Herby Fish Stew with Crispy Potatoes

Haddock, baby potatoes, and leeks come together in this fish stew with lots of dill to create an herbaceous-tasting meal, reminiscent of potato leek soup, but with a light and fresh take. Potatoes are made crispy in two ways that delight the taste buds, with some optional toppings to make it interesting!

What you’ll love about this recipe

• Ease: In true “stew” fashion, the fish is cooked in the broth with the other ingredients (no searing or baking before). First, the vegetables are quickly seared and sauteed, a small portion of the ingredients are then blended and finally, the fish is added. It’s that easy.
• Speed: The simple process outlined above takes all of 20 minutes, once the ingredients are prepped (which takes about 10-15 min). While the soup cooks you roast up some fancy, crispy toppings!
• Change it up: In contrast to rich buttery, creamy fish chowders, or tomato-based Mediterranean (i.e. Cioppino) stews, this chunky fish stew recipe has more veggie and herb flavors.
• Nutrition: the method and ingredients make it possible to concoct a filling and creamy style fish stew using potatoes instead of butter or dairy products. This time of year, the vitamin C and potassium in potatoes are welcome, not to mention the extra fiber from leaving the skins on the potatoes.

1. potatoes browning. 2. leeks, onions, and garlic cooking with browned potatoes. 3. fresh dill added to soup.

cleaning leeks

No matter how clean your leeks may look, lots of dirt lurks in between the layers of the lovely leek, so be sure to clean thoroughly. Slice off the root ends and cut them lengthwise, which allows you to pull apart the layers and rinse them all under the faucet vigorously.

1. split leeks ready for inspection. 2. main ingredients for stew. 3. sliced ingredients for toppings.

Ingredient Notes + Substitutions

• Potatoes: I’m using baby potatoes (only about 1.5″ diam.) to maximize the potato skins for browning and for cute topping shapes ;), but you can use any size of potatoes, cutting them into chunks about 1″ or so.
• Fish: I’m using Haddock, but any fish will work. Cod is similar but thicker, for example. Just cut into 1.5″ ish chunks for ease in cooking and eating. You can use frozen fish. See method and tip about fish skin below.
• Liquid: I use water for this recipe. The flavor comes from the potato, alliums (onion, leek, garlic) , fish, and herbs and I think it is heavenly. You can make it fish forward with fish stock, or saltier with veggie stock. I don’t recommend chicken stock which would take the flavors in another direction.

fish pro tip

My local grocer offered to trim the skin off the haddock I bought the other day (sharp knives!) and said he would happily do that for any fish I buy. I recommend you aim to do this as well. No one wants fish skin in their stew!

Method + Timing for making this Herby Fish Stew

• Stovetop stew: Ideally, the potatoes and alliums are cooked quickly at high heat, so using a thick-bottomed soup pot like a Dutch oven is helpful. Any stainless or enamel pot works well for high-heat cooking, in my experience.
• Sticking: Once the portion of potatoes and veggies has been blended and broken down, you will lower the heat to medium to prevent the blended ingredients from sticking.
• Fresh vs. frozen fish: I have not made this stew with frozen fish, but there is no reason you cannot use it. If you use frozen I would defrost it first, or if adding frozen chunks to stew, I would cook on med-low heat to avoid the sticking mentioned above.
• Crispy potatoes two ways: Chunks of potatoes are browned and crisped in the stew, and thinly sliced potatoes are roasted in a hot oven for a crispy topping to the stew.
• Pulling it all together: In a nutshell, once you spend a few minutes chopping the ingredients, you quickly brown the initial ingredients, allow them to soften, and add water to cook for a few more minutes. During this time, you slice up some toppings and supervise them in the oven roasting. Once you pull the toppings out of the oven, you blend the portion of the stew and finish the cooking with the fish and herbs.

Serving + Reheating

• Serving: Take a minute to make sure the texture (how brothy or thick) of the stew is to your liking. As you can see in my photos, the 3 cups water and blending 1/3 of the soup (before adding fish) yields a thick stew. If you need 4 larger servings or like it a bit less thick, you can stir in another 1/2c liquid and adjust seasonings if needed. After spooning stew into bowls, distribute the crunchy roasted toppings around the soup like above photo and add sprigs of dill and voila!
• Reheating: I recommend adding a bit of liquid when reheating on the stovetop on med-low heat to avoid sticking. You can reheat in the microwave, but the microwave will retain some smell of fish, so I avoid it for this reason alone.

Don’t skimp on the toppings!

Some might think these are superfluous garnishes and skip them, but they add flavor, crunch, and texture integral to the stew. The roasted potato, leek, and jalapeno slices (if you like a little heat), as well as the fresh dill should not be forgotten before serving this herby stew of fish and potatoes with crunch!

As leftovers, the next day, the above bowl of herby fish stew with potatoes and more toppings and crackers is every bit as herby and delicious as the day before!

Other recipes

• For another stew from the ocean, try my Shrimp and Couscous Stew!
• Try other thick and satisfying soups like my 3-Ingredient Vegan Mushroom Soup with crispy toppings, Roasted Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Soup with spiced yogurt topping, or Vegan Chili with Charred Veggies!