New England Clam Chowder
Creamy New England clam chowder with canned clams, bacon and tender potatoes. Ready in 50 minutes, thick but not gluey, with clams that stay tender.
30% of it needs you at the counter
- Hands-on
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 35 min
- Serves
- 6
- Calories
- 400
- Protein
- 22 g
- Per serving
- $3.04
Why this recipe works
New England clam chowder is the creamy, white one: clams, potatoes and bacon in a milk-and-cream broth, eaten with oyster crackers. Canned clams make it easy to cook anywhere, any time of year.
- Using both the juice from the cans and bottled clam juice gives a deep briny flavor that canned clams alone can't.
- The clams go in at the very end and only heat through. Boiling them is what makes canned clams rubbery.
- A light flour roux plus the starch from the potatoes thickens the chowder just enough. Milk and cream are added off the boil so they don't curdle.
Ingredients
To serve
You will need
- Large heavy pot or Dutch oven
- Fine-mesh sieve
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Crisp the bacon
Cook the bacon in the pot over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Lift it out with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind.
AI-generated illustration of this step. Soften the vegetables
Add the onion and celery to the bacon fat and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the flour smells toasty.
AI-generated illustration of this step. Add the clam juice and potatoes
Slowly whisk in the reserved juice from the cans and the bottled clam juice until smooth. Add the potatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
AI-generated illustration of this step. Add the dairy
Stir in the milk and cream and heat gently until steaming, about 5 minutes. Don't let it boil.
AI-generated illustration of this step. Finish with the clams
Stir in the clams and half the bacon and heat for 2 minutes, just until the clams are hot. Remove the bay leaf, then season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with the rest of the bacon, parsley and oyster crackers.
AI-generated illustration of this step.
Techniques in this recipe
1. Halve through the root 2. Slice toward the root 3. Cut across Dice an onion
Halve through the root, slice toward it without cutting through, then cut across. The root holds it together, so the pieces come out even.
Read the full guideRolling boil: too hard for most sauces Simmer: small, gentle bubbles Simmer, don't boil
A boil has big, rolling bubbles; a simmer has small bubbles that break gently. Most sauces, soups and stews want a simmer.
Read the full guide
Cook's notes
- Taste before salting at the end. Clam juice and bacon are both salty, and you may not need more than a pinch.
- Want it thicker? Mash a few potato cubes against the side of the pot and stir them back in.
- Chowder thickens in the fridge. Reheat it gently over low heat with a splash of milk; boiling makes the clams tough.
Nutrition per serving
400 calories
$3.04 estimated cost per serving
Where the calories come from
| Protein | 22% of calories | 22 g |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 35% of calories | 35 g |
| Fat | 43% of calories | 19 g |
| Fiber | 2 g | |
| Sodium | 390 mg |
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients and amounts; not lab-tested. Cost estimated from average US retail prices.
Questions people ask
Can I make clam chowder with fresh clams?
Yes. Steam about 4 pounds of littleneck clams in 2 cups of water until they open, chop the meat, and strain the cooking liquid to use instead of the canned and bottled juice.
How do you thicken clam chowder?
The roux and the potatoes thicken it. For a thicker chowder, mash some potatoes into the broth, or simmer it a few minutes longer before adding the clams.
Is clam chowder gluten-free?
Not as written, because of the flour. For gluten-free, skip the flour and thicken it by mashing about a cup of the cooked potatoes into the broth.
