How to deliciously cook frozen mussels - 9 different recipes for every taste

In our century, cooking frozen mussels has become available even to residents of areas far from the sea coast. The popularity of these seafood is growing every year. This is due not only to their taste, but also to their dietary value.

Thanks to the special composition of minerals and vitamins, as well as the richness of easily digestible protein, seafood can even have a healing effect on the body. Therefore, the proper preparation of frozen and peeled mussels is of interest to many housewives. There are many recipes for this.

How to cook mussel meat

The main rule for preparing shellfish is short-term heat treatment. If you overcook tender mussel meat in boiling water or in a frying pan, it will become rubbery and lose its taste along with its beneficial substances. Therefore, the optimal cooking time is three to five minutes. In this case, the dietary product will retain all its beneficial properties.

Adding mussels to your diet?

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Total votes: 533

09.10.2019

Yes 85%, 454 votes
454 votes 85%
454 votes - 85% of all votes
No 15%, 79 votes
79 votes 15%
79 votes - 15% of all votes

Total votes: 533

09.10.2019

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Benefits of mussels:

mussel meat is enriched with amino acids (tryptophan, methionine) more than animal meat and fish;
shellfish have a high content of zinc, which is beneficial for healthy hair, nails and skin;
seafood is low-calorie and can be used during diet and fasting;
blue clams do not contain cholesterol.

The range of dishes that can be made from mussels is so wide that even on a mono-diet you can eat varied.

Fact! 100 grams of mussel meat contains only 100 kcal.

Rules for cooking mussels

Before you cook boiled frozen mussels, they must be thawed. But this must be done immediately before cooking. Once defrosted, seafood should not be stored or re-frozen.

To quickly defrost a product, you need to fill it with cool water and wait until the ice melts. Next, the mollusks need to be washed several times under running water to remove silt, grains of sand and algae residues, and cleaned. The tendrils and growths on the surface of the seafood are removed.

Deep-frozen seafood is best placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, where it will thaw. This method is considered the most gentle and gentle for them, but also the longest.

Shellfish need to be cleaned not from the outside, but from the inside. To do this, they are immersed in boiling water 1-2 minutes

How to cook frozen

Most often, mussels arrive on the shelves cleaned of shells, undergone primary heat treatment (so they are no longer blue, but pastel) and frozen. Before adding them to dishes, they need to be thawed gently - at room temperature, in the refrigerator or in cold water. After shellfish, be sure to rinse in water to get rid of sand. It is equally important to choose quality meat in the store.

Helpful Tips:

do not buy mussels frozen in an ice glaze, on which cracks and snow growths are visible, this indicates re-freezing;
choose large mollusks, large specimens are the most useful;
pay attention to the color; for high-quality meat it is cream or light beige (as in the photo);
ask for a quality certificate for the product (if live shells grew in polluted waters, they have absorbed dangerous chemical elements).

When choosing shellfish, make sure that the “houses” are intact and well closed. Don't pay much attention to the lower price. After all, from a kg of unpeeled shells, an average of 100 grams of meat is obtained.

Advice! You can correctly determine the size of mussels by the markings on the packaging. Fresh frozen shellfish are packaged in bags with fractions applied. This makes it clear how many pieces are in a kilogram; the smaller the first number, the larger the size of the individual.

Ingredient Selection

Before you prepare boiled frozen mussels, you need to choose them correctly. The taste of the product, as well as its beneficial characteristics, depends on this.

Basic selection rules:

It is not recommended to buy seafood whose shells are half-open, have chips, cracks or other damage;
the shell of the mollusk should not be covered with a thick layer of ice - this indicates that the product was frozen several times or it was stored incorrectly;
the mollusk itself without a shell should have a uniform light yellow tint, without dark spots;
You need to carefully inspect the packaging of seafood, it must be intact;
You can make sure that the seafood is fresh by asking the seller for quality certificates, as well as documents with expiration dates for the products.

How to cook boiled frozen mussels of excellent quality - you can do a simple test with cold water. Seafood should be poured with cool water and wait 15-20 minutes. The good ones sink heavily to the bottom of the container, the bad ones remain floating on the surface. It is not recommended to cook them.

“Sea reptiles” in oil

Mussels in oil are a ready-made product that is sold in almost any chain. They can simply be eaten with a side dish:

boiled and fried potatoes;
rice;
millet porridge;
barley;
baked vegetables.

