New England Clam Chowder
Living in Boston has made me really crave the region’s famous clam chowder, especially during the winter. Unfortunately, clams are pretty expensive & sell out pretty quickly. If you’re an avid cook, you’ll probably have most of these ingredients in your fridge, so your biggest splurge would be the clams. You can always use the canned clams or frozen ones, but they won’t be as fresh. It’s completely reasonable & acceptable if you’re on a budget! My recipe for this delicious chowder is much lighter in terms of calories, butter content, & cream. I believe you can still make an amazing clam chowder without the bacon grease & the cream, but maybe I’m just crazy.
Prep Your Clams in Advance
You’ll want to buy the clams early–either a day before or about 4 hours before you make the chowder. Gently rinse the clams with cold water, picking off any ocean debris. Place the clams in a large bowl, filling it with just enough cold water to cover the clams. Add about 2-3 Tbsp sea salt or kosher salt per pound of clams into the water to emulate an ocean environment for the clams. If preparing the night before, place the clams in the fridge overnight or leave the clams in a cool area for 2 hours. The clams will do what they do best: filter, allowing you to enjoy clean clams. When the water gets really murky & dirty, change out the water, gently rinse the clams, & refill the bowl with cold water to allow the filtering to go on for another 2 hours until the water is cleaner.
New England Clam Chowder
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Low Lactose
Description
Lactose intolerant but love a good clam chowder? Me too, bestie. This recipe uses alternative lactose-free ingredients without sacrificing the creaminess of great clam chowder.
Ingredients
Prepping the Clams
- 4 cups of cold water per pound of fresh clams
- 2 Tbsp sea salt or kosher salt per pound of fresh clams
- 1 large bowl, glass is recommended
- colander
For the clam broth
- 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter or 1 Tbsp ghee
- 1 cup dry white wine, sherry, or light beer
- 1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 lbs fresh live steamer, cherry stone, or little neck clams, cleaned & prepped
For the chowder
- 4 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1/4 cup potato starch or all-purpose flour
- 2 cups unsweetened, unflavored oat milk (or any nut or grain milk)
- 1 large yellow or white onion, diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups celery, chopped (~6 celery ribs)
- 2 cups carrots, peeled & roughly chopped (optional; roughly 4 medium carrots)
- 5 cups russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled & cubed into half-inch chunks (~6 medium potatoes)
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp white pepper
- pinch of paprika (optional)
- salt to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
Instructions
Prep the Clams
- Place the clams in a colander & gently rinse the clams in cold water, removing any visible ocean debris. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix in salt with cold water until the salt is dissolved. Gently add the clams to the salt water.
- Set aside in a cool area for 2 hours or set in the fridge overnight to filter out ocean gunk.
- Gently rinse the clams in a colander & toss out the dirty water. Set aside rinsed clams. Depending on how dirty the water was, you may want to let the clams filter for another 2 hours in salty, cold water again. When in doubt, do a second filter.
- Keep the clams in cold, salty water until you’re ready to make the chowder.
Make the Clam Broth
- In a large soup pot (or dutch oven), melt the butter before adding the vegetable broth, wine/beer, seasoning, & bay leaves to boil on medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to a simmer & gently add in the clams. Cover the pot with a lid & cook until clams begin to open; roughly 10-15 minutes. If any clams remain closed after 20 minutes of cooking, toss them out. They died before getting into your pot & eating them could make you sick.
- Remove the pot from heat & set aside to cool.
Make the Chowder
- Making a roux. In a large dutch oven (or a large soup pot), melt butter on low heat. Sift in starch/flour, stirring with a wooden or silicone spoon until smoothly incorporated with butter. It should look like a very thick paste; roughly 5-7 minutes. Whisk in milk until the paste is completely dissolved. Set the roux aside in a separate bowl.
- Sweat onions, celery, & carrots with salt on medium-low heat in the dutch oven, stirring often for about 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to brown the onions.
- When onions become translucent, add potatoes, pepper, paprika, garlic, parsley, & vinegar. Cover pot to cook on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes until potatoes have softened. Stir occasionally.
- When clams are cool, remove them one by one from their shell & place the meat in a separate bowl, discarding the shells. Combine the clam broth with the vegetables, stir, & cover. Bring to a boil on medium heat, reducing to a simmer. Allow potatoes to tenderize for roughly 15 minutes.
- Stir the roux into the pot. The broth should thicken considerably & turn white & creamy.
- Return to the clams; place a few sheets of parchment paper atop your cutting board & slice clams. You can also choose to leave them whole.
- Once the potatoes are cooked to your liking & the broth is thickened to your liking, add the clams & cook for an additional 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Ladle chowder into serving bowls & garnish with chopped chives, parsley, &/or lemon wedge.
- When the broth thickens to your liking, stir in the clams, cook for an additional 5 minutes on medium & top with fresh chives.
Notes
- If you want to thicken the broth further, mix potato starch with milk &/or white wine or beer in a separate bowl BEFORE you add it to the chowder. Adding dry ingredients into the boiling soup will cause clumping.
- If the chowder is too thick, dilute it with more vegetable broth.
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Mains, Soups
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: New American, New England
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 10
Keywords: pescetarian, seafood, chowder, soups, mains, pescatarian, lactose-free, New American, New England
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