Best Seafood Chowder Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular chowder? ›

New England Clam Chowder is the most famous and most popular clam chowder. It's been around for centuries, so it's possible its longevity has contributed to its popularity. It's also thick and velvety, making it a comforting palate-pleaser, particularly on cold days.

It's a traditional American dish that typically consists of clams, diced potatoes, onions, and celery. The soup base is often a combination of clam juice, broth or stock, and milk or cream. The ingredients are simmered together until the flavors meld, creating a hearty and flavorful chowder.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.

Salad. If you pair cham chowder with a simple salad, you can never go wrong. You see, cham chowder is quite rich, and so it has to be balanced with something light. Consider either a Kale salad, Caesar salad, or coleslaw.

Customarily, chowder included onion, potatoes, and cream. Nowadays, not all chowders adhere to these guidelines.

Roux (pronounced roo) is a mixture of equal weights (parts) of flour and fat (usually clarified butter; chicken fat, bacon fat, and margarine are also used) cooked over medium heat and stirred constantly. Roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups.

Unlike cream, which runs the risk of splitting once added, evaporated milk can be mixed into the chowder's entourage when the clams are added. Thus, a steamy bowl of clam chowder is created, whose flavor whole-heartedly sings with a warming fishy essence. It's rich, it's divine, it's utterly moreish.

Stir in miso

Sometimes it is because the potatoes have soaked up the salt or the base is just too thick, and the chowder is weak in flavor and has a heavy texture. If you find your clam chowder leaning into no-flavor-land, try adding a bit of miso paste to the pot for a rich umami kick.

You really only have three choices when it comes to dairy for your chowder. You can use whole milk (hom*o milk), you can use heavy cream, or you can use a combination of the two. Any milk with a fat content lower than 3.25% is likely to split when heat, salt, acid, or even the seafood is added.

Half-and-half and butter plus butter

You can also use half-and-half to replace heavy cream without adding butter in certain recipes, such as sauces and soups. To substitute for 1 cup (237 mL) of heavy cream, mix 7/8 cup (232 grams) of half-and-half with 1/8 cup (29 grams) of melted butter.

How do you reduce the fishy taste in chowder? ›

This can be done by cooking the fish in foil or by adding other ingredients to the recipe that will help to mask the strong fishy taste of the fish. Also, you can marinate the fish in a mixture of lemon juice, vinegar, and water for 30 minutes. This will help to neutralize the fishy taste.

DO AHEAD: Make chowder base and refrigerate up to 1 day ahead. To serve, reheat base and add potatoes, clams, and fish as outlined above.

Rich Seafood Chowder

This creamy, delectable soup is even better the next day. It also works well with scallops or a flaky whitefish....

We serve oyster crackers with a cup or bowl of clam chowder and most everyone smiles and puts the crackers on their chowder right away. There is a reason why chowder bread bowls are so popular – the soup goes so well with sourdough bread!

Sourdough bread is a popular option but you can use any bread that you prefer. If you're eating clam chowder from an actual bowl, I suggest serving it with these buttery Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

Many regional variations exist, but the three most prevalent are New England or "white" clam chowder, which includes milk or cream, Manhattan or "red" clam chowder, which includes tomatoes, and Rhode Island or "clear" clam chowder, which omits both.

Classic examples can be found at Boston's Union Oyster House – the oldest continually operating restaurant in the U.S. – as well as the Atlantic Fish Company and Legal Sea Foods, which launched an empire on the back of its thick and savory flagship soup.

In addition to the tomatoes or tomato paste which contribute to its red color, Manhattan clam chowder also typically includes onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and potatoes in a relatively thin broth per Eater. It is fresher and brighter than its counterpart while being more vegetable-heavy.