It’s creamy, it’s flavorful, it’s quick enough for busy weeknights, and it tastes better than what you’d find at a restaurant! Slightly briny and perfectly savory, with a hint of sweetness from the tender clams, this easy soup recipe tastes fancy without any fuss. Just grab some canned clams, bacon, and a few pantry staples, and you can have dinner on the table in no time. While clam chowder is typically served with oyster crackers, it is also insanely good with breadsticks, no-knead beer bread, or crusty artisan bread.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Bacon — chop up 4 slices of bacon. Bacon fat is a large flavor component here, and the cooked bacon serves as a topping for the soup. Onion and celery — I make an “almost-mirepoix” with chopped onion and celery that serves as the foundation of flavor for the soup. Flour — flour acts as a thickening agent and helps bind the milk and stock together. Canned chopped clams in juice — drain the clams over a bowl and save the juice, which is super important for adding a mild briny flavor to the chowder Milk — use whole milk so the soup is extra creamy. Stock — chicken stock is the best option, but you can use vegetable stock instead. Bay leaf — a single bay leaf adds depth. Don’t forget to remove it before serving. (Bay leaves are quite bitter and hard!) Russet potatoes — peel the potatoes and dice them into fairly small cubes for faster and more even cooking. Half and half — adds yet another layer of creaminess that makes the soup irresistible. Chopped parsley — along with chopped bacon, parsley is a bright topping for the soup.
How to Make Clam Chowder
- Grab a large pot or Dutch oven for the clam chowder. Start by cooking the chopped bacon over medium-high heat until crispy and brown. Prepare a plate covered with a few paper towels. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon and set it onto the paper towels to drain off the excess fat. Leave the rest of the bacon drippings in the pot — It adds a rich savory flavor to the soup.
- Add the unsalted butter to the pot and melt it before throwing in the chopped onion and celery, and minced garlic. Saute for about 4 minutes, until the onion is tender and translucent.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Slowly whisk in the clam juice you saved when draining the clams, whole milk, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes until it begins to thicken, then add the bay leaf and diced potatoes. Reduce the heat and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender (check by gently piercing a few with a fork).
- Pour in the half and half and stir. The soup should now be quite thick.
- Add the chopped clams. Cook until that’s heated through (this will only take about 2 minutes). Find and throw away the bay leaf. Spoon the creamy clam chowder into bowls and top with the cooked bacon and chopped parsley. Enjoy immediately.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
Cut the potatoes into evenly sized pieces. This will help them cook at the same speed. If you don’t have russet potatoes, you can swap them out for red potatoes. If you prefer using fresh clams, you’ll need about 1 cup of cleaned, steamed, chopped fresh clams, along with about 1 cup of clam juice. Make an even richer chowder! Swap the half and half out for an equal amount of heavy cream. Serve the creamy soup immediately. It will continue to thicken as it sits. You can thin it out with a little milk if necessary. Add a spicy kick to the clam chowder! Add a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce, or chop up a jalapeno or two and add it directly to the soup with the garlic for extra heat!
If you’ve tried this Clam Chowder recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
