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Mussel

A mussel is an edible bivalve commonly steamed, boiled, grilled, or added to soups and seafood dishes.

Mussel — illustrative ingredient image

About Mussel

A mussel is an edible bivalve mollusc with a hinged shell and a soft interior. In ingredient use, the term usually refers to the whole shellfish sold live, chilled, or cooked, with the edible flesh removed from the shell during eating. This general identity does not specify a particular variety.

Mussels are commonly steamed, boiled, grilled, baked, or added to soups, stews, pasta, and other seafood dishes. Their cooked flesh is tender and moist, with a marine flavour that can range from delicate to distinctly briny.

Shell colour and flesh appearance vary among types and sizes. Mussels may be sold in the shell, shucked, frozen, or canned. Cooking opens the shell and softens the flesh, while preserved forms may have a firmer texture and a flavour affected by their packing medium.

Ingredient type
whole food

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Where mussel appears

18 linked foods

Find foods to recognise by country and type. Recipes and products vary; these are recorded ingredient connections.

Showing 1–12 of 18

Main dishes

Sides

Soups

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for mussel

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

mussel

English

Mollusks, mussel, blue, cooked, moist heat

Search alias · Not a confirmed translation

English

Mollusks, mussel, blue, raw

Search alias · Not a confirmed translation

English

mussel powder (freeze-dried)

Search alias · Not a confirmed translation

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Mussel nutrition & diet

Mussel nutritional value

Mussels, raw

Per 100 g of the edible portion in the stated food form.

Calories
74kcal
Protein
12.1g
Carbs
2.5g
Fat
1.8g

Reference values apply to the named food form, not every preparation, variety or brand. CoFID 2021 food code 16-497. Carbohydrate follows the dataset’s available-carbohydrate convention. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Portions & preparation

Reference the edible mussel meat separately from shell weight, and identify whether it is raw, steamed, boiled, grilled, smoked, canned, or preserved. Cooking liquid, sauces, batter, and serving accompaniments may add salt, fats, cereals, or other seafood and should be recorded separately.

Compare the right form: Match references to identified mussel species and shucked edible meat, specifying raw, steamed, boiled, grilled, smoked, canned, or preserved form.

Diet considerations

Mussels are animal-derived bivalve seafood. Compatibility changes with preparation: butter, cream, meat stock, egg batter, cereal coatings, or mixed seafood may be added. Plain cooked mussel meat differs from canned or sauced products, and carbohydrate patterns are generally driven more by coatings, sauces, and portion than by the shellfish itself.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Typically incompatible
  • Vegetarian
    Typically incompatible
  • Pescatarian
    Typically compatible
  • Keto
    May be compatible
  • Paleo
    May be compatible
  • Low-carb
    May be compatible
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Typically incompatible
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Typically incompatible
The ingredient profile identifies an animal-derived food or derivative.
Vegetarian · Typically incompatible
The profile identifies animal flesh, seafood or a derivative excluded by a vegetarian diet.
Pescatarian · Typically compatible
Seafood fits this pescatarian definition. Added meat-based stock or other ingredients would need checking separately.
Keto · May be compatible
The plain form may fit a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Check the portion, added sugar, coatings and sauces against the nutrition values above.
Paleo · May be compatible
May fit a paleo pattern, depending on the cut or form, processing and added ingredients.
Low-carb · May be compatible
The plain form may fit a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Check the portion, added sugar, coatings and sauces against the nutrition values above.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Typically incompatible
This profile identifies shellfish, which does not meet the kosher fish criteria.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: UK Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID), 2021 — Mussels, raw ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .