How to cook mussels in a simple, yet utterly delicious way – steamed in a garlic white wine lemon sauce! It’s quick, easy and the best part is mopping up the incredible sauce with crusty bread!
Mussels recipe
Mussels are highly underrated – they’re cheap, quick and easy to cook, and delicious!
And there’s something so impressive about placing a giant bowl of mussels on the table for family and friends to get stuck into with their hands. No cutlery around these parts – just lots of napkins!
How to cook mussels
This recipe I’m sharing today is a very classic way to cook mussels – steamed in a garlic butter white wine broth. It’s very quick and easy, and really makes the most of mussels:
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Saute aromatics to create the flavour base (butter, garlic, onion), cook off white wine then stir through tomato (colour, adds texture, interest and a bit of flavour);
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Add mussels;
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Clamp lid on, cook 8 minutes shaking once or twice;
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When cooked, mussels will open;
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Pour the mussels and all the broth in a big bowl – or serve it straight from the pot!
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Crack the mussel open, scoop up broth and devour!
Can you eat mussels that haven’t opened?
Yes you can! It’s an old wives tale that mussels that don’t open are off. The only reason to not eat mussels that don’t open are if they are too hard to pry open!!
How to tell if mussels are fresh?
Easy – the smell. When raw, mussels smell fresh, like the ocean. Off mussels smell very unpleasant. Just trust me when I say you will KNOW if they are off!
What you need for steamed mussels
Fundamentally, the only ingredients you need to make really tasty mussels is garlic, white wine and butter or olive oil. Everything else you see below are extras that add an extra element of flavour, but they aren’t mandatory.
White wine really is the ingredient that makes all the difference here. Wine adds complexity and flavour to the sauce of an otherwise very simple recipe. Non alcoholic sub – low sodium chicken broth/stock.
The best part is the SAUCE!
It might be totally inappropriate to say this, but for me, the best part of every mussel recipe I’ve every tried or ordered is the SAUCE.
As the mussels cook, they drop an astonishing amount of liquid which is essentially real (and free) seafood stock. The BEST stock one could ever ask for!
So when the mussel juices mingles with everything else in the pot, you end up with the most outrageously tasty sauce to dunk bread into!! – Nagi x
More mussel recipes
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Mussel pasta – cook mussels per this recipe, remove meat from mussels, leaving some in shell for presentation. Cook pasta, then toss pasta into skillet with the sauce from these mussels, then toss in mussels, lemon juice, season to taste!
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Seafood Marinara Pasta – cook mussels per recipe, remove meat from mussels and use in the Marinara Pasta recipe. Add the cooking broth from this recipe into the tomato sauce in the Marinara Pasta recipe and cook down to reduce. AMAZING!??
Watch how to make it
Watch how to cook mussels in garlic white wine butter sauce!
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Steamed Mussels
Ingredients
- 50g / 3 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 1⁄2 onion , finely chopped (brown, yellow, white)
- 3 garlic cloves , very finely chopped
- 1 kg / 2 lbs mussels , bearded and scrubbed (Note 1)
- 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine
- 2 tomatoes , deseeded and diced (Note 2)
Serving:
- 1⁄4 cup flat leaf parsley , roughly chopped
- Lemon wedges (essential!)
- Crusty bread to serve (essential!)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat, melt butter.
- Add the garlic and onion, stirring occasionally until onion is soft and fragrant - about 3 minutes.
- Turn heat up to high, add wine and bring to boil. Simmer 2 minutes until the harsh alcoholic smell is gone.
- Stir in tomatoes, add mussels stir to coat in sauce a bit.
- Cover, lower heat to medium high and cook, shaking pot once or twice.
- The mussels are cooked when they are open - around 6 to 8 minutes.
- Toss through parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt as the mussels are already salty, so taste first.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and serve with lemon wedgeds on the side so people can use as much as they wish. Serve immediately with crusty bread to mop up the sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2014. Updated July 2019 with brand new photos, new video and new writing! Recipe got a refresh too but the core of the recipe is the sam.
Life of Dozer
He was about 5 kg / 10lb when I got him…. he’s now 40kg/80lb!!!!
Out in Perth on business from States in 2001 – discovered chili mussels. WOW!
Mostly similar to this but no onion instead included Thai red chilis and handful of basil.
Flaming spectacular flavors.
Love your work. Thank you for it all.
2nd time making this quick and easy delicious recipe !!
Great recipe but l highly recommend adding one red hot chilli 🌶 just gives it another layer of flavour
Thanks again for another great recipe
Hi your recipe said to stir in wine then tomatoes. However your video said stir in tomatoes then wine??
Made these and they were delicious!
My only ‘problem’ with this recipe – there is simply no way that 1 kg of mussels will feed 4 people – at least not in this house. We tend to devour them by the bowl full. We made this with just under 2.5kgs of mussels for 4 people, still plenty of broth to go around, absolutely divine, kids literally licked their bowls!
Thanks for that feedback Melissa – I too can hoover through a fair few bowls of these juicy babies!! And dipping the bread into the broth…oh yes!! N x
Totaly amazing, I am still licking my lips. This was the meal we have missed for months, something new, exciting and tastes amazing!
Woo hoo!! I am glad that you liked it Keith! It’s a classic!! N x
Will using frozen mussels work do you think. I am going to try it this evening for my birthday dinner. I love mussels and I still don’t trust going to a restaurant. Thank you in advance.
Hi Nagi. Just made this. As always your recipes are my go-to for delicious taste treats. I am however, a bit confused. You mention heating the oil, but in the recipe it says butter. I erred on the side of caution & used both 😬
Hi Phil! It’s definitely butter! I will fix that up in the recipe! Thanks! N x
Yum, great, worked perfectly.
I just bought some mussels. Your recipe looks delicious..I am going to cook my mussels tomorrow. Shall let you know how they come out.
Hi Nagi,
Cooked this night, it was wonderful. Noticed that the recipe is different to the video. The red pepper and 1/2 tsp? Of pepper not included in recipe. I added 1/2 tsp of home dried and crushed chillies plus 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Came up a treat.
Hello Nagi!
I’m about to make this in a few days as my birthday dinner 🙂
I’m just wondering if adding cream at the end would be ok? I was thinking of removing the mussels, adding the cream and mix, then pour the sauce over the mussels. Would that work?
If anyone is curious, I did try it with cream and it was really nice!
I simply took out the mussels at the end (into serving bowls), and added 2 big tablespoons of dollop cream to the broth, simmered for a little bit, then pour it back over the mussels.
Hi Nagi. Can I use a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc for this recipe? I really don’t want to spoil it by using the wrong wine. Am so looking forward to try it. Thanks!
Aisyah, any dry white will work fine here! Enjoy! N x
Hi Nagi I’d love to see your take on a chilli mussels recipe, my husband loves it but I’ve never made it. All your recipes that I’ve tried have been absolute crackers I can’t thank you enough for this site x
Can I make this in a Red Sauce?
Really amazing… I MAY have thrown in a bit extra butter but other than that followed as written. So good!!! The whole family enjoyed!
Hello love it I will try it for the holidays I’m portuguese so we use a lot of chourico .. for the mussels is it okay to used frozen ?
Hi, Nagi. I’m in Australia. Haven’t used alcohol in my dishes before.
Which brand of wine do you recommend for this dish?
Thank you.
Hi! You can use White Sherry Wine to cook with.
OMG Nagi, Your chilli mussels are divine. The broth and the bread are a marriage made in heaven. Three dozen between four people was too much but we managed to finish.
Full to the brim but happy tummies.
Thanks yet again for a yummy meal.