline!
Did you know that in Scotland we are lucky to have some of the finest sea food in the world?
That's why I wanted today, to bring you this amazing moules marinieres using fresh Scottish mussels.
Try and get the freshest mussels you can for this dish.
But, vacuum packed are fine too.
This moules marinieres could easily be a starter dish served for 4 people at a dinner party or for 2 served as a main course.
It's great accompanied with some slices of the wholemeal cob loaf that I made yesterday to mop up the delicious broth - leaving nothing to go to waste! 🙂
I’m lucky in that I can get such excellent seafood from this “plaice” 😉 in Glasgow, “the fish plaice”.
It’s only an hour’s walk from where I live, situated on the edge of the main shopping precinct.
It’s also where Glasgow’s restaurants go to buy their fish to serve their clients. So you can bet their product is the best and of the freshest quality.
Indeed I can get a kg of mussels for about £3.00, so that’s about $4.58 at today’s (4th March 2015) exchange rate!
I think this is the best place for mussels in Glasgow!
I’m so excited to bring you this moules marinieres restaurant style dish.
Actually you should see how much they do charge for it in a restaurant here. But now I’ll let you tuck in.
I’m told that Scottish mussels are at their best in winter.
I expect it’s got something to do with the really cold water temperature but I haven’t looked it up.
So as we are definitely still in winter here in Scotland, I thought now would be the best time to bring you this.
You know because next week with our ever changing climate it might be summer here! 😆
I was first introduced to moules marinieres when I was travelling around France with my parents many years ago!
It was actually moules frites that I had which is a main dish of mussels and French fries originally from Belgium.
Ever since then I've been hooked on mussels. And I think that trip actually began my love of fresh seafood too.
So it was little surprise that when Rick Stein popped up on the cooking scene I became obsessed with all his recipes and we both became big fans.
Anyway not only is this moules marinieres extremely healthy and low calorie but you'll find the smell of it whilst it's cooking intoxicating!
As a fast food you'll definitely want to add it to your list of easy recipes. Bon appétit!
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Fresh Mussels
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Garlic Cloves
- White Wine
- Corn Flour
- Salt
- Fresh Parsley
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
- Fresh Mussels - you can use vacuum packed. If you're brave enough to forage for your own wild mussels then go for it!
- Olive Oil - the French recipe uses unsalted butter (of course!). I use a little olive oil so my moules mariniere calories are lower.
- Onion - you could use shallots instead.
- Garlic Cloves - I use 4 cloves of garlic. You need fresh garlic for this recipe. Feel free to use extra garlic if you want to.
- White Wine - a cheap white wine like Pinot Grigot is all you want to make a basic white wine sauce here.
- Corn Flour - used to help thicken the sauce. Plain flour can be used instead. Normally double (heavy cream) is used here.
- Salt
- Fresh Parsley
How To Make Moules Marinières
Detailed instructions are in the recipe card below. But here are some quick tips for how to make this classic moules marinières recipe:
- Clean mussels by washing them in cold water and removing any beards. Discard any open mussels and ones that are damaged too.
- In a large pan heat the olive oil over a medium heat and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Do not allow the garlic to burn.
- Pour in the white wine and corn flour and heat, stirring to thicken the mixture to a sauce. Season to taste with a little salt.
- Add the mussels to the large pot and put a lid on. Allow the mussels to steam away in the saucepan for about 8 – 9 minutes or until all the shells have opened. Discard any unopened mussels.
- Using a slotted spoon lift out the mussels to portion between soup plates. Then garnish with chopped parsly and pour the sauce back over.
FAQ's
What Is Moules Marinières?
A classic French shellfish recipe where mussels are cooked in garlic and wine.
How Do You Eat Moules Mariniere?
Use a fork or use a mussel shell as a pincer to pull out the mussel meat.
What Goes With Moules Mariniere?
Eat your mussels with a good crusty bread and if wine pairing go for a nice white wine like Chablis.
Equipment
For This Moules Marinieres You May Need….
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Equipment
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Moules Marinieres Recipe
The following links and any links in the recipe card below are affiliate links.
This means that if you click on it and then buy that product I’ll get a small commission (at no extra cost to you of course).
If you do click through then thanks for being a part of Neil’s Healthy Meals!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg fresh mussels
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 small onion finely sliced
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 150 ml white wine
- 1 tablespoon corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp. cold water
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
- Prepare the mussels by washing them in cold water and removing any beards. Discard any that are damaged.
- In a large saucepan heat the olive oil and saute the sliced onion and garlic until soft. Do not allow the garlic to burn.
- Add the white wine and corn flour and heat gently, stirring to thicken the mixture a little. Season to taste with a little salt.
- Add the mussels to the saucepan and put a lid on. Allow the mussels to steam away in the saucepan for about 8 – 9 minutes or until all the shells have opened. Discard any mussels that have not opened.
- Serve the mussels garnished with the chopped parsley, the sauce poured over and slices of wholemeal cob loaf to mop up the broth.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Label
Nutritional information provided below is calculated using paid for online tools and the exact ingredients and quantities used above.
Rate The Recipe
If you’ve made this moules mariniere recipe, or any other recipes on Neil's Healthy Meals, then please let me know.
I’d love to hear what you think of my recipe in the comments below and please do rate my recipe 5* if you like it! 🙂
Susie @ SuzLyfe
I'm not as big on mussels as some (I had a few bad "explosion in your mouth" TWSS moments) but when mussels are good? They are incredible. We had some of the most epic mussels at the restaurant that I worked at in Virginia. It used loukaniko, or fenneled lamb sausage in the broth on HOLY COW it was amazing. My friend Caitlin and I and her now husband Joe made mussels last year when I visited them and AH, yes.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Hey Susie, oh dear those TWSS moments must have been a shock ๐ฎ ๐
But yeah I only ever make this dish when I can get absolutely fresh mussels (the vacuum packed ones are ok too though) or the recipe would just not be at its best. As I said in the post, I am lucky here in Scotland.
I love the sound of those loukaniko Greek sausages in the broth. Wow! Yet another new experience I need to have, sounds amazing! ๐
Meg Bollenback
Gorgeous photos, right back at ya! Holy cow, this looks fantastic. I adore mussels but tend to only get them out at restaurants. I love that you've broken it down here and shown how easy it is to make them at home, and cheaper too, I'm sure. Beautiful recipe, again.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thank you Meg ๐
I really enjoyed putting this one together to show folks it can be quite easy a dish to make. I'm really glad you like it and I'm flattered by your comments. Thanks again! ๐
Shashi at RunninSrilankan
I haven't ever tried messing with muscles in my kitchen before - you make it so easy in bringing the restaurant home!
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
My parents drove myself and my brother around France one year when we went camping there. I fell in love with this dish, and the beautiful French fresh bread to go with it. I told myself that one day I would recreate this at home, and I'm so happy at what I've achieved, albeit a healthier version without the full double cream they sometimes use. ๐