These seafood stocks, straight from the shelves of supermarkets, will make for a delicious base for your soups, stews, and home-cooked dishes.
It doesn’t take much to make good seafood stock, really. All you need is salty water, a dozen fish and crustaceans, a few sliced vegetables, a bunch of herbs, a handful of spices.
And yet, it takes a lot to find good seafood stock at the grocery store!
To say that what’s on the shelves is mediocre would be a major underestimation: Much of the seafood stock that’s out there falls short of expectations and, if you read the ingredients list, is stuffed with fillers and preservatives.
Whether you’re making Italian pasta or risotto, Spanish paella, French bouillabaisse, Cajun seafood gumbo, or a simple and savory fish soup, the right seafood stock can make all the difference, adding aroma, flavor, and heartiness to your final dish.
The good news is that you’re here. And we’ve rounded up the best seafood stocks on supermarket shelves. (Psst! If you prefer to shop online, we’ve added links to their listings at Amazon).
Take a gander below to find them out.
Bar Harbor All Natural Seafood Stock
If you live stateside and you’re in the market for the very best seafood stock there is, look no further than Bar Harbor’s All Natural Seafood Stock.
There’s a reason why this canned seafood is at the top of our list, and why everyone on the Home Cook World editorial team keeps a steady supply of it in their pantry.
Bar Harbor cooks its seafood stock in small batches, simmering wild-caught fish, clam juice, and lobster fresh from the Maine coast with a flavorful medley of fresh-cut vegetables, aromatic spices, and California white wine.
The result is a rich, flavorsome cooking liquid that ameliorates every fish stew, rice dish, seafood gumbo, or summer shrimp étouffée. This seafood stock adds to the flavor of your dish. It costs more than the other ones on our list, but, for the cook who wants the absolute best, it’s well worth the money.
More Than Gourmet Classic Seafood Stock
Many a home cook swear by More Than Gourmet’s Classic Seafood Stock, and for good reason.
Made with white wine, the stock of lobster, pollock, cod, tilapia, and shrimp, mirepoix (carrot, celery, and onion), tomato paste, and salt, this seafood stock is as flavorsome as it is colorful.
Made with pride in the USA, this seafood stock is concentrated and packaged in 1.5-ounce (42.5 gram) containers. To use, dissolve 1 part stock in 20 parts hot water; it will serve as a hearty and savory base for any dish.
A single container yields 4 cups (946 milliliters) of seafood broth, so, as other options on our list, it goes a long way. Unopened, it can be stored in the pantry; once opened, it must be kept in the refrigerator.
Zoup! Seafood Broth
Zoup!, the soup eatery started in Michigan in 1997 that took the country by storm, says it began selling seafood broth when its own staff—and many of its customers—told them they were frustrated with the lack of good, fresh-tasting seafood broth on the shelves of grocery stores.
This broth, which comes in 32-ounce (907-gram) jars, is made from lobster, shrimp, crab, and fish. It contains salt, onion powder, and garlic powder, which gives it a pleasant pungency and makes it sophisticatedly savory. It also has paprika extract, adding a distinct orange color and a slight sweetness.
Zoup! Seafood Broth has a milder, less fishy flavor than the rest of the options on our list. Some say it’s so light, they liken it to chicken soup. Use it when you want to enrich, but not necessarily overpower, your dish with the taste of crustaceans.
Aneto 100% Natural Fish Broth
Taste the Mediterranean with Aneto 100% Natural Fish Broth, made in and imported from Spain. The ingredients are water, monkfish, cod, tomato, onion, carrot, fennel, leek, celery, olive oil, garlic, and sea salt.
Aneto says it selects the best fish and freshest vegetables for its broth. Then, these ingredients are carefully washed and slow simmered—at low heat, so that their aroma and flavor is retained—for at least 2 hours.
This fish broth is sold in 33.8-ounce (1-liter) cartons. It’s shelf-stable, so you can keep it in your pantry. Once opened, it must be refrigerated and will keep for 2-3 days in your fridge.
Better Than Bouillon Fish Base
Fish base isn’t fish stock per se. It’s a thick, concentrated paste made by simmering fish in fish stock. You dissolve a small amount of it—a teaspoon, usually—in sauces, soups, stews, and the cooking liquids of your dishes to give them a richer, more robust flavor than a bouillon or stock.
And, when it comes to aroma and flavor, few fish bases can rival the smell and taste of Better Than Bouillon Fish Base. This fish base is made from cod, water, fish stock, yeast extract, onion powder, and butter (although you will also find a number of thickeners on the ingredient list).
A teaspoonful of it, equivalent to one bouillon cube, is enough to add deliciousness and decadence to any dish. And a single jar, with a net weight of 8 ounces (227 grams), goes far: it’s enough for 38 servings. You can keep the jar in the pantry unopened. Once opened, it keeps in the fridge for months.
