Garlic Butter Clams with White Wine Cream Sauce
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The BEST steamed clams ever! So garlicky and buttery, served with a heavenly cream sauce!
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I have made this so many times I have officially lost count. It first started as a test recipe for Valentine’s Day, but it has now been a favorite for date night! It is truly restaurant-quality clams (at a quarter of the cost) with the most heavenly white wine cream sauce.
A cream sauce so wonderful and delightful that you will need all the crusty bread to sop up ALL THAT GOODNESS. Yes, the clams are equally fantastic, cooked oh-so-perfectly, but the true hero is the “dipping sauce” here.
Ingredients
Clams
We love little neck clams here but you can also use cockles or mussels.
Butter
We always need a little bit of butter for added flavor and richness.
Garlic
We love using garlic paste in place of minced garlic. 1 clove garlic = 1 teaspoon garlic paste.
Shallots
Shallots are milder/sweeter than traditional onions but sweet onions or Spanish yellow onions can be substituted in a pinch.
Red pepper flakes
For a little bit of heat, but also, completely optional.
Clam juice
Clam juice will add some extra clam flavor pizazz but chicken stock can also be used.
White wine
A dry white wine (that you like to drink) is ideal but chicken stock can again be used as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Heavy cream
At the end of the recipe, you’ll add your finishing touches with a bit of heavy cream (or half and half) for added richness and creaminess – perfect for bread-dipping purposes.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESS
- Soak the clams. We want to get rid of all the sand and grit from your clams.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CLAMS
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Garlic Butter Clams with White Wine Cream Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
You’ll want to rinse and scrub the clams from debris under cold running water. This will also give you a chance to check (and discard) clams that are cracked, feel hollow, or gaping open. All clams should be tightly closed.
Soak the clams in a bowl of salt water – about 4 quarts cold water + 1/3 cup salt – for about 20 minutes to 1 hour. This will help filter out the sand and grit. Using a slotted spoon, drain the clams from the water and into a colander (pouring the water and clams together into a colander will add all that sand right back!), rinsing them thoroughly.
You can substitute chicken stock.
Additional clam juice or chicken stock can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
We do not recommend freezing this as the clams can become tough and rubbery once frozen.
Garlic Butter Clams with White Wine Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 pounds little neck clams
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium shallots, diced
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1 cup clam juice
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Soak clams in cold water for at least 30 minutes; drain well.
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in clam juice and wine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in clams. Reduce heat to low; cover, with a tight-fitting lid, and cook until the clams have opened, stirring once, about 8-10 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
- Remove from heat; stir in heavy cream and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and chives, if desired.
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Hi Chungah
This looks amazing, but do you have a recipe for this with red sauce?
Yes! We have a recipe for steamed mussels actually in a tomato cream sauce. 🙂
I can’t imagine asking my fishmonger for pounds of clams rather than number
How many clams would I need a dozen, two etc. Thx
It’s easy, just say “I need 3 pounds of clams for my recipe, please”.
Absolutely delicious! The sauce is to die for! Will be making this again soon
Chicken stock is mentioned in the recipe step 3, but not listed in the ingredients. Clam juice is mentioned in the ingredients but not listed in the recipe steps. Please clarify what’s what.
We recommend using clam juice, Lauren. 🙂
I am going to try your recipe tonight. But the recipe leaves out the chicken stock and how much to use. Can you tell me how much stock to use?
Thanks
My mom wanted clams and white wine sauce for Christmas I made this recipe and it was total HIT! I’m making it again for Valentine’s Day but adding mussels. So good!
Delicious! Made the recipe as is and added 4oz cherry tomatoes at the end, no chives. I loved it, thank you!!
Any determination on how much clam juice is needed for this recipe? Also, if I used mussels instead would the cooking time be less? This recipe sounds great.
You’ll need 1 cup clam juice (or chicken stock).
Do not mince the garlic
Just crush two cloves otherwise it is overpowering. Do not use chicken stock, use the juice of the clams. Salt in unnecessary since clam juice is salty. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!
clams
I am going to make this but I would like confirmation on the clam juice and how much to add to recipe. It is in the picture but not listed on ingredients. Thank you.
this would work beautifully with mussels too!
Picked up some fresh clams from local fish market today. These were perfect! Served with lots of crusty bread and a lovely Chardonnay.
Could you add angel hair to the sauce after you have eaten the clams?
Excellent, Delicious over linguini Yum!!
Delish
Lovely flavor really delish. Making again for Saturday night dinner. Really love it.
Terilyn
Just great that’s all I have to say just great
I had clams for the 1st time back in November 2021, this on the back of our 1st break since COVID – north of England where the sea food is exemplary. The clams were accompanied with new potatoes, fillet of hake and samphire, all doused in a beautiful light white creamy sauce- delicious! Having hankered after the same flavours and dish, I went all out to replicate and what a success it was, your sauce recipe was absolutely wonderful, deliciously tasty yet delicate enough for the clam flavours not to have been overwhelmed – thank you x Can’t wait to try it out again only with a bigger party – such a show off!
Chungah’s recipes are ALWAYS amazing, but this one was not the typical 5/5, but I’m going to blame myself AHAHA. This dish did not have explosive flavor that I thought it would have. It was almost tasteless and I’m not sure how that would even be possible with these ingredients.
I saw someone else’s review where they mentioned that they saw clam juice in the picture on this recipe, and they were wondering if clam juice would’ve been a good addition. Next time, I’ll add clam juice and chicken stock, go half-and-half on each. Maybe that would boost the flavor and give emphasis to the clam flavor. I added fettuccine noodles to this dish, which gave this a good boost.
I don’t know if anyone else struggled with this, but it took almost a half hour for my clams to open up and that was after I put them on medium heat. If I make this dish again I really need to watch them, because the clams got a little rubbery, but that was my fault for not taking the clams out right away after they opened!
I hope I do better with this dish next time, super fluke for my favorite website!!!
My go to now!damn delicious!!