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. This soup easily comes together with little fuss.
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Ingredients
- Bacon: for flavor, color and added crunch
- Vegetables: onions, celery, carrots, garlic, potatoes, or leeks
- Liquids: chicken or vegetable broth, clam juice, or water
- Flour: to make the roux that thickens the chowder
- Seasonings: bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, or Old Bay seasoning
- Seafood: chopped clams, or whole baby clams
- Dairy: whole milk, half and half or heavy cream
- Garnish: chives, parsley, green onion, or oyster crackers
Questions
What is the difference between Boston and New England clam chowder?
They both have a creamy white broth, but Boston clam chowder tends to be thicker. Two other popular chowders made in the North East are Manhattan clam chowder, which has a red tomato broth, and Rhode Island clam chowder, which has a clear broth.
Should you use canned clams, frozen or fresh clams?
You can use either. For this recipe, I used canned clams because it's easier, quicker, and cheaper than using fresh, and more readily available than frozen.
What kind of clams are used?
I used shucked, canned whole baby clams. Bumble Bee is a great brand that I've used many times. If you prefer to use minced clams or frozen clams, those would also work in this recipe.
If you are planning on using fresh clams, look for littlenecks or cherrystone, as they will be more tender than quahogs.
Is this recipe fattening?
Clam chowder is a tasty treat to enjoy in moderation. A serving size of 1 ¼ cup contains 332 calories, 16.2g fat, and 36.3g carbs.
Our clam chowder recipe is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals. For more nutritional information, scroll to the bottom of the recipe card.
How can I make a lighter version?
To help reduce the fat in clam chowder, do the following:
- Fat: Use olive oil to saute the mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrot) instead of butter or bacon fat.
- Dairy: Replace the whole milk and heavy cream with 3 cups of evaporated milk.
- Bacon: Omit the bacon as a garnish, increase the seasonings, and use fresh chives as a garnish.
How can I make this in the crock pot?
- Chop up the bacon, fry in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat until fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and drain the fat except for 3 tablespoons.
- In the same skillet over medium high heat, saute the mirepox (onion, celery and carrot) until soft, roughly 8 minutes.
- In a large crock pot, add ½ the bacon, the mirepox, water, diced potatoes, and spices. Stir and cover.
- 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 slurry and the mashed potatoes will thicken the broth. Add the slurry, mashed potatoes, whole milk (1 ½ cups), ½ cup of heavy cream and the clams. Stir. Adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover and cook for another hour.
- Serve warm with a garnish of parsley, oyster crackers and the last half of the bacon.
Serve
- Crusty Bread: rosemary bread or a sourdough bread bowl
- Salad: fresh green salad
- Sandwich: grilled cheese, tomato, or cucumber
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients. Chop up the onion, celery, and carrot, then measure out the spices and dairy.
Cook the bacon in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat until it's crisp and the fat is rendered.
Put the cooked bacon on a paper towel-lined plate and blot the excess grease off. Allow the bacon to cool before breaking into bite sized pieces to use later.
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven and add 1 tablespoon of bacon fat.
Saute the mirepoix (onion, celery and carrot) over medium high heat until it's soft, roughly 8 minutes.
Stir occasionally with a large wooden spoon, so it cooks evenly.
Sprinkle on flour to get the roux started. Cook the flour for a minute or two over medium heat, while constantly stirring.
Gradually whisk in the clam juice.
Pour in the filtered water or low sodium chicken stock, if you prefer.
Add 4 ½ cups of peeled and diced Yukon gold potatoes.
Stir in the spices (bay leaves, fresh thyme, salt, and black pepper), 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.
Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs. Reduce the heat to low.
Add the whole baby clams.
Pour in the whole milk first.
Then pour in the heavy cream last.
Stir, then allow to heat through for 5 minutes.
Serve warm and garnish with a generous serving of bacon, fresh parsley, and oyster crackers.
