If you have no idea what to make for dinner, standing before the counter, and can’t decide what to get for just a family meal, boiling mussels is a perfect option. They are full of omega-3 and have other nutritional benefits, like Vitamins C, B12, and protein. They can be steamed, boiled, or even baked in the oven. This post has a detailed recipe for how you can boil mussels at home and prepare a delicious and mouthwatering delicacy.
How long to boil mussels?
Mussels can be sold frozen or fresh, with shells on or peeled off. Here we will give you a list where you can check the cooking time of mussels for every type:
- How long do you boil fresh mussels in a pot on the stove? Fresh mussels with shells on should be boiled for 4-6 minutes in a pot on the stove after the water boils again.
- How long do you boil frozen mussel meat? Mussels are sold in supermarkets in two forms, frozen boiled mussel meat and frozen raw mussel meat. Read carefully the instructions before getting rid of the packaging. You need to boil frozen raw mussels meat for 5-7 minutes and precooked mussels meat for 2-3 minutes in water on the stove.
Try not to overcook mussels; do not keep them in boiling water for more than the required time as you can make mussels meat rubbery and uneatable.
Here is another tip for you on how you can guess the perfect time of boiling mussels. When water reboils, you lower the heat down, close with a lid your pot with boiling mussels, and set the timer for 5 minutes. Then, in 5 minutes, open the lead and check the shells of the mussels. If not all the mussels are open, you can add a minute of cooking. That is it! Do not overcook mussels!
How to cook mussels in boiling water on the stove?
Always check the packaging for instructions. There should be some recipes on how to boil mussels that you bought. As there are a lot of things that affect how you cook mussels. For example, some mussels are sold in the sauce. These you will cook by steaming or baking in the oven; boiling won’t do anything good to them.
This method of how you can boil mussels at home is universal. It is a classic mussels recipe that you can customize to your liking.
Mussels Boil - How to boil mussels from frozen
Ingredients
- 1 kg mussels
- 1 l water
- salt to your taste
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 1 fresh fennel cut into halves
- 1 garlic bulb
Instructions
- Take a large saucepan or a pot with cold water and put it on high heat. Let the water boil. On average, you will need 1 liter of water for 1 kilo of mussels.
- When water boils, add salt, fresh herbs, and seasoning. You can choose anything from dried and fresh herbs to garlic. Let them simmer for a minute to make boiling water flavorful. Now add your mussels, lower the heat, and close the lead of a pot. You have got the boiling time for mussels at the top of the article.
- When mussels are ready, drain water with the help of a colander. Do not leave mussels in hot water, as their cooking will continue, and their meat becomes rubbery.
- Serve boiled mussels with any additional sauce or just half a lemon. You can add freshly chopped herbs to make their aroma mouthwatering.
When cooked, the shells of mussels should have opened. If you had your mussels boiling for а minutes and some of them are still closed, do not eat the ones that remained closed; throw them out!
You may also like: How to cook boiled shrimps or How to boil frozen seafood mix
If you liked our article, please share it with your friends! If you have any suggestions or ideas on how you can cook perfect mussels, leave them in the comment section below. Love hearing feedback from you! As you can tell, cooking mussels is not a hard thing to do. Only several minutes of your time and your mouthwatering, full of nutrients meal is ready.
1 Comment
Hi! Thanks for the idea how to cook frozen mussels! Never in a million yeats I’ve thought that the easiest way to cook mussels from from frozen is simply boiling them)