Here it is: Phil's Fish Market Cioppino recipe, also known as the best cioppino on the West Coast.
Phil’s Fish Market Cioppino Recipe: the best cioppino on the West Coast!
This is the real, true Phil’s Fish Market cioppino recipe from Phil DiGirolamo himself. I visit Phil’s a few times a year, and this rich broth packed with fresh seafood never lets me down. We can easily call it “the best” since Phil's Fish Market Cioppino recipe beat Bobby Flay in a cioppino showdown on Food Network, and he ships his fish-laden tomatoey broth to soup lovers around the world by the gallon.
Choosing seafood for this cioppino recipe:
Phil packs his soup with clams, mussels, white fish, Dungeness crab, prawns, and scallops. Since we're sharing his recipe, that’s what we’ve listed here, but you can use the base sauce and add any fish you choose. Remove it all from the shells for “lazy-man’s style” cioppino after cooking if you’d like, but the traditional soup is interactive – shells and all.
No matter what - choose fresh seafood. You can get it at Phil's, of course - or a local seafood monger or grocery store. Ask what's fresh, and use that. Fresh packed crab can be stirred in at the end if you can't find whole crab or crab legs too.
Serving the Cioppino:
Phil's Fish Market Cioppino is served in deep bowls with garlic bread - the glass of Monterey County wine is optional, but encouraged. You can also ladle the cioppino over cooked pasta, like this recipe from California Wines.
Either way, make sure to have an empty bowl available (or a few, if you're feeding a crowd) for discarding empty shells.
Lemon and fresh parsley are an absolute must for serving. I usually chop the parsley and sprinkle it over the cioppino and pop the lemon on the side. I also serve it with warm gluten-free sourdough (I like Bread Srsly) or rolls.
Dining at Phil's Fish Market:
If you’re ever in Moss Landing, CA – stop by to see Phil and tell him we sent you! The Cioppino in a Bowl at Phil's Fish Market is gluten-free, but they usually serve it with a hunk of garlic bread. Tell the person taking your order you have a gluten allergy and to omit the bread. The fire roasted artichokes are AMAZING, since it's 20 minutes from where they're grown, so score one of those, or "Special Artichoke Salad." Steamed mussels are fab (no bread) and the Siete Mares, a Mexican-style fish soup, is awesome, assuming you've already had the cioppino. The wine list is predominately local and pairs well with seafood.
If you have someone who is GF but doesn't eat seafood, they can do the Grilled Chicken Salad or the Greek Salad. I really like the Greek Salad, and we often order it and a fire roasted artichoke to share before we eat our cioppino. You can check out the menu here.
I usually try to visit when the restaurant will be a little slower: 10:00-11:15am, 2:00-4:30pm, or after 7:00pm. (They close at 9:00pm.) That gives the staff more time to pay attention to my allergy.
Give Phil's cioppino a try. I promise this recipe is totally worth the time.
Love seafood? Try this Real Louisiana Shrimp & Grits recipe, and these killer Dynamite Salmon appetizers too.
Phil's Fish Market Cioppino
Here it is: Phil's Fish Market Cioppino recipe, AKA the best cioppino on the West Coast. Straight from the master himself, Phil DiGirolamo of Phil's Fish Market.
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