Food
Classic New England Clam Chowder
Fresh, flavorful, and thick with clams and potatoes, this classic New England clam chowder recipe from Chatham Pier Fish Market is a keeper.
By Yankee Magazine|Jun 02 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
Back in the 1800’s Maine was so incensed over NY tourists adding tomatoes to their Clam Chowdah that they passed legislation making it illegal to mix tomatoes and clams in the same dish. I believe this law is still on the books in Maine.
The silly attempt never passed.
I live in California but visited all of the New England states with a tour group last fall. Absolutely fell in love with the beauty, charm, and history of the area. So—-I truly enjoy this website which enables me to keep in touch with New England in my mind and heart!!! Thank you!!!!!!
Sounds soooo good. Makes me homesick
I was born and brought up in Mass. so love to visit this site and reminise the places I used to visit as a child
RE: Patricia; April 23, 2015…. As it should be & I pray it stays on the books forever!
Not sure why we need so much flour? I find so many chowders way too thick, I make a very similar corn chowder with no flour and everyone loves it.
That sounds more like “original” clam chowder…
My favourite chowders use a roux. For me, that is one of the traditional ways of making this acrimony dish. Thank you for sharing!
New England Clam Chowdah delicious, but so is a great Manhattan Chowdah like my mom from Brooklyn NY made. Clams dug in the morning from Barnegat Bay in Jersey into the pot for dinner that evening. Miss you mom and the Chowdah
We love clam chowder in this family,always canned.I’m going to try this recipe,I just hope I can find frozen clams if not I’ll use canned.Love this web site
I live in Henderson, NV, but I was born in Haydenville, MA in 1928. My heart is and always will be in New England. By the way, I love New England clem chowder and make it quite often. Jean Eichorn
Can this soup be frozen? It’s too much for 2 people.
If you leave out the cream, it can be frozen. i make “chowder base” with a similar recipe minus the flour and it freezes beautifully. just add cream when you re-heat.
This is a great idea. Thank you.
Seems to me the “original” chowder was clear broth…….no cream, flour or milk.
Clear broth is the Rhode Island Chowder
Is there a recipe for NE clam fritters
I love your recipies but would also appreciate having nutritional info printed at the end of each for those of us needing to count carbs and sugar.
Agree.
Salt Pork, Potatoes, Cream….hmm…what “Nutritional Information” were you looking for?
Can you by any chance get the original Pewter Pot muffin House clam chowder recipe that I SO enjoyed at least once a week at their location in Harvard Swuare in the late 60’s and into the 70’s until we moved to D.C area?? It was the very best.. so we’re all their muffins particularly the almond poppy seed one!! Missing New England…
My family used to eat at the Pewter Pot all the time, but their chowder was not really traditional, it was more the kind that was so thick a spoon would stand straight up in it!
Oy! I’ve had that chowder from Pewter Pot, and you’re right… way too thick!
Miss my Maine Clam Chowder, but make it here in CA. when I can get fresh clams!!!!
Leave out the flour and you get a much more flavorful chowder. Try substituting evaporated milk for cream and more clam juice. Much richer taste. I also cook my potatoes in clam juice. Most restaurant chowders are way too thick
thin clam chowder has much more flavor. NO FLOUR!!! I also new a restaurant in South lynnfield mass years ago that made their clam chowder with Whole Clams, talk about great chowder!!!!!
“Whole Clams”? They put the entire CLAM in the soup without chopping them? Why on Earth would someone do that? It’s akin to having “Franks and beans with Whole Hotdogs.
I have never seen Franks and Beans served with other than whole hot dogs. Life must be a lot different on your planet.
I agree about leaving out the flour and evaporated milk is a godsend! Love what you cook!
I grew up in the New Bedford area, and my mother always said that if you use flour in the chowder, you are really making a bisque, not chowder.
Agree! Also use evaporated milk instead of cream. Delish!
Bacon? Celery? Thyme leaves? Bay leaves? Flour? None of that is ‘traditional’. This is clam chowder of a sort, but certainly NOT traditional! Not if you are from Gloucester, Massachusetts, anyway. I did have chowder like that in the 1970’s and 80’s in California, though. Tasted good enough, but not great. And
NOT traditional!
