The Best Clam Chowder
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 24medium-size quahog clams, usually rated ‘‘top neck’’ or ‘‘cherrystone,’’ rinsed
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼pound slab bacon or salt pork, diced
- 2leeks, tops removed, halved and cleaned, then sliced into half moons
- 3large Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed
- ½cup dry white wine
- 3sprigs thyme
- 1bay leaf
- 2cups cream
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼cup chopped parsley.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
398 calories; 28 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 544 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 4 cups water, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open after 15 to 20 minutes should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. Remove clams from shells, and set aside as well.
- Step 2
Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add butter, and turn heat to medium-low. Add bacon or salt pork, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pork has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove pork from fat, and set aside.
- Step 3
Add the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes and wine, and continue cooking until wine has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften, approximately 5 minutes. Add enough clam broth to just cover the potatoes, approximately 3 cups, reserving the rest for another use. Add the thyme and the bay leaf.
- Step 4
Partly cover the pot, and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, chop the clams into bits about the size of the bacon dice.
- Step 6
When potatoes are tender, add cream and stir in chopped clams and reserved bacon. Add black pepper to taste. Let come to a simmer, and remove from heat. (Do not let chowder come to a full boil.) Fish out the thyme and the bay leaf, and discard.
- Step 7
The chowder should be allowed to sit for a while to cure. Reheat it to a bare simmer before serving, then garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with oyster crackers.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Tim H
I live in Arizona, so I substituted canned clams and a bottle of clam juice, but followed the recipe exactly otherwise. And it was delicious.
John April
We made this while vacationing in Lynn using fresh clams procured in Chinatown's Happy Family Food Market. This was the best NE clam chowder I've ever tasted. We altered the recipe's Step 1 slightly in that we cooked the clams with wine, herbs, and a chopped shallot. We used wine and herbs again, per the recipe's Step 3, but my wife, being a French person, could not imagine cooking clams without wine, shallots, and herbs. New York take note.
Rainmaker
Awesome! I used 4 - 6.5oz cans of canned chopped clams. I had enough broth when reserved from the cans to negate the need for any extra clam juice although I had bought a bottle just in case. Other than that I followed the recipe precisely and it turned out amazing! Just finished the last bowl. FYI this made 5 large bowls of soup.
Gail Cowan
Great Recipe. How could it miss? - bacon, butter, cream.
I made some adaptations. Cherrystones were $1 each so I only used 6 of them and supplemented with frozen clam meat already in my freezer. 24 cherrystones would have been better for sure. And I used up the cup of heavy cream that I already had and added some half-and-half. Not as rich, but the soup was delicious and not quite as rich, but nice and thick. Oh, and I added a stalk of chopped celery to the leeks.
MNL
Used only butter (2T) and not any of the pork. I used a California Pinot Gris and substituted some cod and scallops for some of the clams. The result was more like a fish chowder. and Excellent !!!
The tempreture and time is way off
That this only takes 1 hour to make is a total under estimate . Just washing everything and cutting all the vegetables takes more then 30 minutes . Yes the clams only take 15 minutes to cook , but then you have to separate the liquid and the clamps . Wait for the clams to cool , and then chop in 1/2 . And that is only one of the 6 steps . I would say this takes more then 2 hours to make.
Lisa Laskin
This is a great chowder recipe, although I don't love the addition of the wine - gives it a more metallic taste than I like. Also, I make it with whole milk instead of cream and sometimes just onions instead of leeks.
Lynn
I have made this recipe exactly as is and I've added celery and omitted the wine. I prefer no wine and added 1/2 C chopped celery. But, both are delicious, it is Clam Chowder how can you go wrong!
A Gray
At the risk of whining, it would be so helpful if recipes would say what size leek, and how many inches of white before the green, will do the job. Failing that, a volume measure for the cleaned sliced leeks would do. Finding grocery store leeks that are fresh enough and have a decent length of white stalk can be a snipe hunt, and I want the effort to pay off!
Catherine
In the 80s, I tended bar at The Bluepoint in Providence, RI, the best seafood restaurant in many a RI-er's memory. Chef's trick for clam chowder was to sub fresh (never dried) tarragon for the thyme. Exquisite. Staff would mix the red chowder with the white for a pink chowder that was incredibly delicious--still my preference for a chowder, and lower-cal to boot.
