New England clam chowder
50 min · 26 g protein · 303 cals / serving
Creamy, briny and loaded with clams: a proper New England chowder with smoky bacon, tender potatoes, thyme and a velvety body that comes from evaporated milk and part of the soup blended smooth, not a pint of cream. Plenty of black pepper, parsley on top.
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, cooked crisp in the pot and crumbled
- 2 tsp butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups bottled clam juice fish stock, or fish stock
- 1 lb gold potatoes, peeled, in 1/2-inch dice
- 3 1/2 cups florets cauliflower
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups 1% milk
- 1 can (12 oz) fat-free evaporated milk
- 4 cans (6.5 oz each) chopped clams canned clams, drained, juice added with the clam juice
- 3/4 tsp black pepper
To serve
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Steps
- Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, lift it out and crumble it. Add the butter to the bacon fat, then the onion, celery and garlic, and cook 6–7 minutes until soft and sweet.
- Sprinkle in the flour and stir 1 minute, then whisk in the clam juice and the juice from the canned clams until smooth.
- Add the potatoes, cauliflower, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the cauliflower is very soft.
- Pour in the milk and evaporated milk. Fish out the bay leaf, scoop out about 2 cups of the soup (with plenty of cauliflower) and blend it smooth, then stir it back in. Heat gently without boiling.
- Add the clams and pepper and warm through 2–3 minutes; boiling now makes them tough. Taste for salt; the clams are already salty.
- Ladle into bowls and top with the crumbled bacon and parsley.
Good to know
Why cauliflower in a clam chowder?
Blended, it gives the chowder a creamy body without extra flour or cream, and it disappears into the soup. The potatoes stay in chunks, as they should.
Can I use fresh clams?
Yes. Steam 4 lb littlenecks in 1 cup water until they open, chop the meat and strain the broth through a paper towel to use as the clam juice.
Does it reheat?
Gently, over low heat, stirring; it keeps 2 days in the fridge. Do not freeze it, since the potatoes turn grainy.
Per
- Calories
- 61
- Protein
- (36%)
- 5 g
- Fat
- (18%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (46%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 81 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1820 kcal goes into the pot and 2900 g of ingredients comes out as about 3000 g of food: 61 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.