This recipe for Portuguese clams is a fantastic fusion of my two heritages because I am of Portuguese descent and was raised in Rhode Island on the Eastern seaboard. Don’t forget a nice loaf of warm, crusty bread and a small cup of melted butter for dipping the clams, if desired. Note: If the clams appear sandy, soak them in salted water with a little vinegar, cornmeal, and cayenne pepper for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 5 pounds clams in shell, scrubbed
- 1 ½ pounds chorizo, sliced into chunks
- 1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups white wine
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Wash clams well in a sink of cold water. Discard any clams that are already opened.
- In a large stockpot with a tightly fitting lid, place the cleaned clams. Add sausage, onion, tomatoes, and wine. Cover and set over high heat. Steam until all clams open up. Be sure to shake the pot often to insure even heat.
- Drizzle olive oil over cooked clams. Evenly divide all the ingredients among warm soup plates. Divide the broth among side cups for dipping.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 697 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 104 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Sodium | 1567 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 53 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Oh my goodness… This is delicious! I actually made it with fresh cod, as I didn’t have access to fresh clams and it was wonderful. A new favorite and I shared it with many family members!
These were so tasty and delicious. These simple ingredients really turn a pot of clams into a delicious stew…the broth was amazing, provide spoons, too. I just eyeballed the ingredients and added a a cup or so extra chicken stock and a chunk of butter to the mix. Took previous reviewers advice and added some prepared minced garlic, too. Some thin sliced baguette and a glass of cold chardonney, what a fun summer meal. Loved these & hubs raved. Will definitely do again. Many thanks for your recipe.
I am looking forward to making this tomorrow however my husband, being of Portuguese decent, stated that we need to use Chourico opposed to chorizo which is Spanish 🙂
put some chunked then chopped ham in and less chorizo and a couple of chopped peppers ,And used India pale ale instead of wine .was very good but to much chorizo would cut that down a bit next time
I put some EvOO in the pan and heated it over medium high heat then added the fresh chorizo I had in thumbsized chunks, browned it quick.y, removed, added the onions and sauteeed 5 mins over medium high heat and then added all the ingredients and threw in the chorizo on top of clams. I served with some papardelle and guests ladled out what they wanted of each into a large bowl. Had asparagus vinagrette as side veg/salad.
This was so good! My boyfriend made it and he said it was easy and fast to prepare. We both loved it. We wouldn’t change anything about the recipe.
Delicious
A delicious broth for the clams. A wonderful mix of flavors. I used the leftovers the next day over spaghetti. Delish!
I was soooo excited when I found this! How I did it was 15 clams, half a package of lil’ smokies (I felt after reading the other reviews that this would help the sausage taste not be so strong , it worked), 2 cups of chicken broth (I’m a soup fan!) 1 cup of white wine, 1 can mild rotel, 1/2 onion wedged, 1 tsp minced garlic, 2 shakes parsley and 2 shakes Italian seasoning, 2 tbsp butter…all at once until the clams are fully opened. It was amazing with a sliced baguette and good salad. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
added some fine chopped garlic and diced sweet potatoes… I was amazingly suprised how simple it was cooking clams for the first time and how good it turn out.
These clams are absolutely FABULOUS! I never thought I would like any clams better than traditionally steamed with wine and garlic and melted butter. But I am going to have a hard time making clams any other way than this now. I tried to follow this recipe exactly, but I only I only had 2 dozen clams, so I quartered the recipe. And I didn’t have diced tomatoes so I used crushed tomatoes with basil and herbs. Also forgot to drizzle the oil on top but they didn’t need it. Served with crusty bread like another reviewer suggested. PERFECT! I will make again and again exactly the same way. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
The fam bam enjoyed this dish. I added a lil more water because I needed more broth. I will make this again
These clams were awesome! Following the advice of other reviewers, I too add minced garlic. I also added 2 tsp pimenta moida (fermented pepper paste). Being of Portuguese decent, pimenta moida is a staple in my house. It’s available in the international section of most groceries stores. Don’t forget crusty bread to dip in the sauce, which I doubled for this purpose. Thanks Star!!!
This is really YUMMY! As with the Portuguese Soup, I prefer Linguisa sausage to chorizo it’s a better compliment to the clams. It’s also a portuguese sausage.
We got an unexpected gift of 2 dz littlenecks and I used this recipe to make a wonderful dinner for family and friends. I’m from RI so we have many Portuguese style dishes, but this will be my favorite. Thanks Star.
Made this today! Came out so good! I followed an user’s advice and added 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic and some dried parsley to 2 pounds of chorizo and 7.5 pounds of clams. I added 3 chopped peppers for extra kick and loved it. I used 2 12-ounce Sierra Nevada Pale Ale beers that gave it a more zesty kick instead of wine. Large clams were used but I made the mistake of overcooking them a bit and the meat came out a bit tough, but thats my fault. But the broth was sooooo good! I loved to get some of the clam meat or chorizo and wrap it on some toasted bread, dip it on the broth and eat. I will do this again! Easy and fast. I recommend it.
This was fantastic and SO fast. With prep, it takes no more than 30 minutes. I did not have clams, but used 1 lb of frozen NZ Mussles (did not thaw). I also only had 12oz of Chorizo. I did not use less of the other ingredients, as I wanted lots of broth. As others suggested, I added 2 large tbsp. of chopped garlic and also some dried parsley. It was terrific and my husband gave it a huge thumbs up.
I used a few things differently but thats what makes great cooks.The clams are the important part and out here in washington state we have lots of choices for what type of clams we use.I dug these about 20 miles from my home and they were 2″/2.5″ manila butter clams. I used 28 oz. san marzano tomatoes,3 garlic cloves chopped,spicy Italian sausages and garnished each serving with fresh basil.I used ingelnook chardenee because it makes good sipping while waiting for the clams to cook.I guess it really is closer to Italian steamed clams.I served it with toasted three cheese rustic bread drizzled with virgin olive oil.Got a standing ovation from everyone.I couldn’t buy chorizo in the casings so chosed the italian sausage.I was told the chorizo is too greasy,anyway.
Wow! This recipe is great, I did add a couple things, 2 large cloves of fresh garlic and fresh parsley and hot pepper flakes. I served it with a bowl of salad dressed with fresh lemon juice, oregano and olive oil, and of course crusty whole wheat bread. I also used hot Sopressato, couldn’t find Chorizo. I had dinner ready in less than 30 minutes; Thanks! for the recipe!
Followed this to the letter…flavor was all there…something was missing… chorizo was dominant where I thought the clams should have been…This would make a great base for a soup or chowder.
I didn’t have quite enough clams so I threw in my scallops and it was wonderful. Fast, easy and very, very tasty.