Fish Stews can be so boring…but not a BRAZILIAN Fish Stew!! With a fragrant tomato coconut sauce with a fresh hit of lime, this is such a different exotic way to serve up fish that is off the charts delicious – yet simple to make.
Brazilian Fish Stew
When I think of Brazilian food, I immediately have visions of grilled meat. Specifically, Churrasco. Serious quantities of grilled meat on giant skewers with the waiters walking from table to table, slicing the meat straight from the skewer onto my plate.
Carnivore heaven. 🙂
Because of the strong association of Brazilian food with Churrasco (and also because I don’t have a giant grill with a rotisserie) I thought sharing this traditional Brazilian fish stew would be nice for something a bit different!
The sauce of Brazilian Fish Stew is essentially a coconut curry sauce. Lightly spiced with a hit of lime, great depth of flavour!
What Brazilian Fish Stew tastes like
It tastes like a mild version of Thai Red Curry – and requires a whole lot less ingredients to make! The flavour of the sauce isn’t as kapow in-your-face, it is slightly more refreshing and not quite as rich.
While the flavour isn’t as intense, it doesn’t mean that it’s not as tasty! You will be amazing at the flavour you get from the relatively short list of ingredients. The key to this recipe is searing the fish first, and letting the sauce simmer down.
What you need
Here’s what you need to make Brazilian Fish Stew. See? I promised they were all “normal” ingredients!!!
Virtually any fish fillets will work here, though I’d avoid fish that dries out easily such as swordfish, kingfish, bonito and tuna. I’ve used snapper below. Other popular fish that will work well here include: tilapia, salmon, cod, basa, catfish, barramundi, bream, ling, John dory / Silver dory. See the recipes notes for more suggestions.
(Tip: These fish selection guidelines are good for any recipes where fish are braised or poached like this, such as Chinese Rice Soup and Goan Fish Curry.)
I remember the first time I saw this Brazilian Fish Stew recipe, I was a bit dubious that the sauce would have sufficient flavour with so few ingredients for the sauce. It gets a helping hand by searing the fish in the pan first. The golden bits left in the pan (it’s called fond) after searing the fish adds a good hit of savoury flavour into the sauce.
How to make Brazilian Fish Stew
And here’s how to make it. It takes around 1 hour all up including a brief marinating time for the fish, and simmering time to reduce the sauce.
What to serve with Fish Stew
Serve this over rice or mashed potato so you have something to soak up that glorious sauce. If you want to up the ante, try it with this Lime Rice – and a crusty hunk of bread to mop your plate clean wouldn’t go astray either (try this quick no-yeast Irish Bread).
If you’re going low carb, serve it over Cauliflower Rice or Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.
For a side salad, this Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing would go really well. The fresh, juicy, crunchy cucumber goes really well with this creamy coconut sauce. Otherwise, serve it alongside a leafy green salad with a vinaigrette (rather than creamy dressing) such as French Dressing, Italian or Balsamic Dressing.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)
Ingredients
Fish
- 1 lb / 500g firm white fish fillet , no skin, cut into 1"/2.5cm cubes (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (Note 4)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small onion , finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper (large), halved and sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar (any)
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 14 oz / 400ml coconut milk (full fat best, Note 2)
- 14 oz / 400ml canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup fish broth/stock (or chicken or vegetable, Note 3)
Finishes
- 1 - 2 tbsp lime juice , plus more for serving
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro / coriander , plus more for serving
Instructions
Fish
- Combine the fish, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the fish and cook until just cooked through and light golden brown. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
Broth
- Reduce the stove to medium high and heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in the same skillet. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until the onion is starting to become translucent.
- Add the bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining Broth ingredients. Bring to simmer, then turn down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until it thickens. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the fish to the broth to reheat - about 2 minutes.
- Stir through lime juice.