Oh yes… I know people have done variations. But that is not the same All I can get here in VA is chowder like this and it drives me up a wall. People look like I am insane when I ask them to at least take out the bacon.. I can deal with the rest.
I agree except for the bacon. Use bacon drippings if you don’t have/use salt pork.
As a born-and-dyed-in-the-wool Rhode Islander, I like chowder variations, including the Massachusetts ones (however, I abhor the Manhattan), but much prefer “natural” chowder, i.e., no milk, cream, or tomatoes. Also, my grandma, may she rest in peace, insisted that salt pork is absolutely necessary for the chowder to taste right; and I’ve never known Grandma to be wrong. I live in Maryland now, and you just can’t get the authentic article here.
How do I print out the Kale salad recipe. I love the food from New England.
just copy and pasty it into a word doc.! 🙂
“Real” chowder or chowdah does not have thyme, bay leaf or celery. Potatoes, onions, salt pork,( okay, maybe bacon) clams, evaporated milk, butter, that’s about it.
my mother always made it with salt pork rendered, onions, pot. take pork out when crisp after cooking onions till soft add water to cover cook 10 min. add haddock cook for 6 – 8 min. add milk when done simmer slow for 15 min. you can make it thicker by adding a flour slirrey. enjoy.
Agreed. Salt pork is also used in the Rhode Island brothy-style chowder. It gives a more delicate fat flavor, to accentuate the sweetness of the clams.
Hi Suzanne! I’m 69, lived in New England (Boston area) all my life, and frequently make clam chowder – in many different ways.
Several years ago a chef told me a little secret – add a little bit of thyme and a bay leaf to your chowder stock and see how you like it.
I LOVED it!
Authentic or ‘real’ recipes may be good, but nuanced recipes might just take you over the mountain!
I always, now, include a small sprig of thyme and 1 bayleaf. Just love the tiny bit of delicious flavor. They do not, at all, overpower the taste of clams and potatoes and salt pork. They just make the chowder all the more addictive! Enjoy!
Yes it is, but not in N Y
Amazing! Enjoy the leisurely process of making this authentic recipe.
The”chowdahs” that are very thick are usually referred to as a “bisque”
Greetings Marian – A bisque is thick and rich but usually doesn’t have much ‘food’ texture. Chowders, of all kinds, are influenced by the bite-sized proteins and vegetables included. Yes, a lobster bisque may well have small peices of lobster meat in it, but it’s still mostly rich liquid attained by the infusion of lobster shells and innards along with a good deal of time. Enjoy them both!
Perfect Reply
I made this tonight and it was the best clam chowder that I have ever eaten. My family loved it. I don’t understand all the critics that make negative comments on recipes that have great reviews. If you have a better recipe then please post it and if it gets a bunch of good reviews than people will try it. Bashing other people’s recipes is not polite nor is it helpful to anyone.
Just because you disagree with people’s comments doesn’t make them “Negative” or “Bashing”. You really should consider being more accepting of the idea that others just may feel differently than you. Most of my life I have read “Great Reviews” and found them to be unwarranted most of the time. The fact that Budweiser Beer sells the amount that it does, has nothing to do with it’s taste/quality. There are other examples of items that people love that are utter garbage. Keep in mind, that “Submit Comment” button is for everyone. If we lived in a world where you were only allowed to show admiration and never critique, my God what a stagnant terrible place this would be. Of course society has certainly been moving that way in the last 4 years. (disclaimer: Please excuse my use of the word “God”, I meant nothing personal by it)
Yes, the fact that Bud sells the most beer does speak to quality. Quality is subjective in the realm of taste. And if more people prefer the taste of Bud that makes it a quality product. “Garbage” in your opinion does not mean your opinion is based in fact. If a lot of people prefer what you label “garbage”, then you are out of the mainstream. People are different – you need to wake up and realize that. Your opinions are universal standards. They are simply one person’s view. There are 7.674 billion people on this planet. You are a very, very small speck.
