Best Clam Chowder Recipe (VIDEO)
Best Clam Chowder is easy to make “from scratch,” with creamy soup flavors that mingle together with bacon, clams–for the very best chowder!
I love the magic of soup season—-the comfort and ease of gathering ’round the table with family and friends! And BEST Clam Chowder always brings a little magic to the table! You’ve got to try my similar Best Seafood Chowder recipe, or a “tomato” spin, my Manhattan Clam Chowder soup.
Best Clam Chowder
Chowder is easy to make – a “by scratch” version that is creamy, flavorful with bacon, and chockfull of clams! Watch the video!
What do you add to clam chowder to make it better?
If it’s the condensed kind, add heavy cream and whole milk in equal parts. And then of course we say bacon and butter! But grab the printable recipe below!
Simple ingredients for chowder soup:
- Bacon + butter
- Celery + leeks + onions + garlic
- Red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes
- Broth (or stock)
- Salt, white pepper, thyme
- Flour
- Half-and-half
- Chopped clams
- Bay leaf
- Chopped fresh chives
- OPTIONAL to add clam juice (for a more clam flavor)
What do you serve with Clam Chowder?
Planning a soup meal is quite simple, especially serving my yummy chowder as the main dish, with a side of hot bread and a basic green salad with Best Thousand Island Dressing! Here’s a list of what to serve with a hot bowl of chowder.
- Bacon
- Oyster Crackers
- Salad
- Shrimp cocktail
- Bread
- Corn on the cob
- French fries
Make chowder from scratch
In the past, I’ve been intimidated to make this homemade soup, because I was afraid it wouldn’t be as tasty as a bowl that might be served at the beach, or at a really good restaurant. But this recipe is one of my favorites, and is one of the top easy recipes on my RE! Yay! :)
Oh, and we did make a few changes to the recipe, but don’t worry. Add more clam juice (optional) for a more intense clam flavor if you choose to.
How do you serve clam chowder?
You can also serve it on a big board, like below! Here’s the link to Epic Clam Chowder Dinner Board! Or, grab the link below to buy THE BIG BOARD (at the bottom). We love to set out the pot of soup in a braiser pan (low-line big pot).
What is the difference between Boston and New England clam chowder?
Well, New England and Boston Clam Chowder are really the same dish. What makes a chowder “different” is the broth that is used. For example, Rhode Island broth is clear, and Manhattan Style Clam Chowder has a red tomato broth. Boston is thick and creamy!
Is chowder better the next day?
Yes, it’s just as good the next day, if not better. So YES, you can make ahead of time for easy entertaining.
The flavors of this soup mingle together to make the tastiest leftovers. It will thicken as it stands overnight in the refrigerator so just whisk in a little milk or half-and-half before reheating.
How do you make Homemade Clam Chowder
Whatever the flavors, I say homemade is the best!
- In a Dutch oven, you cook bacon (for amazing flavor!) over medium heat until crisp.
- Then you saute celery, leek, and onion until tender, adding garlic. Eventually stirring in potatoes, broth, clam juice, salt, pepper and thyme.
- Boil and simmer until potatoes are tender.
- Make the creamy sauce (soooo good).
- Stir in the clams and crispy bacon!
- Optional to add in more clam juice (a couple bottles) if you choose to.
It’s comforting, filling, and delicious, and it’s also the perfect “light” holiday meal.
The Big Board®
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More Chowder recipes to try:
Manhattan Clam Chowder (Simply Recipes) Slow Cooker New England Clam Chowder (Baked by Rachel). And friends, have you bought my new cookbook? Buy Big Boards for Families today! It’s “editor’s pick” on Amazon this month!
Get the Recipe:
Best Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 8 bacon strips, divided
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 leek, finely chopped (or 1 shallot)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3-4 small unpeeled potatoes (red potatoes or Yukon gold), cubed into 1/2-inch pieces (optional to peel)
- 2 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half-and-half, divided
- 3 cans 6-1/2 ounces each of chopped clams, undrained
- Bay leaf
- clam juice, optional, for more intense flavor
- Chopped fresh chives or green onions, for garnish
Equipment
- Dutch Oven (I like this enameled version from Lodge)
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain; set aside. Add butter to the drippings (you can spoon out some of the drippings if you don’t want to ues that much); saute celery, leek, and onion until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the potatoes, broth, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 cup half-and-half until smooth. Gradually stir into the soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.
- Stir in clams and juice and remaining half-and-half; heat through (do not boil). Turn down to low heat; add the bay leaf. Cook for additional 2-3 minutes on low heat. Add in 4 strips of crumbled bacon.TIP: Optional to add in more clam juice in this step, if you choose a more clam flavor.
- Crumble the reserved 4 strips of bacon. Garnish chowder with crumbled bacon and fresh chopped chives or green onions thinly sliced.
