Recipe

North America → 🇺🇸 United States → New England (Massachusetts)
New England Clam Chowder
American (New England) · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 35 min
~563 cal · 9g protein · 39g carbs · 41g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Creamy white clam chowder with potatoes and oyster crackers
🇺🇸 New England (Massachusetts)
New England takes its chowder seriously enough that Maine once tried to outlaw the tomato version by law. The real thing is milk-and-cream white, thick with potato and clam, and best on a cold day by the water with oyster crackers.
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Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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2 lbs fresh (or 3 cans) clams (fresh or canned, chopped)
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4 oz salt pork or bacon, diced
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1.5 lbs potatoes, diced
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1 onion
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2 stalks celery
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2 cups + 1 cup whole milk + heavy cream
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3 tbsp flour (to thicken)
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3 tbsp butter
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1 tsp + a bowl thyme + oyster crackers, to serve
Instructions
1
Render the salt pork (or bloom paprika in oil) with the butter; soften onion and celery.
2
Stir in the flour 2 minutes, then add the clam juice (or kombu broth) and potatoes; simmer 15 minutes until tender.
3
Add the milk and cream and the clams (or mushrooms); warm gently — never boil, or it curdles and the clams toughen.
4
Season with thyme, salt, and lots of black pepper; thicken further if you like it spoon-standing.
5
Rest 10 minutes off the heat (chowder improves), then serve with oyster crackers.
New England coastal tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
New England (Massachusetts). Rocky coast and the creamiest clam chowder in the union.
🗺️
United States. Regional cooking shaped by migration and the land.
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North America. A collision of Indigenous, colonial, and immigrant tables.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩‍🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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