New England Clam Chowder is a true American Classic that’s hardly ever made at home these days.
Clams were abundant in the North East area of the United States and clam chowders and stews could be found cooking on the stoves in many New England households.
But with the advent of canned soups, America stopped making homemade soups and most seafood soups became an extravagance we only got to enjoy on those special occasions when we would dine out.
And the truth is New England Clam Chowder is not difficult to make or time-consuming. You only need a few ingredients you won’t already find in your kitchen.
Clams of course is one of those items. These days most supermarkets carry fresh clams regularly and some even carry frozen clam meat. Both of which make excellent soups.
Although with the frozen clams you’ll also need to buy clam juice.
What Kind of Clams should I buy?
Little Neck clams are most often the type of clams you’ll find in supermarkets. This size clam is generally used in pasta dishes such as clams and spaghetti. And that’s because the larger the clam gets, the tougher and chewier it will be.,
A lot of supermarkets also carry Middle Necks (pictured above), Top Necks or Cherrystone.
- Pasta Necks (or Spaghetti clams) – smaller than Little Necks, they are tender and easy to digest. Their delicate flavor goes well in light sauces, pasta or rice dishes.
- Little Neck – small and tender they are usually steamed open or eaten on the half shell. Also good for pasta dishes.
- Middle Neck – rich, firm-textured meat has a salty and slightly sweet flavor. Great for steaming in a garlic sauce and for soups.
- Top Neck – typically eaten raw on the half shell, grilled open or as a baked clam appetizer such as clams casino or deviled clams.
- Cherrystone – eaten raw or most often used for baked clam appetizers such as clams casino or deviled clams.
- Chowder – the largest and toughest hard clams, usually winding up in chowders.
If you don’t see them ask the seafood person if the larger clams can be ordered.
What Ingredients do I need to make New England Clam Chowder?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make New England Clam Chowder. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I make New England Clam Chowder?
The first step is steaming the clams you’ll be using for the soup. Add one cup of water to a large pot over medium heat. Add the clams and cover. Steam the clams for 8-10 minutes or until they steam open.
**Don’t let the clams cook longer than it takes to steam open.
Once the clams have steamed open, remove them from the stove and allow to cool until you can safely handle the clams.
When the clams have sufficiently cooled, remove the meat from the shells. Don’t remove the little mussel that holds the clam to the shell, it will be tough and chewy.
**Discard the shells but make sure to save all the juice from the steamed clams.
Chops the clams into small pieces and refrigerate until needed.
In a 4- 6 quart soup pot cook the bacon until almost done. Add the onions, celery and carrots and continue cooking for 5-6 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and add the flour to the pot to make a roux. This will thicken the soup.
Allow the roux to cook over low heat for 5- 7 minutes, but don’t let the roux get dark or burn.
Heat the stock in a saucepan while the roux is cooking. Add the hot stock to the roux and mix well using a wire whisk.
Add the potatoes and fresh thyme into the pot at this time stirring them into the soup.
Now add the milk and if you’re feeling decadent, the heavy cream. Allow the soup to simmer over low heat for about an hour.
**If the soup gets to thick, add water to pot. I wouldn’t add any more dairy at this point, just water.
Before serving the chowder, add in the chopped clams and simmer for 5 additional minutes to bring the soup back to temperature. Serve with crackers, oyster crackers or fresh crusty bread and enjoy!
*Some folks enjoy hot sauce with their chowder.
Can you freeze New England Clam Chowder?
Yes you can. You may need to add a little water to the soup when reheating.
Recipe FAQ’s
New England Clam Chowder (also referred to as “Boston-style” clam chowder), is made using milk and cream. This makes it a much thicker chowder than other regional types of clam chowder. The other two styles of clam chowder, Rhode Island Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder are both tomato-based broth-style soups.
Originally made in the Maine and Massachusetts area and food historians believe that French or Nova Scotian settlers introduced the soup to the area, thus lending to the name of New England Clam Chowder.
Yes, you can. Canned clams are a great alternative to fresh clams when fresh clams are not readily available. Make sure to buy extra clam juice when purchasing canned clams, to help make the chowder.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love!
New England Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 36 large clams (steamed and chopped)
- 2-3 cups clam juice (from steamed clams )
- 4 strips bacon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion small dice
- 4 stalks celery small dice
- 2 large carrots small dice
- 2 medium potatoes cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves chopped
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- The first step in making New England Clam Chowder is steaming open the clams. Add one cup of water to a large pot over medium heat. Add the clams and cover. Steam the clams for 8-10 minutes or until they steam open.