- Garnish with cilantro/coriander and serve with rice or Lime Rice. For a low carb option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
a) Feast Magazine - Fish soup (moqueca baiana)
b) Brazilian Foodie - Moqueca Baiana
c) Saveur - Brazilian Fish Stew
d) Simply Recipes - Moqueca - Brazilian Fish Stew 6. Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings, excludes rice.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Updated with new photos, brand new video and of course, a Life of Dozer section added!!
Less meat, more fish!
Life of Dozer
The one place in the new house he’s not allowed – the SPA. Can you imagine how much of his hair would come out with jets blasting on him?? Major filter clogging!!!
Meg says
Delicious and quite versatile! I’ve made this twice now and experimented with adding potato, carrot and spinach to up the vegetable content and they all go nicely, although potato doesn’t freeze well.
Also subbed in lemon juice as I had some spare but no limes, and it was still a huge hit! My family loves it
Nagi says
Sounds great Meg, I love the sauce so much that anything would be great in it! N x
Brandi says
I had some homemade shrimp stock left over from dinner the other night so I used that in place of fish stock. Game out great! Will make again.
Nagi says
That would’ve been amazing Brandi!
Donna says
Made the Brazilian fish stew for our dinner last night and it was a big hit. So tasty. We had mashed potatoes and freshly made bread. I substituted the cilantro for parsley. Thanks for the recipe.
Nagi says
YUUUUM!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Donna!
Tessa says
Hi can I leave the fish to marinate in fridge for a couple of hours?
Nagi says
Hi Tessa, I wouldn’t recommend it as the lime will cook the fish and it may go rubbery after a few hours. N x
Tessa says
Thank you 😊 Just made it, it was amazing! My husband is so happy I discovered this website – I am usually a terrible cook! 😆
Chainie says
We don’t like hot spicy foods (because they numb our tastebuds after the first bite) so we really enjoyed that this perfectly spiced dish allowed us to explore the realm of warm and richly spiced without stepping into charring our tastebuds. So wonderful!
I appreciate that not everyone likes coriander but for us, it gave a very fresh lift.
We loved this beautiful, elegant, warmly spiced dish – restaurant quality – AND EASY! Thank you Nagi !
Nagi says
Thanks so much Chainie, I really appreciate the feedback ❤️
LISA M says
Hi, Nagi!
So happy to finally be able to make this! We really enjoyed it. Thank you.
The recipe is spicy in a good way. I gave us each a side of lime yogurt, and a salad of mostly chopped veggies. I halved it for the 2 of us and also used smoked paprika which had a distinct but good flavor. Probably could have used more cod. Mom loved it! ha;. She’s picky about eating spicy foods so I was surprised she gobbled it up. I would have preferred adding a veggie, like baby bok choi or broccoli but Mom said ‘no – good as is’. We left out the cilantro as Mom ‘hates it’ but we were so happy to be able to try one of your recipes, Nagi. LOVE your website. Lisa in Indianapolis, IN
Silvija Vecrumba says
I’ve been bookmarking favorite recipes from your mailer,but we’re prepping two houses for sale and not doing much cooking. I planned to wait until I have my new dream kitchen to make all your wonderful recipes, but when I read the recipe for the Brazilian Fish Stew, just had to try it. My “sous chef” ( hubby ) actually did all the work, only asking my opinion a couple times. We used tilapia fillets and doubled the recipe so we could enjoy it for a few days, and skipped the cilantro, only because I detest it 🙂 The stew was awesome!! We had it over white rice and it was perfect. I’m off to browse my bookmarks for our next fish recipe, but this time something we can share with our Australian Shepherd!
Nick says
Can I use dashi stock for the fish broth, or is it too smokey? Or maybe iriko dashi? The recipe looks scrumptious!
Nagi says
Hi Nick, yes! That would be great N x
Scha says
Hi Nagi! Your recipes are Sugoiii ne!
To date, I’ve cooked Baked Spaghetti Pie, Fish Chowder, Garlic Parmesan Bread, Salmon Teriyaki, Butter Chicken a couple of times and also just cooked this Brazilian Fish Stew today! You are right, it does taste like Thai Red Curry/Butter Chicken gravies to me lol..
