Easy Clam Chowder
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Clam chowder is easier to make than you think – and the homemade version is unbelievably creamy, flavorful and chockfull of clams!
Featured Comment
why i love homemade clam chowder
- Cozy soup season vibes, perfect for fall and blistery winter nights
- Restaurant-quality, if not even better
- Pantry-friendly recipe using canned clams (more on that below)
- Quick, weeknight hero made in 30 min or less
new england clam chowder vs. manhattan clam chowder
New England Clam Chowder
New England is a thick and creamy white soup, typically made with milk or cream.
Manhattan Clam Chowder
Manhattan is a tomato-rich red soup without milk or cream, and includes more vegetables than New England.
why use canned clams in clam chowder
- Convenience
- Budget-friendly and economical
- Extra flavor, especially when using the juices
- Abundance of clams
which potatoes are best for clam chowder
A lot of recipes recommend waxy potatoes such as Yukon gold or baby red potatoes because they will hold up well in soups. Instead, I opted for russet potatoes here – they are naturally very starchy, ideal for creating a thicker, chowder-like consistency.
tips and tricks for success
- Use the reserved juices. The juices from the canned clams add all the extra, deep clam flavor.
- Simmer, simmer, simmer. The longer it simmers, the more it thickens, making it perfect to cook until the desired consistency is reached.
- Make it clammier. For those wanting extra clam flavor, add an additional can of chopped clams.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with clam chowder
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Easy Clam Chowder: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Substitute 1 – 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh clams along with bottled clam juice to replace the juice from the can. Chopped fresh clams will need additional cook time to cook through.
Yes! Always thaw properly, adding at the end of cooking as they are already precooked.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
We do not recommend freezing this as cream-based soups tend to separate when frozen.
Easy Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 2 (6.5-ounce) cans chopped clams, juices reserved
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup half and half*
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 1 tablespoon excess fat in the stockpot.
- Melt butter in the stockpot. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, vegetable stock, clam juice and bay leaf, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.*
- Stir in half and half and clams until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more half and half as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with bacon and parsley, if desired.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Fabulous! Rich and thick
Outstanding and easy. Made as written. My family loves clam chowder and this disappeared faster than most things I make for dinner. Double the recipe. Trust me 🙂
Thank you!
This soup was delicious! The first time I made it I didn’t have vegetable stock so I used chicken. The second time I used bottled clam juice. Both times I doubled the recipe and I also used fat free half and half instead of the milk and half and half. Didn’t miss the fat because the flavor was excellent! Thanks!
This soup was very easy to make and super delicious. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Bomb.com I must say. I am not the best cook but this soup made it seem like so lol thank you!
It’s cold and snowy in IL this weekend, so I doubled this recipe and served it with a hard crust bread. It’s perfect. Thank you! All of the recipes that I have tried from your site are simply wonderful. I just signed up for your email list.
I don’t eat clams but the hubby loves clam chowder, so I made it for him. I tasted it, it was sooooo good that I now can say, I’ve had clams. This soup was so filling and utterly delicious. Made exactly to recipe.
Delicious! Even my 4 year old, who has never eaten any kind of soup for me, ate some! Simple and will make again!
I had a craving for clam chowder and have never tried to make it. I followed this recipe substituting bottled clam juice for veggie stock, and doubled the amount of clams…I really like clams. I was afraid I may have overdone it, but it was perfect, not too clammy at all. Delicious and easy! Thanks for the recipe.
This recipe is easy and has a nice taste. I used bacon pieces and would suggest you use 4 teaspoons per one slice of bacon. I had run out of bay leaves so added 1/2 tsp of oregano and used real cream instead of half and half. Other than that I followed the recipe as it is.
Why are you going to review a recipe that you’ve changed? Seem unfair to give anything but 5 stars when you make your own modifications. Oregano is an okay sub for bay leaves in tomato or meat heavy dishes. Not in this soup. Also, ditch the bacon pieces for Pete’s sake.
Karenolyn? Geez louise, she’s offering her opinion on the substitutions she made because that’s probably what she had on hand. Simmer down.