Loved heavy cream chowder of the type I’d get at restaurants in Newport. til having milk-based, quahog chowder at Eileen Darling’s restaurant (no longer there) in Seekonk, MA. Tasted like you were in the middle of Narragansett Bay. As my late wife used to say, ‘less is more’….bacon, onions, potatoes, butter, milk and 48 oz. can Deep Harvest clam juice. I’ve come close to duplicating their recipe. Ed’s problem is that the former president is living rent-free between his ears.
If you have trouble finding frozen clam meat, find a local oriental market. Lots of seafood, inc frozen baby clam meat and tempura shrimp! (Use your air fryer for the shrimp…restaurant quality, half the fat!)
This reply is NOT an attack on you personally, but “Restaurant Quality”? Depends on what Restaurant!. Most of them are in business to make money, and “quality”, usually, cost more money, where as people at home who truly know how to cook, are meals I prefer by far. So that term means nothing to me. 99% of the time I walk out of a restaurant feeling i over paid for junk. I guess I have been blessed with a desire to learn at a very young age. PS- I can’t think of any reason to eat Baby Clams.
Calm down. No need to attack someone’s opinions on here.
Jean July 17, 2017
I live in Henderson, NV, but I was born in Haydenville, MA in 1928. My heart is and always will be in New England. By the way, I love New England clem chowder and make it quite often. Jean Eichorn
HI jean. I live in Henderson also. love this magazine and the recipes
Jean, I hope you see this response because your message stopped me in my reading! I was born and raised in Boston. My husband and I drove from our home in the Berkshires of MA to Henderson NV this past Spring to watch the migration of the Sandhill Cranes, an unforgettable experience. AND I also lived in the tiny village of Haydenville MA for several years before my first husband passed away. I’ll bet not many people can claim that coincidence!!! ; ) And we both LOVE clam chowder… time to make some!
Oops, we went to Henderson Nebraska… not Nevada! Oh well, Haydenville is still a great coincidence! ; )
used to drive to killington ski resort from Chicago when we lived there. best sea food we ever had was in the new England area. still looking for a recipe for a seafood cheese dish we had in Portland new hamshire. best seafood dishes we ever had.
BTW It’s Portsmouth NH … Portland, Maine 😉
Thank you for sharing this. Looks like the real deal. Veg/corn chowder is a great alternative for vegetarians, but I don’t know if you can make a truly good vegan chowder….
Forget the thyme! I have used Old Bay seasoning as long as I can remember! Now that’s Massachusetts clam chowder! Born and raised in Boston area.
This is not a “Classic” New England Clam Chowder by any stretch of the imagination, though it may be tasty!
Thanks Linda for saying that out load. Think I’d call this “tourist” chowder
I’m from down east in Canada. We always made New England Clam Chowder without the flour and the herbs (I’m sure it tastes good with all of those ingredients) & used pork fat as well. I have cook books from New England & the recipes don’t call for flour & the herbs. I LOVE the true Clam Chowder!! Hard to find fresh clams inland, have to buy canned. Still make it though. Miss the quohogs though!!
You are so right
Spent all my summers growing up in Chatham but I completely agree with Nancy.
Another favorite from Cape Ann is Clish chowder where you add white flaky fish ( scrod) a few minutes before finish to keep the texture.
I made this chowder last weekend…it is GONE! Shared it with friends. Followed the recipe except that I used 2 bacon strips, not 3 and did add a tad of Old Bay and a bit of Adobo. More salt Too. In AZ not too many clams around here so used canned and IT WAS FABULOUS! Thicker when reheated but outstanding. Had clam chowder on east coast, on west coast and this is the BEST!
From a Texan who has spent about a month each year for the last 10 years traveling all over the Northeast, there are hundreds or even thousands of clam chowder recipes in that area and every one of them is “Classic New England Clam Chowdah”. That is the best part, you just can’t go wrong, because there is something good about all of them!
If you don’t feel like making this and spending more money, especially you on the West Coast, there is always Legal Seafoods. Go online and do some research. They ship as close to when you want it to stay as fresh as possible. We’ve given many quarts as gifts this time of the year. Say what you will, but you won’t be dissapointed in the taste.
we’ve had it- very good
As a born & raised Connecticut Yankee now living in Texas, I really enjoy Yankee Magazine and especially enjoy the recipes. But what I enjoy even more is reading the comments at the end of recipes. They’re a hoot! Thanks!
