Name: Mussels Fra Diavolo
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 3 lbs mussels; 1 medium onion, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, sliced; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 tablespoon calabrian chili peppers in oil; ¾ cup white wine; 1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes; 1 teaspoon oregano; 1 teaspoon salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; 2 tablespoon olive oil; 2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley.

Mussels Fra Diavolo is the perfect combination of spicy marinara sauce and delicious tender mussels. This spicy mussels recipe is a great Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve appetizer!

Mussels Fra Diavolo in a serving bowl with crostini.

Looking for more delicious seafood appetizers? Try ourItalian Stuffed Baked Clamsor Garlic Sage Seared Scallops!

[feast_advanced_jump_to]

My Family's Favorite Appetizer

Mussels Fra Diavolo holds a special place in my heart. My family wasn't big seafood eaters when we were growing up, except for the holidays. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, my mom would order a full tray of Mussels Fra Diavolo from the Pizzeria a 2-minute walk from the house.

We'd have Mussels and Pepperoni Bread (Stromboli)orItalian Sausage Bread as appetizers and always something like Fried Flounder Oreganata or Linguine with Clams for dinner.

This was definitely my mom's favorite dish. The spicy mussels recipe is so addicting and the sauce is to die for. If you don't have half a loaf of Italian bread with this Italian appetizer, you're doing something wrong. The sauce in mussels is probably the best par,t and the same goes for our Steamed Mussels in White Wine!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

Mussels. It's normal to get farm-raised rope-grown mussels. Wild mussels are pretty hard to clean and purge. In the case of mussels, I always go farm-raised.
Whole Plum Tomatoes. You could substitute crushed tomatoes here. I like the chunkiness that whole plum tomatoes leave behind during the cooking process.
Onion. Sautéed onion is important in a spicy marinara like this one to slightly sweeten the sauce, but you can substitute shallots.
Calabrian Chili Peppers. You can substitute actual Calabrian chili peppers and pull them out before you add the whole plum tomatoes, or you can substitute 1-3 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. We use Calabrian chili peppers for our basic Spicy Marinara Sauce.
Tomato Paste. I love the intensity and depth of flavor that tomato paste brings to the sauce. It's always important to allow the tomato paste to cook directly on the pan before adding any other liquids to allow it to caramelize and open up the flavor. If you didn't have tomato paste, you could leave it out.

*Please see the recipe card below for more information on ingredients.

Cleaning and Debearding Mussels

Even farm-raised mussels will have a slight beard that has to be removed. Just grab the stringy beard hanging out the back of the mussel and pull it down towards the corner of the shell.

Clean the mussels by rinsing them in cold water and scrubbing them with your fingers or a clean brush to remove any grit on the outside of them. Farm-raised mussels are purged before they get to you, so there is no need to purge them.

How to Make Mussels Fra Diavolo

Mussels Fra Diavolo is a spicy dish. If you want it to be milder, back off on the calabrian chili peppers in the recipe a bit. Don't forget to follow the cleaning instructions above for the mussels before you start!

Step 1: In a large saucepan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onions and saute for 5 minutes until translucent.

Onions sauteing with garlic, tomato paste, and calabrian chili peppers in a pan.

Step 2: Then stir in the garlic for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and calabrian chili peppers. Combine well with the onions and garlic, and saute for another 3 minutes to allow the tomato paste to caramelize in the pan.

Step 3: Add the White wine and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes. You want the sauce to thicken up slightly.

Whole plum tomatoes added to the wine filled pan.

Step 4: Add the whole plum tomatoes and break them apart with a wooden spoon. Stir in the seasonings and bring the sauce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes. The sauce needs to be cooked slightly before adding the mussels so the tomatoes don't taste raw.

Step 5: Add the mussels to the pan and cover. Steam for 3-5 minutes or until all the mussels open up.

Mussesls steamed and opened in a pan with the fra diavolo sauce.

Step 6: Toss the mussels in the sauce and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Pro-Tips

Add the tomato paste directly to the pan and let it saute and caramelize for a few minutes before adding the wine. This step intensifies the flavor. Combine this with the calabrian chili peppers to really spice up the dish.
Make sure to toss the mussels in the sauce so that the flavor really gets into the meaty part of the mussel.
Throw away any mussels that don't open up. They were probably no good to begin with.

What to Serve with Mussels Fra Diavolo

Mussels Fra Diavolo is a delicious Italian appetizer, but it can also be served as a sauce over linguine or angel hair pasta! If it's not the main event, here are some other dishes that share the table with it! Check out Our Feast of Seven Fishes Menu for Christmas Eve if you're serving it on Christmas Eve.

Appetizers. Some other apps I may serve with mussels are Veggie Stromboli, Homemade Shrimp Cocktail, Italian Seafood Salad (Insalata di Mare), or Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms!
Main Course. If this is for Christmas Eve, I'll be serving some other seafood dishes like Linguine with Red Clam Sauce, Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Linguine, Pan-Seared Vermilion Snapper, or Pistachio Crusted Fish. Maybe I'd also have some vegetables on the table, like Italian Lacinato Kaleor Traditional Caesar Dressing with romaine lettuce and Homemade Italian Parmesan Croutons.
And if we're being a bit crazy, we'll serve one of our favorite Italian desserts like Rainbow Cookie Cakeor Pistachio Cream Tiramisumade with our homemade Ladyfingers Recipe.

Recipe FAQs

What pairs well with mussels?

With any steamed mussel dish you're going to want to pair it with delicious bread like Italian bread, crostini, or a baguette to soak up all of that sauce. It also pairs with a bright and fresh white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. If you're serving the sauce over something it serves well over long pasta like angel hair or linguine.

How many mussels per person?

If you're serving mussels as an appetizer with a large spread of food, ¼ pound of mussels per person would be plenty. If it's the only appetizer you're serving, I'd serve closer to ½ lb per person. Serving it for dinner over pasta? 1 lb per person.

Why is it called Fra Diavolo?

The word means "brother Devil" in Italian. It most likely comes from the calabrian chili peppers that are used to make it spicy, but there is an old wives tale that it is named for Michele Pezza, aka Fra Diavolo, who led the resistance against a French occupation of Naples.