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Instant Pot Brazilian Fish Stew

Updated Dec 8, 2020Published Oct 9, 2018 By Julia 70 CommentsThis post may contain affiliate links.

Summary:
This Instant Pot Fish Stew is inspired by the Brazilian dish moqueca, combining coconut milk, tomatoes, and spices to form a richly flavorful stew. Coconut milk adds a unique richness and creamy feel, and the pressure cooker does a spectacular job of blending all of the flavors together. This stew is delightful not only with fish but also other types of seafood.
overhead view of brazilian fish stew

Brazilian Fish Stew

4.9 from 42 votes
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Yield: 5 servings

INGREDIENTS

Stew Base:

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes (Note 1)
  • 1 cup seafood broth or fish broth (Note 2)
  • 3/4 cup canned full-fat coconut milk (Note 3)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (Note 4)

For Finishing:

  • 1.5 pounds fresh or thawed white fish (Note 5)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Pressure Cook: Add all stew base ingredients to pressure cooker (Note 6), and stir until well-mixed. Secure and seal lid (Note 7), and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. During cooking, proceed to next step to prepare fish.
  • Prepare Fish: Remove any skin and bones from fish, and pat dry with paper towels if moist. Cut into roughly 1 inch pieces, and set aside.
  • Release Pressure: After pressure cooking has completed, naturally release pressure for 10 minutes. Then manually release remaining pressure by turning knob to venting position.
  • Thicken Stew: Uncover, and turn on saute mode on pressure cooker for medium heat to bring to boil. Boil for about 10 minutes to thicken into stew-like consistency, stirring frequently.
  • Finish & Serve: Stir in fish until cooked through (Note 8), about 5 minutes. Turn off saute mode. Stir in coconut oil and lime juice until combined. Serve in bowls, and top with chopped cilantro or parsley. Stew will be very hot; cool for 10 minutes before enjoying. Store leftovers (Note 9).

NUTRITION

Makes 5 Servings
Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups):
Calories 330 (49% from fat)  
Total Fat 18g 27%
   Saturated Fat 15g 76%
Cholesterol 59mg 20%
Sodium 690mg 29%
Net Carb 7g  
Total Carb 10g 3%
   Dietary Fiber 3g 11%
   Sugars 5.5g  
Protein 28g  
Vitamin A 37% · Vitamin C 72% · Calcium 5% · Iron 17%

PHOTOS

overhead view of brazilian fish stew
adding fish stew ingredients to instant pot
fish stew served in white bowl with black spoon
close up view of brazilian fish stew

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Crushed Tomatoes. In the U.S., crushed tomatoes are most commonly sold in 28-ounce cans. Note that this recipe only uses 14 ounces; if you can’t find a 14-ounce can, use half of a 28-ounce can.
(2) Broth. If you can’t find seafood broth or fish broth at your grocery store, substitute with chicken broth or vegetable broth, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons of fish sauce.
(3) Coconut Milk. Use an unsweetened full-fat version, not light or reduced fat. I’ve used Goya and Chaokoh brands. Before measuring out the amount to use, stir or shake well because there will be separation in the can. Properly stirred coconut milk should appear thick and creamy, not watery. In the U.S., coconut milk is usually sold in 13.5 fluid ounce cans, which is 1.7 cups. This recipe uses 3/4 cup so you’ll have leftover coconut milk that can be stored in an airtight container for future use.
(4) Cayenne. This amount of cayenne yields mild spiciness, which is my preference because it allows the other flavors in the stew to shine without being overpowered by the cayenne. If you love a very spicy stew, then double the cayenne.
(5) Fish. This recipe calls for firm white fish (like cod or halibut), but you can use other fish or seafood depending on what you have on hand. You can use more delicate fish (like tilapia) if you don’t mind some pieces falling apart during cooking. Since the seafood is added at the end of the recipe, just stir it into the stew for a few minutes or until it’s cooked through. In the comments below, readers have shared their successful experiences using shrimp, sea bass, scallops, mussels, and calamari. If you have frozen fish, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using in this recipe. I don’t recommend cooking directly from frozen because it’ll exude a lot of liquid into the stew.
(6) Pressure Cooker. I use a 6-quart Instant Pot. If you are using a smaller capacity pressure cooker, make sure that its maximum capacity is at least 7.5 cups, which is the approximate volume of this recipe. Larger pressure cookers are fine.
(7) Sealing Lid. Before cooking, remember to seal the pressure cooker by turning the pressure knob from “venting” to “sealing,” otherwise the pot will not pressurize.
(8) Cooking Fish. Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork and is no longer translucent.
(9) Leftovers. Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or bring to a simmer on the stovetop (avoid overheating, which will overcook the fish). This stew often tastes better the next day, after the flavors have more thoroughly combined.
(10) Modifying Recipe Yield. To scale the recipe, increase or decrease the ingredients proportionally, but keep the pressure cooking time the same.
(11) Diets. This recipe is suitable for a variety of diets, including keto, low carb, dairy free, paleo, and gluten free.
(12) Recipe Inspiration. This recipe is inspired by the Brazilian dish moqueca, which is a seafood stew that traditionally uses palm oil, coconut milk, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime, and cilantro. I developed this recipe by referencing a stovetop version, adjusting the ingredients to suit my palette and optimizing the cooking process for the pressure cooker. The Instant Pot does a great job of blending the flavors together, and I like its simplicity — almost a dump-and-go recipe.

