“Down East” Clam Chowder
This warming and hearty Maine clam chowder recipe, thickened with crackers, is an old-fashioned Yankee favorite.
By Yankee Magazine|Jul 28 2022|
Down East Clam Chowder
Photo Credit: Brenda DarrochThe best way to make this Down East Clam Chowder is with clams you have dug yourself after dropping anchor in a secluded bay, but it is awfully good with fresh clams purchased at a local marina. This is authentic Maine chowder — the kind you thicken with crackers, not flour.
Yield:
4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
4 dozen hard-shell clams, scrubbed, or 1 quart shucked cooked clams with their broth
1/4 pound cubed salt pork or 6 slices bacon
1 onion, coarsely chopped
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups milk
2 cups half-and-half or evaporated milk
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
salt
freshly ground pepper
Common crackers, oyster crackers, or Saltine crackers
Instructions
Pour clams into a large pot with 1 cup water. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook until shells open, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool, then shuck clams and set aside. Pour off broth and reserve, taking care not to disturb any sediment in the bottom of the pan.
Cook salt pork in a large saucepan over medium heat until the fat runs. Add onion and cook, stirring, until tender. Pour off half the fat.
Add potatoes to the pan and stir well. Add clam broth and just enough water to cover the potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are tender.
Add milk and half-and-half (or evaporated milk); bring to a simmer. Add clams and butter; simmer a few minutes until clams are heated through and butter is melted. (Do not boil or clams will be tough.) Season with salt and pepper and stir in a handful of crushed crackers.
How does this make it thick? Mine never is and I’ve tried many different recipes 🙁
This is not a thick chowder, Betty.
you could use a roux.
You could add Wonder to thicken and no lumps
The only way to thicken this recipe would be to add 1- 8 once package of cream cheese at the end of cooking.. Also be sure to breakdown some of the potatoes to thicken it too.
I have never, ever heard of adding cream cheese to a chowder.
Ingredients say half and half OR evaporated milk. Directions it both…which is it? And PS the article says the oyster crackers are gonna thicken it 😉
Hi Jeann. The milk in the directions refers to the 2 cups of milk called for in the recipe, and not the optional evaporated milk. I’ve edited the recipe to say “Add milk and half-and-half (or evaporated milk)” in the last step to help clarify. Thanks!
This is Down East clam chowder and many people in New England consider this recipe authentic. Really thick chowder seems to be a later option from that of the chowder made in earlier days. The thicker chowders seem to be popular more in the South and on the West Coast. All that paste masks all the other delicate flavors of the chowdah.
Personally, I like mine fairly thin as suggested here but there are a lot of options for thickening your chowder besides flour. One could use arrow root, mashed potato flakes or other mashed potatoes, potato or corn starch,or crackers as suggested at the beginning of the recipe.
Also, I would suggest the use of cream instead of milk. I add it to the bowl of many soups and chowders I make instead of adding it to the pot. However, I suggest cream because if added to the pot and the soup or chowder boils, it won’t separate or curdle like milk. Even half and half would be better than milk. Also, for those who are afraid of fat, half and half comes fat free in the dairy case. : )
take it from an OLD clam digger and lover of authentic old chowder [new england],the best is with evaporated milk and thickened with crushed common crackers.only unthickened chowders are the real thing.best to crack it up.
My family originated in Aroostook County, Maine, and moved to central Massachusetts. Until I moved west I never had chowder containing anything but: clams, clam broth, butter, milk, cream (for company only) and traditional, i.e. salty crackers, either Saltines from the supermarket or Westminsters, made nearby.
Bacon? Potatoes? Flour? You must be kidding…
As a West Coast resident I’ve seen every form of repulsive thickener imaginable….but since I can get local clams and the dish takes about 10 minutes to prepare, I keep stick with the childhood original..
What you described is clam stew, very much like oyster stew.
Could this be used for fish chowder, just swap the clams for multifish, or haddock, etc. ?
Hi Peggy. Feel free to swap in or out equal amounts of your favorite seafood if you’d like to change things up, but you will get a different flavor — maybe even a better one to suit your tastes! Let us know how it turns out.
The reason many places give oyster crackers is lost over the years, with the chowder served pre-thickened. Originally, the crackers were used to thicken the otherwise thinner chowder. Crush the crackers into the chowder when it is served to you, then it is thickened when the crackers get stirred into it.
Many of the chowders I have eaten were cooked at the boat, over a fire or camp grill. Then anything you had was thrown into it, and the idea of roux to thicken was not even an option, ever.
Add 1 Cup of dried potato flakes with the clam juice before adding evaporated milk.
Chowder is best served next day. I prefer to eat my crackers in hand not in the chowder.
