White Wine Butter Mussels

5 from 3 votes

With a rich butter and white wine base, this is a traditional Belgium way to cook mussels.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: French

Servings:

Prep mussels: Begin by de-bearding and cleaning the mussels. To de-beard the mussels, pull their beard in an upward motion until you can pull it out of the shell. Clean their shells under running water and scrub them until all their barnacles have been removed.
Fry aromatics: In a deep dish pan on a low heat, bring the olive oil to heat and fry the shallots and garlic for five minutes or until fragrant and translucent. Stir occasionally to avoid the garlic from burning.
Make sauce: Bring the heat to medium and add the white wine. Cook for 3 minutes or until the white wine has reduced by half. Turn the heat to low and add the butter to the pan. Stir the butter through the sauce until it has completely melted.
Steam mussels: On a medium heat in the same pan, add the mussels and stir them through the sauce. Pop the lid on and leave the mussels to steam for 5 - 7 minutes or until all of the shells have opened. Shake the pot to encourage the mussels to open.
Fry baguette: While the mussels steam, slice the baguette and drizzle with olive oil. Add the baguette to a fry pan and fry on a low heat for several minutes on each side or until golden and crispy.
Serve: Take your mussels off the heat and sprinkle with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve immediately with the fried bread and enjoy!

How to choose mussels: Mussels should smell like the ocean, not foul or “fishy.” Shells should be intact with no cracked. Discard any mussels that remain open after a light tap with a fingernail — mussels that are open prior to cooking are either dead or dying.
Alcohol free: For an alcohol free option, replace the white wine with chicken or seafood stock.
Shallots: Shallots can be replaced with brown onions.