This rich recipe for New England clam chowder will keep you warm during the chilly winter months.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper to taste
- 3 cups half-and-half
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 (10 ounce) cans minced clams
Instructions
- Place diced bacon in a large stockpot over medium-high heat; cook and stir until almost crisp. Add onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in potatoes and add water; season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Pour in half-and-half and add butter. Drain clams, reserving clam liquid; stir clams and 1/2 of the clam liquid into the soup. Cook until heated through, without boiling, about 5 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 396 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 101 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 706 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I halved the recipe and added additional onion, plus cayenne. Still, it’s pretty bland. It’s a great base recipe though. I will be thickening it, however with flour or cornstarch. The consistency is too soupy for me.
Definitely added more onion (4C) andclams (25oz), I used heavy cream instead of half and half and Cajun seasoning instead of salt. Man the house smells good right now!
I love this recipe. So do my extended family. I use clam juice instead of water, and heavy cream instead of half and half, and butter. My family likes a little zip so I do add cayenne pepper. Tried this as written and then adjusted to our liking there after, It is a keeper.
absolutely the best!! as good as Mildred’s clam choudah on Cape Cod !!
NO CHANGES THIS TIME BUT MAY ADD VEGGIES NEXT TIME
Good recipe (somewhat bland) Because you left out cayenne pepper. Also I use whole and chopped clams.
My kids and I love this one! Can never have one serving it’s so good
Made this tonight and my family loved it. I did substitute claim juice for water. Definitely will be making this again!
This was delicious chowder! I used white and black pepper for a delicious pepper flavor, added 2 cloves of chopped garlic. To add a bit of extra texture to the broth, I added an extra cup of peeled, diced, red potatoes, cooked seperately, and blended it in the blender before adding it to the soup. The flavor is amazing!
We loved this recipe! I added 4 strips of bacon and 2 cloves of minced garlic. I used heavy cream instead of half and half and I eliminated the 3 tablespoons of butter. I’ll definitely make this again.
I don’t like New England, I greatly prefer Manhattan. I made this for the wife and her Mom and they loved it. The only difference is that I had to add about a cup more water to the potatoes because I felt it was reducing to quickly. That could have been that I had the temp to high. I’m not use to our new glass top stove yet. Everything else was added as per the recipe and it was gone in half a day. It seemed everytime I turned around someone was eating a bowl of soup. The one complaint they had is that they would have liked it a little thicker, more like a bisque than a soup. But flavor, aroma and texture were excellent.
Watery, not creamy. A tasty soup,but tasted like bacon soup with potatoes and clams. As new England clam chowder, I’d have to say thumbs down.
To make it thinker I make a rue with the half and half and 1 stick of butter, then thin it out with the clam juice.
This is a true New England clam chowder. My mom is from Maine and the chowder there is watery. As the others, I used clam broth from steamed clam we ate a few days ago & the juice from 3 cans of minced clams instead of water. I had to skip the bacon & butter because I was making for a friend on a strict medical diet. I tossed in a can of corn for extra flavor….it came out delicious. I will definitely make again.
I made a roux and added to make thicker. Soooo good
Paleo/keto. Loved the base formula. Since dairy and I don’t agree. I substituted coconut milk for the Half n half. I started the chopped bacon pieces in the pot and added diced carrot, celery, and onion equal portions to the bacon and continued to saute for about 5 minutes to cook the vegetables. Old Bay is a good choice here with the pepper. I used the clam juice from the cans to add to the trinity and threw in the cubed potatoes for 15 minutes until the potatoes fork split. The starchy potatoes thickened the soup. Lastly, added the coconut milk and clams to warm through but not boil. Great fixins!
My hubby said its the best he ever had. Hes from up north so that makes me proud.
Best recipe for Clam Chowder I have ever made. No flour in recipe, used half and half, I added 3 cans of chopped clams with juice and an 8 oz bottle of clam juice instead of water. Absolutely delicious!!!
I basically used this recipe as a guide, but I find peeling and dicing raw potatoes to be a bit labor intensive, so here is the lazy method! Cook 2 medium white potatoes in water to cover until not quite done while prepping and cooking the bacon and onions. Drain the potatoes and submerge in ice water. Drain and allow to dry somewhat. Now the peel comes off easily and dice. Add to the bacon and onion, add all the reserve clam liqueur and finish cooking until potatoes are tender. Add the clams, a cup of half and half, splash of milk, and butter to suit. Warm through. Came out great, however, had I remembered I had cooking sherry on hand, I would have added a splash of that also!
I appreciate the framework of this recipe but took inspiration from other soup recipes to address some of the issues described in other reviews. Cook bacon strips in a pan and when crispy remove. Then cook onion in the bacon grease. Meanwhile parboil potatoes in a separate pot. Once they are fork tender, drain and add to skillet with onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once onions are translucent, add potato and onion mixture back to pot used for potatoes. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of chicken stock and clam liquid, bring to simmer. Optional: mash some of the potato mixture with a masher. Melt four tablespoons of butter in a small pot then whisk in a quarter cup flour to make a roux. This will be used to thicken your soup. Cook for about 5 minutes on low. Gradually whisk in half and half, a little at a time, two cups total. Once all half and half is used cook on low for about 10 minutes to thicken. Add clams to pot then add the roux. You may want to add a little more half and half depending on the consistency you like your soup. Serve and top with crumbled bacon.
This soup was delicious! Nice and creamy with the right amount of potatoes. I added a bit of ham to the bacon just because I enjoy that. This soup even pleased my son who is very discerning when it comes to clam chowder. Every bit was eaten up!