Our 21 Best Chowder Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the most famous chowder? ›

New England clam chowder is perhaps the most popular and well-known iteration of the dish.

In its very basic format chowder is a soup made with a base of broth and thickened cream. You'll regularly find chowders served alongside crackers or biscuits too.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

Many regional variations exist, but the three most prevalent are New England or "white" clam chowder, which includes milk or cream, Manhattan or "red" clam chowder, which includes tomatoes, and Rhode Island or "clear" clam chowder, which omits both.

In fact, did you know that Edwards County, Illinois, is the Chowder Capital of the World? So ordained the county commissioners in 1958 as a salute to downstate chowder. Also known as southern Illinois chowder, downstate chowder bears virtually no resemblance to seafood chowder.

Maine and Massachusetts may be the two states most associated with the cream-based clam chowder. In fact, it is known as one of Maine's most iconic dishes and is considered a classic in Boston's historic neighborhoods.

Chowder vs. Soup: What's the Difference? While soups can be thin and light, a chowder is characterized by being rich and thick. Like stew, it contains large chunks of meat or seafood and vegetables, notably potatoes.

Customarily, chowder included onion, potatoes, and cream.

Although a bisque and a chowder are both cream-based soups and most often feature seafood, it is their consistency that defines them and makes them quite different from each other. Whereas a bisque is smooth, a chowder is chunky, chock full of hearty pieces of ingredients such as potato and clams or corn.

I start by simmering the veggies in seafood or chicken broth for great flavor and then add in the seafood and cream to cook at the end! Chowders can sometimes be thickened using a roux and in the case of this seafood chowder recipe, the potatoes also provide quite a bit of starch to help it thicken it!

How do you make chowder without curdling? ›

Stabilize with a Starch

Starches like flour or cornstarch help stabilize the milk emulsion. This will prevent it from separating. A common technique is to thicken your sauce or soup with roux before adding the milk. This changes the makeup of the liquid and prevents curdling.

Evaporated milk works well as a substitute for heavy cream in sauces or soups calling for whole milk. In the making of evaporated milk, regular cow's milk is pressure-cooked until it sheds about half of its water content, making it thicker in consistency. For a healthy substitute, try evaporated skim milk.

1. New England Clam Chowder. Pictured above, this is the rock star of the chowder world, the uber-popular creamy style that is so universally pleasing to the taste buds, that it's without question, New England's most iconic dish. Its defining feature is milk, but more commonly, cream.

New England clam chowder is thick, creamy, and milky-white. Manhattan clam chowder is tomatoey, brothy, and clear. Both types share a clean, briny, and slightly-sweet flavor thanks to the clams—but that's about it.

Getting back to chowder, it is said to have originated on the Atlantic coast of France, where la chaudrée is a soup of fish and shellfish cooked with veggies, bacon, white wine and cream.

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. It's also thick and velvety, making it a comforting palate-pleaser, particularly on cold days.

New England clam chowder is thick, creamy, and milky-white. Manhattan clam chowder is tomatoey, brothy, and clear. Both types share a clean, briny, and slightly-sweet flavor thanks to the clams—but that's about it.

It's simple—only clams, clam juice, onions, potatoes, and cream. This is New England in the summer! The origins of the New England clam chowder go back to early settlers, who made it with salt pork, clams, and the broth they were cooked in, thickened with crushed ship biscuit. It hasn't changed too much since then.

Summer Shack Chef, Jasper White, also shares his secret of smashing the potatoes for extra thickness in the chowder, and salt pork for some smokiness that'll contrast the creaminess. The thickness of New England clam chowder is what makes it so delectable.