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
Outstanding. I made this last night and have never made oyster stew in my life. The only thing I did different was dice a potato and toss it in with the onion. Just to add a bit more “bulk” and make it a little thicker. And a dash of paprika, just to give it a little kick. Two questions:
Some of the oysters were huge, like half the size of my hand. I cut those up into 3 or 4 smaller chunks before adding to the stew. My theory – I’d rather have more bites with a piece of oyster in it, rather than one big gulp of oyster and then a half dozen spoonfuls of just stew. Does anybody else do that? Or does that compromise the taste somehow and I should leave whole?
Also, I used the “juice” from the jar (1 pint of Hilton’s brand Willapoint Oysters) in Step 4. I assumed that’s what you meant by “oyster liquor”, right? I was undecided and not sure if it would be OK, or if oyster liquor was only from fresh shucked oysters. Anyway, I used the juice and the stew turned out great. LOL. Just want some clarification on that.
Mike, I cut large oysters into smaller bite size pieces when making this stew, too and you did the right thing with using the juice (oyster liquor). I’m so glad you enjoyed the stew.
I have always used this recipe for my stew. As another person commented some don’t like the oysters and I am one of them. I am more than happy to just have broth while my husband gets all the oysters. I thought I would look up a variation to the recipe but here I end up, using this one because of the great reviews. Mine is more of a cracker stew but I love the oyster flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Helen, I have some in my family who are just like you; they don’t eat the oysters either but just love the stew. I’m sure your husband likes that he gets all they oysters. I know my daddy would have loved that.
Look delicious
We had oyster left over from steaming so I have no oyster liquid. what could I use in replacement for that to make my oyster stew with?
Clam juice?
this is almost the recipe my family uses…always have had it on Christmas morning…we used celery in it instead of onion…didn’t eat the oysters until I was in my 40’s…now, I love them!
Grandma use to make oyster stew for Christmas we all love it. This recipe is a lot like it . She didn’t put onions in but we like with the onions. Thanks you for sharing your recipe..
My husband is 90 and he loves this recipe!
That makes me so happy, Barb.
Amazingly delicious and so easy to make…just need to be patient. I added a dash of paprika at the end. So good. Reminded me of when I was a kid. Oyster stew was a rare treat.
Thank you, Preston. This has been a treat for me since I was a little girl.
My husband’s family had the very strange tradition of making oyster stew for New Year’s Eve dinner…after making the stew just the way you have it here, mother-in-law would “fish out” the oysters and throw them away then serve the “soup” left behind.
That’s a funny story, Sharon. I have some in my family who like the soup but not the oysters, too.
Thanks, Robyn. Nice to know I’m not alone in this oyster-less in-law world. (First year, I had “mom” put all the oysters in my bowl, then ate every one. Did not feel well for some time.)
My mother made oyster stew that I truly loved. But, she never put in onions or used cream. Just all milk. The rest of your recipe seems like hers. So I guess I’ll just use 4 cups of milk.
Hope you enjoy and it tastes like your mother’s, Kathryn.