George
Delicious!!! Made this exactly as written. Just a shopping note: quohogs are not cherry stones . Quohogs are large sea clams... We use them for chowder, fried clam strips or casino, chopped. Cherry stones are often served raw... We also serve them fried ( bellies and all )
Charles Meade
I think this recipe, as is, is totally world class. And there is no doubt it gets much better after a day or two in the fridge.
Carey
That sounds tasty but it's not even vaguely clam chowder. I would think the clams would be totally overwhelmed by all that sausage, ham, and garlic.
Teddy29
Made this with Maine clams following the recipe exactly. Best clam chowder I've ever had. This was my first up-close-and-personal cooking clams... I had to Google "why do my clams have penises" for guidance and for more detailed instructions on clams (like soaking in salted water so the little bi-valves can discharge debris with their syphons). Not my fault - I'm from the midwest.
Betsy
I had 1/2 cup heavy cream left over from the Summer Squash Casserole and a bag of clams (not quahogs, but still) and pretty much all the other ingredients on hand, so I filled in for the rest of the cream with whole milk. This is a delicious recipe. It feeds 8 to 10, you say? Not at my house! (But we were pretty hungry.)
abi
3 cans chopped plus one tin smoked clams 2 jars clam juice
Laura
I used 25 little necks, a little chicken broth, and a little bottled clam juice. When I cooked the clams I added a halved head of garlic and some thyme to the water. Coincidentally, I had cooked a package of good smoked bacon in the morning (before I decided to make the chowder). I reheated/rendered a few slices of the bacon in butter before adding onions and celery, thyme and a bay leaf. Delicious!
M. Britton
Well, I am making this and failed to read the recipe prior to shopping. How do you figure 3 cups of clam juice? Would 24 clams render this much juice? No clam juice in the ingredients list. I opted to go with frozen from WF and there certainly will not be 3 cups of liquid rendered from my 16 oz tub. So note: you probably are going to need a bottle of clam juice at hand no matter which way you go, fresh or frozen. I'm inclined to think I would not like the taste of tinned broth from a can of clam
Courtney
Not too complicated, I used 3 6.5oz cans of clams instead of fresh + juice and it turned out great.
DachshundMom
I wanted this to be lower in carbs so I subbed out cauliflower rice for the potatoes and thickened the broth with 2 tbsp of corn starch. Also used canned clams and added some chopped up fresh shrimp. It was terrific.
JM in SF
Fairly easy and delicious. Halved recipe and used 2 cans of bar harbor ocean clams and their broth. Was barely enough for me and my husband! I might add an extra cup of either chicken stock or clam juice, just because my husband and I like brothier chowder. But delicious as is. Oh, I don’t like bacon, so didn’t use that.
Mark Mikolas
Used the ingredient list for my shopping list. Started to make it and found it called for 3 cups of clam broth, which I didn't have because it wasn't on your ingredient list. Whoooops.
Roger & Carol Craine
This is the best clam chowder and we made it with canned clams.
ks
Market left out my white wine so I substituted Japanese Mirin. Very nice!
HKS in SF
Incredible. As other reviews have noted, the best clam chowder I've ever had. I followed another reviewer's suggestion of adding tarragon: 1 tbsp chopped, added to the potatoes and wine. The perfect hint and not too strong. HIGHLY recommend!
ann j
Used 4 cans (6.5 oz) of clams, reserved juice and added 1 small bottle of clam juice. Added celery (one stalk) with the leeks & a half cup of dried wild rice to the simmer.
TK
Delicious!! I use four potatoes and mash some for a little thicker consist consistency. I also never add the bacon to the chowder in the pot (I don't like it soft) but rather sprinkle on top after serving.
Margaret Miller
I have a home in Tokeland, Washington which has several razor clamming beaches going up and down the Pacific coast from Willapa Bay. I grew up with razor clams, in chowder and fried, when the winter tides were lowest and we would get up at 5 a.m and sleep in the back of the station wagon on our way to "a dig." This recipe most closely jibes with the chowder of my childhood. And, yes, the beloved oyster crackers were part of it 70 years ago. Thanks!
blend before last step
Blend potato mix in a blender, then add cooked clams and bacon. Sub whole milk for 1 cup cream.
Queenbfor3
Made this in a 1.5 batch. I used dried thyme about 2T and about 1T of pepper for this size. I also didn’t realize it called for non-smoked bacon and used smoked bacon ends that I had on end from my butcher. Turned out great! I did blend several potatoes and added a bit of wondra flour to it to make it a little thicker as that is what we preferred! Very delicious and a nice warm hug of a meal with some crust bread.
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