Oyster Recipes

Raw oysters are delicious, but these oyster recipes show how good they can be cooked

By | Published Feb 12, 2014 11:25 PM

OystersGrilled
Oysters are the perfect aphrodisiacs to have on Valentine's day. Believed to increase fertility, these half shells evoke images of romance. Grill them for your lover and sprinkle some pecorino and bottarga before serving. Get the recipe for Grilled Oysters » Christina Holmes

On their own, oysters a nearly perfect food. You can pluck them straight from the ocean, shuck them, and slurp them down raw. Their sweet, briny flavor needs no complement.

That said, there are times when you want something more than unadorned oysters on the half shell. For those occasions, we have our favorite oyster recipes for you to try.

If you want to keep your oysters raw, you can pair them with a simple, vinegary mignonette. We have versions made with orange, onion, and mint, as well as raspberry vinegar, prosecco, and pink peppercorns. Feeling more ambitious? Take a page out of Eric Ripert’s book and top your oysters with cubes of gelée flavored with ponzu, shiso, or wasabi.

Oysters are great fried. Dip them in beer batter to make a crispy fritter, or bread them with cornmeal and pile them on French bread with lettuce and tomato for a traditional New Orleans po’boy.

For you New Englanders, oysters and Thanksgiving go hand in hand. Check out our recipes for oyster stuffing, cooked in or out of your Thanksgiving turkey.

Perhaps America’s most famous cooked oyster dish is oysters Rockefeller. The creator, Antoine’s in New Orleans, carefully guards their recipe, but our version with an herb-filled roux and bread crumbs comes close. Other baked oyster preparations include stuffing the bivalves with spinach and bacon or crab and shrimp.

You’re sure to find a great way to prepare this tasty bivalve in our collection of great oyster recipes.

Watch our video to see how to shuck an oyster »

Brigtsen’s Oysters LeRuth

Sweet crabmeat and shrimp enrich the stuffing of these broiled oysters.

Orange, Candied Onion, and Mint Mignonette

This fragrant sauce is a bright accent to briny oysters, but it’s also delicious with clams, steamed crab legs, and shrimp.

Veal Chops with Morels, Wilted Lettuce, Oysters, and Garlic-Parmesan Sauce

Vin jaune, a semisweet wine from the Jura region of France, enlivens the creamy morel ragù in this elegant veal and oyster dish.

Oyster Stuffing

We’ve always been partial to traditional New England–style stuffing, particularly when it’s made with French bread, smoky cured pork, and oysters.

Grilled Oysters with Butter Sauce *

Grill these oysters over grapevine cuttings if you can get them.

Oysters DuPont

Oysters DuPont

Oyster Po’boy

This New Orleans po’boy is piled high with fried oysters.

Scrambled Eggs with Oysters

This Taiwanese classic pairs oysters with celery, bean sprouts, and ketchup.

Scalloped Oysters

This simple Southern specialty is best made with small oysters and plain saltines.

Roasted Oysters in White Wine

This elegant appetizer is deceptively easy to prepare—simply bake the oysters with coarse salt and top with a dry white wine.

Broiled Stuffed Oysters

Grated gruyere can be substituted for garlic in this dish.

Oyster Fritters

These oyster fritters are meltingly tender with a beer batter that is surprisingly airy.

Corn Bread Oyster Dressing

This cornbread and oyster dressing is a holiday staple around the Chesapeake Bay.

Oyster Stew

This dish, made creamy with milk and butter, smells like a beautiful day at the beach.

Shrimp and Oyster Perloo

Perloo is a cousin of jambalaya from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. It can be made with all sorts of ingredients—in this case country ham, shrimp, and oysters.

Oysters Gilhooley

The cooks at Gilhooley’s in San Leon, Texas, grill their oysters with parmesan; broiling them works too.

Oysters in Gelée

Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York City pairs Kumamoto oysters on the half shell with tiny, melt-in-your-mouth cubes of aspic in various flavors.

Sage-Brined Roast Turkey with Oyster Dressing

This sage-infused roast turkey is stuffed with a bacon-enriched dressing brimming with wild rice, hazelnuts, and oysters. Get the recipe for Sage-Brined Roast Turkey with Oyster Dressing »

Baked Oysters with Bacon and Spinach

These baked oysters are a lighter take on the traditional oysters Rockefeller.

Fried Oysters with Spicy Rémoulade

Oyster shells act as a natural serving platter for these crispy fried oysters with a creamy, spicy sauce.

Highland Oysters Mignonette

Oysters’ aphrodisiac fame comes from their suggestive shape and briny flavor. Rumor has it that Casanova, the great 18th century Venetian lover, used to dine on 50 oysters a day.

Mobile-Style Oysters

This recipe for grilled or broiled oysters in a briny bath of butter, garlic, herbs, and Parmesan hails from Mobile, Alabama.

Veracruzan Seafood Cocktail (Vuelve a La Vida)

This bracing seafood cocktail is a popular Mexican hangover cure (its name means “return to life” in Spanish).

Crabby Jack’s Oyster Po’boy

Oysters are fried in a spicy cornmeal breading for this classic New Orleans sandwich.

Oysters Rockefeller

The original oysters Rockefeller recipe is a closely guarded secret, but this version gets close with an herb-filled roux and a breadcrumb crust.

Roasted Oysters with Green Tomato Pickle and Cranberry-Horseradish Relish

These sweet-tart green tomato pickles and spicy cranberry-horseradish relish are delicious with roasted oysters, an Eastern Shore staple.

Devils on Horseback

In this version of the classic hors d’oeuvre, oysters are cooked with garlic and wine, then set “astride” toasted garlic bread slices and sprinkled with bacon.

Brigtsen’s Oysters Bienville

This oyster dish gets its robust flavors from bacon, ham, and sherry.

Casamento’s Charbroiled Oysters

These Parmesan-topped oysters can also be grilled.

Upperline’s Oysters St. Claude

Fried oysters are paired with a garlicky sauce in this toothsome appetizer served at Upperline, a restaurant in New Orleans’ Uptown neighborhood.

Hangtown Fry

Hangtown Fry

Sweet and Sour Pork and Oyster Meatballs (Tangcu Muli Rouwan)

These succulent Sichuan meatballs are fried until crisp, then coated with a sweet and sour sauce. [Get the recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork and Oyster Meatballs (Tangcu Muli Rouwan) »(http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Pork-Oyster-Meatballs)

MORE TO READ

Want more Saveur?

Get the world's best recipes and kitchen tips in your inbox.

LET'S GO