Easy Clam Chowder
by Chungah
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Clam chowder is easier (and much better) to make right at home! So unbelievably creamy, flavorful and chockfull of clams!
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Why you’ll love this easy clam chowder recipe
- Quick, weeknight super hero. Yes, homemade restaurant-quality clam chowder can be made in 30 min or less right at home, an absolute weeknight staple around here!
- Hug-in-a-bowl. This soup just hits right during soup season, perfect for fall and blustery winter nights, or any time you need a soul-warming soothing soup to warm you from the inside out.
- Pantry-friendly recipe. This is also a great budget-friendly recipe using pantry staples like canned clams, adding even more clam flavor goodness (and an abundance of clams!) to your chowder.
What is clam chowder?
Clam chowder is an American soup made with clams, potatoes, onions and broth, often times served with oyster crackers or saltines. There are two regional variations worth mentioning below.
New England Clam Chowder (white)
New England is a thick and creamy white soup, typically made with milk or cream.
Manhattan Clam Chowder (red)
Manhattan is a tomato-rich red soup without milk or cream, and typically includes more vegetables than New England.
How to make clam chowder
- Cook the bacon and aromatics. Cook a few slices of diced bacon in a stockpot or Dutch oven, sautéing the aromatics directly in the rendered bacon fat for all the smoky goodness. Reserve the cooked bacon for topping.
- Create the roux. Whisk in the flour for about 1 minute. This will help thicken the chowder, creating that favorited velvety-rich consistency.
- Stir in liquids and potatoes. Add in milk, vegetable stock, reserved clam juice (from the canned clams), bay leaf and potatoes, simmering until the potatoes are tender. The longer it simmers, the more it will thicken.
- Add half and half (or heavy cream) and clams. Stir in the half and half with the clams until heated through over low heat, working carefully not to boil the dairy (or else it will separate), seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve. Remove the bay leaf and serve warm with the reserved crispy bacon, oyster crackers and cornbread.
why use canned clams in clam chowder?
- Convenience
- Budget-friendly and economical
- Extra clam flavor, especially when using the canned 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, we opted for russet potatoes here – they are naturally very starchy, ideal for creating a thicker, chowder-like velvety, rich consistency.
what to serve with clam chowder
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Easy Clam Chowder: Frequently Asked Questions
The most popular chowder is New England (white) made with milk or heavy cream and associated with Boston. There is also the Manhattan (red) made with a tomato-based broth and commonly associated with Manhattan.
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.
Overcooking the clams can cause them to be rubbery. Always add the clams (fresh or canned) at the very end, cooking for just a few minutes so they stay tender.
Clam chowder is commonly paired with oyster crackers and cornbread.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Leftover clam chowder can be reheated on the stovetop over low heat until warmed through, adding a splash of milk or stock to thin it out as needed.
We do not recommend freezing this as cream-based soups tend to separate when frozen.
Easy Clam Chowder
Video
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 or heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
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.*
- Reduce heat to low. 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.
Equipment
Notes
- Start with a smoky base. A good clam chowder starts with a smoky base, beginning with the bacon and sautéing the aromatics (garlic and onion) right in the bacon fat.
- Use the reserved juices. The juices from the canned clams add all the extra, deep clam flavor.
- Russet potatoes serve as a natural thickener. The potatoes will release starch into the broth to create that velvety, restaurant-quality richness.
- Use half and half or heavy cream. Half and half will yield a thinner soup whereas heavy cream will result in more of a rich, velvety, indulgent clam chowder.
- Always add the dairy at the very end. Avoid boiling the half and half or heavy cream, adding it in at the end of cooking time (or else it will curdle).
- Avoid overcooking the clams. Similar to the half and half, add the clams during the last few minutes of cooking. Overcooked clams can be rubbery!
- 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 or cornbread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Reheat gently. Leftovers can be reheated gently over low heat, adding a splash of milk, half and half or stock as needed.
Did you make this recipe?
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Excellent. I substituted salt pork for the bacon. Broth was deliciously rich.
Just made this for the family for the first time and it won’t be the last! It was a hit with my husband and three kids. Next time I may add more clams and throw in some celery. But the flavor is amazing. Thank you!
This is the second time I’ve made this receipe because it is soooo delicious. Just like I love it to taste. Thank you for posting this!!!
So good! Whole family were super excited that I was making clam chowder and were 100% satisfied with your recipe. Thank you!
Super duper easy to make 10/10 I even used vanilla almond milk instead of normal milk as well has the heavy cream. Also if u don’t have fresh parsley use the dried kind but only about a third of what the recipe calls for. YUMMY!
No, no, no don’t use almond milk in clam chowder! If you can’t use half and half, use reduced fat milk to keep calories down. Also, not a fan of dried parsley — use the real deal.