Oiled clams are also good added to salads.
One of the simplest and fastest recipes will help you make a delicious dish in a matter of minutes. You will need:

peeled mussels in oil – 100 g;
fresh vegetables: tomato, cucumber, red onion – 1 piece each;
lettuce leaves;
pitted olives – 5-10 pieces;
salt, ground black pepper, spices to taste;
green onion feathers - several pieces.

From the specified amount of ingredients, two servings of salad are obtained, the nutritional value of which does not exceed 40 Kcal per 100 g, and the dish can be prepared in just ten minutes.

Step-by-step instruction:

Separate the lettuce leaves from the stem, rinse under running water, dry, and place on the bottom of a plate.
Wash and coarsely chop the cucumber and tomato, place on top of the salad bed.
Place the next layer of mussels, which must be carefully removed from the oil filling.
Sprinkle finely chopped red onion on top. It should be washed first, separating the desired part from the bulb (from a quarter to half of the fruit).
The top tier will be olives cut into rings.
Sprinkle the finished salad with spices, pour over shellfish oil, and garnish with green onions.

Advice! Mussel lovers don't have to spend money on ready-made clams in oil. You can buy frozen semi-finished products, boil for five minutes, cool and add vegetable oil and spices.

Ancient Greek literature

Mussels had all sorts of names in Ancient Hellas: sea mussels were called melanids, freshwater ones were called herambas. And also: scarlets, pinnas, conchs, tellins.

From one of their names - mytilos (μίτυλος) came their Latin name - mytilus. By the way, the name of the capital of the island of Lesvos, famous for its seafood, Mytilene, also comes from this name for mussels.

And the nickname “melanides” directly goes back to the ancient process of producing natural dyes from pigments obtained from mollusks, because in Greek “melani” means black paint or black color, let’s remember melancholy - “black bile”.

Perhaps the “crimson women” also got their name for the same reason. After all, one of the most expensive crimson-red pigments in ancient times, purple, was also extracted from mollusks.

The ability of bivalves to produce precious pearls was also known in the ancient world. And the jewelry material obtained from their shells was called mother of pearl - “giving birth to pearls.”

Mussels fried with onions

An arbitrary number of mussels must be steamed for a quarter of an hour. You can use a double boiler. At this time, fry the onion in a frying pan in olive oil. Then cut the steamed meat and pour it into the pan, season with salt and pepper. After five minutes the dish can be served.

Another simple recipe for making delicious mussels.

Fried seafood in a frying pan

Mussels can be fried in a frying pan with vegetables. This dish will be delicious; with a side dish, it will provide a feeling of fullness and give a boost of energy. Preparing such a dinner will delight the household and will not require much trouble from the housewife.

You will need:

mussels – 400 g;

olive oil – 20 g;

shallot;

green onion stems;

chili pepper;

celery stalk;

one bay leaf;

sprig of thyme;

garlic clove;

Vermouth wine – 50 ml;

dry white wine – 150 ml;

sour cream – 50 g;

parsley.

In Belgian

A European-style dish was previously considered the preserve of chefs. In fact, you can stew mussels in white wine in your own kitchen.

What is necessary:

a bottle of white semi-sweet;
half a kilo of frozen mussels;
0.6 liters of low-fat cream (during a strict diet, you can boil shellfish in milk);
Dijon mustard (heaped spoon);
mold cheese (blue) – 0.2 kg;
salt, ground white pepper, leeks, herbs.

Cooking is divided into two stages: preparing the shellfish and creating the sauce. How to proceed:

Boil the wine over low heat, after a minute season with herbs and place the defrosted shellfish meat in the pan. Simmer, stirring constantly, for up to six minutes.
Mix the cream with mustard and onion in a saucepan and heat over low heat, without letting it boil. Add chopped cheese, season, stir while heating until the sauce reaches the consistency of sour cream.
Drain the mussels in a colander, place on a plate, pour over the sauce, and serve.

Note! Some chefs recommend adding finely chopped capers to the filling.

Traditional cooking method

• Pour two glasses of water into the pan and bring to a boil.

• After boiling, add salt to taste and throw in 450-500 grams of mussels.

• After secondary boiling, cook the shellfish for 8-10 minutes.

• Opened mussels are ready.

You can serve them whole without removing them from the shell and placing them on beautiful plates. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice or place lemon wedges on a plate. Additionally, you can serve any sauce and herbs.

