Chef John’s Bay Scallop Chowder

  4.9 – 50 reviews  

Cupcakes made of rich chocolate with hints of peppermint and coffee. Although I prefer them with a simple whipped cream frosting made with heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla, white chocolate or vanilla buttercream would also be excellent on top!

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  1. 2 teaspoons olive oil
  2. 2 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
  3. ½ yellow onion, diced
  4. 1 rib celery, diced
  5. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  6. 1 (8 ounce) bottle clam juice
  7. 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  8. 1 cup cubed Yukon Gold potatoes
  9. 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
  10. freshly ground black pepper to taste
  11. ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  12. 1 red Fresno chile pepper, diced
  13. 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  14. salt to taste
  15. 1 pound bay scallops
  16. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir until fat renders and bacon is slightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion to bacon; cook and stir until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir celery and garlic into onion mixture, cook until fragrant, 1 minute.
  2. Pour clam juice, chicken broth, potato, cayenne pepper, and black pepper into bacon mixture; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir cream and chile pepper into potato mixture; bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are completely tender and chowder flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Season with lemon zest and salt.
  3. Stir scallops into chowder and cook over medium heat until scallops are tender and white, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tarragon.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 300 kcal
Carbohydrate 17 g
Cholesterol 97 mg
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 33 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Sodium 642 mg
Sugars 2 g
Fat 11 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Sherry Palmer
My family loved this, I am about to make it again but I have to increase it , because 4 servings isn’t enough.
Steven Brown
This chowder is absolutely delicious! I used part of a red bell pepper instead of the Fresno chili pepper, but added a little more cayenne for a nice touch of heat. I couldn’t find fresh tarragon, so I just picked up a spice jar of it. I’ll be making this again for sure.
Randall Jones PhD
Excellent!
Kenneth Hernandez
I didn’t have any Fresno Chile pepper but was still delicious.
Jessica Mcdowell
I changed the scallops with blacken fish canned chopped clams , cut up ex large shrimp , canned lump crab I also add green beans and corn . I love this recipe I also use Wondra flour to thicken
Brenda Hull
This was delicious. Due to a milk allergy, I substituted coconut milk, the thick part of the canned milk, which didn’t hinder this awesome chowder. I think the only thing that would make it better was fresh bay sccallops!
Edward Johnson
Great. I had made a clam and pesto sauce for pasta a couple nights before, and noticed many of same ingredients in this recipe when I went to make chowder from a pound of fresh scallops I’d got. Added a sweet red pepper and fresh chopped parsley. I also added the mushrooms a comment suggested instead of the bacon, used fat-free milk of lots of dry milk powder in place of the cream. Scrumptious. Wife loved it, too!
Donna Conway
i added fresh Corn and substituted Smoked Pig Jowl for the Bacon. it was delish. the fresh Tarragon and Lemon Zest really add flavor. i also added some Old Bay seasoning to round it all out.
Steven Marshall
The soup was good, I will make it again. I could not get the chile pepper at the grocery store, so I just decided to go without. I added an extra celery stalk. The tarragon is a must for the flavor of this soup. I also added in a bay leaf and parsley flakes.
Shannon Foster
Absolutely one of my favorite soup recipes! I do cut the amount of fresno chilli peppers in half.
William Foley
This is a chance to eat like a Maritimer. Simple to make and a great taste. As I oft do, now I can make it my own. I just hope it is just a tasty when I try.
Benjamin Stone
I made this with one exception, I did not have a Fresno chili pepper. I used red pepper flakes. The flavor was delicious. Will definitely make again
Dylan Patel
Loved this recipe so easy and delicious. I had some scallops that I froze and it was too much for dinner so used them in the recipe not to have wasted food. I didn’t have a pound so added a can of clams. Delicious!
Brittany Vega
This is now a family favorite! The recipe is perfect as is. I doubled the amount of bacon and used thick cut for a little more flavor. I also used diced bell pepper to dial back the heat a little. Another winner from Chef John!
Tiffany Barber
This recipe was amazing. I doubled the bacon and potatoes, added maybe an extra half cup of chicken broth, used the biggest yellow onion I could find, substituted the fresno pepper for 4 slices of minced jalapenos and crisped the bacon. Also couldnt find fresh tarragon so I had to settle for dry but it was all lovely. I thought the crisped bacon added some nice color and wonder if red potato skins would look nice next time. Will def try again.
Samuel Henderson
This chowder is Great . Chef John is a great chef. I will continue to make it. Wonderful flavor ans very easy to make
Michael Hill
Fabulous recipe! But if you’re making it for a crowd triple it at least.
Andrew Morgan
Top notch
Justin Alvarez
I loved it. I added carrots and corn and I think it looked and tasted fantastic. A keeper.
Natasha Smith
Being on lockdown I didn’t have a couple of ingredients but this turned out great! I doubled the chicken broth as I didn’t have clam juice. I also left out the Fresno chili. The only other thing I changed was about 3 minutes before I added the scallops, I put in about a cup of Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn. The crispy corn added a different texture and it tasted great. I’ll definitely make this again.
Colleen Johnson
The only thing I did a little different was used the whole can of chicken broth and a pint of the cream. Absolutely delicious. I’m eating some leftover now. I reheated at a gentle setting and it’s perfect. This is a real keeper!

 

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