Easy Linguine with Clams
The easiest, budget-friendly pasta you will ever make, and it’ll be on your dinner table in just 30 min. It’s just THAT easy!
I feel like there’s a lot of mystery surrounding clams. They add such sophistication and elegance to a meal, you can’t help but wonder if they’re super expensive and difficult to cook with. But believe me when I tell you that this is the quickest, most budget-friendly dinner you will ever make, especially for those fancy nights in.
Clams are about $4.99-$6.99 per pound, and you can easily feed a family of four with 2 pounds. And once you have your clams, all you need is a few pantry ingredients.
From there, you’ll make an amazing fresh clam stock as these babies steam and open up in just 5 minutes. All that’s left is to add in your linguine. See, I told you – this really is a 30-min meal start to finish!
Easy Linguine with Clams
Ingredients
- 12 ounces linguine
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- ½ cup vegetable broth, or more, as needed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds littleneck clams, cleaned
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in vegetable broth; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in clams. Cover, with a tight-fitting lid, and cook until the clams have opened, about 5-8 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
- Stir in pasta and additional vegetable broth, as needed.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
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I’ve been making clam sauce and clam chowder and clams casino for 60 years I also was able to go and get my own clams cuz I lived in Montauk New York and in lake Montauk we had some of the sweetest best clams the only thing I do differently I need a recipe for clams and pasta. I use cherrystone clams and also little necks but I open the Cherry Stone clams by hand and I save all that wonderful clam juice and another bowl and I chop the cherrystone clams up and it’s almost the last step I had them cuz they only take a few minutes to cook and then I cook those and another pot with garlic and white wine and parsley but I really think opening clams by hand gives you the most tender and flavorful clams and pasta and also putting some chopped Cherry Stone clam makes it delicious
How do you get the sand out of the clams before cooking?
I make this but I use clam broth or white wine..we like ChardonnayÂ
Wonderful recipe! I’m so glad I found this simple & delicious recipe. Before I had clams this way, I thought I did not like clams! But the butter (I may have added a little extra!), garlic, and parsley really made it yummy.
Just got this in my mail box today so I haven’t tried it yet. I am allergic to clams so I was wondering if I can sub shrimp or something else to this dish? I gave it a 5 star just for the pictures!
Well done. I always use white wine for my liquid with clams. I will try half broth.
I always soak my clams in water for at least an hour, changing the water a few times. Thanks for another hit.
Just made this! Yum! Wish we could post pics on here! I used all the original ingredients except added more of each since I was cooking a pound of spaghetti and had 24 Middleneck clams which looked bigger to me than Littlenecks. They all opened up and were fairly clean when soaked in cold water for 45 minutes.
Very tasty but it took a while to clean all the clams.  I’ll definitely remember to start that much sooner.  I also think it needed more sauce…which is definitely my fault.  Overall a pretty tasty dish!
Cleaning them can be made simpler by soaking your clams in fresh water for 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. They will filter the water and clean themselves. Hope this helps for next time!!
I’ve never cleaned clams before. Do you have to scrub them?
Very quick and simple to make.
My family loved it! The flavors are complex but light.
Thank you Thank you!
I will definitely be keeping this recipe!
Tried this recipe with small deviations but it’s the best linguine and clams I’ve made thus far!
We love that! Thanks for sharing, Domenic!
Can I substitute clam juice for the vegetable broth? Seems like it would have more flavo.r
Absolutely!
This is a great recipe. Â I used chicken stock because I did not have veggie or seafood stock. Â I put a Parmesan rind in the broth before I added the clams. Â
I made a fatal mistake in using a bit of vegetable bouillon in hot water. The dish was waaayyy to salty.
never use bouillon.
This quickly became my husband and I’s favorite dish. We just added a lot more garlic because we love garlic and some lemon juice. It was so easy to make and was ready in about 25 min. The pasta cooking is what took the longest. Definitely a recipe I’ll be sharing and repeating with friends and family!Â
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe with your husband!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe but have always been weary, especially with my family since they’re such picky eaters! But I made this today for them and my parents and it was a hit!! Absolutely no complaints!! Of course everyone has their recipe tweak, and this was mine… I added more clams lol! Delicious!!! Thank you! We now have a new recipe to add in our dinner rotation!Â
Why do people feel that they have to alter another’s recipe, if they know so much keep it to yourself. The chef or the cook that took the time to post the recipe should be respected. If you know so much don’t bother to copy part of someone else’s effort.
