Traditionally known as Moqueca de Peixe or Brazilian Fish Stew, you will love this vibrant fish stew. It’s bright, flavourful, and ready in less than 30 minutes. Made in one pot, this stew makes for the perfect dinner that is great for both busy weeknights or for entertaining guests.
You won’t believe how simple it is to make this fish stew. This super-easy but hearty dish and full of flavor. It is so fragrant and surprisingly only requires a few kitchen staples. I love making this stew as it’s super comforting despite coming together in next to no time. It’s a staple once the cooler weather comes around, but trust me, you’ll want to make this flavorful fish stew year-round!
Here are more fish recipes to try: Garlic Butter Baked Tilapia Recipe, Easy Broiled Salmon Recipe, Garlic Butter Halibut Fish Recipe and Garlic Butter Cod Fish Recipe.
I love cooking stew for dinner because it cooks up without a lot of hands-on cooking. Another stew for easy weeknights I recommend is my Cabbage and Sausage Stew, Instant Pot Chicken Stew, Instant Pot Beef Stew Recipe, and my Healthier Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe.
Moqueca recipe is a Brazilian fish stew that is made with white fish, coconut milk, tomatoes, and peppers. Lime and cilantro are usually added to brighten the stew. Traditionally, moquecas are cooked in clay pots; however, if you don’t have one, a Dutch oven is perfect for this stew as they heat evenly and maintain heat well.
There are two types of Moqueca in Brazil, from two different states in Brazil. One is from Bahia (in the northeast of the country), called Moqueca Baiana.
The other one is from Espirito Santo (in southeastern Brazil), called Moqueca Capixaba. The difference between them is that the Moqueca Baiana uses palm oil and coconut milk, and the Moqueca Capixaba uses olive oil and tomato broth.
For this seafood recipe, I used coconut milk, but I replaced red palm oil with olive oil just because I couldn’t find palm oil easily where I live here in Canada.
- Cod fish — or another firm white fish, like mahi mahi or sea bass. Make sure that the pin bones are removed, as they’re a choking hazard. Thick cuts are ideal. Try to buy fillets that are similar in size so they cook evenly. If you have shrimp, you can also add it to the stew.
- Lime juice — fresh lime juice is best, as bottled lime juice isn’t as bright.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil — or neutral oil of your choice.
- Garlic cloves — finely minced the garlic cloves.
- Peppers — you’ll need hot pepper, green pepper, bell pepper, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper. They add a beautiful pop of colour on top of flavor. Skip the hot pepper if you’d like this to be less spicy.
- Diced tomatoes — all you need is a can. It’s much more convenient than dicing your own. You’ll need to liquid in the can as well.
- Onion — you can use white or yellow onion for this Brazilian fish stew.
- Fresh herbs — I use cilantro and parsley to add a fresh brightness to the stew.
- Coriander — this adds a strong, fresh citrus taste. Optional: red pepper flakes.
- Coconut milk — you want the coconut milk that comes in a can, in full-fat, and not the milk in the refrigerated section.
- Tomato paste — this adds flavor and thickens the stew as well.
Instructions
Prepare the Fish
- Place fish in a large glass bowl and season with salt, pepper, and lime juice. Set aside in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
Add the Ingredients
- In a large Dutch oven pot (or clay pot), add 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and hot pepper and cook for about 1 minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Then, add bell peppers and sliced onions.
- Add the fish fillets and cilantro, parsley, and coriander on top. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper again.
Simmer the Brazilian Fish Stew
- Pour the coconut milk into the Dutch oven and then add the tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Then cover, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the fish is fully cooked. Be careful not to overcook the fish.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and parsley.
This Brazilian fish stew stores really well. As long as you keep it in an airtight container, you can keep this refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.
Recipe tips
- Once you cover the Dutch oven and simmer the stew, avoid stirring the stew to prevent the fish from breaking apart.
- This stew has a short simmering time. If you overcook the stew, the fish will fall apart and taste tough.
- Feel free to use frozen fillets for this fish stew. Simply thaw them fully before adding them to the Dutch oven.
Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca de Peixe)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb cod fish (or other firm white fish, like mahi mahi or sea bass) , rinsed and pin bones removed.
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 hot pepper finely chopped (optional)
- 1 cup diced tomatoes (from a can)
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 1 medium white/yellow onion sliced
- 1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
- 1 small bunch of parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 14 ounce coconut milk can
- 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste
Instructions
- Place fish in a large glass bowl and season with salt, pepper and lime juice. Set aside in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
- In a large Dutch oven pot (or clay pot), add 2 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and hot pepper and cook for about 1 minute.
- Spread diced tomatoes on the bottom of the pot.
- Then, add bell peppers and sliced onions.
- Add the fish fillets and cilantro, parsley and coriander on top. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper again.
- Pour the coconut milk and add tomato paste. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then cover, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the onions are tender and the fish are fully cooked.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if desired. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and parsley. Serve with rice and salad.