[soggy crackers are a no-no]
The starch from the potatoes is what thickens my similar chowdah. I’ll even take out a couple of pcs of potatoes with some of the chowder and mash em. Then add em back. Just a little, as I prefer a slightly thickened chowdah
Oyster crackers was extragent in the 40’s but the square salted crackers were used or else fresh, crusty homemade bread torn and spread with butter. Evaporated milk was a carry-over for WWII and many came to prefer it. Nowadays I prefer a thicker chowder, made with cashew milk and using potato flakes. Bacon is not a good alternative to salt pork. A sprinkle of Old bay is welcome at the beginning of the process.
The only proper thickener for down east clam chowder is Nabisco Crown Pilot bread. Life hasn’t been the same since they quit production.
When do you chop the clams?
Just before you start the
simmering process.
To each their own, however; “Down East” chowder should be made with soft-shell calms, aka. whole-belly steamers, that are NOT chopped (Betty!). It should also NOT be thick. Allow the starch of the potatoes to thicken as much as they will, but adding a roux or thickening up any more wouldn’t be “Down East”. Also, don’t overwhelm with salt pork or bacon. All these thing like hard shells, thickening, and lots salt-pork are fine for making chowder, but you won’t be making a “Down East” chowder.
*clams!! (But I also recommend being calm(s)).
I’m from New Brunswick and we were poor so our clam chowder consisted of Clams, potatoes, onions and carnation milk, salt, pepper and topped with butter! Soooo good!
Growing up in New England and not a stranger to Maine and its delicious seafood recipes, I must say the old way of clams, clam juice, butter and oyster is to me the Original clam “chowdah”. All the extra ingredients seems superficial to me. The older Yankee traditions are still the best!
I Agree !!! So where were the Pilot Crackers we love ??
If some prefer a thicker clam chowder use Thick-It. This can be added to an individual bowl of hot chowder to achieve everyone’s personal thickness preference without any added taste. Thick-It works to thicken any type of liquids, hot or cold.
So does baby cereal and instant potato flakes.
I’ve never made clam chowder and I came to this website to get an authentic one. Now I am confused. My husband likes thick chowder. I will take some of the comments and make it thick. I’m 82 and have never made this but as the saying goes “its never too late” (LOL).
This is Up North/NE chowder. Lol Down East Clam chowder isn’t thin and is also known as N.C. clam chowder (ya know, down east).
use unsalted butter then add salt ? hmmm I would use salted butter then taste,
Looks like a great recipe ! Thank you for sharing
Sounds yummy, but I still love the clam chowder at The Black Pearl in Newport, RI. Nothing better for lunch on a cold Newport day than a bowl of Black Pearl clam chowder and an ice cold Sam Adams.
AGREED!!!!
I agree; the Black Pearl in Newport, RI has the best clam chowder! They serve it with a shot of Sherry which you stir in! and I love a cold glass of Rosé with it! Perfect!
What type of sherry do they use – dry sherry, cream sherry, or something in the middle?
Agree!!
I use my potato soup recipe as a base for all chowder soups (clam, shrimp, oyster corn, etc.) and use one can cream of celery soup with one can evaporated milk. Serve with saltines or oyster crack
Crackers on the side which can be crumbled in or not????
What is the base of your potato soup? Do you add the cream of celery and milk in addition to your soup base
Can’t wait to try this! As a Southerner with SC and VA roots; NE Clam Chowder and Oyster Stew are my favorites. Thank you so much for providing this easy to follow recipe. Chowder heads unite!!!!
My mother in law had a small store in Trenton Maine. The best chowder must include salt pork. Truckers heading to Bar Harbor often stopped and raved about it.
Salt pork all the way!
Too thick chowder is a travesty. I’ve been served chowder in which one could stand a spoon upright. On those occasions I send it back to the kitchen with instructions to tell the chef I ordered the chowder, not the pudding!
I don’t think I’d say that to someone who has the opportunity to spit in your chowder.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, one of the repeat award-winning clam chowders at the annual Chowderfest in Hampton Beach, NH uses water and unflavored powdered coffee creamer as the base – no milk, no cream, no evaporated milk. And yes, it has beat a lot of cream filled entries from Maine restaurants.
Black Pearl chowda in Newport has pleased my palate for 50 years since I was a lad. The (former) Durgin Park in Boston rocked it. The (former) No Name on Boston’s Fish Pier wrote their own chapter on chowda as a chef’s mixture of ocean treats. Chivas on the rocks is great on the side
The Maine Diner is absolute the best CLAM CHOWER. We drive from Annapolis Maryland for it.
This chowder is not bad, but would be MUCH better if 1/2 and 1/2 was replaced with heavy cream. Thank God for no flour!
Long time RI (now NC) resident. Early on, always a big fan of Christy’s or Black Pearl heavy cream chowder til stopping one day at Eileen Darling’s in Seekonk, MA and trying their milk-based,Quahog chowder. Tasted like I was sitting in the middle of Narragansett Bay. Make a batch periodically with a 48 oz. can of clam juice and 32 oz. of milk. May not be the Bay …but I’m awfully close.