Nourishing and delicious. This hearty soup made with wild fish stock is healthy and cost-efficient.
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I love sitting down to a nice warm bowl of homemade soup especially now that the temperatures are dipping. Bonus points if that soup is made from properly prepared bone broth for that nutrition boost. But sometimes in the busyness of life, I fail when it comes to being crunchy in the kitchen and I am stuck without the bone broth.
Related: The Makings of Bone Broth – 3 Methods
There are two different methods of obtaining that comforting soup without sacrificing the nutrition. Ideally, you would use fish stock, prepared properly with the heads and bones of a fish. You can find the recipe to that here. But you can also use a salmon fillet or two in a pinch and have a nourishing meal ready in 30 minutes.
As always, try to source the best quality of wild fish you can afford. Wild seafood contains higher concentrations of potassium and selenium as well as omega-3s. The best fish for stock are mild, non-oily fish such as cod, rockfish or halibut. You can still make fish stock out of oily fish such as salmon, just reduce the cooking time so as not to damage the sensitive fats. I prefer sturgeon for the slow method and salmon fillets for quick method.
Slow Method + Quick Method
The difference between the slow method and the quick method is in the broth. Simply put, properly prepare stock requires a little more effort, even with fish stock. Because of the fragile fats in the fish, you don’t want to cook the stock too long. Forty-five minutes seems to be the sweet spot before it develops an off flavor from extended simmering. So in reality, the slow method really isn’t that long but lends itself a very nutritious soup.
Related: How to Make Fish Stock
Quick method, on the other hand is just that, quick. It doesn’t require prepared fish stock and no fish head is involved. All you need is a pot of water and a pair of fish fillets. I often use wild salmon fillets (with skin) from Costco.
Fish Soup is Cheap {real} Food
I know I’ve said it many times before, there is no such thing as cheap food. Real food costs money. Food grown organically and ethically costs money. To slap a non-GMO verified costs money that consequently trickles down to the consumer. Even still, fish soup is cheap real food. Fish stock and soup is surprisingly cheap to make. Most fish markets are happy to pass their unused fish heads for incredibly low prices.
Not using fish heads? The quick method calls for only 2 fillets! Two! And that’s for a large pot of soup. What other meal can you stretch to feed an entire family with only 2 fish fillets? I try to serve my family sustainably raised and caught seafood few times a week but wild fish is so expensive. This is a great way to stretch your food budget without sacrificing on nutrition.
Healing Diets
Because diets such as GAPS and Paleo require lots of nutrition and gut-healing foods, fish soup is such great option. To make it GAPS or Paleo friendly, you can easily swap the potatoes for celeriac or cauliflower. Personally, I think potatoes and fish go lovely together but this is can be dressed up anyway you like.
Related: Different Uses for Bone Broth
Easy Nourishing Fish Soup
- 4 quarts fish stock
- 1 onion of your choice
- 4 bay leaves (my pick)
- 2t peppercorns (my pick)
- 2t sea salt (my pick)
- 4 red potatoes, sliced (organic if using with skin, peel if not)
- 1 carrot, sliced
- juice of 1 lemon
- fresh dill and scallions for garnish
- 1 can of tuna (optional, if stock did not produce enough flesh) (I love THIS brand)
- If using frozen fish stock, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight. If there are still frozen pieces of broth, they will melt during cooking. Bring the broth to a soft boil on medium-high heat.
- Add quartered onions, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns for flavor.
- Reduce heat to medium and add chopped potatoes and carrots and cook for another 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Take off heat.
- If you have meaty fish pieces from when you made the fish stock, now would be the time to add it but it's also great without it. You can also add a can of wild tuna and break the pieces up so it's not a big blob of fish in your soup.
- Squeeze lemon juice and garnish with chopped scallions and fresh dill.
- Place two wild salmon fillet in a large stockpot and fill with filtered water.
- Reduce heat to medium after bringing it to a boil. Cook the salmon for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from pot and using a small mesh strainer, try to gather as much gunk from the broth as possible.
- Add quartered onions, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns for flavor.
- Add chopped potatoes and carrots and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove salmon from skin (if any) and break apart the salmon fillets by hand.
- Put the salmon flakes back into the pot after potatoes and carrots are cooked.
- Squeeze lemon juice and add fresh dill and chopped scallions if desired.
- Adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
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Hi Anya,
Sounds like a healthy tasty dish for any fish lover. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & tweeted.
It is! I am sure to have at least once a month.