Our latest creation of Spicy Fish Soup is full of healthy spices, using help from The Food Bible book. We researched the best spices to add for optimum health benefits as well as delicious flavours!
The result was this perfectly fragrant spicy fish soup. Great as a starter, lunch or even a main meal! Under 300 calories a serving and very low in saturated fats.
See our step by step slide show on how we made our spicy fish soup.
You can find the full ingredients and instructions on the recipe card below
The Food Bible was gifted to us by Pen and Sword Books, it is a fantastic food reference book that gives you all the information you will need to know about Food and how it affects your health.
What fish to use in Soup?
Best fish to use in this soup is a firm white fish which will keep its form when cooked. We used Haddock, other alternatives are cod, sea bass, basa, catfish, tilapia or snapper.
Spices to add to Soup?
We used turmeric & cumin as well as a pickling spice mix from BuyWholeFoodsOnline.co.uk. They sell a multitude of health foods to UK & Europe.
The obvious thing to do with Pickling Mix is to pickle your own vegetables (post coming soon!).
However, when we were preparing our ingredients for this soup, we realised it contained a great combination of spices which would work well in our soup too!
The pickling spice mix contains Bay Leaves, Allspice, Bird's Eye Chillies, Black Peppercorns, Cloves, Ginger Root, Coriander Seeds, Yellow Mustard Seeds, Crushed Cassia Cinnamon
Read more about the health benefits of all these spices at the end of the page.
Using our pestle and mortar we ground 1 tablespoon of the whole spices down into a powder.
If you haven't got a pestle & mortar you can place in a sealable bag and use rolling pin/hammer to bash and ground them.
Place this to the side until ready to add into soup mix.
Making Spicy Fish Soup
Fry off onions, peppers and garlic together until softened before adding chopped tomatoes.
Next add crushed pickling mix, cumin and turmeric.
Add in stock, allow to simmer and thicken for 30 minutes before adding fish cut into big chunks cook soup for a further 8 minutes.
Stir very gently if needed so as not to break the fish chunks.
We added a sprinkle of fresh coriander and black pepper to our bowl of soup, before serving up with a fresh homemade wholemeal loaf.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Spicy Fish Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 red onions finely chopped
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- 1 yellow pepper finely chopped
- 400 grams (14 oz) tinned tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Pickling Spice Mix (Bay Leaves, Allspice, Bird's Eye Chillies, Black Peppercorns, Cloves, Ginger Root, Coriander Seeds, Yellow Mustard Seeds, Crushed Cassia Cinnamon) ground up into a powder
- 1 tablespoon Crushed Garlic ( 6 cloves)
- 800 ml (3 ⅓ cup) fish stock
- 600 grams (1.3lb) haddock chopped into large chunks
- fresh coriander chopped to serve on top
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add onions, peppers and garlic and cook for 3-5 mins until soft
- Stir in the tinned tomatoes and cook for 5 mins
- Add the crushed pickling mix, turmeric and ground cumin to the pan and stir together for 2 mins
- Pour in the fish stock, bring to the boil and then place on a simmer for 30 minutes
- Add the Haddock chunks and cook on a simmer for 8 mins, stirring gently so you don't break the fish up
- Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!!
Video
Nutrition
Hope you enjoyed the soup as much as we do, we will be making another batch of this up again this week.
We enjoyed it a lot and was easy for a midweek meal. Take a look at our Homemade White Cob Loaf recipe. If you are a fish lover give our Fish Chowder Bread Boat a go!
More Soup Recipes
Want more soup ideas, we love our broccoli and stilton or carrot and coriander soup recipe.
There is another lovely Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup by savings 4 savvy mums or check out more homemade soup ideas here.
As mentioned above we used The Food Bible to help us make our choices of good spices to use. Here is a breakdown of the health benefits that this Spicy Fish Soup will bring to you.
Health benefits of spices
Cumin- Good Source of Iron and several other minerals and Vitamin B1. It is a digestive aid and may also help protect from stomach and liver cancers as well as regulate blood sugars
Turmeric- Good source of Iron and Vitamin B6. Reduces levels of inflammation. Also believed to prevent insulin resistants, in promoting heart health and in cancer treatment. More research is being tested on humans for the benefits of turmeric.
