Oyster Stew Recipe
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Oyster Stew Recipe – This delicious fresh Oyster Stew is full of seafood flavor and such an easy recipe to make! It’s a family favorite stew that is ready in minutes!
This Oyster Stew recipe is a family classic. You see, my granddaddy loved it more than any other dish on a cold winter day.
I always looked forward to the days my grandmother would make her recipe because it was a favorite of mine, too. I would watch as she prepared the stew. She always made cooking look so easy! And this Oyster Stew is definitely a simple recipe my family has enjoyed for years.
Oyster Stew Recipe
This recipe makes the best oyster stew I’ve ever had. And I love that this is so easy to make on any cold night when the craving hits! There’s nothing like the deliciously rich seafood flavor of the oysters and the creaminess of the onions and milk from this stew! It is so comforting, satisfying and is ready in minutes.
The best oysters for this oyster stew are fresh. As in the fresher the better. But, if I have a craving for this stew and am no where near fresh oysters, I have found that the seafood section of my grocery store usually has a very good selection of oysters that work perfectly.
How to Make Fresh Oyster Stew
To make this stew, you’ll need:
Ingredients
- fresh oysters – pint packed in their own juice
- butter
- yellow onion – chopped
- whole milk
- half-and-half
- salt and pepper – use to taste
Step by Step Instructions
Prep. Drain juice from the pint of fresh oysters into a small bowl and set aside for later use. Do not discard the juice, or “oyster liquor”.
Melt butter. Add butter to a large saucepan and melt over medium-low heat until completely melted.
Cook onion. Add chopped onions to melted butter and cook until translucent and tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Cook liquids. Stir in your reserved juices, or oyster liquor, and cook until reduced mostly reduced, about 10 minutes. Then add in the milk and half-and-half and heat to simmer. Do not let the liquids reach a boil as this will cause your milk to curdle.
Add oysters. Now stir in the fresh oysters and allow to simmer until the edges of the oysters begin to curl, about 8 minutes.
Remove from heat. Once edges of oysters have started to curl, removed the oyster stew from the heat. Allow to cool slightly.
Season and serve. Then, stir in salt and pepper to taste and serve with crackers.
Other Favorite Stews and Soups
There’s nothing like a delicious soup or stew when you want a comfort food, especially on a chilly day! Here are a few more of our family favorites you may want to try as well. There are many more under “Soups” category here on my site. Enjoy!
Southern Chicken and Dumplings
Here’s my Grandmother’s Oyster Stew Recipe. Hope you like it as much my Granddaddy and I always have.
Oyster Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pint oysters,, fresh, packed in their juice
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup half-and-half
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Drain juice from oysters into small bowl. Set aside.
- Add butter to large saucepan. Heat on medium-low heat until melted.
- Add chopped onions and cook until translucent and tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add oyster liquor and cook until mostly reduced, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in milk and half-and-half and heat to simmer. Do not allow to boil as it will cause your milk to curdle.
- Add oysters and continue on simmer until outer edges of oysters curl, about 8 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, and add salt and black pepper, to taste.
- Serve with mini saltines or oyster crackers.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I made this tonight. It was my first time making it. My dad would be so proud of me!! He made this when I was a kid. Thanks for the recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked this recipe, Lori. I love making recipes that my parents and grandmother made when I was growing up, too.
My husband grew up eating oyster stew but I had never eaten any or made it. He mentioned he’d love to have some oyster stew if it wasn’t too much trouble. I searched online and found your easy and relatively quick recipe. I only had canned oysters, but it made a wonderful stew, and after reading some of the other reviews I think this will become a Christmas or New Year’s Eve tradition! Thank you!
Hi Jann,
I’m so glad your husband introduced you to oyster stew and you loved it. It has been one of my favorites since I was a little girl. Thanks!
I remember my father use to make this in Minnesota, he was from Missouri. It was soooo good. Brings back old memories.
Linda,
Love how these recipes bring back memories. I always think of my grandmother when I make this.
I love oyster stew or soup! Â But we I am from a state where I can not get fresh oysters,can you use canned ones instead?
Yes, Polly Anna. You can use canned oysters. Thanks!
My mom used to make oyster stew for New years Eve. She passed away 6 years ago and my dad had been making it the last few years. It was good but it didn’t taste the same. I’m going to give it a try, this sounds similar to the way she did it. I’m going to try to make a bit of a bigger pot. Wish me luck.
Best of luck, Jessica! I know how important it is to keep those traditions once our loved ones, especially our parents, pass away. I hope this is close to her recipe for you!
We served this oyster stew recipe for Christmas dinner. This is the first time we have used onions in the oyster stew, and the family liked it very much. We used a quart of oysters, so we doubled the recipe. I put the recipe in our computer bookmaker. We did boil the oysters in water the second time we used this recipe, so they got tender and the edges curled. The first time we put the oysters in the milk, and the oyster didn’t get done, so we ended up boiling them in water to get them tender. Our guests liked the stew very much. We may have miss interpreted putting the oysters in the milk and let them simmer until tender. Having said that, we would recommend this recipe to anyone.
Awesome – all loved it!!
Merry Christmas! My Grandmother made oyster stew for the entire family on Christmas morning. It was a treat to have it. I am making this recipe for my dad.Â
no matter what I do the soup appears to curdle! Could the use of salted butter do this?
Hi Jean,
Salt can cause your soup to curdle, but I’ve not had issues with using salted butter. If you have tried everything to prevent it, then you may be on to something with your salted butter. I’d try it with unsalted butter and then add salt once the soup is off of the heat.
I also grew up having oyster stew on Christmas Eve here in Iowa. Dumb question, but after stew is done do you think it would keep ok in a crock pot or is it a serve immediately type of food, in your opinion?
Hi Shannon,
I have only seen it served immediately after it finishes cooking. Thanks!