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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We have cholesterol issues in the family.. so I substited milk and cream with no fat canned milk and coconut milk. Turned out great!
It tells you to reserve a tablespoon of fat, then never mentions it again. Other than that, a great, easy recipe that produces a delicious soup.
The reserved 1 tablespoon excess fat remains in the large stockpot or Dutch oven, combining with the butter, garlic and onion in step 2. 🙂
We love clam chowder and the recipe I have takes so much time that I hate to make it. This clam chowder took me so little time and the flavor was superb! This soup is thick and so yummy! Thank you Chungah!
Very tasty!! And easy to make!
What a great basic recipe! I tweaked it a little bit to make it mine. I added the bacon back into it and I used 2 bottles of clam juice and no vegetable broth. Thank you for the directions!
Made it tonight. Doubled the recipe subbed clam juice for broth,half n half for milk.
It is divine!, thank you,! !
Perfect after the nor-Cal snow storm!
Thank you and thank you again. Perfect the absolutely Best I’ve ever and thanks to you really simple!
Wonderful recipe! I found out too late that I didnt have enough milk so I put 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 of half and half in with the veggie stock and clam juice and it came out wonderfully thick, just like I like it! Thank you so much!
Have I already reviewed this? I make it all the time. It is my one and only chowdah recipe. I do a bit of miraproix instead of just onions, and I do more potatoes and use a bottle of clam juice instead of veggie stock. I often use bacon grease that I have in the freezer if I don’t have bacon on hand. But this is one of those great recipes that you can do more of this, less of that, and still get great results!
Delicious! We made the Clam Chowder (with a few substitutes due to allergies) for a a family meal over a bread bowl. We all enjoyed it enormously. Thank you for sharing.
I just made this and its FABULOUS!!!! Family Loves It!!!!! Thank you! This recipe Rocks!
Oh my gosh! This is soooooo good thank you for posting it
Can this soup be frozen?
Unfortunately, we cannot answer this with certainty as we have never tried freezing this ourselves. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I saved the TBL of bacon grease, but never saw what to do with it! What do you do with the TBL of reserved bacon grease? It’s a wonderful soup recipe – have made it twice now.
The excess fat is combined with the butter in step #2. Hope that helps, Caroline.
Love this recipe! I’ve used it 3 times now and it’s always yielded damn delicious results! 😉
I have also altered it by adding 1/2 cup of frozen corn, cause I thought it would taste great in chowder.
I made this for my two oldest sons who came home for lunch during their lunch break the other day. They loved It! They both spent time in Oregon and got to eat clam chowder at the coast, but they declared this was the best they had ever eaten. I didn’t have any bacon, but had bacon grease that I used for frying the onion, etc. Also, I partially cooked the potatoes before adding to the chowder, and I used a combination of milk and sour cream instead of half and half, since I didn’t have any. Delicious!
This is THE best clam chowder recipe! It is now our go-to and has even impressed family members who are VERY picky about their clam chowder! Thanks so much! Have you ever tried to make this recipe in the instant pot? I just got one and wondered if you have tried it to save some time…
I actually haven’t – sorry!
The part about cooking the potatoes in the milk for 12-15 minutes. Wouldn’t the milk stick to the pan and burn?
Not at all!
This is our favourite clam chowder recipe! I just got an instant pot and am wondering if you know how to adjust the cooking times to make it in an instant pot? Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Julie!
How easy is this to double? Or increase by 50%? How much would that affect cooking time? Also, what size stock pot would you recommend for his recipe? I’m curious if my stock pot is even big enough to hold everything if I double it. Thanks.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications. Sorry, Michelle!
I love your site, but have never commented before now. I’m from New England, love chowder, and almost never follow recipes. I followed this recipe almost exactly (I skipped the half and half and added corn), for a late weeknight dinner and it was AMAZING! Thank you for a new favorite!