Best Seafood Chowder Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do I thicken my seafood chowder? ›

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.

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.

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.

Can fish chowder be made in advance? Yes! This recipe can be made 2 days in advance and kept in the fridge, then reheated over medium-low heat until warm.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

A roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups and comes in three colors and strengths: white, blond, and brown.

What Is Clam Chowder Supposed to Taste Like? New England clam chowder is a mix of creamy soup and briny, salty, chewy clams. This is complemented with soft onions, celery, and cubed potatoes. Seasonings like pepper enhance the soup, preventing it from being bland.

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.

What Is Chowder? Chowder is a rich, creamy soup that often contains clams and potatoes. Seafood chowders are typical in the Northeast, with New England clam chowder being the most famous. Other seafood chowders skip the clams and swap in scallops, shrimp, lobster, crab or even fish like cod or smoked salmon.

Use ice water bath

An ice water bath is effective for cooling soups. This method helps decrease the food temperature quickly and safely. Fill a large container or clean sink with ice and a small amount of water. Place the kettle of soup into the ice bath.

How to make can clam chowder better? ›

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.

Rich Seafood Chowder

This creamy, delectable soup is even better the next day. It also works well with scallops or a flaky whitefish....

Half-and-half and butter plus butter

You can also use half-and-half to replace heavy cream without adding butter in certain recipes, such as sauces and soups. To substitute for 1 cup (237 mL) of heavy cream, mix 7/8 cup (232 grams) of half-and-half with 1/8 cup (29 grams) of melted butter.

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.

Combine equal parts cornstarch and cold water. Stir together until smooth. Pour into your sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring continually, until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. Test the sauce with a spoon.

Starches can help thicken clam chowder

It's recommended to add more fat or more starch to the clam chowder, using ingredients such as cornstarch, flour, crackers, potatoes, or heavy cream (via Foodsguy). Adding cornstarch results in very thick clam chowders.

Mix flour with water in a small bowl and pour into the soup. Stir to thicken slightly. Add sherry just before serving.