If you need to use meat to prepare a dish, for example, a salad, the sash must be removed and the mussels additionally rinsed with warm water.

Baked mussels in cream

For this cooking option you will need:

a couple of processed cheeses without additives;
250 grams of mussel meat;
yolk of one egg;
a spoonful of flour and starch;
several cloves of garlic;
a glass of cream;
hard grated cheese;
pepper and salt.

Cooking mussels:

Mash the cheese with a fork, mix with the yolk, flour, starch, chopped garlic to a smooth paste.
Pour cream into the mixture, season and stir.
Boil the meat for three minutes.
Line a baking container with foil or papyrus, lay out the meat, pour in the sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and place in the oven to bake at 200 degrees until golden brown.

To enhance the creamy taste, it is recommended to sprinkle the dish with cheese again before serving (as in the photo).

Pickled

Store-bought shellfish meat does not necessarily need to be heat-treated. You can cook mussels cold at home.

What do you need:

liter of clean water;
bulb;
hot pepper pod;
salt;
liquid smoke for aroma;
half a kilo of mussel meat;
head of garlic;
spices.

How to make marinated mussels according to the recipe:

Boil the brine from water with the addition of a whole peeled onion and pepper, and salt. After a quarter of an hour of boiling, you need to add smoke and shellfish. Cook for three minutes.
In a cup, mix chopped garlic and spices to taste (example: dry dill and allspice). Place the seasoning in the bottom of the jar.
Place the shellfish meat in a jar, pour a glass of vegetable oil, seal and leave for 12 hours.

The resulting product can be served in its pure form or used in salads. Soy sauce complements the taste of seafood well.

Defrosting the product

How to properly defrost mussels so that they retain their benefits?

To do this, pour cold water over frozen seafood so that all shells or meat are completely submerged. Next, you need to wait until the product defrosts, drain all the water from it, rinse, clean and you can start cooking.

On a note! After defrosting, mussels must be cooked immediately, since harmful microorganisms grow and multiply very quickly in this seafood. When fresh, that is, defrosted, shellfish and shellfish meat are stored for no more than 1.5-2 hours.

In a slow cooker

Using a multicooker greatly simplifies the creation of many dishes. “Sea Reptiles” is no exception. In a multifunctional device, you can stew aromatic shellfish in tomato in just 25 minutes.

Ingredients:

two ripe tomatoes;
a glass of low-fat cream;
300 grams of shellfish meat;
spices, olive oil.

Cooking in the “Baking” mode:

For a quarter of an hour, fry the meat of sea reptiles in oil with the multicooker lid open in the “Baking” mode.
Grind in a blender and add the tomato mass to the bowl, pour in the cream.
Close the lid of the device and cook until the end of the mode.

The resulting roast can be served with your favorite side dish.

Pasta with “sea reptiles”

Pasta fans will love pasta with clams. It cooks quickly and turns out very tasty.

What you will need:

defrosted meat of mussels, shrimp, squid - 200 g each;
butter – 100 g;
garlic;
half a kilo of pasta;
half a glass of low-fat cream;
two spoons of flour;
salt, pepper, herbs.

Sequencing:

Pour water into the cooking vessel, let it boil, boil one by one (2-4 minutes each) and remove each type of seafood with a slotted spoon.
In another saucepan, cook the pasta until half cooked.
Melt the butter, fry the chopped garlic cloves, discard them after a couple of minutes when the aroma has transferred to the fat.
Pour pasta and seafood into the frying pan, season, stir, simmer for five minutes under the lid.
Mix half a glass of shellfish broth with cream, add salt, cook over low heat with the addition of flour, stirring constantly.
Pour sauce over spaghetti and clams before serving. Decorate with greens.

Fact! In order not to add calories to the dish, it is better to use cream with a minimum fat content.

Three in one: tasty, satisfying and healthy!

I prepared them as follows. I poured water into the pan, waited until it boiled, added salt (a tablespoon of salt per 2 liters), added the mussels without defrosting, reduced the heat and cooked for 7 minutes. There was almost no fishy smell, so the kitchen didn’t even have to be ventilated afterwards. After cooking, transfer it to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Prepare quickly, easily, without any hassles! You can’t leave them in the pan and you shouldn’t overcook them either, otherwise they will look like rubber. There were very few mussels.

I prefer to eat them this way. I’ve eaten it in salads and with pasta, but I like it simply boiled. They are very filling. Half a bowl was enough for me to eat. I didn't find any sand in them.

