Black Garlic Mussels and Rice Recipe

As I dream of a long-overdue sun-soaked European Mediterranean holiday, why not take matters into your own hands and bring a little taste of it yourself at home, right?! For me, seafood rice is my Mediterranean holiday staple. This easy mussels and rice recipe is inspired by the seafood rice dishes I’ve eaten in Portugal, whether it’s the dreamiest lobster rice from Cervejario Ramiro in Lisbon, or the seafood rice at Marisqueira Costa Nova and Arroz de Forno in Porto. It combines plump mussels with Bomba rice, tomato, fish stock and black garlic for a deeply savoury one-pot seafood dinner. It’s rich and comforting with plenty of umami and an optional little kick of chilli.

This isn’t a traditional Portuguese arroz de marisco or Spanish paella. Instead, I’ve taken inspiration from those Mediterranean seafood-and-rice dishes and given the recipe my own twist with black garlic. Its sweet, caramelised flavour works particularly well with the brininess of the mussels and richness of the tomato-based rice. If you love seafood recipes that feel a little special without requiring complicated techniques, this is a lovely one to add to your dinner rotation.

Why You’ll Love This Mussels and Rice Recipe

I adore this mussels and rice recipe because it’s packed with seafood flavour that instantly transports me to a seaside holiday. Using fish stock as part of the cooking process really adds that irresistible flavour depth. Together with black garlic, it creates such incredible oomph and umami that make this dish hard to not love. It has that impressive seafood-restaurant feel while using straightforward ingredients and techniques. Moreover, everything conveniently cooks in one-pot, and it’s a highly easily customisable dish – mussels are my go-to here, but you can easily turn this into a mixed seafood rice with prawns, squid, clams or scallops.

What Is Black Garlic?

Black garlic is regular garlic that has been aged under controlled heat and humidity until the cloves turn dark, soft and almost sticky. Unlike fresh garlic, its flavour is mellow and slightly sweet with deeply savoury, caramelised notes. That’s why I particularly like using it with seafood. You still get plenty of savoury depth, but without an overly sharp garlic flavour competing with the mussels. I use black garlic paste here because it’s easy to stir evenly through the rice. Whole black garlic cloves can also work – simply mash a few cloves into a paste before adding.

How to make Black Garlic Seafood Mussels Rice

Ingredients you need

Recipe Notes

Bomba Rice vs Arborio Rice

Both Bomba and Arborio Rice are short-grain rice. Bomba Rice originates in Spain and is commonly used for paellas. Whereas Arborio Rice is from Italy and is used for cooking risotto. Whilst somewhat similar, I personally would not recommend substituting Bomba rice with Arborio. I’ve found that Arborio rice takes much more liquid to cook, and the texture came out mushier, which isn’t quite the desired texture for this seafood rice recipe. You can find Bomba rice at the likes of Waitrose, Spanish stores, or on Amazon. A good alternative to Bomba rice is Spanish Calasparra rice.

Type of Rice	Texture	Suitable for This Recipe?
Bomba Rice	Absorbs plenty of liquid while retaining structure	Best choice
Calasparra rice	Short-grain Spanish rice with good absorption	Great alternative
Arborio rice	Creamier and starchier	Usable, but not my preference
Long-grain Rice	Fluffier, less absorbent	Not ideal

How to clean Mussels

Supermarket mussels are usually already cleaned and ready to cook, so always check the packaging first.

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