Pickled Oysters
An easy seafood built around fresh shucked oysters with their liquor, whole mace blades and whole cloves β roughly 60 minutes start to finish, and rated easy to make. Below: the ingredients split into pantry staples and a quick shopping list, a built-in serving scaler, and the method in 6 steps.
You'll mainly reach for saucepan and pan. At easy difficulty across 6 steps, it's a good one for a busy evening. As written, it's pescatarian β fish but no meat.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Tip the oysters and their strained liquor into a small saucepan and bring slowly to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring once, just until the edges of the oysters begin to curl and firm, about 2 to 3 minutes; do not let them boil hard or they will toughen.
- Lift the oysters out with a slotted spoon and set them aside in a clean heatproof bowl, leaving the cooking liquor in the pan.
- Pour the vinegar and water into the pan with the reserved liquor, then add the peppercorns, mace blades, bay leaf, cloves and salt.
- Bring this pickling liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes to draw out the flavour of the spices.
- Pour the hot spiced liquid over the oysters, making sure they are fully submerged, and let everything cool to room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours so the oysters absorb the spiced vinegar, then serve cold straight from the pickle; eat within 3 days and keep refrigerated throughout.
You'll use: Saucepan Β· Pan
Ingredient substitutions
- White Wine
- chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar
Tips & common questions
How long does Pickled Oysters take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 6 steps and 8 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of white wine?
Try chicken or vegetable stock + 1 tsp vinegar. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Pickled Oysters is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Smoked oysters, corn, and pickled garlic on pirate-shaped pasta, with olive oil - Massachusetts.jpg (CC0) via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.