Fish Stews can be so boring…but not a BRAZILIAN Fish Stew!! With a fragrant tomato coconut sauce with a fresh hit of lime, this is such a different exotic way to serve up fish that is off the charts delicious – yet simple to make.
Brazilian Fish Stew
When I think of Brazilian food, I immediately have visions of grilled meat. Specifically, Churrasco. Serious quantities of grilled meat on giant skewers with the waiters walking from table to table, slicing the meat straight from the skewer onto my plate.
Carnivore heaven. 🙂
Because of the strong association of Brazilian food with Churrasco (and also because I don’t have a giant grill with a rotisserie) I thought sharing this traditional Brazilian fish stew would be nice for something a bit different!
The sauce of Brazilian Fish Stew is essentially a coconut curry sauce. Lightly spiced with a hit of lime, great depth of flavour!
What Brazilian Fish Stew tastes like
It tastes like a mild version of Thai Red Curry – and requires a whole lot less ingredients to make! The flavour of the sauce isn’t as kapow in-your-face, it is slightly more refreshing and not quite as rich.
While the flavour isn’t as intense, it doesn’t mean that it’s not as tasty! You will be amazing at the flavour you get from the relatively short list of ingredients. The key to this recipe is searing the fish first, and letting the sauce simmer down.
What you need
Here’s what you need to make Brazilian Fish Stew. See? I promised they were all “normal” ingredients!!!
Virtually any fish fillets will work here, though I’d avoid fish that dries out easily such as swordfish, kingfish, bonito and tuna. I’ve used snapper below. Other popular fish that will work well here include: tilapia, salmon, cod, basa, catfish, barramundi, bream, ling, John dory / Silver dory. See the recipes notes for more suggestions.
(Tip: These fish selection guidelines are good for any recipes where fish are braised or poached like this, such as Chinese Rice Soup and Goan Fish Curry.)
I remember the first time I saw this Brazilian Fish Stew recipe, I was a bit dubious that the sauce would have sufficient flavour with so few ingredients for the sauce. It gets a helping hand by searing the fish in the pan first. The golden bits left in the pan (it’s called fond) after searing the fish adds a good hit of savoury flavour into the sauce.
How to make Brazilian Fish Stew
And here’s how to make it. It takes around 1 hour all up including a brief marinating time for the fish, and simmering time to reduce the sauce.
What to serve with Fish Stew
Serve this over rice or mashed potato so you have something to soak up that glorious sauce. If you want to up the ante, try it with this Lime Rice – and a crusty hunk of bread to mop your plate clean wouldn’t go astray either (try this quick no-yeast Irish Bread).
If you’re going low carb, serve it over Cauliflower Rice or Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.
For a side salad, this Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing would go really well. The fresh, juicy, crunchy cucumber goes really well with this creamy coconut sauce. Otherwise, serve it alongside a leafy green salad with a vinaigrette (rather than creamy dressing) such as French Dressing, Italian or Balsamic Dressing.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Brazilian Fish Stew (Moqueca Baiana)
Ingredients
Fish
- 1 lb / 500g firm white fish fillet , no skin, cut into 1″/2.5cm cubes (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Broth
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil (Note 4)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small onion , finely diced (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper (large), halved and sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar (any)
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 14 oz / 400ml coconut milk (full fat best, Note 2)
- 14 oz / 400ml canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup fish broth/stock (or chicken or vegetable, Note 3)
Finishes
- 1 – 2 tbsp lime juice , plus more for serving
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro / coriander , plus more for serving
Instructions
Fish
- Combine the fish, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Heat the 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the fish and cook until just cooked through and light golden brown. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
Broth
- Reduce the stove to medium high and heat 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil in the same skillet. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until the onion is starting to become translucent.
- Add the bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining Broth ingredients. Bring to simmer, then turn down to medium. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until it thickens. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Return the fish to the broth to reheat – about 2 minutes.
- Stir through lime juice.
- Garnish with cilantro/coriander and serve with rice or Lime Rice. For a low carb option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Recipe Notes:
a) Feast Magazine – Fish soup (moqueca baiana)
b) Brazilian Foodie – Moqueca Baiana
c) Saveur – Brazilian Fish Stew
d) Simply Recipes – Moqueca – Brazilian Fish Stew 6. Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings, excludes rice.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Updated with new photos, brand new video and of course, a Life of Dozer section added!!