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Filed Under: Instant Pot, Low Carb, Mains: Seafood, Per Serving: 5-10g Net Carbs Tagged With: 31-60min, bell pepper, cayenne, coconut milk, crushed tomatoes, cumin, featured, fish, garlic, gluten free, instant pot, lime, more10ingredients, onion, paleo, paprika, seafood broth, whole30

About Julia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julia is a recipe developer and the founder of Savory Tooth. Since 2015, she has been sharing simple recipes for tasty dishes, mostly low carb and gluten free. Learn more.

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Sara

This recipe is ridiculous. Husband was so skeptical of fish stew but I thought it sounded amazing. He wouldn’t stop talking about it after he tried it. I forgot to look for fish stock so I used chicken and added 1.5 tbsp of fish sauce. Amazing, will be making regularly.

Vote Up15Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Frank Mosher

I don’t think I would use the word “rediculous” because it would be rediculous to do so. How about good/great/fantastic?? Note: I am not the author!

Vote Up-10Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Ana

This tasted great and my toddler loved it with a minor, but important, modification. Removing one star because the Brazilian in me couldn’t resist.
– Moqueca, the Brazilian fish stew, is NOT a soup. This is an dish served with a side of white rice.
– Since this is not a soup, the coconut milk in the recipe is lacking . You should have the whole can in the sauce for that moqueca flavor. Think of a thai coconut curry dish; that’s what we are going for here.

Other than that, great recipe! Moqueca is such a traditional dish, but yet each family uses their own blend of spices. This one hit the spot! Just use the whole can of coconut milk and some rice on the side 🙂

Vote Up8Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Raira Flaviano

The Brazilian in me is bothered by the lack of palm oil as well. Add coconut and palm oil, take out the cumin and voilá
Either way I’ll make adaptations to bring it back to the original recipe and use the advices for the instant pot. I’m happy to have found this recipe.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Frank Mosher

The author does not call it a soup, but a stew!! And coconut milk is definitely in the recipe!!

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Ana

The original recipe does not have sufficient coconut milk according to native Brazilians. And the recipe used to be called soup before it was updated to stew. You are late to the party, but hope you enjoyed the dish! I’m planning on making it again this week.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
tmac

Amazingly good. Wow, just wow. I added shrimp to the fish but otherwise stuck to the recipe. My night to cook and my wife was floored- thanks for helping me earn some much needed brownie points!

Vote Up5Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Dana

This was the perfect dump-and-go recipe – no sautéing of onions or veggies required! I doubled the recipe and am so glad I did, because our family devoured almost all of it. I didn’t have fish stock but the suggested combo of chicken/fish sauce (4 TBSP) worked great. I also didn’t have red peppers so substituted with frozen broccoli. The amount of smoked paprika initially seemed like too much, so I substituted sweet paprika but next time I’ll use all smoked because it tasted great. I cut the cayenne in half but even that was a bit too much heat for my kids (who don’t like spice at all); however, they still ate their entire bowl with help from the crusty sourdough we served alongside it so I call it a win because my husband and I love spice. The instructions were so helpful – loved all the footnotes. Thanks for taking the time to share such an amazing recipe! We will definitely be putting this into our dinner rotation.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Julia

Thank you so much for the detailed feedback!

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
1 year ago
Terry Cheski

This was soooo good! I didn’t have the fish broth or fish sauce, so made with chicken bone broth, along with all the other recommended ingredients and doubled the recipe. My son and I finished the whole pot in 2 days (so glad that I doubled the recipe!). And my son said he always enjoyed my usual cream based seafood chowders, but this was so good that he wants me to make this more often. Delicious!

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jeffrey

Listen, “fish stew” never really got my tastebuds going but we made this on a whim
And it’s SO FLIPPING GOOD. It’s now part of our rotation. Absolutely delicious! We add scallops and potatoes!

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Jenn Gosselin

Simple yet spectacular! I have made a few variations of fish soup (Quebec, Newfoundland, Indian) and this is my favorite by far! I didn’t have fish stock so I used vegetable stock and added 1 tbsp of Bay seasoning. I also used Haddock. I can’t wait to make it again and add a variety of seafood.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Linda

Love it!! The sauce would make a piece of wood palpable.

Vote Up3Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Mina

Thank you so much, this stew made me come back to life, after being so tired of cooking the same things and not wanting to eat anymore, I found this recipe. It’s the first thing I made with my instant pot and I feel like my life is changed forever. It’s the best soup I’ve ever made for sure!
Ps I’ve been trying to be vegan and give up fish, but I dont know that I want to anymore~

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
AstroTalk

This is the best fist stew I have ever had in my life. I tried this for the first time and loved it absolutely. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Wendy

This was great! I did roast cashews and put on top, as that’s what my Brazilian family does.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
8 months ago
Terry Cheski

One more comment – I don’t have a instant pot so I made it on the stove top. I don’t think that it took much longer than with pressure and still turned out amazing. I also sautéed the onions, peppers, and spices in coconut oil before adding the other wet ingredients. I used about 10 individually sealed & frozen Swai, which I cut into pieces while still slightly frozen – I think it is easier to cut that way instead of thoroughly thawed.

