This mussels with wine sauce recipe is so good that your taste buds are going to do the cha-cha in celebration. It’s easy and so good served on sautéed spinach and mushrooms and creamy polenta.
We go to a fabulous restaurant on Main Street in our small town. It is well known in our area and regularly awarded for its seafood, which is surprising because, even though we’re near the coast, we’re basically landlocked. When Christopher and I want to celebrate, we go to this restaurant for its delicious food and cocktails.
We love to sit at the bar. That’s where they shuck oysters and cook lovely appetizers like mussels and steamers. I’ve watched them like a hawk as they prepare sea food. They have an amazing cooking station behind the bar. There is a line of cooking pans with levers that tip their finished products into dishes and bowls. There are water faucets above the cooking pans to wash them after each batch.
I created this recipe in honor of that restaurant.
I’ve never made steamed mussels or clams! How do I do it?
Cooking clams, mussels is pretty much a matter of steaming them until the shells open up, so that part is easy.
Do I have to buy mussels in their shells?
No. Although you can make this delightful recipe with fresh mussels in the shell, I love the convenience of using shucked mussels, which also changes the cooking method and shortens the time.
What gives mussels and steamed clams their flavor?
The liquid they’re steamed in contribute a great deal of flavor to mussels and clams. The restaurant I mention above uses chicken broth, butter, herbs and wine. The broth, which they serve for dipping, is so good you could drink it. But Christopher and I try to be circumspect and just soak it up with their fabulous dinner rolls.
Clarified butter also makes shellfish pretty delicious.
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How to make mussels with wine sauce
TIP: Prepare the rest of the meal as you’re cooking the polenta, so that everything is finished at roughly the same time.
Step one
Gather the polenta and chicken broth.
Step two
Pour broth into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the polenta and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Add goat cheese and let it melt for another 5 minutes.
Step three
Gather the mussels whether you are using packaged (which I love) or fresh. Also get out the spinach and mushrooms.
Step four
Heat a wok or a large sauté pan on medium and once that heats up, add chicken broth, sliced mushrooms, garlic paste and salt. Sauté for 5 minutes and add spinach and stir until the spinach is wilted.
Step five
Dollop some polenta on the plates. I use shallow white bowls that I got at Crate & Barrel
Step six
While the polenta is cooking: Since the mussels are pre-cooked, I heat them up in a sauté pan.
Heat the pan on medium, add butter, broth, wine and mussels and sauté for 5 minutes.
If you are using mussels in shells, they will be done once the shells open.
Step seven
Spoon the vegetables and the mussels on the polenta.
Mussels with wine sauce on creamy polenta from above!
Other popular seafood recipes
I hope you enjoyed this mussels with wine sauce recipe!
And as always, may all your dishes be delish!
If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!
Mussels with Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Polenta
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup polenta
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces goat cheese
Veggies
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- 10 ounces sliced portobello mushrooms
- 2 large portobello mushrooms sliced thinly
- 10 ounces baby spinach one package
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic paste or 2 cloves of garlic
Mussels
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ⅛ cup dry white wine
- 5 ounces mussels pre-packaged without shells
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
Make it!
- In a medium saucepan, set chicken broth to boil, add polenta and ½ teaspoon salt and let cook for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
- Add goat cheese and continue to cook and stir for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Meanwhile, put sauté pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons chicken broth, mushrooms, garlic paste and salt and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add spinach and stir until wilted.
- Meanwhile put another sauté pan on medium high heat, add butter, chicken broth, wine and mussels and sauté for 5 – 7 minutes. If you are using fresh mussels in the shell, once the shells open, it's done.
- Spoon polenta into two shallow bowls or plates.
- Spoon some mushrooms and spinach mixture on the polenta.
- Top it off with mussels and wine sauce.
- Eat
- Smile
- Enjoy
See all my favorite tools and gift ideas at my Amazon Store page!Check out Elaine’s Amazon Store!Notes
- If you want to steam your own mussels, it’s very easy. Here’s how: place all chicken broth, wine, and butter in a big enough skillet with a lid. Add washed and rinsed mussels and bring to a boil. Steam for 8 – 10 minutes. Check to make sure all the mussel shells have opened. Discard any that didn’t open during the cooking.
- I love the convenience of already shucked and cooked mussels. I usually buy mine at Trader Joe’s. Not only does it change the cooking method, it also shortens the time to make it.
- Although this dish makes for a delicious meal, it also is tasty as an appetizer, with our without the creamy polenta.
- I sometimes add shallots to the vegetable mixture to add more flavor.
- Love lemon? Sometimes I add 2 tablespoons if fresh lemon juice to the wine sauce.
- Use a dry white wine like Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc.
- As garnish, you could use fresh flat-leaf parsley or even sprinkle some red pepper flakes on top.
