Provencal Soup with Mussels – Soupe de Moules
Guest Post · Provencal Recipes · Soup · TasteThe founders of Remember Provence spend their days (and nights) finding authentic, artisanal products from the region. In their limited spare time, the Beriot family loves nothing more than cooking traditional Provencal recipes and sharing the results with friends. The following recipe for Provencal Soup with Mussels or la Soupe de Moules comes from their sunny kitchen in the South of France. If you like moules frites, you will love this soup.
Get your copy of the Remember Provence e-book with ten (10) traditional Provencal recipes here.

Provencal Mussel Soup - La Soupe de Moules
Like most soup recipes this one is not complicated. You can make the rouille in advance to save some time. Enjoy as a first course or as a light lunch.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Soup:
- 2 kg (4.4 lbs) Mussels
- 2 leeks
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp fennel dried, or a large dried fennel branch
- olive oil
- 1 g (1/2 tsp) saffron
- salt and freshly ground white pepper
Ingredients for the Rouille:
- 1 piece Stale Bread soaked in milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 garlic clove
- 200 ml (6.5 oz) olive oil
- a pinch of Cayenne Pepper Powder
For the Topping:
- 1 French "ficelle" (thin baguette bread)
- 150 g (5.5 oz) Grated Cheese
Instructions
Preparation of the Soup:
- Wash the mussels very well with water and remove any barnacles.
- In a large cooking pot, put the mussels in water and heat. Wait until they open and stop the heat. Be careful not to overcook the mussels. Take the mussels out, remove shells and set aside.
- Keep the cooking water.
- Chop the onion, leeks and garlic. Saute onion and leek in olive oil in a pan with high edges. Reduce the heat.
- Add tomato paste and garlic, and stir. Wet the mixture with the reserved cooking water from the mussels, add fennel, bay leaf, and a pinch of saffron, season (not to much salt) and bring to boil.
- Meanwhile, chop a handful of mussels and add them to the broth. Allow the soup to absorb the flavour and aroma from the mussels (about 10 minutes).
Preparation of the rouille:
- Remove the bread from the soaking liquid and discard the milk.
- Tear the bread into large pieces and pound with a garlic clove in a mortar with a pestle until you get a paste.
- Stir in egg yolk, then add some olive oil, stirring constantly to build the rouille.
- Add more olive oil, then add 200ml (6.5 oz) of the mussel soup and stir again.
- When the paste becomes the consistency of a mayonnaise, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper powder.
Serving Presentation:
- Slice the bread into thin rounds, rub with garlic and grill lightly to create crostini.
- Pour the soup into a soup tureen after placing the rest of the mussels. Serve in soup plates.
- Put the grilled croutons rubbed with garlic, rouille and grated cheese in separate bowls. Each guest may add croutons, rouille and cheese to their taste.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
More Recipes from the Remember Provence Kitchen:
Provencal Lamb Stew Daube with White Wine
Provencal Daube Lamb Stew with Côte du Rhône Wine
And why not complete the picture with a bit of Art de la Table – Provencal Fabrics for Easy Entertaining?
Legal
All rights reserved. Perfectly Provence articles and other content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten (including translations into other languages) or redistributed without written permission. For usage information, please contact us.
Syndication InformationAffiliate Information
As an Amazon Associate, this website earns from qualifying purchases. Some recipes, posts and pages may have affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, we receive a small commission that does not impact your price. Thank you in advance for supporting our work to maintain Perfectly Provence.
Previous Post
Petits Farcis Provencal Tomatoes Stuffed with BasilRelated Provence Articles
Zarzuela Fish Stew is the Catalan Version of Bouillabaisse
May 27, 2022
Similar to Marseille’s bouillabaisse, Zarzuela from Catalan is hard to pin into a category it’s either a hearty soup or a stew with a tasty broth. And with both soup/stews, there are endless different recipes. The following recipe for Zarzuela Fish Stew comes from Emma Kershaw’s Taste of le Sud cookbook. Both Zarzuela and bouillabaisse …
Provence Gourmet: How to make Bourride
December 3, 2014
Bourride is a simple Provencal fish stew made with white fish. The broth is thickened with aïoli, a homemade garlicky mayonnaise. Many ingredients are similar, making it a cousin of Bouillabaisse. Preparing bourride is relatively quick, depending on the thickness of the fish. However, its creamy texture separates it from its cousin. Gilles Conchy at …
White Bean Soup a Recipe to Warm You Up
February 5, 2021
Soup is a great addition or centrepiece for a meal in any season, but it’s an excellent way to warm up on a cool day. The French have been perfecting soups for centuries, creating dishes that range from rich stews to subtle, savoury medleys. Beans are an inexpensive but nutritious addition to this soup that …
Too Hot? Make Cold Soup Cucumber Grape Gazpacho
April 15, 2022
A friend of mine, Ulrike, first introduced me to this stunning Cucumber Grape Gazpacho last summer. It is a variation of an original recipe “The Sweet Life Cafe’s White Gazpacho” published on August 4, 2012, in The Los Angeles Times by Noelle Carter. Ulrike had the original article taped to a page and then placed …
2 Comments
Can you make this with other kinds of seafood? Prawns and fish for example?
Thanks
Hello, yes that soup recipe is quite versatile. The soup broth works well with shrimp, clams, scallops or even cod. Enjoy the tastes of Provence. If you are interested in our Newsletter please sign-up for more great recipes.