Clam chowder is so comforting and versatile. You can serve it for a casual lunch, or the first course for an elegant Christmas Eve dinner. Our New England clam chowder easily comes together with little fuss.
If you love to eat soups and stews with seafood, you'll enjoy checking out our best cream of crab soup and our chicken, sausage and shrimp gumbo.
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Ingredients
Our New England clam chowder takes a lot of pantry staples. Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Bacon: We used cut up bacon for flavor, color, and added crunch. If you're trying to stay away from pork, it can be omitted.
- Liquids: We used bottled clam juice, but you can also use the juice from the canned clams or you can add both. If you want, you can also add 1 cup of chicken broth.
- Seasonings: We used bay leaf, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Seafood: During the last 5 minutes, we added whole or chopped baby clams.
- Dairy: We used heavy cream and evaporated milk, but you can also use whole milk or half and half.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for our New England clam chowder. Chop up the onion, celery, and carrot, then measure out the spices and dairy. (Note: adding carrots is more common in Manhattan chowder.)
- Cook the bacon in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat until it's crisp and the fat is rendered. Blot off the excess grease, then cut into bite-sized pieces.
- In 3 tablespoons of bacon fat, saute the mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrot) over medium heat until it's soft, roughly 8 minutes.
3. Sprinkle on flour to get the roux started. Cook the flour for a minute or two over medium heat, while constantly stirring.
4. Gradually whisk in the clam juice and pour in the filtered water or low sodium chicken stock, if you prefer.
5. Add the Yukon gold or red potatoes and the spices (bay leaves, fresh thyme, salt, and black pepper). Stir, then cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender, stirring every 5 minutes to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom.
6. Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs and reduce the heat to medium low. Add the whole or chopped baby clams, and the evaporated milk.
7. Add the heavy cream and stir, then heat through, about 5 minutes.
8. Serve the New England clam chowder warm and garnish with a generous serving of bacon, fresh parsley, and oyster crackers.
Recipe FAQs
They both have a creamy white base, but Boston clam chowder tends to be thicker. Two other popular chowders made in the Northeast are Manhattan clam chowder, which has a red tomato broth and more vegetables (green peppers and carrots), and Rhode Island clam chowder, which has a clear broth with a thin consistency and uses quahog clams.
Flour is added to make a roux, and the starch from the potatoes will help thicken the broth. Finishing the soup with heavy cream will also thicken the chowder.
Clam chowder became popular in New England, especially in Massachusetts and Maine in the 17th century, but food historians believe it originated in Canada and was introduced to the New England area by French Canadian and Acadian settlers.
The obvious choice is oyster crackers, but bread and crumbled bacon are excellent too. To round out your meal, serve a salad and roasted vegetables.
Variations
- Want this gluten free? Omit the flour and add mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.
- Want this spicy? Add Tabasco or red pepper flakes.
Store
- Make ahead: You can make the New England clam chowder the night before. Cool then store in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Leftovers: This will last up to 4 days if stored in a tightly sealed container in the fridge.
- Reheat: Warm the New England clam chowder on the stovetop in a heavy bottomed pot over medium low heat until heated through.
- Freeze: We don't recommend freezing this chowder unless you do it before adding the dairy. Dairy based chowders don't have the same consistency when thawed and reheated.
Expert Tips
- Need to make this ahead? Make up to two days ahead of your event. Reheat on medium low on the stovetop.
- Want tender clams? Add them during the last 5 minutes of cooking when using the stovetop method. If you are planning on using fresh clams, look for littlenecks or cherrystone, as they will be more tender than quahogs.
- Need the broth thicker? Increase the flour, or add mashed potatoes, and let it simmer uncovered.
- Want a lighter version? Use olive oil and evaporated milk, and omit the bacon.
- Need this dairy free? Omit the butter, whole milk, and heavy cream. Increase the bacon fat and use full fat coconut milk.
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Recipe
New England Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, crumbled
- 2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 ¼ cups celery, finely diced
- 1 ¼ cups carrots, finely diced (optional)
- 4 ½ cups yellow or red potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 tablespoon bacon grease, reserved from frying the bacon
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups clam juice, Bar Harbor brand
- 2 cups filtered water
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 ½ cup evaporated milk
- 2 10- ounce cans of whole baby clams
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup oyster crackers
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, turning the slices once or twice with a fork. This should take 10 minutes. Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, and keep 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Let the bacon cool, then break into smaller pieces.
- In a 6-quart Dutch oven set over medium high heat, saute the carrots, onion, and celery in the bacon grease for roughly 8 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, then cook the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Gradually add the clam juice, stirring continuously, then pour in the water, potatoes, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes so the potatoes won't stick to the bottom of the pot. The chowder will start to thicken from the potato starch.
- Reduce the heat to low, remove the bay leaf and thyme, then add the cream, milk, and whole baby clams. Stir gently and let the the milk and clams heat through, roughly 5 minutes. Be careful not to boil the chowder.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the crumbled bacon. Reserve some for a garnish. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve the New England clam chowder warm with fresh parsley and oyster crackers.
Crock Pot Instructions
- Chop up the bacon and fry it in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat until the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and drain the fat except for 3 tablespoons.
- In the same skillet over medium high heat, saute the mirepoix (onion, celery and carrot) until soft, roughly 8 minutes.
- In a large crock pot, add half of the bacon, the sauteed mirepoix, water, diced potatoes, and spices. Stir and cover, then cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
- During the last hour, whisk 4 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1 cup of whole milk to make a slurry. Also remove some of the diced potatoes and mash them. The addition of these two things will help thicken the broth. Mix in the slurry, mashed potatoes, whole milk (1 ½ cups), heavy cream, and the clams.
- Cook until the diced potatoes are done and the broth has thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and thyme before serving.
- Serve the New England clam chowder warm with a garnish of bacon, parsley, and oyster crackers.
Notes
- Need to make this ahead? Make up to two days ahead of your event. Reheat on medium low on the stovetop.
- Want tender clams? Add them during the last 5 minutes of cooking when using the stovetop method. If you are planning on using fresh clams, look for littlenecks or cherrystone, as they will be more tender than quahogs.
- Need the broth thicker? Increase the flour, or add mashed potatoes, and let it simmer uncovered.
- Want a lighter version? Use olive oil, evaporated milk and omit the bacon.
- Need this dairy free? Omit the butter, whole milk, and heavy cream. Increase the bacon fat and use full fat coconut milk.
Nutrition
Our New England clam chowder recipe post was originally published on December 9, 2017. It was republished on January 16, 2020 with new photos and content, and on July 22, 2022 with refreshed content.
Alex
The broth is creamy, and the bacon is chewy. The oyster crackers add a nice crunch to the stew.
Emma
The veggies add a nice flavor to the broth for this clam chowder.
Beth
This creamy and colorful seafood soup is scrumptious with crunchy bacon bits and yummy clams. It's been a favorite of mine for a long time.
Emma
I agree, Beth. The clams really make this soup extra nice!