- When the clams have steamed open, remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the clams are cool, remove the clam meat from the shell (leaving the muscle that attaches the clam to the shell). Chops the clams into small pieces and refrigerate until needed.Discard the Shells but Save the Clam Broth in the bottom of the pot. You will heat this up and use it to make the soup.
- Set a 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp. About 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the butter, onion, celery, and carrots, to the pot. Continue to cook the mixture for 4-6 minutes. Stirring the mixture as needed.
- Reduce the heat to low and add in the flour, making the roux that will thicken the soup. Allow the roux to cook over low heat for 5- 7 minutes, but don’t let the roux get dark or burn.
- Heat the stock in a saucepan while the roux is cooking. Add the hot stock to the roux and mix well using a wire whisk.
- Add the potatoes, and fresh thyme into the pot at this time stirring them into the soup.
- Add the milk and heavy cream to the soup and let the soup simmer over low heat for about an hour.**If the soup gets to thick, add water to pot. I wouldn't add any more dairy at this point, just water.
- Before serving the chowder, add in the chopped clams and simmer for 5 additional minutes to bring the soup back to temperature.
- Serve the Chowder with crackers, bread and a bottle of hot sauce.
Tish Gilmore
Hi Chef,
I have lots of canned clams that I need to use. So excited to make this recipe. Can you tell me how many of the canned clams to use and how much clam juice? Can’t wait to make your seafood chowder also.
Warm Regards,
Tish
Chef Dennis Littley
I would 1 1/2 – 2 cups of clam meat and 3-4 cups of clam juice.
Tish
🙏🏻 Thank you for your response. I love your site!
Natalie
Your chowder was absolutely delicious. Creamy and flavorful. Such a lovely family dinner option perfect for colder days that are coming. I will definitely save this recipe and give it a try.
Larry
Great taste.
I can’t get fresh clams, so I use canned chopped clams.
recipe is easy, and it’s flavor is better than any restaurant clam chowder… I’ve even learned that some restaurans serve Campbell’s clam chowder as their own! look at how much of it is potatoes. very thin soup. hardly any clam flavor.
I love this soup… but then, I can eat a very good clam chowder on 3 or more consecutive days…
Jessica
Does this call for chicken stock?
Chef Dennis Littley
I prefer using chicken stock as it give the soup a better flavor, but you can use vegetable stock or fish stock.
Sam
Yum! This clam chowder looks so creamy and delicious! I love how easy it is to make too. Sounds perfect for dinner tomorrow.
Debra
You are such a wealth of information….I honestly had no idea there were so many types of clams! Thank you for that education….and wow…I never thought it would be so easy to make homemade chowder.
Tara
Love clam chowder and this recipe did not disappoint! Mine turned out so smooth and creamy. This chowder is perfect for the cooler weather coming up!
Jacqueline Debono
Living in Italy, means we mostly use fresh clams with pasta or ‘sautéed’. But, I have always wanted to make clam chowder and your recipe did not disappoint, it was delicious!
Kushigalu
This restaurant style chowder looks so delicious and creamy. I would love to try this soon. Thanks for sharing
Swathi
This Resutruant style New England Clam Chowder looks delicious creamy and delicous
Monica Y
I have never tried to make one, but it looks easy enough and looks delicious, need to get cooking this recipe soon
Jenny
New England clam chowder is one of our favorite soups in our house. I never make it because I am too intimidated by it. Your recipe is a gift, as it came out perfectly! I love all your recipes Chef Dennis, they are well explained and detailed, Thank you so much!
Swathi
it was delicious and the Perfect meal for the colder weather.
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
I made this soup for my family tonight and they loved it!
Ana
Your New England Clam Chowder was incredibly delicious. Thanks, Chef Dennis for sharing the recipe with us.
natalia voche
Ohh wow! Such a yummy clam chowder, it was an easy recipe, and everyone really enjoyed it
Rose Ann Sales
My family loved your clam chowder, thanks for sharing your recipe
Beth
My daughter and mom love clam chowder. I’ve never made it before, but maybe I’ll try making this recipe the next time both of them are here. It looks really good!
Heather
This clam chowder is so delicious! Made it for my mom and she loved it!
Nikki Wayne
I love eating clam chowder,I usually just order it at my favorite restaurant, yours was even better!
Gervin Khan
I will definitely give this recipe a 5 star rating, it’s delicious and a healthy. A kind of comfort food that I would love to have today.
Lynndee
Oh, yum! I love a good clam chowder. The perfect chowder to have during the cold months.