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
This is an excellent recipe! Lessened the amount of flour since my family does not like it too thick.
Delicious every time!
Man am I glad I found this recipe! It came out better than I imagined. It is always hard to try a new recipe when you are not sure, but this eeeded my expectations. I followed everything but I ddid not add exxtra juice. I also used minced clams because I atually don’t like them. very easy to follow the recipe too. Thank for posting my new go to chowder!
I love this recipe! I use clam juice in lieu of broth and add pop of sherry at end
Overall good recipe. Only thing I’d change is less thyme, the flavor was too strong for my liking. But it’s a quick easy recipe that great for a weeknight meal.
So darned good! I had a Costco sized can of clams, so I had to guestimate about how much clam/juice I’d need. I found that I did need to have my mise en place ready to go because it came together so fast! Definitely a fast and fairly easy dinner. Broiled some garlic sourdough and dinner was ready! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I’ve made it many times. Its yummy and always comes out perfect!
Your recipe is almost identical to mine and is the perfect Christmas Eve meal. Just one thing missing. Pour in some white wine and see what happens. Trust me and do it!
excellent recipe. thanks, girl.
Absolutely amazing! I’ve been looking for a recipe that has the same type of taste as our favorite steakhouse. No need to look no more. Incredible!!!
Thank you.
Can you let it staying warm in a crockpot
Yes you can on LOW.
This was our first time making chowder and I’m so glad we tried this recipe!! chef’s kiss!! so good
Definitely the best clam chowder ever! Made for company and it didn’t disappoint. Thank you for sharing. Oh, by the way I never used leeks before and they really made the soup along with extra clam juice. Yum!!
This recipe is reminiscent of a clam chowder. I had in Seattle many years ago at a high-end seafood restaurant. All this recipe needed was a bit more salt and a drizzle of great Sherry to transport me back to Salty’s on Alki😋!!! This recipe is a keeper!!! Thanks!
This recipe is absolutely amazing, and my go-to clam chowder recipe. Being from New England clam chowder is a huge staple in the fall and winter months. I follow this recipe almost exactly! …. I added an extra full can of whole belly clams and a half pound of fresh chopped clams. I do have to mention that I did add a tablespoon of cornstarch to the flour and half and half mix, only because I added an extra can of whole bellies and fresh clams which have extra water/juice it worked wonders and made it incredibly thick and creamy. What can I say we like it Hardy here in New England! But the rest of the recipe was amazing and I use it all the time and my family absolutely loves it, kids included.
This clam chowder is better than any I’ve had in a restaurant!
Very very good!
I Made this last night for the family. They LOVED it!!! Said it was the best chowder they ever had! I’ll be making this again for sure! Thanks Sandy for making my family think I’m the best cook:)
HOLY SMOKES! This was my second attempt at making Clam Chowder (first time was years ago with a different recipe and it was a disaster), but we were both completely blown away! This recipe was SO simple and easy to follow!! I followed it exactly and though I’m normally one to taste test things then add things to improve flavor… nothing was needed!!!! Start to finish it’s really quick to make, but next time I think I’ll double it because we all thought the 2nd day it was somehow even better and we all wished we had tons more! I’ve shared this recipe post with just about everyone I know! Thank you SO SO much for sharing this one!!!
In my house, my husband always made the chowder. Not my specialty. (don’t really have any specialties…lol) We put up our own bar clams this yr. I got impatient waiting for him to make me a chowder, so I searched for a recipe and found a winner here. Made this for the 3rd time. I don’t change anything, and it always is a hit.
Tk. you.
Omg this is seriously the BEST clam chowder!! I added some cod that needed to be cooked and used evaporated milk instead of the half and half. It was so so good!! Will definitely make this again!! Beautiful recipe!
I just made this soup for the second time. I only used 4 strips of bacon and drained most of the drippings off. Next time I am going to use salt pork. Bacon, to me, has too strong of a taste that over powers the taste of the clams. I followed the recipe as written after that (3 cans of minced clams and 1 bottle of clam juice)…until the very end. Since I like a thick soup I added instant mashed potatoes to get the soup to the consistency that I like. Even with the 2 changes I made I still feel this is an excellent recipe.
I am not the best cook! This recipe had my husband raising his eyebrows! Only thing I did differently was put bay leaf in earlier and used seafood broth! Thank you for this recipe!
Not sure if this is the best place to ask a question. Can I double this recipe? I love making big batches of soup and freezing some for later.
Yes, of course. We double the recipe often! :)
Did you have success in freezing this recipe?
I just made this tonight and I’m already looking forward to making it again, but doubling it so I will have more soup!
This was so delicious! The only change I made was to replace the broth with clam juice purchased at the grocery store.