New England Clam Chowder

Creamy, smoky and loaded with clams and tender potatoes. Bottled clam juice and canned clams make it easy to cook any time of year.

Prep

15 min

Cook

35 min

Total

50 min

Yield

6 servings

Ingredients

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups bottled clam juice
3 cans chopped clams (6.5 oz each), juice reserved
1½ lb Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in ½-inch dice
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Oyster crackers, to serve

Method

Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 6 minutes. Lift it out and leave about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pot.
Add the onion and celery and cook until soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 2 minutes.
Slowly whisk in the bottled clam juice and the juice from the canned clams until smooth.
Add the potatoes, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Stir in the clams, milk and cream. Heat gently for 5 minutes without boiling. Remove the bay leaf, season and top with the bacon and oyster crackers.

Kitchen note

Never let the chowder boil once the dairy goes in. Boiling can make it grainy and turns the clams rubbery.

Where it comes from

Chowder arrived with French and British fishermen. New England’s milk-based style became its own tradition in the 1800s.