I don’t know what the weather’s like where you live, but here in Colorado, it’s finally starting to feel a little bit like springtime. And while I’m excited for the change of seasons, I know from experience that we still have plenty of cool and chilly days before it’s officially summer. So we’ll still be making plenty of soups and stew to keep us comfortable over the next couple of months. And with that in mind, today I want to share with you an easy recipe for one of my favorite soups, New England clam chowder.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- Canned clams are often sold either whole, chopped, or minced. And while you can use any of those options, I highly recommend that you stay away from the minced. The problem with the minced is that they are often chopped so small that they can feel nonexistent in the chowder. So instead pick either the chopped which has a nice mixture of small and big chunks, or the whole which you will have to chop up yourself.
- Everyone has their own preference when it comes to how thick or thin they like their chowder. And today’s recipe for clam chowder is about medium thickness. However, if you want it to be thicker or thinner then you can easily make that happen. To thicken the chowder simply add more cream, about ½ to 1 cup. To thin out the chowder add in about ½ to 1 cup extra of either chicken stock, or clam juice.
- Make sure that you don’t add in the cream or clams until right before you plan on eating the clam chowder. The cream can either curdle or separate when heated to too high of a temperature for too long. And the clams will become tough and rubbery if they are cooked for over 15 minutes.
- Check out some of our other great soup recipes like Tomato Soup, Baked Potato Soup, Ground Beef Chili, and Chicken Tortilla Soup.
New England Clam Chowder Recipe
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 3 to 4
Ingredients
6 Slices of bacon, cut into ½ inch sized squares
2 Tablespoons of butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 Stalks of celery diced
2 to 3 small potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Cloves of garlic, minced
¼ Teaspoon of dried thyme
2 Teablespoons of flour
1 Cup of chicken stock
8 oz Bottle of clam juice
1 Cup of heavy cream
2 6.5oz. Cans of clams, plus their juice
Salt & pepper to taste
Garnish:
Oyster crackers
Crumbled up bacon
parsley
Instructions
- Cook the bacon: Get out a medium-sized stockpot/dutch oven and place it over medium-high heat. Toss in the bacon and cook until it has rendered its fat and become crispy to your likings.
Take the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside on some paper towels.
- Sautee the vegetables: Reduce the heat to medium, and toss in the onion, celery, and potatoes. Sautee these ingredients in the bacon fat for 5 minutes, or until the onions have become translucent.
Add in the garlic, and thyme, continuing to sautee everything for another minute. Pour in the flour, and stir so that it coats all of the vegetables.
- Add liquids and simmer: Slowly pour in the chicken stock and clam juice, stirring so that the flour is incorporated into the liquids.
Cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and tender.
- Finish the dish: Add the heavy cream, along with the canned clams and their juices.
Stir everything together and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Finally taste the chowder and add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve up the clam chowder in bowls and garnish with bacon, oyster crackers, and minced parsley.
New England Clam Chowder Recipe
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 6 Slices of bacon cut into ½ inch sized squares
- 2 Tablespoons of butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 Stalks of celery diced
- 2 to 3 small potatoes peeled and diced
- 2 Cloves of garlic minced
- ¼ Teaspoon of dried thyme
- 2 Teablespoons of flour
- 1 Cup of chicken stock
- 8 oz Bottle of clam juice
- 1 Cup of heavy cream
- 2 6.5 oz. Cans of clams plus their juice
- Salt & pepper to taste
Garnish:
- Oyster crackers
- Crumbled up bacon
- parsley
Instructions
- Cook the bacon: Get out a medium-sized stockpot/dutch oven and place it over medium-high heat. Toss in the bacon and cook until it has rendered its fat and become crispy to your likings. Take the bacon out with a slotted spoon and set it aside on some paper towels.
- Sautee the vegetables: Reduce the heat to medium, and toss in the onion, celery, and potatoes. Sautee these ingredients in the bacon fat for 5 minutes, or until the onions have become translucent. Add in the garlic, and thyme, continuing to sautee everything for another minute. Pour in the flour, and stir so that it coats all of the vegetables.
- Add liquids and simmer: Slowly pour in the chicken stock and clam juice, stirring so that the flour is incorporated into the liquids. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft and tender.
- Finish the dish: Add the heavy cream, along with the canned clams and their juices. Stir everything together and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Finally taste the chowder and add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve up the clam chowder in bowls and garnish with bacon, oyster crackers, and minced parsley.
