Name: Moules Marinières
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 kg fresh mussels; 30 g butter; 2 shallots (finely chopped); 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped); 200 ml dry white wine; 2 sprigs thyme; 1 bay leaf; 100 ml double cream (optional); 1 handful parsley (chopped); Crusty bread (to serve)

Jump to Recipe Save to Pinterest

French moules marinières: mussels steamed in white wine with shallots, garlic, thyme and parsley. Ready in 30 minutes.

About this French recipe

Moules marinières, sailor’s mussels, are cooked all along the French Atlantic coast and in Belgium, where they come with fries as moules-frites.

Ingredients you will need

The main ingredients are fresh mussels, butter, shallots, garlic, dry white wine, thyme. Exact quantities are in the recipe card below.

How long it takes

Allow 30 min in total: 20 min of preparation, 10 min of cooking. The recipe serves 4.

Moules Marinières

French moules marinières: mussels steamed in white wine with shallots, garlic, thyme and parsley. Ready in 30 minutes.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: French

Calories: 380

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

2 kg fresh mussels
30 g butter
2 shallots finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
200 ml dry white wine
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
100 ml double cream (optional)
1 handful parsley chopped
Crusty bread to serve

Method

Scrub the mussels and pull off the beards. Discard any with broken shells or that stay open when tapped.
Melt the butter in a large pot and soften the shallots and garlic for 3 minutes.
Add the wine, thyme and bay and bring to a boil.
Add the mussels, cover tightly and cook for 4–5 minutes, shaking the pot, until the shells open.
Discard any mussels that stay closed. Stir in the cream, if using, and the parsley.
Serve in bowls with the broth and crusty bread or fries.

Notes

Buy mussels on the day you cook them and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, not in water.