Homemade clam chowder is an easy hearty soup that warms you up on a cold day, but it’s also so light and satisfying. My New England-style clam chowder recipe is loaded with tender clams, silky potatoes, and crunchy bacon.
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Clam Chowder Video
Watch my video tutorial to see how easy it is to make Creamy New England-style clam Chowder. Note that since filming this video, I’ve updated this recipe to increase the clams and also found that adding clams at the end ensures they are more tender. You’ll see these changes reflected in the recipe card below.
The Best Clam Chowder Recipe
Creamy soups are such a treat. I fell in love with them on our honeymoon over 20 years ago, where we enjoyed 5-star dining for the first time in our lives. Since then, we’ve been making a variety of creamy soup recipes, from Creamy Carrot Soup to Butternut Squash Soup.
Nearly every bite of this New England-style Clam Chowder has clams in it, which is awesome because what you get at seafood restaurants is very little clams and veggies, but ultra-rich with a ton of cream. I find that our homemade clam chowder recipe is far more enjoyable than dining out, and it’s much easier to make than you might think.
This recipe rivals the best steamy bowls of chowder I’ve tried at the famous chowder houses on Seattle’s piers, and I’m so happy to be able to re-create it at home whenever I crave it.
Clam Chowder Ingredients
You can make the best clam chowder recipe from what’s tucked away in your pantry then you can just add some canned clams to your grocery list.
- Bacon – Traditional New England clam chowder uses salt pork, but bacon is easier to find.
- Carrots, celery, and onions – finely chopped, this combination of veggies used at the base of many soups is called mirepoix.
- Flour – thickens the soup. You can also use a gluten-free flour or a slurry of cornstarch and water.
- Chicken stock (I use low-sodium), or substitute vegetable stock.
- Clams – 3 cans of clams – drain the clams, but keep the juice. If using fresh, see our tips below.
- Worcestershire, Tabasco, soy sauce – adds great depth of flavor – look for gluten free if needed. The hot sauce is optional but so good!
- Bay Leaf, Thyme – Flavors the broth and add salt to taste since the sodium will change depending on your clams. You can replace thyme with dill, fresh parsley, or Old Bay seasoning.
- Potatoes – waxy potatoes like Yukon gold or red potatoes are a great choice, but russets also work.
- Milk and Cream – adds a rich creaminess. You can sub cream for half and half.
Can I use fresh clams?
To use fresh clams, buy about 7 lbs of Quahog (littleneck or cherrystone) clams to get 1.5 generous cups for this recipe, and use about 8 oz of clam juice (to replace the juice from the can).
Clean the clams well, and then steam them until they just open up. Remove the meat and chop finely so they don’t become rubbery. Here’s a tutorial on how to steam fresh clams.
How to Make Clam Chowder
It’s quick and easy to make New England Clam Chowder following these few simple steps.
- Brown the bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven until browned and crisp. Then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Sauté the vegetables (carrots, onion, and celery) in the same pot with the bacon drippings. Add more oil if needed and stir occasionally until soft and golden. Sprinkle with flour and stir another minute until you can’t smell the raw flour.
- Add the chicken broth, clam juice, 1 bay leaf, Worcestershire, Tabasco sauce, thyme, 1 tsp salt, and pepper. Bring to a light boil.
- Add the chopped potatoes to the pot, and then stir in the milk and whipping cream. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the chopped clams, and return the pot to a light boil. Then remove from the heat so the clams don’t get overcooked and tough. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with the cilantro if desired, and cooked bacon. The soup thickens as it cools. If needed, you can thin it out by adding more milk or chicken broth and bringing it to a boil once more.
Don’t skip the garnish! When you’re all done making your soup, serve it garnished with cilantro. I know it sounds weird, but trust me on this! I tried this combination at a nice restaurant and it was amazing! It’s just a little bit of freshness that makes it taste elevated.
What to Serve with Clam Chowder?
