New England Clam Chowder Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes New England clam chowder different? ›

Also referred to as “Boston-style” clam chowder, New England chowder is milk or cream-based, making it significantly thicker than other regional styles. It's often made with milk, butter, potatoes, pork, onion, and clams and accompanied by oyster crackers.

Many New England clam chowder versions call for a cooked roux: stirring flour into melted butter, and cooking it into the broth as a means of thickening it and adding creaminess.

Potatoes: I use Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe because I love their creamy consistency, but red potatoes are always a great candidate for soups and chowders because they hold up the best. Russet potatoes may also be used, but they're also the starchiest, which makes them more prone to falling apart.

New England Clam Chowder is the most famous and most popular clam chowder. It's been around for centuries, so it's possible its longevity has contributed to its popularity.

A 1-cup serving of chowder contains 18 mg of cholesterol and 688 mg of sodium, or almost 30 percent of the total daily recommended sodium intake for healthy adults.

The most classic and surefire way to thicken a broth-based soup is with a cornstarch slurry. Whisk together equal parts cornstarch (or arrowroot) and water or broth, then whisk it into the pot of soup. A good ratio to get to a pleasant thickness without your soup tasting goopy or heavy is one tablespoon.

This clam chowder recipe should produce perfectly rich soup. If you'd like your chowder a little thicker, though, you can thicken it with a cornstarch slurry. Simply stir cornstarch into a small amount of cold water (or another liquid, such as wine or stock), then stir the mixture into the simmering chowder.

Bacon, clams, and heavy cream make this soup rich, hearty, and satisfying. In addition to those ingredients, you'll also find onions, celery, and potatoes in this soup. New England chowder is almost always topped with oyster crackers, small pillowy crackers that act as the perfect vehicle for flavor.

Why does my clam chowder taste bland? ›

Sometimes, this can occur when the chowder sits in the fridge, as the texture and taste become watered-down, as mentioned by FoodsGuy. Or, when you're adding salt to the soup while the potatoes are cooking, the potatoes may absorb all that saltiness and leave the broth wanting more, explains DeadSpin.

Manhattan clam chowder has a red, tomato-based broth and unlike New England clam chowder there is no milk or cream. Manhattan-style chowder also usually contains other vegetables, such as celery and carrots to create a mirepoix.

Types. Chowder is a soup with cream or milk mixed with ingredients such as potatoes, sweet corn, smoked haddock, clams and prawns, etc. Some cream-style chowders do not use cream, and are instead prepared using milk and a roux to thicken them.

But West Coast clams, as I discovered, are very different than their Eastern brethren. Some sources describe them as more delicate and buttery than burlier, juicier East Coast clams. To compensate for their milder flavors, some chowders in Oregon and Washington incorporate bacon to add savoriness.

If you order clam chowder in New England, you will get a creamy, thick broth, whereas the dish served in Rhode Island is a clearer broth. In San Francisco, the area of Pier 39 clam chowder is a version of the original recipe found on the east coast but served in a sourdough bowl.

Either Nova Scotian, French, or English settlers first introduced clam chowder to people in New England, and it gained popularity for its savory flavor.

Calorie-wise, you can't compare the two. They are leagues apart. A bowl of tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder soup is about 285 calories while a bowl of cream based New England clam chowder is about 440 calories. But, yet we still want and desire that silky smooth soup.