Awesome stew that I will definitely make again and again!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Kathryn

This is OMG delicious. LOVE!! Didn’t have fish stock, so I used 1 cup bone broth with 1 Tblspn Red Boat fish sauce. Used a mix of frozen pollack and flounder, (always in my freezer) and doubled the garlic and cayenne. I can’t believe how good this was. Served with a chunk of crusty French bread, for my spouse-she went nuts! Just the stew, for me, (low carb). And I will say-we are VERY picky about food. I would pay to order this in a high end restaurant.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
2 years ago
Marlene

Yum!!! I followed the recipe exactly, except I used only 1/8 tsp. cayenne because I was afraid if there was even a little bit of heat, my kids wouldn’t eat it. I used all cod for the fish. This was absolutely delicious! Everyone loved it. I will be home alone tomorrow evening and I can’t wait to have the leftovers all to myself! I might try adding a full 1/4 tsp. cayenne next time, but other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Carol

I made this with shrimp and sea bass. Absolutely delicious, my family thoroughly enjoyed this. Next time I will double ingredients and add scallops and calamari. Could not find fish broth. Instead I used half vegetable broth and half water.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Renee Tee

Had a lot of thawed raw fish leftover following a parish Fish Fry. This recipe looked delicious and something different than a typical chowder. I was not disappointed! The coconut milk adds a unique richness, and the spices work together beautifully. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks for posting!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Amanda

Amazing! My husband had seconds!

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Janet

As an elderly American, I had never heard of fish soup or Stew. Oh, My Goodness! This is to die for! I shared with a neighbor who says he doesn’t like fish, But raved about this recipe. It is the top of my 2019 finds! Thank you so much.

Vote Up1Vote Down  Reply
4 years ago
Lee Schwartzberg

Really delicious. I ended up adding the rest of the coconut milk at the end because I wanted more of that creamy deliciousness. Otherwise, followed the recipe as posted. I used cod, and it cooked in way less time than the 5 minutes stayed in the directions. Sauce never really thickened up, but still yummy. I served it over white rice.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
1 month ago
Trish

I love this recipe. However, I use Trader Joe’s seafood mix and Glen Muir fire roasted crushed tomatoes to make it more decadent. I also put the stew in my Dutch oven after the instapot at 300 for 3 more hours. Instapots are super convenient but slow cooking in oven cannot be beaten.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
1 month ago
Peter

I had bought several bags of frozen fish(ahi tuna, salmon, scallops) previously, with the idea of making fish stew, but no recipe on hand. Delighted to find this recipe. I used all three fish tuna, salmon, and scallops. I should have omitted the tuna(flavor of fish too strong). Next time I may just use scallops. The soup base is quite tasty. I omitted the cayenne pepper, was going to purchase fish sauce, but main ingredient was anchovy, so I bought and used anchovy paste instead.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
3 months ago
Stephanie

I am not a cook and new to the Ninja Foodie. I made this recipe and it turned out great!!! I used tilapia, shrimp and scallops. Publix had a 14.5 ounce can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes so I used that. No other modifications.

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
5 months ago
Sandra Moruzzi

I made this stew today altering a few things, and using what I had on hand. I used a can of clams, juice, and water for the fish base. I used a can of rotel tomatoes and peppers because I didn’t have a can of crushed tomatoes. I also used a small amount of marinara sauce that was in a jar in the fridge. I added two chopped celery sticks, 1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped, one sweet potatoe cut in cubes, and only used cumin and paprika-no additional salt or pepper. I used the entire can of coconut milk. I used flounder and served the stew over rice. Delicious. This type of recipe is great for a ‘use-what-you-have-on-hand’ meal. Fantastic!

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
9 months ago
Jill

Can this recipe be made on the stove or in the slow cooker?

Vote Up0Vote Down  Reply
3 years ago
Deb

I love dump & cook instant pot recipes. However this needs lots of adjustments. Way too much smoked paprika, it over powered everything, so I’ll cut back next time. Vegetables cooked in an Instantpot only take 3 to 4 minutes so cooking for 10 and another 10 on natural lease, the veggies were mush. I added some chopped carrots celery and potatoes for additional vegetables. I originally added only 6 ounces of coconut milk but my dish didn’t look creamy like these pics nor taste creamy so I added the entire can. I use medium-size shrimp and they were perfect size by the time they shrunk. Only three minutes sitting in the hot broth cook them. Will make again w/ my adjustments.

Vote Up-1Vote Down  Reply
11 months ago
Regis

You made something else. Not fish stew. Just rate the recipe as it is without changes . Otherwise, it is your recipe to be reviewed.

Vote Up2Vote Down  Reply
7 months ago

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