Yes Yes- I agree about reading the comments! That’s what I’m doing right now. 😉 BTW No celery or herbs… Ellen – Deer Isle, Maine
Agreed
I am so enamored of of true New England clam chowder that I make it a point when going back ot my home state of NJ for a visit (I have live in TX the last 30 years), I buy about 5 or 6 dozen fresh quahogs and after steaming some of them to eat with freinds and family, I shuck the rest with the juice and freeze to take home to make a pot of soup. I learned not to take them as a carry on. One year my plane was delayed in leaving and I went back outside for a bit and the juice had melted. When I came back though security, the TSA tossed my carefully prepared bag of clams due to the liquid content. I don’t think you have ever seen a person as mad as I was..Live and learn.
Making this for Christmas when my daughter comes home….
Real NE Clam Chowder would have only used the starch from the potatoes for the thickener, not flour and no herbs. If I had to guess how it was cooked, heat up salt pork or some lard to cook the onions in, dice up potatoes and cook with enough water so when they’re done you have the correct amount of liquid for the soup, add the cooked onions and fat, throw in whole clams and cook until they open and salt to taste. Serve the soup just like that and it will be as authentic as you can get.
I ditto this comment with the exception that I finish with light cream. Forget the celery and herbs.
Yea. That sounds like the perfect clam chowder to me. Thanks.
I made this exactly as the recipe calls.. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Am getting ready to visit Bostin (am in Pine, Arizona)…so will do some comparison tasting while there! Believe me….it is H A R D to get a really great clam chowder in Arizona! …but our prickly pear cactus jelly is outstanding! ????????
Add all of the above, instead of thyme try a little dill . I’ve tried it with ole bay as well, that was great too so all I’m saying is try to your hearts content . If you can please 9 out of 10 of your friends or love one “BANG”!! the secret is born . Don’t forget the oyster crackers and don’t forget to wash your hands . Mahalo
You could “try” any herb you like, but it won’t taste like New England Clam Chowder. And Old Bay is definitely NOT what any New Englander wants their chowdah to taste like so don’t make it like that for those people!! Lol. Although, I do love a splash of tobasco in mine sometimes.
I agree!
Love the dean of trying other spices too
My grandmother made it rhoddy style. I was never a fan, I would say, grandma can you make it creamy ? She would say sure honey…then, dumped a couple tablespoons of milk. That wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but was too polite to not eat it. She definitely used bacon or salt pork. Now, I make my own using about a tablespoon of roux. And Fresh quahogs from Sam the Clam.
I did not know that original clam chowder is not as thick and creamy as I like it. Thank you, everyone, for the education. I will appreciate a thinner broth now. I do miss salt pork as opposed to bacon, though, like I remember from my childhood in Maine.
“Classic” or “Traditional” clam chowder does not and never did have bacon in it!
Celery and fresh Thyme leaves? Really?
Love celery and thyme in my chowder and agree I hate it with flour. Julia always thicken with saltines crushed incorporated right after sautéing onion and celery. Potatoes and water just to cover next. Cook potatoes until slightly under cooked add clams and juice. Season to taste. Of course it is all started with salt pork chopped fine.
The white pepper ruins this recipe. It overwhelms the taste.
One of the clam chowders that has won first place in several New England festivals uses powdered coffee creamer for the base – no milk or cream.
I use a product called LeGout Cream Soup Base to thicken my potato based soups and chowders. How thick your chowder ends up depends on how much you use. As I like mine a bit on the thick side (not too thick!), I use about 1 cup. Not a New Englander, so sue me. LOL. Still good chowder though.
I think anything goes within reason.. I will make this with cream and follow the recipe thereafter. The goal is to taste the subtle, briny flavor of the clams, the rest is complimentary…But I would save the celery for the tuna salad..
