25 of Our Favorite Oyster Recipes

At The Sportsman in England, chef Stephen Harris celebrates the restaurant's close proximity to the beach and some of the best oyster beds in the country. Here he poaches the oysters in their own liquor before putting them back in the shells and topping with creamy beurre blanc, tangy pickled cucumber and briny caviar.

Mario Carbone tops the oysters with a tangy vinegar-shallot mignonette, plus a Champagne-infused foam and frozen Champagne grapes.

Great oysters are delicious "naked," as Island Creek founder Skip Bennett says, but sometimes chef Jeremy Sewall dresses them up with a mignonette (vinegar sauce) like this one, made with sparkling rosé.

Bobby Flay tops his oysters with a blend of butter, tarragon and hot sauce, then returns them to the grill so the butter melts into little pools in the shells.

This light but intensely oystery soup was inspired by a recipe from Joanne Hendricks. Salsify is a root vegetable shaped like a skinny parsnip; it has blackish skin with white flesh and tastes a little like artichoke hearts. If you have trouble finding it, you can substitute Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) or, as a last resort, the pedestrian potato.

There are several tricks to this terrific chowder from Linton Hopkins of Holeman and Finch Public House in Asheville. He adds potato chunks to the broth for thickness, then pours in a little naturally low-fat buttermilk for creamy tanginess. And instead of fatty bacon, he uses smoked oysters to give the chowder a slightly woodsy flavor.

This sensational seafood-packed gumbo comes from TV personality and F&W contributor Andrew Zimmern. It's terrific in its simplicity, with a foolproof roux (the mix of fat and flour that is the basis for all gumbos) that requires just 15 minutes of stirring instead of the usual hour.

No shucking necessary: Once the oysters open on the grill, simply top them with David Kinch's smoky, tangy butter.

This is Bryant Ng's twist on a classic seafood pan roast. "I thought, Why not do a soup with oysters?" In place of the usual heavy cream, he enriches the broth with fragrant coconut milk.

"In larger portions, it's a meal-in-a-bowl dinner that your whole family will love. For parties, I make a large batch and serve it out of coffee mugs."—Andrew Zimmern

This velvety chowder from chef Dylan Fultineer is thickened with a classic flour-and-butter roux. He packs it with plump oysters and tender fingerling potatoes, and adds a kick of heat from dried red chiles. For extra flavor, he uses bacon from Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams in Tennessee, which is famous for its intense smokiness.

This ingenious, briny sauce couldn't be simpler: Chef René Redzepi purees raw oysters with a little of their liquor, plus rice vinegar and oil. He adds diced blanched vegetables for texture, then serves the dip with potato chips.

This brothy, aromatic seafood dish from chef Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina, weaves steamed clams with traditional New Orleans creamed oysters. It's hearty but not heavy, and the winter greens make it a full meal. Crusty bread is a must for sopping up the coveted broth.

"The Chinese love to play on the sound of the words, and the sound of the word 'oyster' is similar to the term 'good business,'" says cookbook author Kei Lum Chan. "So an oyster dish is popular to start Chinese New Year."

If you already have your grill heating up for your main course, these oysters are an impressive and super simple starter. Top Chef winner Brooke Williamson cooks the oysters ever so slightly on the grill to give them just a kiss of smoke. "It firms up the flesh just enough so it feels like you're eating shellfish," she says.

Briny uni and acidic lemon combined with smoky paprika and rich butter make an extraordinary flavored butter to top oysters before roasting. If shucking oysters isn't your thing, ask your fishmonger to do the job for you.

In this quick, simple recipe from Marion Cunningham's iconic "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook", tender and juicy oysters are drizzled with a bit of cream and hot sauce, then baked under a sumptuous, buttery crumb mixture for a bit of crunch. Serve this dish as an appetizer for a dinner party, or as a side dish with ham or turkey. For individual servings, the mixture can be divided among 4 ramekins instead of a large baking dish.

These briny, salty oyster hush puppies are delicious on their own, but Andrew Zimmern suggests serving them with lemon-herb mayo, hot sauces and a big bowl of pepper mojo for dipping.

For her Steak Tartare with Smoked Oyster Aioli, Best New Chef Kate Williams of Detroit's Lady of the House uses tender beef scraps rescued from butchering rib eye steaks. Dark green leek tops, often discarded, become the base of her punchy gremolata. The smoked oyster aïoli adds brightness, and just takes a minute to come together in a blender. Tartare calls for the best-quality meat; you'll eat it raw, so go for the good stuff—rib eye or flatiron is a nice way to go. To get a perfectly diced steak for tartare, freeze the beef until it is just firm, about 15 minutes, before cutting.

At Mister Jiu's in San Francisco, chef Brandon Jew serves this delicate-looking, snow-white halibut in a golden broth. But the dish gets soul-deep funk from kombu, fermented black beans, smoked oysters, and oyster sauce.

Chef Dylan Fultineer gently pickles oysters in warm Champagne vinegar and lime and lemon juices, so they're just barely cooked, retaining their creamy texture. He serves them as an appetizer on grilled bread, topped with bitter greens like radicchio.

Dylan Fultineer is always dreaming up new ways to show off oysters. This is one of his favorite ways to serve them raw. Serrano chile and lime provide a pop of flavor which allows the vibrant and fresh cucumber, pear and cilantro to shine in the ceviche-inspired topping.

F&W's Ann Taylor Pittman prefers grilling oysters just until they are warmed, keeping the texture more in line with the buttery nature of raw oysters. In her kitchen, slathering them with garlic butter is mandatory. She says this version is insanely delicious because the garlic butter includes a good splash of sherry, which imparts nutty depth that takes the oysters over the top.

Smoky, briny and buttery, these Smoked Oyster Empanadas from F&W's Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple will make you a canned seafood convert. They're delicious straight from the can, but we love them with a dash of hot sauce alongside a flute of champagne.

Ruth Reichl discovered that this wonderful combination of flavors tastes even better made with small, freshly shucked oysters. If you want to save a little time, pick up some sweet chili sauce from your local Asian market. Or, follow her recipe, which makes more than what you need for these omelets, but it keeps for months in the refrigerator.