This soup is hearty enough to serve as a full meal, but pairs well with these sides:
- Crackers – Oyster crackers, saltines, or Sourdough Crackers
- Bread – No-Knead Bread, Crusty French Bread, or sourdough bread bowls (boules).
- Side salad – Caesar Salad, Wedge Salad, Beet Salad, or Broccoli Corn Salad
- Sandwiches – BLT, Grilled Cheese, or Open-faced Eggplant and Tomato Sandwich
It’s so fun to recreate restaurant-quality dishes at home like our Zuppa Toscana Recipe, hearty Chicken Wild Rice Soup, and our wildly popular Chicken Tortilla Soup. If you’re a fan of hearty, cozy soups that reheat well, you may want to add this to your regular rotation. It’s that good.
Clam Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 slices lean bacon, cut into 1/2" strips
- 2 medium carrots, sliced into thin rings or half rings
- 2 celery ribs, finely diced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour, or GF flour
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, or stock
- 1 1/2 cups canned chopped clams, drained with juices reserved, from 3 (6.5 oz) cans
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
- 1 1/2 lbs 6 medium potatoes (Yukon gold or russet), peeled
- 2 cups milk, any kind
- 1 cup whipping cream or heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro, optional for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over med/high heat and add the chopped bacon. Sauté, stirring occasionally until browned and crisp then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Keep 3 Tbsp of bacon grease in the pot (discard excess if desired).
- Add veggies – toss in chopped carrots, onion, and celery and continue cooking over med/high heat, stirring occasionally until soft and golden (7-8 min). Sprinkle in flour and saute another minute, stirring constantly.
- Build Broth – Add chicken broth, reserved clam juice, bay leaf, Worcestershire, Tabasco sauce, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Bring the soup to a light boil.
- Add Potatoes – While the soup is heating up, chop potatoes into bite-sized pieces about 1/4" thick. Add potatoes to pot, then stir in milk and whipping cream. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and lightly boil until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork (about 20 min).
- Add Clams – When potatoes are tender, add chopped clams, return to a light boil, and remove from heat. Don't overcook clams or they will get tough*. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, garnish with cooked bacon and fresh cilantro if desired.
Notes
- The soup will thicken more as it cools. If needed, you can thin it out by adding more milk or chicken broth and bringing it to a boil once more.
- Add the clams at the end and be sure you just bring to a boil then remove the soup from the heat. Overcooking the clams will make them chewy and rubbery.
- Don’t skip the bacon. That little bit of bacon adds so much flavor, both in the soup and as a topping, and makes every bite completely irresistible.
- To Make this Gluten-free, make sure the Tabasco and Worcestershire are FG, then replace the flour with GF flour or create a cornstarch slurry with 2 Tbsp cornstarch and 1/4 cup broth. Add slurry with the clams.
- To use fresh clams, you’ll need 7 pounds of clams. Be sure to clean them very well and steam them until they open. Then chop the meat. See more tips in the post above.
- Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Freezing is not recommended because the texture changes when frozen.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Classic Soup Recipes
If you love this Clam Chowder Recipe, then you won’t want to miss these other classic soup recipes.
- Vegetable Soup
- Potato Soup
- Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Corn Chowder
- Classic Borscht
- Beef Stew or Lamb Stew
- Roasted Tomato Soup
Love all your recepies. Made this soup for our quilting group and there was not a drop left to bring home. Thank you.
I’m so glad this soup was a hit, Sandy!
Natasha, This is the most delicious New England clam chowder recipe I’ve ever had! I couldn’t stop eating it but had to because it was very filling. I added about 1.5 Tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning at the end and a few drops more of Tabasco in my bowl! WOW! Thank you!❤️
Delicious, I added shrimp and crab to make it a seafood chowder. Definitely, will make again.
This came out great even without the bacon! Loved it for Fridays for lent!
This was soooo good! Another winning recipe! It does make a lot, so with just my husband and me at home now, I’ll try halving the recipe next time, which will probably be next week! Thanks Natasha!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Cindy!
Made this last night minus the cilantro and it was fantastic!!! I’ve always loved eating clam chowder at restaurants and never imagined I could make it as good at home. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Anngie!