I remember an old salt telling my mother, “you always slice the potatoes at an angle”. The longer the angle, the more starch is released for thickening. Even better the next day. And you always used quahogs, cut up, not any other kinds of clams. So you had salt pork, quahog, and brine from quohogs to as salty as you’d like. Cream to kill some of the saltiness. Not an earth-shaking recipe, but pretty authentic. This was probably conveyed about 65-70 yrs. ago. Any variances from this would only be an improvement!
Use Yukon Gold potatoes for they have more starch to thicken.
Yukons contains less starch than does it Russet. The Yukon is considered an purpose potato, so if you like them, use them.
Wow! We New Englander’s hold our old recipes and traditions close to our hearts don’t we?
So a funny aside. Yes, I am a New England chowda junkie from RI. Sorry, So County RI the broth never hit the spot for me.
When I was away at college in NY, my parents used to drive all over RI and SE Mass tasting chowdas. When I came home on break we would road trip around to all their wonderful finds and eat chowda for days. Totally fun memory and yes I became as specialized in my likes of different recipes as all of you are. The one thing that really came out is that every batch is slightly different even in the same restaurant. We did find a few favorites. Yum! And the ones where the spoon stands up in generally only tastes of roux.”white mud” I call it.
Now I live in Montana and west coast clams and chowder can’t hold a candle to east coast chowda. Then there are the clam cakes, frid clams with bellies and lobster rolls. Dang Covid go away! I need to get back east!!!
Real New England clam chowder for me is fried salt pork, onions in the pork fat, a 6 cups of water, 4-5 diced potatoes, chopped clams and minced clams, cook until potatoes are soft. Add a can of evaporated milk, pour salt pork fat carefully into chowder and finally add the crispy salt pork scraps, season with salt and pepper.And maybe a bit of butter. That’s how my Yankee family has done for generations!
New England Chowder NEVER has celery, thyme or flour (this is anathema!). Salt pork vs bacon is arguable. Chowder belongs to be thickened by crumbled pilot biscuits (Crown Pilot, not made anymore by Nabisco, alas!).
never ever use celery
I one time went out if my way to go to Chatham Pier to try the chowder. I was very disappointed. I love all these comments. I keep digging in Lake Michigan but can’t find any quahogs.
I’m a Cape Codder (not Coddah, was raised in CT) for over 50 years and love clam chowder, but my favorite is quahog chowder. The quahog has more flavor than clams and adds a slight touch of what I call brineyness(sp) to the chowder that is so delicious and, to me, tastes of the sea. Mmmmm!
That’s just the native American name for a clam they’re the same thing even littlenecks are the same species.
Agree..
I grew up on clear broth chowder in Tiverton, RI! Dad had a sensitive stomach. We even had a stew version called “Dishwater Stew”. I left in 1982 to “Join the Navy and See the World”! People outside or “not in the know”, see only the New England (Creamy) Chowder. Evelyn’s Nanaquaket Drive-In made the absolute best and the fresh fried clam cakes were to die for. Miss those days ;-(((!
I make it with bacon, but no flour, and no celery! For thickening, I grate a baking potato into the boiling clam juice, and that takes it to just right, with no floury taste. I use the Snow’s canned clams, as well as their large can of clam juice – no water, and boil the potatoes in that. Haven’t made it in a while now, as it’s only my wife and I that eat it any more. the local half of the family still around doesn’t care for seafood dishes at all, so they won’t eat it. I’ve never tried it with salt pork, but I guess I should do that sometime. But no flour or celery! And I don’t use Old Bay for any soups or chowders. Maybe once in a blue moon for crabcakes.
I always made fish, corn or clam chowders with whole milk. No herbs and definitely no flour. Grew up with that so it’s probably why I like them best that way. I have never liked really thick chowders. Always felt like they didn’t taste traditional. But yes, after living all over the US, I have had some different chowders that are great, though I still like the milk versions best. One no conformist in particular was a Sonoran corn chowder I had out west with grilled shrimp on top and a lacing of green Tabasco on top. Yummo. Reading these comments it’s clear that people DO hold their recipes close to their hearts.