Less meat, more fish!
Life of Dozer
The one place in the new house he’s not allowed – the SPA. Can you imagine how much of his hair would come out with jets blasting on him?? Major filter clogging!!!
Hi, Nagi. I’ve been craving to make this dish for some time now, but it was a bit hard to get red bell peppers during this quarantine period. Two questions. I have hondashi at home, do you think it would be better to use that for the broth or should I use chicken broth instead? Also, in Colombia, we make something called “arroz con coco” (rice with coconut), I don’t know if you’re familiar with it; we usually have it with deep-fried whole tilapia or “cazuela de mariscos” (seafood stew). It’s rice that is cooked with “coconut extract” (which is kind of between coconut water and coconut milk, with maybe some of the flesh), titoté (which is sort of like toasted coconut caramel) and raisins, so it’s a bit sweet. Do you think it would go well with this recipe or should I stick to plain white rice? Thanks in advance.
Hi Isabel, either the hondashi or chicken stock would work fine in this dish – I’d probably stick to the chicken stock through to not overpowered the flavour. Love the sound of the coconut rice, sounds divine Isabel!! N x
So sad that you’re not on Instagram! This is probably the 3rd recipe I’ve seen from you that I immediately bookmarked for cooking! I’ve made your Irish Guinness Stew before and it was phenomenal. We still have some leftovers in the freezer for emergency cooking-isn’t-an-option-today days. We’ve challenged ourselves to not eat takeout for a year and your recipes are definitely helping. Just wish I could see these beautiful pictures pop up on my feed to keep the inspiration going, however, I know it’s a lot of work to curate anything on social media so if it isn’t for you, I respect that.
Many blessings and thank you for the food!
Hi Nina, I definitely am on instagram! I’m so happy you loved this stew though 🙂 N x
This is such a tasty recipe! I was looking for a nice cod recipe and this looked very enticing, i liked the list of ingredients so give it a go. I did season it quite well and served with plain boiled rice and steamed tenderstem broccoli.Also very simple to make. Definitely make again!
Have made this fish stew twice now and my husband says it is a very worthy recipe. We thoroughly enjoyed it on both occasions. I added some green beans and broccoli to up the veg content and served with steamed rice. Next time I am going to substitute pork instead of the fish as I think the sauce would be equally delicious.
This recipe is so easy and delicious.
Three weeks ago had surgery on my right hand and couldn’t use my hand for 2 weeks. So my husband said no problem I will cook but only if it is a recipe from Nagi, cause everything you cook from website comes out so good. So this was the first recipe he made you Nagi. Now he is bragging to our sons and friends that they should also make your recipes cause they are so good, easy and delicious.
Nagi keep spoiling us with your great recipes.
I LOVE hearing this Michelle!!!! N x
Delicious and quite versatile! I’ve made this twice now and experimented with adding potato, carrot and spinach to up the vegetable content and they all go nicely, although potato doesn’t freeze well.
Also subbed in lemon juice as I had some spare but no limes, and it was still a huge hit! My family loves it
Sounds great Meg, I love the sauce so much that anything would be great in it! N x
I had some homemade shrimp stock left over from dinner the other night so I used that in place of fish stock. Game out great! Will make again.
That would’ve been amazing Brandi!
Made the Brazilian fish stew for our dinner last night and it was a big hit. So tasty. We had mashed potatoes and freshly made bread. I substituted the cilantro for parsley. Thanks for the recipe.
YUUUUM!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Donna!
Hi can I leave the fish to marinate in fridge for a couple of hours?
Hi Tessa, I wouldn’t recommend it as the lime will cook the fish and it may go rubbery after a few hours. N x
Thank you 😊 Just made it, it was amazing! My husband is so happy I discovered this website – I am usually a terrible cook! 😆
We don’t like hot spicy foods (because they numb our tastebuds after the first bite) so we really enjoyed that this perfectly spiced dish allowed us to explore the realm of warm and richly spiced without stepping into charring our tastebuds. So wonderful!
I appreciate that not everyone likes coriander but for us, it gave a very fresh lift.