Love your around the world recipes Nagi & I’m eyeing your Sticky Date pudding next!
Thank you for all the hard work; tweaking/researching/doing the recipes/experiments & sharing with us the fruit of your labour! Cheers!
XOXO Love from Singapore
Cheryl says
Wonderful! I’ve been meaning to make this for a couple weeks now – awesome! I needed to up the servings so I added a more fish and threw in a few shrimp but left the sauce as is (but halved the cayenne) and it was perfect. This was my third recipetineats recipe this week (last night was chicken chow mein and Monday was lentil soup). It’s great to have recipes I can count on for dinner.
Nagi says
I’m so glad you’re loving all the recipes Cheryl!!!
Happylabbe says
Another winner…sauce has fantastic flavor and I served it over cauliflower rice that I roasted in the oven. Reminds me of a fish stew I had in Bermuda. They served it with a drizzle of sherry…maybe next time!
Nagi says
Sounds divine!! I’ll have to try that – and roasted is my favourite way to do cauliflower rice! N x
Ellen says
I made this recipe on the same weekend as the Fish Tacos. We were overwhelmed with happy tummies. The Brazilian Fish Stew is a very spicy dish but easily adjusted depending on the guests. I used cod. Makes for great leftovers. So good! Thanks for sharing.
Nagi says
I’m so glad it was a hit Ellen!
Andressa says
When I saw “abusive messages”, I cringed! Some people are so picky, jeez!
Your recipes are just the best, and as a Brazilian myself this is exactly how I do it. I’ve tried a substitute for the palm oil once (vegetable oil + ground turmeric), and honestly didn’t make any difference.
Thanks for this simple, easy and achievable recipe! (And oh so tasty)
🙂
Libbles Wheeler says
Nagi thank you so much for this amazing recipe!!! The fish stew turned out great!!
You never disappoint!!! Another one of my go to fav’s from here on out!!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Libbles, thanks so much! N x
Colleen says
Another perfect recipe. Plenty of sauce & delicious flavours. Served with plenty of brown rice.
Nagi says
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Colleen – N x
mary says
Man, did I love this recipe! I cooked the sauce longer to thicken it more and it was lovely. I wonder if it would work as well with chicken thighs as snapper (which was great) was quite pricey. Any ideas?
Nagi says
Hi Mary, you could use chicken if you prefer – this even works well with frozen fish fillets which are quite cheap 🙂
Jackie McLoughlin says
I made this recipe for the first time last night and paired it with your suggestion of coriander lime rice. It was DELICIOUS and is definitely going to become a staple dish in our house. As someone else has said, it looks very attractive on the plate, and I think it will have that ‘wow’ factor for visitors – in looks and flavour! Thank you Nagi … I love your recipes, easy print versions and your videos. You should be on the telly! xxx
Nagi says
Yes definitely worthy of company Jackie, I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Jackie says
Full fat coconut milk? Our cans don’t seem to specify. I do have coconut cream. Will that work?
Nagi says
Hi Jackie, we have low fat and full fat here – coconut cream will work just as well though 🙂
neil roberts says
great dish,thank you
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Neil!
John. says
Made this last night, fantastic as usual for your recipes.
This is an exceptional dish, well done.
Ignore the abusers mate, you’ll always have haters and there is little one can do about them.
Nagi says
Thanks so much John!
Judith Kelly says
I made this for dinner last night and it was sooooo good. Hubby went for seconds. He’s also a pretty good cook and he asked if it was a Nagi recipe. I have turned him on to you LOL! The end result of this dish is that it is also very pretty to look at. I used cod as my fish and I served this over rice and a green side salad. Nagi, I want to thank you, you are my go to every time I want to make something really good. You understand flavors and spicing like no other. Nothing is ever bland. Keep up the delicious work!
Nagi says
Oh that’s just lovely to hear Judith!!! Sounds like you nailed it – N x