Mussels, it turns out, are still healthy, like many seafood! They strengthen the immune system, have a positive effect on the thyroid gland, and are an aphrodisiac.

Mussel salad in a cheese basket

Ingredients

Mussels (boiled and frozen) - 350 g.
Cucumbers - 3 pcs.
Eggs - 2 pcs.
Cheese - 300 g.
Mayonnaise - 200 g.
Salt - to taste.

Rice with mussels in creamy garlic sauce

You can make a dish for two in half an hour.

Product composition:

mix of different varieties of rice – 0.1 kg;
shellfish meat – 0.15 kg;
20 grams each of butter and cheese;
half a glass of cream;
garlic, salt, herbs to taste;
spoon of flour.

Recipe:

Boil the rice while the mussels defrost.
Melt the fat in a saucepan, fry and discard the grated garlic, add the mussels and fry for five minutes, covered.
Pour the cream into the bowl, season, stir and after a minute remove from the heat.
Mix mussels with rice, pour the mixture into molds, sprinkle with cheese and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

Note! To reduce calories, you can serve rice with mussels without baking them with cheese.

An exquisite delicacy for health and benefit

Along with such popular seafood as fish meat, shrimp and crabs, shellfish are included in the list of the healthiest food products and are recognized as dietary food by specialists in proper and healthy nutrition around the world.

The exceptional value of seafood is due to their high nutritional value, excellent digestibility, as well as the presence in them of a huge amount of macro- and microelements useful for the human body.

Modern nutritionists often use a conditional division of foods into complete and incomplete protein. A food product that contains the entire set of amino acids that are essential for the human body is called a complete protein.

A product that contains only part of the essential amino acids is considered an incomplete protein. Mussels and their habitat neighbors are complete protein foods. At the same time, shellfish have a fairly low calorie content in comparison with such protein sources as beef, chicken and sea fish, and therefore are recommended as a dietary dish for those who want to lose weight without compromising their health.

Comparative characteristics of these products are given in the table.

Table 1. Comparison of the energy value of products - sources of animal protein.

Product	Energy value, kcal	Protein, g	Fats, gr	Carbohydrates, g
Chicken	175	21,2	9,7	1,4
Mussels	76	11,3	2,3	2,1
Pork	295	16,2	25	0,73
Beef	197	20	12,9	0,45
Sea fish	142	17,5	6	5,5

In addition to its exceptional nutritional value, mussel meat includes B vitamins, and the content of vitamin B12 in 100 grams of shellfish meat exceeds the daily norm three times, vitamins A, C, E, D3, as well as nicotinic acid PP.

Mussels are rich in sodium, phosphorus and choline, their consumption has a positive effect on the functioning of the thyroid gland, and due to the increased amount of selenium, these bivalves are considered a natural antioxidant and immunostimulant.

Salad "Media"

Some mussel dishes will appeal even to those who are indifferent to seafood and even have a dislike for it. A good example is the “Mediyny” salad - a marine variation of everyone’s favorite “Olivier” and “Stolichny”. The recipe is variable, which means it will suit almost everyone. From the specified amount of ingredients you will get four full servings.

Components:

boiled mussels or in marinade – 250 g;
a can of green peas;
leaves of Chinese cabbage or green salad – 100 g;
two hard-boiled chicken eggs;
small onion;
sour cream and mustard sauce for dressing;
greens to taste.

It will take no more than half an hour to prepare the products, including boiling the eggs; you can make a salad from ready-made ingredients in a quarter of an hour.

How to do:

Place the mussels in a colander, drain the juice from the peas, and chop the green leaves.
Chop the boiled eggs, onions and herbs.
Mix all ingredients except clams.
Prepare a sauce from sour cream and mustard, season the salad, add spices, stir.
Place mussels on top.

Note! “Media” salad with mussels can be made lean by removing eggs from the recipe and replacing the dressing with olive oil.

Mediterranean diet

For the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, and especially for the Greeks, seafood occupied one of the main places in the daily diet, and first of all these were shellfish - oysters, scallops and, of course, mussels.

There is a lot of evidence of this in ancient Greek literature. For example, Athenaeus mentions mussels in his famous “Feast of the Wise,” while referring to the equally famous “Delicacies” of Archestratus - one of the first cookbooks in history, more than half of the recipes of which contained seafood dishes in one form or another.