:))
so true!!!
We all are here to appreciate and respect each other. Recipe Sharing is a big part of life. It has been going on since man began cooking his food. It is no sin to mention changes you make to someone’s recipe. New ideas are a big part of cooking. Always the same old thing gets boring! Sometimes another’s idea just stirs your creativity. If you don’t want to share your personal recipes, no one will force you too. But is it right for you to take someone else’s recipe, and make it your own,  without reciprocating? Many people have constraints to work with. Restricted diets for health or religious, orÂ
Financial reason. Seasonings might need modifications for young or unwell persons. Work arounds for allergies, or finding new recipes to relieve meal boredom, or getting children to eat vegetables and love them for what they are. Unlike big baby food companies who appear to feel children will never eat vegetables unless heavily laced with fruit and high fructose corn syrup. Recipe sharing and the exchange of Ideas is enjoyable and done respectfully. I am always looking for new healthier or more flavorful ways to prepare the foods we can afford. I have been preparing meals in homes, restaurants and hospitals for over 50 years. I am happy to share things I have learned, and find new ideas to use. If that isn’t your reason for being here , why are you here? Think about it? Would these folks be blogging if sharing were not their intent.
I agree- playing with recipes is one of the great creative joys in life. Playing with this one now! : )
Thank you Maryann. You said this perfectly. It’s no disrespect to the author of the original recipe when someone writes a review about what they did. Well I hope not…Reviews help me a lot when you have to use what’s in the pantry instead of running to the grocery store. I’ll be making this soon, first recipe I found without using white wine.Â
I agree and I have changed recipes also
I totally agree with you. Why bother with the author’s recipe then? Right?
There are two facets to your argument – people are simply adding their findings and experiences.
I so agree Barbara, and I think that all the time. I couldn’t help myself – at least I didn’t make 12 substitutions and changes. 🙂
I was just looking for a clam recipe for tonight’s dinner and stumbled upon this! definitively cooking it 🙂
I use clam juice instead of veg broth in mine and add some of the grindable Italian seasoning and a little white wine. Â Delicious. I also add some canned clams because we love a lot of clams. And a little white pepper.Â
why discard unopen clams?
The unopened clams are dead from the start, and are unsafe to eat.
I stand with the blogger on think most available clams are harvested by dredging the bottom with special nets, they take everything large, small alive or dead it all lands in the hold. They get all together mixed roughly into lots. The hand digger is more discriminatory. But if clams are dead you have no idea why. They might have died of old age 2 months before the net dredged them. They might have died from infestation with parasites. They might be from a contaminated area from riverine effluent (pollution from contaminated rivers) heavy metals, nasty chemicals, red tide algae,
Human sewage from poorly maintained waste treatment, nitrogen fertilizer or animal manure. Hepatitis A/B/C , E.coli, of many derivations some minor and other severe and deadly. The dead clams may look and smell fine, but can occasionally even contain botulinium toxin. A deadly poisonous food poisoning. Certain forms of E. coli and other human sewerage components kill the unsuspecting young and old. Any Clam or mussel with a broken shell or one that does not open should be considered unsafe, never eaten. That goes for pets and wildlife as well. Put them in a tightly covered jar. Label Spoiled clearly and put out for the trash truck. Make sure it is labeled spoiled. Too many people are stretching their budget by going through trash to salvage what waste they can find. It’s not just the homeless either, it’s the elderly, single parent families, large families, young runaways. And those you have no idea are living that close to the edge.
Can I use chicken stock instead?Â
Yes.
Spending over $22 in ingredients for just ONE dinner? Yikes.
Emla, the beauty of spending $22 for one dinner that serves 4 is equivalent to spending the same amount for one eating out! That’s the beauty of home cooking 🙂
Yes it is expensive, I agree but nice for a special dinner for you and a date, spouse, partner, for Valentine’s Day, Anniversary, Birthday. If you have children set them up early with a Mac and cheeseÂ
Casserole. I loved clams as a small child but many little ones are less adventurous. Don’t forget to get 2 bottles of wine, 1 to cook with and 1 to drink with the meal. MaryAnn from Boston – clams are out of season here so canned are our Winter Option.
