Mussels in white wine sauce is a dish that combines fresh mussels, garlic, white wine, parsley, and a touch of butter. This is a wonderful appetizer to any main course and is especially good with crusty bread to mop up the sauce!

Mussels with white wine sauce in white plate.

Mussels are a favorite appetizer in our home for a few reasons.

They’re inexpensive, easy to make, and go well with so many different types of sauces.

Mussels steamed in white wine is a wonderful dish to make in the summer, but we also love it for Christmas Eve’s Feast of the Seven Fishes along with shrimp oreganata and baccala Napoletana.

Be sure to serve it with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the delicious white wine sauce!

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

Clean 2 pounds of mussels by scrubbing with a scrub brush to remove any loose debris. Look over the mussels for any beards that weren’t removed in the processing facility. Beards can be removed by grabbing with a cloth and pulling toward the hinge of the mussel. Mince a 1/4 cup of flat-leaf Italian parsley and 6 cloves of garlic.

In a large pan over medium-low heat, saute the garlic in 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until golden, about 2 minutes. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes and cook for another 30 seconds.
Add 1 cup of dry white wine and bring to a boil for 2 minutes.

Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the mussels to the pan.
Cover the pan and allow the mussels to cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Once the mussels have opened, remove the lid.
Turn the heat down to low and add 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter and parsley.

Stir together to get all of the garlic and parsley into the mussel shells. After 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat. Taste test the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Enjoy!

Top tips for awesome mussels in white wine sauce

Mussels. We used PEI (Prince Edward Island) mussels for this recipe. Mussels are often sold already cleaned but you should 100% look them over regardless. Discard any broken mussels and give them a good scrub with a scrub brush and check for any beards (furry threads that protrude from the shells) before cooking them. Beards can be removed by grabbing them with a clean towel (to avoid slipping) and pulling them out. Use some force in a back and forth motion or just pull toward the hinge of the mussel.
Garlic. We used garlic in this recipe, but shallots would also be amazing here if you prefer.
Wine. We used a sauvignon blanc for this white wine sauce recipe but any dry white wine will work well here.
Cooking the mussels. For the most part, live mussels will open within 3-5 minutes of cooking. Any mussels that do not open after bout 5-7 minutes were likely dead prior to cooking and should be discarded.
When to eat. Most dishes that involve mussels, clams, or other seafood are best served right away. If you have to reheat the mussels, we recommend doing so over low heat in the saucepan. The microwave should be avoided.

More seafood recipes

If you’re looking for some wonderful seafood recipes, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few of our favorites!

Linguine alle vongole – pasta with white clam sauce.
Zuppa di pesce – seafood stew with clams, mussels, squid, shrimp, and cod.
Mussels marinara – mussels with a garlicky marinara sauce.

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