Italian Fish Soup Recipe

This quick and easy Italian Fish Soup is comforting year-round and ready within 30 minutes. Healthy fish soup with common, easy to find ingredients such as canned tomato, onion, and bell pepper. It’s rich and cozy, and something the whole family will love.

If the view outside is any indication, I’d say it’s soup weather. With colder weather, you’ll want cozy, comfort foods. Wholesome, heart-warming recipes like this Italian Cod Fish Soup have lately been a favorite of mine.

It’s cooked in one pot and loaded with clean-eating ingredients, rich flavor, and lean protein from fish. You can modify how you like by including other seafood such as shrimp, and extra vegetables.

Fish soup makes an easy dinner

Making fish soup is as simple as assembling ingredients and cooking in one pot, all in less than 30 minutes from start to finish, with only about 20 minutes of cooking. Whitefish, such as cod, will cook quick right inside the broth, so no pre-cooking is needed. Less work and less clean up will allow more time for relaxing this winter.

Another bonus is it’s mostly made with vegetables and fish, so it’s wholesome and gluten-free. This healthy Italian soup with fish has plenty of flavors, but still perfect for fitting into your healthy lifestyle. 

Ingredients for Fish Soup

Alaska cod fillet, also known as Pacific cod, is a popular whitefish variety. The moist, yet firm texture makes it a versatile fish. The distinctive flake and slightly sweet flavor adapts well to almost any cooking method. It even holds up well once cooked into this fish soup. 

Other Ingredients You’ll Need

• Onion and garlic: A combo the adds and enhances flavors of almost any savory meal
• Celery and green bell pepper: balances out the soup with nutrients and a bit of crunch
• Dry white wine: used to deglaze the pot and bring out more flavors
• Lemon juice: compliments seafood with a vibrant tanginess
• Dried Italian seasoning: a simple way to add lots of flavor to soups and stews
• Canned diced tomatoes: use the tomato and liquid from the can for flavor and a lovely red color
• Stock: creates the broth for fish soup. Fish stock will add richer flavor, but chicken stock or beef broth can be used as well
• Tomato paste: helps thicken the broth a bit, plus adds loads of tomato flavor
• Fresh basil: garnish with lovely Italian flavors

How to Make Fish Soup

1. Everything is cooked in one pot in this simple recipe. Start off by sauteing onions until tender, then add celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.2. Add white wine, lemon juice, and Italian seasonings. Heat until cooked down a bit, then stir in canned diced tomatoes.
3. Stir in chicken or fish stock and tomato paste. Simmer about 10 minutes more until heated through
4. Add fish pieces and simmer about 5 minutes until the fish is cooked. Remove from heat, stir in chopped fresh basil, and serve.

Tips for Making this Fish Soup Recipe

• Add the fish in at the end so it doesn’t overcook and break up too much. No need to bring to boil, just be sure the fish is cooked through.
• You can use other meaty white fish such as haddock or monkfish. If you are unable to find these fish sole or tilapia can be used, but won’t be as meaty.
• Try adding some red pepper flakes for a spicy kick as well as extra salt and pepper to taste when serving.
• If you’re making this in advance don’t add the fish until you reheat it and are ready to serve. This fish soup recipe always works great for leftovers and double-batches, which is covered later in the post. 

What fish to use

Cod is an ideal choice for fish soup because of its firm texture that holds up well…as you can see with the delectable chunks of fish in the photos. However, it’s still moist and flaky and has a nice mild flavor that absorbs the flavors of the broth.

Note: You could also use another white fish such as sole or tilapia, but it won’t be as meaty and will likely fall apart in the soup. If you want to add extra seafood such as shrimp and clams, another favorite seafood soup of mine is Cioppino.

Do you need to pre-cook fish before adding to soup?

Fish is a lean meat that cooks very quickly. You can add it straight to the warm soup at the end just before serving. An added bonus is that it soaks up the flavors while cooking. Allow about 5 minutes for it to cook through and become tender.

Is this the same as fish stew?

The broth in this Italian fish stew is rich and thick, so technically it could be considered an Italian seafood stew. Cod stew would typically have less liquid and this can be achieved by reducing the amount of broth or adding extra diced tomatoes or even tomato sauce.

How to store and serve leftovers

Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage.

To serve: Reheat covered in a microwave-safe bowl until warm, about 2-3 minutes depending on microwave wattage. Alternately, you can reheat in a pan over medium-low heat until warm.

Pro tip: Make a double batch for extra leftover soup dinners. Follow all directions with double broth ingredients, but do not add fish to the soup. Freeze half of the soup broth. When reheating leftovers in a pot, simply add raw fish to cook in the broth mixture.

The other half can be enjoyed right away by adding fish to the soup and cooking as directed.

Italian Fish Soup recipe at-a-glance:

Flavor profiles: Rich, buttery tomato broth with mild white fish
Texture: Tender fish and veggies in a thick broth.

More hearty soup and chili recipes to keep you warm

• How to Make French Onion Soup
• Pressure Cooker Chile Verde Pork
• White Bean Turkey Chili
• Chicken Minestrone Soup
• Pho Soup Recipe with Chicken
• Tomato Beef Stew
• Sweet Potato Chili

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5 from 3 votes

Easy Italian Fish Soup

Quick and healthy One Pot Cod Fish Soup perfect for cold weather. Easy winter soup with tomato, onion, bell pepper, garlic and cod whitefish.

Course Soup

Cuisine Italian, Seafood

Keyword cod fish soup, easy seafood soup, fish soup

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Calories 269kcal

Servings 4

Author: Matt Ivan

Did you know? Servings and ingredient amounts can be adjusted on all my recipes. Click the green number above to change.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, cubed
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 small lemon, juiced
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• 2 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 16 ounces wild Alaska Cod, or whitefish
• 3 tablespoons Chopped fresh basil

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook 6-8 minutes until fragrant, stirring often. 
• Stir in garlic, celery and bell pepper. Reduce to medium heat and cook 5 minutes more.
• Add wine, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and cook 2-3 minutes until most of the liquid is dissolved.
• Stir in the tomato chunks with liquid, chicken stock, and tomato paste. Cook 10 minutes more uncovered, or until bell peppers are just tender.
• Cut cod into small, bite-size pieces and stir into soup. Bring to a low boil and simmer 5 minutes, or until fish is tender and flaky.
• Remove from heat, stir in basil, and serve.

Notes

• Add the fish in at the end so it doesn't overcook and break up too much.
• You could also use other meaty white fish such as haddock or monkfish. If you are unable to find these fish sole or tilapia can be used, but won't be as meaty and will likely break apart in the soup.
• Add more or less salt depending on desired amount of sodium.
• Try adding some red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
• If you're making this in advance don't add the fish until you reheat it and are ready to serve.

Nutrition Facts

Easy Italian Fish Soup

Amount Per Serving

Calories 269 Calories from Fat 81

% Daily Value*

Fat 9g14%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 52mg17%

Sodium 304mg13%

Potassium 962mg27%

Carbohydrates 14g5%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 25g50%

Vitamin A 810IU16%

Vitamin C 38.4mg47%

Calcium 68mg7%

Iron 1.8mg10%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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