Do you think chicken broth (instead of vegetable) will be too overpowering for this dish?
Chicken broth should work just fine.
This may have been mentioned in a previous comment but I have canned clams on hand, how many 6.5 oz cans should I use? Next time I’m at the market, I’ll get fresh but I want to make this NOW! 😀
Kristina, I actually do not have much experience cooking with canned clams so I’m not entirely sure on the ratios here.
Hi I make Con Von Gale all the time from whole baby clams in 10-12 oz cans from Geisha or Bumblebee.. I use 3 cans for the same amount of linguine. The can broth is part of the recipe. That will be roughly 9 of the tiny cans. +/- to your taste. I tried it once with a 12oz package of coarsely chopped frozen sea clams, thawed that came out very well my thought is half Clam broth(available in 12 oz bottle from Snows or Atlantic Seafood) half wine a a dry or medium white wine, something good enough to drink. Add some lemon wedges, to taste, squeeze then drop into the broth. My recipe came from an Italian Grandmother of a Nurse I worked with. It calls for a half and half mix of olive oil and butter fresh Italian parsley or thyme if you prefer, Â or oregano. Whatever your taste buds prefer. I use black pepper over the red pepper, baby clams have a delicate taste, but sea clams are assertive enough for red pepper flakes. Just have the pasta water boiling when you start the sauce, it comes together quickly linguine and clams need to cook together. Otherwise linguine will be over cooked or clams get tough and rubbery.
This looks so delicious! Can I add a little white wine to the sauce while cooking? If so how much and what kind would you recommend? Thank you!
Megan, you can actually swap out the vegetable broth for white wine, or you can adjust as needed to fit your taste preferences.
This looks delicious. Mussels are my favorite so I may have to sub some of those in here too!
The first recipe I ever posted was clam chowder and I haven’t cooked with clams since… something I keep thinking about. Where did you buy your clams? When I bought them from Whole Foods, they were not so budget friendly. :/
I purchased them from Gelson’s and they were very cheap!
Picked up my clams..I always use little necks… What do you serve for the side? Love how simple this recipe is!!!
This would go great with some crusty garlic bread!
Perfect recipe for me. I live in a little salt water town. Clams all over the place.
I have eaten clams with linguine, but never fixed it. This look damn delicious and
easy.
Linguine with clams is one of my favorite seafood dishes… yours looks INCREDIBLE! We have some clams frozen for clams casino, but I’ll probably be making this instead! 🙂
How do you clean the clams? Thanks
There are actually many ways to clean clams, and many resources on Google. But please feel free to check out this great tutorial here: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-clean-the-sand-out-of-c-58389.
I really enjoy seeing this site in my inbox, the receipes look great and easy to prepare. Thank you
This sounds wonderful for a quick meal during the holidays! I would also like to make some of your skillet to oven chicken thigh dishes but don’t see those recipes anymore. Can you repost them please?
Terrileigh, I am a little confused because I have not taken those recipes down. Please feel free to browse through the visual recipe index here. You can also use the search bar on the right sidebar.
OOooooooooo! This is awesome! I always “treat” myself with linguine and clams when I am out to eat (I am the only one in my house who likes it!) but this looks super simple! I will have to treat myself at home when I am the only one home to feed! =)
SaraLily
In a Nutshell…
UN PLATO DELICIOSO!!!
Felices Fiestas!!!
Conxita :))))))
Some couples have “their song”, we have “our food”. Can’t wait to try this!
Mmmm clam-infused pasta, sounds divine 😀 Perfect Sunday dinner 🙂 x
This looks delicious; however, I prefer red clam sauce. How can I convert this?
Judy, this recipe is strictly for white clam sauce, and without further recipe testing, I cannot advise on converting this recipe to something entirely different.
Thank you.
How much canned clams would I use and use the clam juice too or drain it?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I make clam sauce a lot. You use clam juice, and the juice on the clams as well. If you want less fishy taste skip the juice and just use the juice they are in. Â Also do not put the clams in until the pot is removed from the heat when using canned because they will get really tough.Â
I love clam linguine, this looks incredible!