Home Recipes Classic Clam Chowder

Classic Clam Chowder

by Jamie

I have a wonderful classic recipe for Clam Chowder for you all today. This recipe comes from my dear Aunt Suzie and is actually the only clam chowder recipe I have ever made. Why experiment when this fabulous group of ingredients delivers each and every time, right! This chowder is creamy, nice and thick, hearty, flavorful and oh so comforting. It’s also very easy to prepare and can be made in 30 minutes or less. Serve it with saltine crackers, or with a thick, crusty slice of this Fabulous French Bread.

Hope you enjoy it, guys!

1. Chop yourself 1 cup of onions,

2 cups of potatoes (I used russet),

and 1 cup celery. Pour all of the vegetables into a medium-sized sauce pan.

2. Find yourself two cans of chopped (or minced) clams in clam juice.

Open the cans and pour the clam juice over the top of the vegetables.

3. Add just enough water to the pot to cover the vegetables. Place the pot on the stove and bring the contents to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium high and let the veggies cook until tender. Should take about 7 minutes, give or take a few. 🙂

4. While the veggies cook, toss 3/4 cup butter into a large soup pot. Melt it over medium high heat.

5. Add 3/4 cup of flour to the pot and whisk it into the butter. The mixture will be nice and thick.

6. Add one quart of half and half to the pot. Now, some of you may notice that I used fat-free half and half. This was not intentional, I accidentally grabbed this at the store instead of the full fat version of half and half. That said… I’ll let you in on a little secret. It still turned really good! Even with the fat-free half and half! Who would have thought, right! So, let it be known to you and all other home cooks in the universe, fat-free half and half may be substituted for regular half and half  in this recipe.

7. Whisk the liquid into the butter/flour mixture. As the temperature rises it will begin to thicken up nicely for you. When it starts to bubble up and is nice and thick, remove it from the heat.

8. When your veggies are tender pour them and the liquid you have cooked them in, into your soup pot. Give everything a nice stir to incorporate.

9. Add the clams,

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sat and a few dashes of pepper. Heat the soup over medium high heat until it’s heated through.

Serve and enjoy!

Classic Clam Chowder

Serves: 5-6 servings Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 1 voted )

Ingredients

  • 1 C onion, chopped
  • 2 C potatoes, chopped
  • 1 C celery, chopped
  • 2 (6 ounce) cans chopped clams
  • 3/4 C butter
  • 3/4 C flour
  • 1 quart half and half
  • 2 T red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 t salt
  • pepper

Instructions

1. Chop yourself 1 cup of onions, 2 cups of potatoes (I used russet), and 1 cup celery. Pour all of the vegetables into a medium-sized sauce pan.
2. Find yourself two cans of chopped (or minced) clams in clam juice. Open the cans and pour the clam juice over the top of the vegetables.
3. Add just enough water to the pot to cover the vegetables. Place the pot on the stove and bring the contents to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium high and let the veggies cook until tender. Should take about 7 minutes, give or take a few. 🙂
4. While the veggies cook, toss 3/4 cup butter into a large soup pot. Melt it over medium high heat.
5. Add 3/4 cup of flour to the pot and whisk it into the butter. The mixture will be nice and thick.
6. Add one quart of half and half to the pot. Now, some of you may notice that I used fat-free half and half. This was not intentional, I accidentally grabbed this at the store instead of the full fat version of half and half. That said... I'll let you in on a little secret. It still turned really good! Even with the fat-free half and half! Who would have thought, right! So, let it be known to you and all other home cooks in the universe, fat-free half and half may be substituted for regular half and half  in this recipe.
7. Whisk the liquid into the butter/flour mixture. As the temperature rises it will begin to thicken up nicely for you. When it starts to bubble up and is nice and thick, remove it from the heat.
8. When your veggies are tender pour them and the liquid you have cooked them in, into your soup pot. Give everything a nice stir to incorporate.
9. Add the clams, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sat and a few dashes of pepper. Heat the soup over medium high heat until it's heated through.

Serve and enjoy!


Recipe adapted from my sweet aunt, Suzie Spencer

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14 comments

Lindsay December 14, 2012 - 10:39 am

I love your recipes!! My mom makes a clam chowder very similar to this, but also adds bacon and it takes to a new level. I’ve never had a restaurant clam chowder that was better than my mom’s…bacon makes everything better!!

Reply
denise December 14, 2012 - 11:32 am

Yum-o ! It’s on my ‘to do ‘ list !

Reply
Kathy December 14, 2012 - 12:19 pm

I love that this doesn’t use bacon. It will be great for lent. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.

Reply
Sue December 14, 2012 - 12:59 pm

No bacon? Can’t be true! I see Kathy’s point as far as being appropriate for Lent but otherwise I don’t think you can beat the flavor with the bacon. I also use only fat free half and half and any time cheese is called for I only use 2%. It makes no flavor difference what so ever and who doesn’t need to save a few calories? I know I sure do!

Reply
Natalie Tycksen December 14, 2012 - 1:52 pm

I have a similar recipe, actually the same except for the red wine vinegar. I will have to try that twist. :). Such a good one. Thanks Jamie.

Reply
Emma December 14, 2012 - 2:20 pm

This is very similar to the recipe I use. I’ve never used red wine vinegar in it. I’ll have to try that.

Reply
Nancy Long December 14, 2012 - 5:03 pm

sounds good, except for all the flour – really want to try to make it w/o too much flour – I made clam chowder today kind of mixing 2 recipes and making my own changes – it was good, but still a work in progress

Reply
Jennifer December 14, 2012 - 8:43 pm

Made this for dinner tonight…FANTASTIC! Love the fact that it really is a pantry recipe, as I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Made this tonight with fat free milk and only 1/2 c. butter (still 3/4 c. flour): still very rich tasting. Every bowl was licked clean. Yum!

Reply
cynthia December 18, 2012 - 10:01 am

can you replace the flour with a cornstarch slury?

Reply
Tiffany October 4, 2013 - 7:26 pm

you are so generous with your terrific recipes. Thank you for sharing them 🙂

Reply
jeff December 23, 2013 - 11:00 am

Great recipe…made it with skim milk. I also sauted the veggies and potatoes before adding the clam juice…tabasco at the end works well too…

Reply
Kevin January 29, 2014 - 1:01 am

Great recipe. I added turkey bacon to the vegetables and two bay leaves. Very tasty! It was added to the “make it again” list by my very picky partner! Thanks for posting!

Reply
Laura August 26, 2014 - 4:05 pm

Very delicious! It rivals my favorite chowder at Mikes restaurant in Fairhaven, Ma, and that is saying a lot!! I didn’t have any red wine vinegar, next time will try it that way. Thanks so much for the excellent recipe.

Reply
Heidi December 30, 2014 - 11:20 am

My family and I love this clam chowder! I have made it 5 or six times now. The last time I made it was because my 13 year-old son requested it for his birthday dinner!

Reply

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