Aristotle’s scientific treatise “Ichthyology” is based on descriptions of marine animals from this book. The same Aristotle in the History of Animals, who gave the first scientific description of the then known fauna, classified mussels into the category of armored mollusks, but according to the modern classification they are called bivalves.

Julien

To prepare three servings of snacks you will need:

200 grams of fresh champignons;
100 grams of fresh frozen mussels and shrimp;
small onion;
100 grams of sour cream and cheese;
salt and pepper to taste;
butter for frying.

Cooking julienne:

Melt the butter, fry the chopped onion, add sliced mushrooms, cook until excess moisture evaporates.
Add seafood, salt and pepper, fry for three minutes.
Stir in sour cream and heat.
Transfer the mixture into cocotte bowls, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until golden brown.

The hot mass is served in portioned molds.

Snack for foam

Fans of a foamy drink will appreciate the appetizer of fried mussels. This quick dish with a delicious cheese crust will bring a lot of pleasure.

What you will need:

100 g butter;
grated garlic;
frozen mussels;
hard cheese.

Method of preparing the snack:

Melt the butter, fry the grated garlic, after a couple of minutes remove the garlic with a slotted spoon.
Immerse the mussels, season with spices, fry over high heat for two to three minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the grated cheese to the mussels, stir for half a minute or a minute.
Turn off the burner.

Cheese clams go well with any type of foamy drink.

Defrosting and cleaning methods

The benefits of the product largely depend on proper defrosting. The most correct and gentle way is the refrigerator. The product is placed on the top shelf and left until completely thawed.

If you need to reduce the time, then you should salt the water and put the seafood in it. These methods are suitable for mussels frozen without the shell and in the shell.

Do not use a microwave oven or hot water for defrosting. This will significantly worsen the taste of the product and its beneficial properties.

Shellfish contain a lot of protein, so if you leave them in direct sunlight for a long time, they will quickly acquire an unpleasant odor and spoil.

"Sea" scrambled eggs

Even a familiar breakfast dish can be made Mediterranean and given a new flavor by adding mussels and feta. To fry eggs for two, you need to take:

four chicken eggs;
small onion;
peeled mussels – 150 gr;
salt, spices;
60 g feta;
oil.

Recipe:

Melt the butter, fry the finely chopped onion, add the mussels and leave for another couple of minutes.
Beat in the eggs, season, sprinkle with feta.
Fry eggs until desired consistency.

Scrambled eggs with “sea creatures” at the beginning of the day can energize you and set you up for good things.

Fact! 100 grams of such scrambled eggs contain 427 kcal, which is acceptable for a morning meal.

Beneficial features

The richness of the taste of mussels is noted by many ancient authors, which indicates their wide distribution in the gastronomic set of the inhabitants of the Ancient Mediterranean.

Ancient books note the differences in taste and quality of these seafood caught in different parts of the Mediterranean. Their habits and distribution areas were so well studied and described, and their fishing was so accessible that even ancient Greek boys did it, then selling their catch to traders in the market.

The beneficial qualities of these mollusks were no less valued by ancient writers and scientists. For example, in a treatise on health by the Carysto author Diocles, the extraordinary healing properties of mussels for digestion and kidneys are noted.

These judgments of ancient authors are confirmed by research by modern medical specialists and nutritionists.

With a very low calorie content of 75 kKal, they contain in 100 g:

fats - 2 gr.;
carbohydrates - 3.4 g;
proteins - 11.7 g;
calcium mineral salts - 88 mg;
phosphorus - 236 mg;
iron - 5.8 mg.

And the rich content of vitamins D, E and group B, as well as unsaturated fatty acids of the Omega-3 group, determines their antioxidant and antitumor effects, a positive effect on the blood circulation and immunity.

However, excessive consumption of mussels can also cause harm in the form of allergic reactions and digestive disorders.
They are contraindicated for patients suffering from blood diseases such as gout, poor blood clotting.
How to cook mussels? Many methods were described back in ancient times. The simplest one: grilling was mentioned by Aristophanes in the comedy “Women of Babylon”: “...Look, how their mouths were gaping - like mussels on coals...”.

And the famous ancient Roman gourmet Apicius Marcus Gabius in his cookbook “On the Art of Cooking” gave the following recipe:

leek, finely chopped;
cumin;
Mediterranean savory (a relative of thyme);
passito - Italian raisin wine;
dry grape wine.

Make a sauce from these ingredients and cook mussels in it.