If you’re looking for a fancy yet inexpensive meal to enjoy during this quarantine- you need to try my recipe for Garlic Mussels in White Wine Sauce.
I posted a photo of this meal in my Instagram stories & SO many people responded “Oh fancy.” This meal was actually super cheap & very quick to make. A box of 2 pounds of frozen mussels is $4.99. Everything else in this recipe contains ingredients most of you will already have around the house (all inexpensive ingredients).
You can certainly use fresh mussels, but I have not found any available recently. Throw the frozen shells right in the pot- no need to defrost beforehand.
Use whatever type of pasta you have on hand for this meal.
We like it with penne, seems to make it a bit heartier but this would work well with linguine also.
When adding the wine, add the extra 1/2 cup if you like your broth on the thinner side. And you must serve this with a nice crusty bread. Dip it in the broth to soak up all that garlic flavor.
- 1 lb. mussels (frozen or fresh)
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ stick unsalted butter
- ½ large white onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-1½ cups dry white wine
- 1 tsp oregano
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 box of pasta, I used penne
- Melt butter & olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium low heat. Add onion & garlic and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until translucent.
- Pour white wine into pot & cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add mussels & oregano to the pot and cover pot for about 10 minutes.
- Discard any unopened mussels after cooking. Season with salt & pepper.
- While mussels are cooking, cook pasta.
- Combine cooked pasta & mussels in one large bowl and serve with crusty bread.

Check out some more recipe inspiration & ideas of meal to make while in quarantine!