We loved this beautiful, elegant, warmly spiced dish – restaurant quality – AND EASY! Thank you Nagi !
Thanks so much Chainie, I really appreciate the feedback ❤️
Hi, Nagi!
So happy to finally be able to make this! We really enjoyed it. Thank you.
The recipe is spicy in a good way. I gave us each a side of lime yogurt, and a salad of mostly chopped veggies. I halved it for the 2 of us and also used smoked paprika which had a distinct but good flavor. Probably could have used more cod. Mom loved it! ha;. She’s picky about eating spicy foods so I was surprised she gobbled it up. I would have preferred adding a veggie, like baby bok choi or broccoli but Mom said ‘no – good as is’. We left out the cilantro as Mom ‘hates it’ but we were so happy to be able to try one of your recipes, Nagi. LOVE your website. Lisa in Indianapolis, IN
I’ve been bookmarking favorite recipes from your mailer,but we’re prepping two houses for sale and not doing much cooking. I planned to wait until I have my new dream kitchen to make all your wonderful recipes, but when I read the recipe for the Brazilian Fish Stew, just had to try it. My “sous chef” ( hubby ) actually did all the work, only asking my opinion a couple times. We used tilapia fillets and doubled the recipe so we could enjoy it for a few days, and skipped the cilantro, only because I detest it 🙂 The stew was awesome!! We had it over white rice and it was perfect. I’m off to browse my bookmarks for our next fish recipe, but this time something we can share with our Australian Shepherd!
Can I use dashi stock for the fish broth, or is it too smokey? Or maybe iriko dashi? The recipe looks scrumptious!
Hi Nick, yes! That would be great N x
Hi Nagi! Your recipes are Sugoiii ne!
To date, I’ve cooked Baked Spaghetti Pie, Fish Chowder, Garlic Parmesan Bread, Salmon Teriyaki, Butter Chicken a couple of times and also just cooked this Brazilian Fish Stew today! You are right, it does taste like Thai Red Curry/Butter Chicken gravies to me lol..
Love your around the world recipes Nagi & I’m eyeing your Sticky Date pudding next!
Thank you for all the hard work; tweaking/researching/doing the recipes/experiments & sharing with us the fruit of your labour! Cheers!
XOXO Love from Singapore
Wonderful! I’ve been meaning to make this for a couple weeks now – awesome! I needed to up the servings so I added a more fish and threw in a few shrimp but left the sauce as is (but halved the cayenne) and it was perfect. This was my third recipetineats recipe this week (last night was chicken chow mein and Monday was lentil soup). It’s great to have recipes I can count on for dinner.
I’m so glad you’re loving all the recipes Cheryl!!!
Another winner…sauce has fantastic flavor and I served it over cauliflower rice that I roasted in the oven. Reminds me of a fish stew I had in Bermuda. They served it with a drizzle of sherry…maybe next time!
Sounds divine!! I’ll have to try that – and roasted is my favourite way to do cauliflower rice! N x
I made this recipe on the same weekend as the Fish Tacos. We were overwhelmed with happy tummies. The Brazilian Fish Stew is a very spicy dish but easily adjusted depending on the guests. I used cod. Makes for great leftovers. So good! Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad it was a hit Ellen!
When I saw “abusive messages”, I cringed! Some people are so picky, jeez!
Your recipes are just the best, and as a Brazilian myself this is exactly how I do it. I’ve tried a substitute for the palm oil once (vegetable oil + ground turmeric), and honestly didn’t make any difference.
Thanks for this simple, easy and achievable recipe! (And oh so tasty)
🙂
Nagi thank you so much for this amazing recipe!!! The fish stew turned out great!!
You never disappoint!!! Another one of my go to fav’s from here on out!!
That’s so great to hear Libbles, thanks so much! N x
Another perfect recipe. Plenty of sauce & delicious flavours. Served with plenty of brown rice.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Colleen – N x
Man, did I love this recipe! I cooked the sauce longer to thicken it more and it was lovely. I wonder if it would work as well with chicken thighs as snapper (which was great) was quite pricey. Any ideas?
Hi Mary, you could use chicken if you prefer – this even works well with frozen fish fillets which are quite cheap 🙂