Notes
- Avoid stirring the soup too frequently as you don’t want the fish to break up.
- Careful not to over simmer the stew as the fish will come out tough.
- If you are using frozen fish to make the stew, thaw beforehand.
- To store: Keep the fish stew in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- To reheat: Gently reheat the stew on the stovetop when ready to enjoy.
- To freeze: Always allow the stew to cool to room temperature before freezing. Freeze the soup in an airtight freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Can you use tilapia???
Absolutely you can 😉
Great recipe. You can get red palm oil online for a fair price. My favorites are the West African brands, unbleached. Online stores that carry red palm oil include amazon.com and esty.com. There is a world of difference in the favor when authentic red palm oil is used. I omit the tomato paste, but I get it. I love using fresh tomatoes and red palm for color and most importantly, for taste. Your recipe made me hungry and brought back some great memories. I think I’ll make some this weekend.
Great I love you love it. Yes you can buy palm oil online easily on Amazon.
This fish stew is delicious! I used haddock for the stew and added carrot quinoa salad. We couldn’t stop eating.
Thank you Olivia for such a good recipe!
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you liked it and yes this recipe is so good with haddock too 😉
I’d really like to try it. The problem is that I don’t yet have a ‘kitchen’ in my tiny house. I need countertops to do all the slicing, dicing and chopping. I’ll get there hopefully this summer.
Could you use Swai in this recipe? That’s the fish I currently have and am thinking about making this for tonight’s meal. (It looks amazing, btw!)
Yes you can!
Looks very tasty would love to make
You will love it!
I have spme leftover coiked cubed swordfish and this seems a good bet for using it. What do you think?
You should use uncooked fish for this recipe.
Absolutely delicious!!!!! This is now on my “Make Once a Month” list of very favorite recipes!
That’s awesome!
This recipe is a total keeper! Easy and so delicious! Add a baguette and salad and it’s dinner!! Thank you!
Aww your comment made me so happy! I’m glad you liked it!
Too many ads covering over the recipe (Best Buy in particular) makes the site hard to use while cooking. It makes me question coming back for other recipes.
I’m so sorry you feel this way. I just would like to say that hope you understand that I’m only able to provide free content/recipes on this site because of the ads. But we are always talking to our ad network to see what we can do to give our readers a better experience on our site. Thanks for your feedback.
My boyfriend made it. Was absolutely delicious!!
Awesome. Happy you both liked it.
I havent made it yet but I know this is going to taste wonderful
I had something similar to this before
It had yam and batata in it
I will use cod
Yes cod is the best for this recipe!
Is there a substitution you’d recommend for coconut milk?
The tradicional recipe is made with coconut milk. I’ve never made this recipe without coconut milk, but it may work with half-half or heavy cream.
This recipe is impeccable! Bravo!
IMHO, the wonderful flavor and and mouth feel of the moqueca is directly related to the quality and freshness of the seafood used. I’ve made this dish twice. Once with frozen pacific cod, and once with fresh Mahi-Mahi and fresh caught shrimp. Both were good dishes I would be proud to serve to anyone, but using the fresh ingredients caught a couple hours ago, and kept on ice was definitely superior by an order of magnitude. I recommend this recipe to anyone. It’s so quick and easy to make “right”, I think of it as a casual diner.
I totally agree! Fresh seafood is better for this recipe. So happy you liked it!! Thank you so much for your awesome review and for stopping by!
An excellent option for this recipe is red snapper.
Yes absolutely!
Absolutely delicious! Easy to prepare and I look forward to making this again!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Well, here’s the thing: a tube of tomato paste looks almost exactly the same as a tube of anchovy paste. It is best to actually read the label before squirting the product into your fish stew. I will say this… It was still absolutely delicious!
What a great, tasty recipe! So easy that I’ve made it a few times – everyone I made this for has raved about the flavor. I even made it camping in a Dutch over on a camp stove and it turned out just fine.
A true keeper – thanks for the recipe
That’s awesome! Happy you liked it!
This recipe has become one of my favorites. I could eat it every week. I am making it again today. This time I am using 0.5# fish and 0.5# Argentinian shrimp.
I have 1 question: the recipe calls for 3T of olive oil divided and 2T are for sautéing the garlic and pepper. Where is the other T of olive oil used? What did I miss?
It was just a typo. We just fixed it on the recipe card. Thank you for pointing it out.
I haven’t made this dish yet but I’m going to. I wonder if halibut would work?
Yes it would totally work!
I used tilapia and it was fire.
Yes you can make this recipe with tilapia too.
Just amazing. Put it on a bed of brown rice and had it with a crust of toasted artisan bread rubbed with garlic. Also gave it a light sprinkle of crushed red pepper. Whew. My wife and I just loved it.
Your meal combination sounds absolutely delicious! I’m delighted to hear that you and your wife enjoyed the dish with the bed of brown rice, garlic-rubbed artisan bread, and a touch of crushed red pepper. Thanks for sharing your creative twist on the recipe, and I’m glad it turned out so well!