Just finished my NE clam chowder! Outstanding never thought to add thyme or Worcestershire sauce! Thank you lady
You’re very welcome, Lynn! So glad you loved the recipe.
Pro Tip
The soup with thicken as it cools. If needed, you can thin it out by adding more milk or chicken broth and bringing it to a boil once more.
Hi! Very excited to try this recipe but have a question…i’m using fresh clams that i have frozen in the freezer. Do you recommend me just buying clam juice to add? If so, how much clam juice should i add?
Hi Diane! Yes, see my “pro-tip” notes for details. I provided instructions for using fresh clams. I hope you love the recipe!
Made as directed – likely added a bit more veg than called for and I didn’t have any Worcestershire or Tabasco on hand but I didn’t notice the difference. I added all the bacon to the soup at the end. As usual, Natasha did not disappoint. Very simple and delicious, will definitely make again! Thank you!
Hi Kate, nice to hear from you and thank you for sharing your feedback! I’m so glad you loved it so much!
Simple but delicious recipes are our favorite. I’m so happy you loved this Clam Chowder, Kate! Thank you for your wonderful review.
Made this last night just as writen….it was wonderful! As always easy to follow recipe and results are consistently great! As you noted the fresh cilantro was a fresh touch…..but not over powering.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed our Clam Chowder Recipe! Thank you so much for sharing.
My husband loves this chowder, but recently was told he needs to follow a low sodium, low potassium, low phosphorus diet. Are there adjustments we can make to the recipe to suit this new diet. For one, I think we’ll use fresh instead of canned clams. Thank you!
Hi Colleen! I’m sorry, I don’t have any recommendations for that. We use low-sodium broth in this, I suppose you could use unsalted broth but you will need to experiment with the spices and salt to your preference.
Made it last night, sans the bacon(lazy). We loved it. Easy to make. Had most of the ingredients on hand.
Hi Richard! I’m so glad you loved it.
I made this last night and OMG it is GREAT. i used minced clams and once the chowder was done, I added them in. The only regret I have was not to have cilantro. I will next time. This is the only clam chowder recipe I need. This is going into our favorite. recipe file.
That’s so great to hear, Gail! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you found your new go-to recipe!
I cannot RAVE enough about this soup! It is so rich and elegant tasting it tastes like it should have taken hours to prepare! But the directions are so easy! DH helped make it this freezing cold weekend and did not like that it called for Worcestershire sauce – but you couldn’t even taste it in the end, it just blended beautifully! I did end up adding 2 more cups of broth just because I added more veggies than called for instead of doubling the recipe, amd then added (per readers suggestion) 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning to season the extra broth but this was just a preference- the soup would still have been good without. And I did add the clams the last 5 minutes before serving. I know this isn’t in the cookbook but it should have been – this is why we follow Natasha!
Hi April! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
Totally Delicious! I garnished with bacon and a sprinkle of old bay seasoning 🥣
So glad you loved it!
Looking forward to trying this! I copied the recipe using “Cook’n Recipe Capture Plug-in”. FYI, the recipe that was downloaded only used 1 cup of clams from two cans… Looks like something didn’t get changed when you increased the clams!
That plug-in is using my recipe without permission. I can’t control what they do. I highly recommend getting recipes on my site and not a link gathering pluggin or app like that. They steal peoples recipes and profit off of others without permission.
This clam chowder recipe is one of the best! It’s super rich, creamy and hearty. Even the picky love it!
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that.
I’m planning on making this and wondering if the Tabasco sauce is really necessary? Think it would be ok without it? What exactly does it do for this recipe? Thanks in advance Natasha!
Hi Jill! Yes, it’s optional and can be left out if you prefer. I hope you love the recipe!
Yep, I LOVE this soup. I figured I would when I saw the photos and ingredients but couldn’t wait to try it — it was delish!
Hi Jessica! That’s great news. Thank you for trying the recipe and for taking the time to leave feedback. I appreciate you.