Hi Buffy, I love you for valuing the same chowder I grew up with..”definitely no flour..” gets to the heart of it
Clams & juice red or Yukon gold PEELED (starchy) or skins fall of and become tough & slimy, bacon or salt pork a little flour,onions & celery thyme, bay leafs, white pepper voila! Incredibly simple especially if refrigerated overnight and add everything but cream/1/2+1/2 till next day garnish with 1/2 pad butter, chopped celery leaves and Sherry passed around table. The butter on top & Sherry really make it !
Many of the recipes are very good. However there is one element that makes it the best. We go out on Bay side of the Cape and dig our own clams. Fresh clams bring any recipe to the top of the mountain.
Just made clams casino, stuffies and Clam chowder being readied for tonight. Fresh dug yesterday……
Years ago, on the way to Ogunquit each year, we would stop at a wonderful restaurant (The Easterly, in Glouster) ~ given a rah-rah by AAA ~ and WOW! The BEST claim chowder I’ve ever eaten. Is there any way you could secure that recipe? You could really taste the butter… This recipe has more butter than most that I’ve seen, so I am looking forward to trying it. Butter truly takes it to another level.
My great grandfather Alexander Wright came from Lowell, Ma. His father originally from Scotland. They brought the recipe out west. My Ca grandmother never used bay leaves. Her chowder was peppery and rather thin. None of that gloppy white spoon standing stuff. You do need a few Tbsp of flour in the celery onion bacon butter potatoes to bind everything or you’ll get a grease slick on top. We’d dig clams from Huntington Beach, Ca every Nov in the 70s. It was a Fall family affair. Kids wld grind the clams in the meat grinder while grandpa shucked what we dug up. Lots of clam juice made up the broth. Finished with a little milk, a touch of cream and a splash of tabasco. Lots of pepper. Chowder is supposed to be hearty and warming.
There are probably as many recoiled for New England chowder are there are cooks. Rosa Loy I think bacon is overpowering . I prefer salt pork. The celery I can take or leave. I like the bay leaf. Thyme , maybe not. Frozen chopped clams are fine . They are going to be better than the tires little necks available in your basic grocery store. I like my chowder thickened with cream and potato starch but I did read something in cooks illustrated that using a small amount of flour helps bind the butter into the milk or cream making for a smoother creamier chowder. Elsewhere I read that flour might not be that foreign a component . In the days before refrigeration cream was a highly perishable item and expansive unless you lived on a farm or near one. It is thought the common cracker was added to the soup to help thicken it in the absence of cream. Interesting thought. I wish I remembered where I read that. The most important thing is your chowder should not be so thick that you can stand a spoon up it.
Chowders, as we know them, evolved from the stews fishermen would make with the various catch while at sea. The hard tack biscuits added between layers of fish then the lot was cooked over a low fire with the biscuits thickening the soup. The name Chowder may have been derived from the french, Chaudron for Cauldron or cooking pot from which a Chaudrée or “chowder” was made. No matter the variations that we’ve come to know, all are delicious in their own right. And what makes a good chowder? Well, that depends on whose mother or grandmother made it!
So Thankful to all who made their contribution on Clam Chowder. Love the different variations you speak of, this is one great reason I love Yankee.
A request and suggestion: Add a note with instructions for using fresh clams in a shell, and when store purchased clam juice is unavailable. (Include details about how to cook the clams, harvest the clam juice, chop the clam meat, etc.)
As a fan of clam chowder since visiting New England a few years back and absolutely loved it, I just hope I can find clam juice in the uk, I know I can get clams living by the coast, so looking forward to experimenting and taking on a few of the suggestions made~ thanks.
No celery, no thyme, no bay leaves, no flour. Salt pork, not bacon. Table salt is fine, just use one half the amount. Evaporated milk instead of cream is a nice change.
As the guy who made the clam chowder at Thompson’s Clam Bar in Harwichport on Cape Cod in the seventies, I can see you all have strong opinions on how to do things! That’s an old Cape Cod yankee tradition, I never knew anybody there who wasn’t absolutely sure of everything. Among them, however, there were frequent and very strong worded disagreements! In essence what we’re all looking for is to create something scrumptious, but unique and unfamiliar can also be entertaining. Would love to try out every recipe on here!