Rhode Island Clear Broth Clam Chowder
The rich broth of this clear broth Rhode Island clam chowder is loaded with potatoes, bacon, and either cherry-stones or quahogs.
By Yankee Magazine|Aug 30 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanNo wonder Rhode Islanders prefer clear broth over cream—at every turn, they’re surrounded by saltwater. To savor the Ocean State’s take on clear broth clam chowder, visit Matunuck Oyster Bar, overlooking the eddies of Potter Pond in South Kingstown. The rich broth of this clear broth Rhode Island clam chowder is loaded with potatoes, bacon, and either cherry-stones or quahogs (same species of hard-shell clam, quahogs being bigger than cherrystones), depending on what’s fresh that day. Owner Perry Raso is so fastidious about his shellfish that he operates his own seven-acre oyster farm right by the restaurant.
For more, check out some of our favorite other chowder recipes, how to make clam chowder, and where to find the 10 best clam shacks in New England.
Yield:
8 to 10 servingsIngredients
8 pounds small quahogs or large cherrystone clams
7 cups water
6 cups clam broth (from steaming) or 4 cups clam broth plus 2 cups bottled clam juice
3 slices thick-sliced bacon, cut into ¼-inch cubes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium-size onions, cut into ¼-inch cubes
3 ribs celery, cut into ¼-inch cubes
2 bay leaves
2 pounds Yukon Gold or other all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Scrub the clams and rinse them clean.
Add 7 cups of water to a large stockpot fitted with a steamer basket or colander, and bring to a boil.
Add half the clams to the basket and cover. Steam until the clams open, 5 to 10 minutes. (Discard any clams that don’t open.)
Repeat with the second batch of clams. Reserve 6 cups of the broth. Set aside.
Cool the clams; remove the meat from the shells and dice it into ½-inch pieces. Keep them covered and refrigerated until ready to use.
Put the bacon in a 5- to 7-quart pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat, leaving the bacon in the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
Add the butter, onions, celery, and bay leaves, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes.
Add the potatoes and reserved clam broth to the pot. Continue cooking over medium heat until the chowder begins to simmer. If it begins to boil, reduce the heat slightly. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Just before serving, remove the pot from the heat, stir in the clams and herbs, discard the bay leaves, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve hot.
Note: Steaming the clams might seem laborious, but it’s actually easy and makes a briny broth. Aim to extract 6 cups of broth from the clams; if not, you’ll need to have some bottled clam juice on hand to round it out.
Rick Moonen who has 2 restaurants here in Vegas make a wonderful clear Clam Chowder if you google “Rick Moonen Clam Chowder Recipe” you;ll have his recipe… He is from New York originally…
I live in SC. Originally from RI and MA. CAN’T find any good clams down here for chowda! Any suggestions?
I get these when home in New England (GA now). But you can order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZJV7TC/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687602&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B006W6JCHI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=5D4R20Z6F9J4XWKS4RK9
Try Publix for little necks and steamers. They also sell Gaspars Linguiça and Chouriço. Also, look on the Internet for companies who sell clambakes and lobster bakes. Most have great deals. Good luck.
I live in AZ. And get clams at Sprouts. This is the most flavorful chowda
Where’s the “Print” button?
Hi Samuel. The print button is located just above the recipe photo. It’s the green box with the icon of the printer on it. Hope that helps!
you can purchase the same Snow’s clams from Sam’s Club
My dear Yankee grandmother made only clear broth clam chowder. Her roots were in SW Rhode/SE Connecticut. No thick wallpaper glue nor tomato laced chowder for her. Thanks Dora Annabelle for influencing my taste buds.
Your grandmother must have been from Westerly/Pawcatuck. I had one grandmother from Westerly, RI and the other grandmother from Pawcatuck, CT. 2 states but one town!!
Rick Moonen at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, NV Serves the clear broth chowder and it is very good…
Such a walk down memory lane. When I was a little girl, my grandparents lived in Wickford, RI and my grandmother always made clear broth “quahog” chowder.
I have always made this chowder when I buy a bag of clams from our local seafood dealer here in NJ. The clams all come from Rhode Island and now I purchase these large quahogs at least every 2 months. They are excellent for all recipes with clams. I save all the broth by placing it in quart and pint containers and freezing it. This is not the glass jar clam broth. 100 times more flavorful. And the large net bag of chowder clams are only are 25.00 to 30.00 dollars. Can’t beat them.
Buy a couple pounds of steamers, eat them and save the broth. Use the steamer broth along with clam broth when you make your chowder. The steamer broth adds a nice sweetness to the chowder. You won’t be disappointed.
I got fresh clams right from the ocean in Rhode Island and followed this recipe. The chowder was absolutely delicious. I will be using this recipe foe years to come. Than
Try, American Mussel Harvesters, North Kingstown Rhode Island for the freshest shellfish anywhere in New England from their tanks to your doorstep in 24 hours! I’m talking Restaurant Ready quality. Clams, Oysters, and Mussels. ~Robert
do you make and ship clear chowder ?
sounds better the that red manhatten crap. but being a mainah i’ll always prefer my chowders, clam, seafood or corn in a cream broth.
For those of us who love clam chowder but are lactose intolerant, this seems like a terrific alternative. Though my sisters and I make an absolutely delicious red clam chowder, I can’t wait to try this!
I grew up on traditional cream based clam chowder but was introduced to Rhode Island chowder by a local Connecticut restaurant long gone. I haven’t turned back. I love all the clam chowders but the clear Rhode Island is my favorite.