Jenni LeBaron
Ooh, it’s been a long time since I’ve made polenta – yum! The mussels look scrumptious!
Elaine
Thank you Jenni! I appreciate it!
Tina Dawson | Love is in my tummy
The joy of being able to recreate something from your favorite restaurant (esp a high-end one!) is beyond describing! I am so so glad you were able to do it! Polenta looks amazing, I’ll have to try it sometime.
Elaine
Thanks Tina! 🙂 It’s really yummy!
Sarah Newman
OMG yum! I love mussels but have never made them at home, I always just get them when I’m out. Thanks for making this look easy and oh-so-delicious!
Elaine
Thanks Sarah!! It’s so good!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife
I am a huge seafood lover (and went to school in Boston!) and this dish is making my mouth water. Love the mussels and polenta combo!
Elaine
Thank you Marlynn! How fun that you went to school here!!
Tania | Fit Foodie Nutter
I never tried pairing mussels with polenta before but it looks like a great combination! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Elaine
Thanks Tania! It’s a great paring, if I do say so myself 🙂
Rebecca | Let's Eat Cake
Oh this sounds so good! I love eating mussels out but I’ve never made them at home… but this recipe looks so good I might have to!
Elaine
Thanks Rebecca!! I love eating them out and at home!! 🙂
Gloria
LOVE polenta!! This looks like a great dish….and worthy for company. I have yet to experiment with mussels. I order them when I am out to dinner, but have never attempted to cook them at home. I will have to give this a try.
Elaine
Thanks Gloria! They are easy to cook! I love them both out of the shell and in them! Yum.
Marisa Franca
This recipe has my name written all over it! Seafood? Check! Polenta? Check! Wine? Absolutely!! Never without! It sounds scrumptious and I can guarantee that we’ll be having this dish before long.
Elaine
Thanks Marisa!! You cracked me up!
Leslie
I admire your restraint in not slurping up that delicious broth. This recipe is so perfect to showcase both the mussels and polenta.
Elaine
Hehe, Leslie! Who’s to say I didn’t slurp some up? 🙂 Thank you so much!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices
What a combination! And something I’ve never had! Polenta, greens and mushrooms, topped with juicy mussels. It looks divine, definitely restaurant worthy.
Elaine
Thanks so much Nicoletta! I appreciate it!
Christopher
I like mussels but I LOVE polenta!! What an inspired combo. Looks amazing, too.
Elaine
I know you do Christopher! 🙂
lauren
Elaine, I loved reading your post! We live just outside Boston in Somerville. I love stumbling into others from New England on the internet! These mussels look DIVINE. I absolutely love that they’re already out of the shells for easy eating and the creamy polenta is beautiful!
Elaine
Lauren! Yay! I live in Melrose! We aren’t far from each other, that is for sure. Thank you so much!
Leslie Haasch
The mussels… the broth… I’m drooling over here!
Elaine
Hehe! Thanks Leslie!
Julie
This look so good! I love mussels, but I’ve never made them at home. I always feel like our grocery store has such mediocre looking shellfish so I haven’t tried it. I really wish we had a good fish monger in the neighborhood!
Elaine
It’s super easy to cook them! Thanks Julie! And yes, I love a good fish monger!
Shelley @ Two Healthy Kitchens
Mmmmmmm … this looks spectacular! My eyeballs are definitely already doing the cha-cha in celebration, just looking at your gorgeous pics! I adore mussels, but rarely cook them, and your recipe has me so inspired! I really liked your tips, especially about saving a whole (rather labor-intensive step) by buying already-shucked mussels. Brilliant!
Elaine
Thanks so much Shelley! 🙂 I want to the eyeball cha-cha with you! 🙂
Rachel
Mmm…. I love polenta dishes so much! I bet it’s pairs wonderfully with the mussels. Your mussels look really good too. I’m going to have to try in find the shelled ones the next time I’m at the grocery store!
Elaine
Thanks Rachel, I appreciate it! It does pair so well!
Stacey
This dish sounds incredible and looks gorgeous! I am a sucker for mussels and would devour this!
Elaine
Thank you Stacey! It’s so yummy!
Michele
This dish looks simply amazing! LOVE that the mussels are served over polenta. My family would clean the plate!
Elaine
Thanks so much Michele! Mine does! 😉
Merlin's Mom
This recipe does look and sound delicious, but I am disappointed that no one who commented has actually made the recipe and tasted the results. Recipes should be rated after they have been prepared and sampled.
Elaine
I understand Merlin’s mom. I really can’t control who comments on the blog or how they rate the recipes. I can imagine it’s frustrating seeing the comments, but imagine how I feel when you give the recipe 3 stars when you haven’t tried it either. I hope you give the recipe a try, though.