Variations
- Don't want to use water? Try using chicken, vegetable stock or more clam juice.
- Need this pescetarian? Omit the bacon. Increase the butter and the seasonings. Add chives for the garnish.
- Want this gluten free? Omit the flour and add mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.
- Need this dairy free? Omit the butter, whole milk, and heavy cream. Increase the bacon fat and use full fat coconut milk.
- Want this spicy? Add Tabasco or red pepper flakes.
Pro 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.
- Need the broth thicker? Increase the flour, decrease the liquid, add mashed potatoes, and let it simmer uncovered.
Recommended Tools
- Bamboo Spoon: this sturdy spoon is perfect for sauteeing veggies and stirring soups.
- Emeril Lagasse Dutch Oven: this heavy-bottomed pot is our all time favorite for soup.
- 4-Cup Measuring Cup: you'll be able to easily measure and pour liquids with this cup.
- Soup Ladle: this stainless steel ladle is great for serving your delicious clam chowder.
- Bumble Bee Clams: this brand of clams taste good and are a great size for chowder.
Looking for more seafood soups? Try these delicious choices.
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PrintRecipe
New England Clam Chowder
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
Description
This easy homemade New England clam chowder is a classic creamy soup. It tastes the best made with smoky bacon, tender clams, and diced potatoes. This simple soup is comforting, and guaranteed to satisfy your cravings for a bowl of comfort food on a cold winter night.
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon, crumbled
- 2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped (122g)
- 1 ¼ cups celery, finely diced (160g)
- 1 ¼ cups carrots, finely diced (170g)
- 4 ½ cups yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 3 large potatoes)
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease (reserved from frying the bacon)
- 2 tablespoons butter (30g)
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour (45g)
- 1 ¼ cups clam juice (reserved from the 2 cans of clams; 295 ml)
- 2 cups filtered water (475 ml)
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream (120 ml)
- 2 ½ cup milk (600 ml)
- 2 10-ounce cans of whole baby clams (295g)
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup oyster crackers
Instructions
How to Make Stove Top:
- 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 pour the bacon grease into a bowl and set aside. Let the bacon cool, then break into smaller pieces.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in a 6-quart Dutch oven set over medium high heat. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute for 8 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, then cook the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
- Gradually add the reserved clam juice from the canned clams, whisking constantly to break up any lumps.
- Pour in the water, then add the cubed potatoes, fresh thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, 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, 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.
- Serve warm with fresh parsley and oyster crackers.
How to Make in the Crock Pot:
- Chop up the bacon, fry in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat until fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and drain the fat except for 3 tablespoons.
- In the same skillet over medium high heat, saute the mirepox (onion, celery and carrot) until soft, roughly 8 minutes.
- In a large crock pot, add ½ the bacon, the mirepox, water, diced potatoes, and spices. Stir and cover.
- 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. Add the slurry, mashed potatoes, whole milk (1 ½ cups), ½ cup of heavy cream and the clams. Stir. Adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cook until the diced potatoes are done and the broth has thickened.
- Serve warm with a garnish of bacon, parsley and oyster crackers.
Notes
- Make this up to two days ahead then reheat on medium low on the stovetop before your event.
- Adding the clams during the last 5 minutes of cooking to make sure they stay tender.
- Increase the flour, decrease the liquid, add mashed potatoes, or let it simmer uncovered, if you need your soup thicker.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: creamy clam chowder recipe, new england clam chowder
This recipe was originally published on December 9, 2017.
Alex
The potatoes are nice, and so is the bacon. The carrots and celery taste good in this soup too.
Emma
The veggies add a nice flavor to the broth for this clam chowder.
Beth
Clam chowder is one of the best soups ever! Clams are super good! This creamy soup is full of carrots, bacon, clams, and potatoes. It tastes quite nice with oyster crackers, and has a nice seafood flavor.
Emma
I agree, Beth. The clams really make this soup extra nice!