This lovely Swedish fish soup with saffron gets its brilliant sunny yellow color and delicious flavor from saffron, garlic and tomato paste. This soup is something in between a soup and a stew. It is hearty and filling with salmon, cod, prawns and mussels. Don’t let the long ingredient list put you off. The majority of ingredients are usually found in our pantry.
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Enjoy this Swedish saffron* fish soup with a dollop of mayonnaise Aioli, garlic croutons and fresh bread.
Fish stock cube
Fish stock cube* is hard to find in some countries. You can replace the fish stock with vegetable stock cubes. But you can also make your own fish stock by taking the skin and bones from the fish, the shell from the prawns and 1 tbsp of juice from the canned mussels (if using canned mussels) and bring to a boil with a little water (250 ml /1 cup). Let it boil until half of the water is reduced. Then strain and use the broth in the soup.
Mayonnaise Aioli
Mayonnaise Aioli is super easy to make. It can be done in 2 different ways.
1. Mix mayonnaise and pressed garlic and it’s ready.
2. Make it from scratch
Keep in mind that all the ingredients are at the same temperature and to mix these in a tall, narrow bowl.
- Peel and grate the garlic finely.
- Then pour the oil into a tall and narrow bowl and add the garlic, mustard, vinegar, salt and eggs yolks.
- Finally place a stick mixer* in the bottom of the bowl. Start the mixer and lift slowly towards the surface.
- Season with black pepper and possibly with salt and vinegar.
Garlic croutons
I usually make my croutons in the air fryer because they get really crispy in just 5 minutes
- Slice the bread into cubes and then transfer to a bowl
- Drizzle some olive oil and season with some garlic powder and salt.
- Finally spread the bread in a single layer and bake at 180° C (356 F) for 5 minutes in the air fryer.
- Or spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake at 190° C (375˚F) for 18-20 minutes until they are golden brown and crunchy.
If you liked Swedish Fish Soup with Saffron, you may also like:
Thai chicken soup with noodles
Swedish fish soup with saffron
Equipment
- 1 large pot
Ingredients
- 400 g Cod fillet (14 oz)
- 300 g Salmon fillet ( 10 oz)
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion medium
- 150 g Leek (5 oz) ½ leek
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp Tomato paste
- 1 Potato ,medium
- 1 Carrot ,medium
- 2 tsp Thyme dried or fresh 2 tbsp
- 2 tsp Basil dried or fresh 2 tbsp
- 250 ml White wine dry (8.5 fl.oz)
- 1 1/2 Fish stock cube
- 400 ml Heavy cream (13.5 fl.oz)
- 200 ml Water (6.7 fl.oz)
- ½ tsp Saffron ( 1 sachet – 0.50g)
- 300 g Prawns (10.5 oz) of pre-cooked
- 150 g Mussels (5 oz) canned or frozen
Instructions
- Thaw the fish, prawns and mussels (if using frozen).
- Peel the potato and carrot. Cut the potato into bite-sized pieces and the carrot into sticks.
- Rinse, clean and shred the leeks.
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Add olive oil to a large pot. Then add onion and the leek and sauté for a couple of minutes, until glossy and translucent.
- Next, add pressed garlic, potatoes, carrots, tomato puree, thyme and basil. Sauté this for 1 minute.
- Then add wine, water and the fish stock cube. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Stir in cream, water and saffron. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.
- Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces, add to the pot and simmer for another 7 minutes.
- Peel the prawns. If using canned clams, drain them first. Then add the prawns and mussels to the soup.
- Let the soup simmer for a minute or so, but not too long as the prawns and mussels may become tough.
- Serve straight away, with garlic croutons and mayonnaise aioli.
Βon appétit!