Any REAL Rhode Islander does not put bay leaves, celery, dill, parsley or chives in clear chowder or quahog chowder. It is made of onions, salt pork or bacon, potatoes, quahogs. The comment from the person who said to user Snow’s clams is wrong. Snow’s clams are sea clams, giant clams that are chopped up. They have almost no flavor. Some restaurants fancy up their chowder but authentic Rhode Island chowder is simple. My father dug quahogs and we ate this all the time. I make it the same way and always get rave reviews. Yankee Magazine has in the past published the recipe.
Absolutely Right
Yes!
I agree with you, Dianea17, but my grandma insisted on salt pork, since she said bacon gave the chowder a smoky taste, foreign to the concoction.
My grandmother also used salt pork, not bacon. Gramma cooked the salt pork, removed it from the pan when it was just golden and set it aside. Then she cooked her diced onion in the rendered fat. When done, the salt pork was returned to the pan with the onion and all was dusted with a sprinkling of flour, which cooked in the remaining heat of the skillet. Her potatoes were cut in cubes about the size of a sugar lump and boiled in a soup pot to almost fork tender. Then the chopped clams went into the soup pot. Next a cup of the hot potato water was stirred into the skillet of salt pork and onion, and that was stirred on low heat to slightly thicken. That was added to the soup pot, and salt & pepper came last. To me, that is clam chowder.
Wow! This is exactly what I was looking for. My kind of chowder.
I remember digging up quahogs when I was a kid. They had to soak overnight in water to “clear” themselves of sand. The next day the chowder was made as above. It was always so good!!
Our clear broth clam chowder consists of salt pork, diced onions sauteed in the rendered pork fat, red potatoes sliced 1/8 inch thick with the skin on and shucked quahogs. The potatoes are boiled with the sauteed onions in the clam broth with enough water to cover until tender. The drained quahogs are ground in a meat grinder with the coarse blade and then added to the potato onion broth until heated through. If doing this the day before being served, it’s important to cool the chowder in an ice water bath, otherwise the potatoes will sour. This is a thick chowder and could be thinned with some water if desired.
Drooling!!
I would like the recipe for the Rhode Island clam chowder that diane17 commented about. I have looked through the archive recipes and can’t locate that recipe. Thank you. mdoty@charter.net
If you order the clear clam chowder at Matunuck Oyster Bar, be sure to order some clams on the side. Twice In a row I had to send the chowder back due to lack of shellfish. But DO order their oysters – incredibly good.
I would like to know where i can purchase and have shipped to me Rhode Island Clear clam chowder. I have No car, totaly disabled.
Where do you live?
Chef sigmonds in MArston Mills MA is back and sells frozen chowder base. He might ship. I did a sappy dance when he reopened, it’s that good!
Real quahog chowder never uses bacon unless it is uncured it uses salt pork. No bay leaf or dill either. The only quahogs used are the large “hogs” not little necks or cherry stones. Large quahogs have a much stronger flavor.
There is also no herbs, just salt and pepper.
I have to agree with Quahogs only, Salt Pork, and no herbs, salt and pepper only
I agree. No herbs.
I agree salt pork no herbs just s+p
I agree no herbs
I am so happy to see this recipe posted. I truly detest thick Boston style chowder. I like the think broth. Bacon or salt pork? Which ever I have on hand suits me and I have even made it meat free for friends to don’t eat meat. Only spices I use of black pepper and (salt of course), and the flat leaf Italian style parseley. My husband adds from red pepper flakes.
No such thing as Boston style chowder. Every restaurant makes it differently. You need to ask if they’ve added flour to the broth. This is true of many restaurants in New England.
Chopmist Charlie’s in Jamestown, RI. Chowder and stuffies. Mmm, good!
Never had RI clam chowder till I had some at the Cove (now closed) in Mystic Ct. I considered that the best. When in RI, Ct., or Mass coasts I always get the clear broth chowder. I like NE chowder but it’s never consistent. Always get RI chowder if it’s available.
Dog Watch Cafe is now in that spot of the Cove Fishmarket, their chowder is excellant and lots of clams, but it is milky. We like it just the same.
Yum! Have to stop reading and go make some chowdah!
You can make it however you want. Obviously it is a clear broth but It is ok to have herbs and bacon in it. That is what makes chowder good because everyone makes it differently.
Chowder best w/quahogs. Only spices are s &p. Use only salt pork/not bacon. Spent summers on cape cod. Uncle was a commercial fisherman. Aunt was a great cook
My grandmother only used salt pork. Sounds like you cook the way she did. Her chowder is the one I like the best. I rarely have the creamy chowder. Not my thing!
Exactly the kind I make and like!
The clear Rhode Island Clam Chowder is actually my sister Dee Dee’s favorite. she uis usually able to get it at the Rhode Island building at the Eastern State Exposition each autumn but recently discovered that Lenny & joe’s Restaurant in Madison, CT makes a good version.
Going to make this as soon as I find some quality clams, quahogs are hard to find too in Las Vegas. Loved it when I was growing up in Providence RI. Never had it in a restaurant, we always made it at home. Yum!
My father and I would dig our own quahogs in Green Hill or Charlestown Pond back in the 60’s and 70’s. We always used only quahogs, salt pork, potatoes, salt and pepper. Simple and tasty.
If using Salt Pork, how much? By weight, inches?
If you really want the taste of clams in your chowder, you have to eat RI Clear Chowder. No cream or tomatoes to mask the taste.
This is a good RI chowder recipe. I have been making all my life with salt pork. No green herbs except I do put celery. There is a seafood market in Sebastian, Fl that gets steamers, top necks, and little necks. I agree they don’t have a briny taste that you get when you dig your own, but that is the price you pay to live in Fl.
The Clark Cook House (Candy Store) in Newport, RI has my fav clear broth chowder. Awesome
My Fav too!
I swear these chowder comments are exactly the same as what you get in a New Orleans forum regarding how to make gumbo! Everyone has an opinion and none of them are exactly wrong!