Not everyone can have dairy, so using reduced fat milk won’t work for some. And plenty of people like dried herbs. Not sure why you feel the need to criticize the way someone else is choosing to cook.
Nancy’s recipe is as good as it comes and it is HER recipe. I do not see a criticism, she is reinforcing what she has already said about HER recipe.
I personally freaked out when i read VANILLA. That would completely change the taste of the original recipe; perhaps using plain almond milk if the person is lactose intolerant may be ok, but I am making mine Nancy’s style.
This was amazing clam chowder and so easy! I did add a little more spice to it, added celery, used red potatoes, and reduced the milk by half for thicker soup, but the base recipe is awesome and I will definitely make it again!
This clam chowder is delicious! I had left over steamed grouper with the juices I added to the pot at the end. Mouthwatering!
Fantastic and easy soup!! Yummy
I found this recipe very rich so I definitely recommend cutting it with some acidity. We added some vinegar. We also added some paprika and red pepper flakes (if we had old bay seasoning in the house, we would have used that). I enjoyed it after making those changes.
Yummy and super fast! Two thumbs up from this lifelong New Englander.
Love this! So easy and DELICIOUS.
Followed recipe to a “T” and my family enjoyed it.
We love our clam chowder and this is a very good and quick recipe. I tried to follow the recipe as written, but due to trying to do it quickly and with what I had, some things were missed/forgotten or substituted. So it is hard to mess up the final product and I suspect the original recipe is just as good! I used canned clams because I had them and lots of broth left over sitting in the refrigerator from an earlier doctoring of some commercial clam chowder. I used half & half for all of the milk requested…so a total of 3 cups. I mixed up the fact that I was supposed to use thyme and instead used fresh dried rosemary…yummy! I will continue doing that. I had only frozen bacon…so I used real bacon bits (purchased) and sautéed them in some bacon grease I had. I had an opened container of chicken broth, but not quite a full cup…so I added more clam juice and used that rather than vegetable broth. The soup was a little thinner than what we like so I added a tablespoon of cornstarch to the last cup of half & half before adding. I forgot the bay leaf…of well, not missed. I used 1 yellow potato chopped into small pieces. Out of fresh garlic so used about 2 + teas. of garlic powder. I didn’t want to run to the porch and snip parsley…so I left that out. I did use white paper and about teaspoon of sea salt. The end result could only have been improved on by using fresh clams….but then I won’t have had the amount of clam juice that I had. I was told not to change from adding rosemary. It was a very yummy, quick clam chowder and a recipe I will definitely make again with or wothout the changes!!! Thanks
Turned out REALLY Good. Great recipe and Very Easy to make.
I’m Originally from Chicago and have lived in the New England area for the past 17 years.
New Englanders have their own preference/taste for what they think Clam Chowder is supposed to taste like.
I LOVE it. It’s like Having New Englanders make a Pizza that Chicagoans would like. LOL
AND YES…. MY wife who has lived in New England all her life and LOVES “Snow’s” Clam Chowder Likes it. LOL
Great recipe. I substituted coconut milk for both milk and cream. Nice and thick and fewer calories
Awesome idea! I’m going to give that a try. I LOVE clam chowder and was worried I would have to give it up with my new eating-healthy regime.
Can you taste coconut when you add coconut milk? I have a child with a dairy allergy. I love the idea of using coconut milk but not if it changes the taste of the recipe
Use cashew cream, it works perfectly!
This was absolutely excellent. I added a little more half-and-half because I didn’t want it as thick and I used fresh thyme it was perfect. Will definitely make it again and again. Loved the bacon! This is real clam chowder
Delicious receipe! was very easy. it’s a hit with the family. I will make it again.
It is awesome
Great recipe! The first time I made it it came out too thin but I fixed that the second time by making sure to add the milk/stock/clam juice a little bit at a time and whisking well in between each addition.
Question for the author – can this recipe be doubled (or tripled!) by simply doubling all the ingredients? Or should some be adjusted
First clam chowder, turned out quite tasty, but the recipe needs a little tuning.
Recommend some light oiling of pan before bacon. Reserved bacon fat is never used. Allow 45 minutes for potatoes, not 12-15, or better parboil first in water for 30 mins. 2 russets should be medium, not large.
it wouldn’t take that log if you use yellow potatoes or smaller ones
Yes, my biggest complaint was my 2 potatoes (cut in 1/2” cubes) were nowhere near done after 15 minutes, 45 minutes was much more accurate. When cooked longer it was delicious!
I have been making this recipe for two years- I love it.
There is only me, so haOf of the recipe is great for dinner and then lunch in a few days.
I use heavy cream, as I freeze it in muffin tin (exactly 1/2 cup!) for recipes like this, it makes it thicker, too.
I use fresh bay leaves and thyme, as I have them year round.
I also add a bit of shrimp or a bit of fish fillet. But the basic recipe is awesome!