Allspice- Anti-inflammatory, helps relieve wind and indigestion, boosting the immune system. May reduce blood pressure and has a mild analgesic effect.
Dried Chilli- A good source of carotenes, fibre and vitamin E. It's linked to several health benefits including pain relief from arthritis and psoriasis and the prevention of prostate cancer. May also help prevent inflammatory diseases reduce blood cholesterol, is anti-bacterial and can clear lung and nose congestion. Also known to boost the metabolic rate so may be useful for weight control and may even help reverse diabetes and colitis.
Black Peppercorns- A digestive aid particular useful when eating protein foods. Also, help reduce discomfort in the gut and helps prevent wind.
Cloves- Anti-inflammatory properties, is rich in antioxidant flavonoids. With a good content of fibre, calcium and iron.
Corriander seeds & leaves- helps protect against heart disease as well as having antibacterial properties. Said to be soothing for the digestion system and to stimulate insulin secretion and lower blood sugar levels.
Cinnamon- Antibacterial anti-clotting effect on the blood. May relieve the pain of arthritis. Boosts the immune system and is a digestive aid. There is some evidence it can lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Possibly antifungal, offering help in yeast infections, including candida.
Garlic - Can help lower blood LDL cholesterol and reduce the stickiness of the blood. Also protects against stomach and bowel cancers.
May help regulate blood pressure and a good source of vitamin B & C.
So there you have it, I wasn't joking when I said the Spicy Fish Soup is full of healthy spices!
Coral
This recipe sounds delicious but I would like to know how much of each spice is in the spice mix please?
Luke and Kay
Thank you for the question Coral
Not to sure on the measurements for the spice mix but if you would like to use the same spice mix, here is what we used for this recipe https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/pickling-spice.html
Hope you enjoy the spicy fish soup 🙂
Coral
Thank you, I'll see if they sell it in Australia 😉
Coral
I made this with a "home made pickling spice" and the soup turned out super delicious.
Your recipe is quick and easy and packed with awesome flavours😋
Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
jill
The color of this soup was beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
michele
Loved the combo of spice and seafood in this!
Debra
So up my alley...loved it. Spicy + Fish....and I'm smitten.
Tayo
I love a good fish soup and cant wait to try this!
Amanda Marie Boyle
I love this combination of spices - so amazing!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
It looks delicious. I wish this were in front of me right now.
kerri
It's never too early for soup for me! The flavors in this dish are incredible!
Sarah James
Your spicy fish soup looks delicious, what a good idea to use pickling spices. Looking forward to making this, thanks for sharing.
Chef Dennis
I am really loving this Spicy Fish Soup right now!
Rachael
This is so hearty and filling!
Amy
This was absolutely delicious! My friends loved it and definitely going to make it again in the future. Love spicy food!
Meesha
This looks delicious! Gonna try making it tonight!
Swathi
Spicy fish soup looks delicious my kind of meal with some fresh bread.
Taleen | Just As Tasty
I love spicy food so I think I will really enjoy this! Thanks for the recipe!
Sue
I have some fish I need to make into something and was looking for something new - this is it! This will be tonight's dinner!
Emily Flint
This spicy fish soup sounds so warming and delicious with all of the spices, I can't wait to try it!
Adam Pettus
Wow!!! This is something really special. You have done it so nicely. Can't wait to try this out. Thanks for sharing. Keep this up.
Kayleigh
I love spices, I will be trying this recipe as soon as I can
Kay
Thanks Kayleigh, hope you enjoy it 👍😍
mohan kumar
Great recipe loved by all, so simple to make and tasty.
Kay
Glad to hear 😉
mohan kumar
Thanks for sharing..Its looks delicious .
Kay
Always our pleasure to share our best recipes!
Jeremy Park
This soup actually looks delicious! I’m bookmarking to refer to when I cook. Thank you!
Kay
Thats great, thank you, Jeremy! Enjoy 🙂
nyxie
This sounds gorgeous! I'm actually considering making this!
Thank you for sharing.
Kay
Hi Nyxie
Thank you for your comment 🙂
Hope you like this recipe, let us know what you think?
Enjoy!!