I have tried a lot of various chowders because I am from the Easy Coast, but my Mom’s is hands-down the best. Every Christmas Eve, she prepares a sizable pot of delicious chowder, which is completely consumed by Christmas night. For those of us who enjoy seafood, even though it is not very healthy, it is a fantastic treat occasionally! Onion and garlic powder are usually added in small amounts. Enjoy!
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 25 mins |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 20 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 large onions, diced
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 7 potatoes, cubed
- 1 pound salmon, cut into chunks
- 1 pound cod, cut into chunks
- 1 pound scallops
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 6 ounces cooked lobster meat, shredded
- 1 (6 ounce) can crabmeat, drained and flaked
- 2 (6.5 ounce) cans chopped clams, drained
- 4 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 ½ cups butter, cut into chunks
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fill a large pot halfway with lightly salted water; bring to a boil. Add onions and carrots; cook until slightly tender, 10 minutes. Add potatoes; cook until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Stir in salmon, cod, scallops, shrimp, lobster, and crab; cook over medium heat until salmon and cod are firm but chunks are still slightly translucent in the center, about 10 minutes. Drain half the water from the pot and add clams, heavy cream, and half-and-half. Place butter chunks atop the soup; season with salt and black pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until salmon and cod are fully cooked and flake easily with a fork, about 30 minutes.
- This recipe is approximate, as I never measure anything when I make it. So, if it looks like you need more of something or want to add anything, throw ‘er in the pot!
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 525 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 202 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 23 g |
| Sodium | 325 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 38 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It was wonderful, going to make it again next week !
I did the recipe as-is, except for salmon, for which I substituted pre-cooked mussels (they were on sale). It was delicious and a BIG hit at a Rotary Club pot luck. You could substitute most seafood ingredients with another to your taste. I would keep the shredded lobster, however, as it adds a special, but not overpowering, taste and texture. I’m not a real lobster lover, but in this it’s perfect. I also added three cloves of garlic, probably could have put in more. If I were doing it again, I’d try adding more vegetables and also experiment with a clear broth. It’s expensive, next time I’d just use whatever seafood is on sale.
Easy to make and very tasty. I also put baby clams just for a little extra contrast. I love clams. We make this for Christmas Eve meals before church. Nevers makes it into another meal.
This is the best chowder recipe I’ve come across! Amazing and delicious! It’s perfect!
I love this recipe. I’ve been using it for years. I add bacon to mine who doesn’t like bacon.
This is delicious. The only change I made was adding a couple cloves of garlic and omitting the lobster… since lobster here is crazy expensive. Even without the lobster it was great! I serve it up in bread bowls
This was delicious! Similar to what we’ve had at the Rope Loft in Chester, NS (This is high praise.) A very slight modification: Before adding the cream, I drained and saved almost all the broth, added the cream mixture and then added a little broth back in. That way, I was sure it wouldn’t be too watery.
That’s quite a pot of chowder. I cut it in half and still plenty to go around. Per other suggestions and previous experience I did add some finely chopped bacon and some curry powder (I recall my mother doing this back in Nova Scotia and she made deadly chowders). Didn’t have all the fish mentioned but it sounds like a “go with what you have on hand” recipe so wasn’t concerned. It can get pretty expensive if you include everything (especially the lobster). Great basic chowder recipe.
So, I love seafood. When I found this recipe, I thought it would either be really delicious or really disgusting. It’s an expensive bet but I was not disappointed. This soup/stew/chowder is the bomb. Just make sure you drain enough water and put the seafood in order of how long it needs to cook. So good, freezes well, slammin!
Similar to mine (also from the East-coast) but with the following revisions: I start with bacon – cube and cook it in the pot, add onions and then seafood stock and white wine – just enough to barely cover the potatoes and carrots. Once the potatoes and carrots are 2/3 cooked add seafood according to cook time so that nothing is over cooked. Lobster, clams, mussels, white fish (I find salmon far too over powering), shrimp, sea scallops, snow or King crab – whatever seafood you like. When seafood is just about done add heavy cream, butter, salt & pepper to taste and some fresh thyme and curry powder. Fold in and reduce heat to low. Enjoy with buttermilk biscuits. Finish off with strawberry shortcake.
I used light cream and thickened with a bit of corn starch. I also used, corn and other fish, like octopus and squid as I didn’t have crab or lobster. It turned out delicious.
Turned out good. I would make it again.
Easy, delicious recipe. I had everything except the lobster unfortunately. I also used chicken broth instead of water and only drained about 1/2 off at the end. I also only used 2 sticks of butter ( 1 cup ) and it was great! Thank you for sharing
Great chowder. I didn’t add salmon but used shrimp scallops clams oysters crab and bacon. It Was delicious
Just like I’m makes !
This is an amazing recipe as is, everyone in my house loved it (including a very picky 9 year old). I’m making it for the 3rd time today. I now alter the recipe slightly: use chicken or vegetable stock instead of water to boil up the onions and potatoes. Use only just enough to cover them so that there is not too much liquid making the chowder thin. To thicken, I peel a white potatoe and puree it in the blender till smooth. Add the potatoe puree to the soup and it’ll thicken up beautifully without altering the taste (use more than 1 potatoe if making a large amount). Generally, I add: haddock, scallops, lobster, crab, shrimp and canned baby clams to my seafood chowder.
Absolutely delicious! I have been trying to find a recipe similar to our local seafood restaurant and this is even better. I only made half the recipe luckily as I don’t have a pot large enough for the full version. Thanks for sharing.
Made this tonight, it was so delicious!! Thank you!
Mmm so good. Have made this recipe several times. First time I followed the recipe exactly. The other times I made it I did alter it taking into account some of the other reviewsers suggestions. The following changes I made were to add celery with the carrots and onions. I used half fish stock with the water. I didn’t use any salmon or crab instead I double up the lobster and used haddock. Lastly I added garlic powder and old bay seasoning.
I made this but I used leftover Salmon instead of raw…..I also added Old Bay spice and dill weed. Made for a delicious flavor combo!!! Enjoy!!! Very easy recipe!!!
Awesome! I’m also a Maritimer, (grew up in New Brunswick) & have several relatives that were Fishermen, lobster fishermen from St. Andrews, & serveral fishermen from the Miramachi. This recipe is VERY similar to my Grandmother’s recipe that I still use today. (With a few minor changes) We use canned milk & whole milk, (I use 2% on both to cut down a bit on fat) & we use haddock or sole, no salmon. (Nannie HATED salmon…lol) We also use the liquid from the canned clams, as well as some fresh parsley & chives, & a tiny bit of Seasoning Salt & Mrs. Dash. For meat we use Haddock (or sole), Lobster, Shrimp, (usually cooked shrimp as it’s easier) Scallops, & canned clams. Occasionally she would add canned crab meat, but only if she happened to have it. For veggies, we add a few stalks of finely chopped celery, a few carrots, shredded, & of course, potatoes & onions, and LOTS of butter! lol (The butter adds that really creamy texture & just makes it taste AMAZING.) Yes, it’s a VERY expensive dish to make, & not great for the waistline, which is why we only had it maybe 2 or 3 times a year, as a treat. I only make it once or twice a year, usually at Christmas. Back home, where we had better & cheaper access to fresh fish, you could make it a bit more often, but still only a few times a year. It’s meant as a treat type of meal, not in your usual meal plan. But OH what a treat it is! SO yummy! You can also really make this dish your own by adding the types of seafood YOU like. And,