Carolyn I totally agree, if you change the recipe in any way you shouldn’t even rate it at all. She rated it by how she made it and not how the recipe was written. Double no on the bacon bits.
This was amazing. Never made clam soup before and suggest everyone try it follow as recipe goes it was great.
Made this last night and it was divine. I used just one 10oz can of baby clams and that was plenty enough for me. Per what was in my pantry, I used chicken stock instead of vegetable. Thank you very much for the helpful conversion of half and half with milk + heavy cream. I’ll definitely be making this again!
Did you chop the baby clams?
Great tasting and easy to make. It crave this clam chowder and make it a couple times a month. I use more bacon then it calls for and after I cook the bacon it goes in the soup to cook with everything else.
Used 3 cans of Snows clams, two bottles of clam juice, only heavy cream, no milk, no stock. Tasted like potato soup. So disappointed. I guess if it sounds too easy, don’t do it. Back to the drawing board.
So sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you! Unfortunately when making substitutions like omitting the milk and stock, results can be subpar. We hope you get to try this again! 🙂
So in other words you didn’t follow the recipe? Maybe that’s the reason for the disappointment? Follow the recipe then comment back to let us know if it was good or bad.
I agree. No real clam flavor. Think this is the first Damn Delicious recipe I haven’t been happy with.
You didn’t follow the recipe and missed ingredients and or added your own so why give this recipe 2 stars??? Give yourself 2 stars…..you made something totally different,
no wonder it tasted like potato soup. Perhaps make it as the recipe calls for and you will be giving it a higher review.
You should be ashamed of yourself given only two stars when you left out half of the ingredients and important ingredients no less. You couldn’t go to the store and pick up a little bit of milk and the other things you were missing. You bring down her average because you can’t follow instructions. Please let me know if you ever post your own recipe I’d love to review it
Try following the recipe exactly as written before giving 2 stars for your own creation, probably why it turned out the way it did.
You switched up the the recipe because YOU chose to yet you’re saying the recipe isn’t good? Lol okay.
To be fair you didn’t follow the recipe. You can’t really complain about the flavor of the dish when you’ve left out ingredients and added too much of others. You’re disappointed with your choices (we’ve all done it). It’s just not fair to rate this recipe down if you didn’t actually follow the directions.
I made this but added carrots and celery. I used turkey bacon and chicken broth. So delicious! My family loved it.
Best damn clam chowder EVER. A favorite of mine I’ve never made before now, this recipe seemed super easy and it was.
Made for NYE and the whole family loved it!
*I added thinly sliced celery
** and the part where you reserve the bacon grease-I couldn’t see what the direction for it was later in recipe. Am I missing something? I ended up mixing in toward end of cook time.
Thanks for such a great and tasty recipe!
The bacon grease was already there. It was reserved and then you start adding everything to it when you remove the bacon pieces.
This was the best clam chowder I ever had!
Yummy perfection! Lost my recipe I used for years, but this is much better. Love the canned clams!
Can this soup be frozen? Love every recipe I have tried from your site, but your soups are my absolute favorite!!! Thank you for all the tips and tricks!
I found this recipe easy to follow and very tasty. I had no idea making clam chowder was so easy! (AFTER making it the way it’s presented, I’ve tried a few substitutions and embellishments: I made it with fish and shrimp instead of clams because I needed to get rid of them; I’ve added celery and red pepper flakes with success; really versatile and delicious!
(JBRAY– it’s usually a bad idea to freeze cream soups… you could freeze it, perhaps, without the dairy and then just add cream/half-n-half/whatever when you got ready to serve it later?)
Fantastic flavor! The recipe is easy to follow and has come out great every time. I did change slightly after first two times. The chowder is a bit thinner than I am accustom to, so I used half & half for the milk. My clams had a lot of juice so, I only used half of the reserved juice and the texture and viscosity was wonderful. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. As written it is still FIVE STARS!
This is perfect clam chowder, I truly appreciate this recipe! There was one change, I didn’t have any bay leaves, so added just a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning. (Gluten free flour was used, which makes no difference in the taste) Then, per serving, along with the bacon & parsley, we add hot sauce to taste. It’s a meal in itself for a cozy evening in!