Recipes Soup Chowder Our 24 Best Chowder Recipes By Maria Yagoda Updated on August 6, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: © STEPHANIE MEYER From the tomato-based Manhattan Clam Chowder to creamy Corn, Crab, and Shrimp Chowder, this array of both rich and hearty chowder recipes will keep you satisfied and comforted during the darker, chillier months. Whether you like your chowders packed with fresh seafood as in our Southwest Seafood Chowder, or loaded with sweet corn like the Raw Sweet Corn and Cashew Chowder, we have a recipe for you. 01 of 24 PEI-Style Smoky Clam Chowder Graydon Herriott Finnan haddie, or cold-smoked cured haddock, gives this brothy chowder a deep, clean, smoky foundation that highlights sweet clams without overwhelming them. Using a mixture of lightly mashed potatoes and half-and-half to thicken and enrich the soup gives it a silky, but not heavy, texture. Get the Recipe 02 of 24 Shrimp and Corn Chowder Greg DuPree In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best. Chef and author Maricel Presilla's fantastic coastal Ecuadoran shrimp chowder is made with grated plantain, which gives the soup a wonderfully light and creamy body. Serve it with Presilla's Tangy Corn Salsa for extra crunch and dimension of flavor. Get the Recipe 03 of 24 Smoked Fish Chowder Any local smoked fish, from haddock to trout, works well in this creamy chowder studded with corn kernels and tender chunks of potato. The recipe is also terrific made with fresh cod or sole and a little bacon for smokiness. Get the Recipe 04 of 24 Corn Chowder with Bacon and Sea Scallops © ERICKA MCCONNELL Look for sugar-cured bacon, which is smoky and sweet but mild enough not to overpower the other flavors here. The scallops are cooked in the reserved bacon fat for an extra layer of deliciousness, and Tabasco gives the soup just a tinge of heat. Pair this dish with a medium-bodied Chardonnay. Get the Recipe 05 of 24 Curry-Coconut Clam Chowder, Papi-Style © Chris Court One of Roi Choi's first chef jobs was at a Los Angeles country club where he made New England clam chowder every Friday. This lighter version includes green curry paste, coconut milk, and plenty of lime juice. Get the Recipe 06 of 24 Smoked Whitefish Chowder © ROLAND PERSSON To make this lightly smoky chowder, 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini cleverly cooks potato chunks in milk and cream, which both enriches the potatoes and thickens the broth. He also adds corn and a mix of herbs to brighten the flavor. Get the Recipe 07 of 24 Whitefish, Leek, and Celery Chowder with White Beans © Marcus Nilsson F&W Culinary Director at Large Justin Chapple puts his own spin on chowder here, using beans instead of potatoes, and smoky whitefish in place of bacon. It's hearty and delicious but lighter and fresher than most chowders. The soup is garnished with celery leaves, chives, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, then served with crusty bread. Get the Recipe 08 of 24 Raw Sweet Corn and Cashew Chowder © Frances Janisch Whole food chef and wellness expert Ani Phyo likes to add a handful of spinach or soft lettuce to this unique plant-based chowder. "Then it becomes part-soup, part-salad," she says. Be sure to use fresh corn here. Get the Recipe 09 of 24 Corn and Cod Chowder © BEN DEARNLEY With its all-American ingredients, this New England-style chowder is a comfort-food classic. The soup needs only bread, or traditional oyster crackers, as an accompaniment. If you prefer, sub out the cod for another firm, mild fish such as pollack, orange roughy, or ocean perch. Get the Recipe 10 of 24 Southwest Seafood Chowder © David Malosh As a native New Englander, chef Steve Sicinski loves clam chowder but prefers making a leaner version with Southwestern flavors. Here, he includes clams, halibut, and shrimp in his tomatoey ancho chile-based broth. Get the Recipe 11 of 24 Shrimp and Smoked Oyster Chowder © John Kernick There are several tricks to this terrific chowder from chef Linton Hopkins. He adds potato chunks to the broth for thickness, then pours in a little low-fat buttermilk for creamy tanginess. And instead of fatty bacon, he uses smoked oysters to give the chowder a slightly woodsy flavor. Get the Recipe 12 of 24 Smoked Trout Chowder © FRANCES JANISCH Smoked fish — already cooked and intensely flavorful — is an ideal addition to dishes when time is of the essence. We've used trout here, but another flaky fish, such as haddock or whitefish, would work just as well. Get the Recipe 13 of 24 Creamy Shrimp, Corn, and Tomato Chowder Fredrika Stjärne Television chef Carla Hall has a surprise ingredient in this recipe: a can of creamed corn. She uses it to add sweet corn flavor to her lightened take on chowder and to thicken the broth in place of too much cream or flour. The optional tablespoon of anise-flavored liqueur provides even more depth of flavor. Get the Recipe 14 of 24 Smoky Ham and Corn Chowder © Yunhee Kim This simple but luxurious ham and corn chowder is given a boost of flavor by simmering the scraps — ham rind and corn cobs — in water to make a quick, tasty stock. Get the Recipe 15 of 24 Seafood and Seaweed Chowder Caitlin Bensel A combination of dry hard cider and dried seaweed brings a sweet, mild salinity to the stock, making it ideal for precooking the mussels and clams before using it as the base of the chowder. Get the Recipe 16 of 24 Cupe (Peruvian Shrimp and Corn Chowder) © RAYMOND HOM In Peru, small streams wend their way from the mountains to the coast, and the delicious shrimp that fill them are cooked with local corn, squash, and potatoes to make this South American chowder called cupe. Don't peel the shrimp before cooking them in the first step: The shells will flavor the cooking oil, which in turn will flavor the soup. Get the Recipe 17 of 24 Tomato Clam Chowder © CON POULOS This simple, lean tomato clam chowder is made from a combination of juicy grilled tomatoes, clams, potatoes, and herbs. Have your ladle at the ready for inevitable bowl refills. Get the Recipe 18 of 24 Smoky Oyster Chowder with Bacon, Rosemary, and Fennel © MARCUS NILSSON This velvety chowder from chef Dylan Fultineer is thickened with a classic flour-and-butter roux. He packs it with plump oysters and tender fingerling potatoes, and adds a kick of heat from dried red chiles. For extra flavor, he uses bacon from Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams in Tennessee, which is famous for its intense smokiness. Get the Recipe 19 of 24 Quinoa Chowder with Feta and Scallions © Scott Hocker Feta and scallion garnishes give this quinoa chowder a surprisingly rich finish. It can easily be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated for up to three days. Get the Recipe 20 of 24 Fall River Clam Chowder © David Malosh Emeril Lagasse's chowder recipe from the 2007 Food & Wine Classic combines all the traditional elements: clams, bacon, potatoes, and corn. Half-and-half lends the soup some creaminess, and its flavor is built with a mirepoix, bay leaf, cayenne, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and Old Bay Seasoning. Get the Recipe 21 of 24 Corn, Crab, and Shrimp Chowder © STEPHANIE MEYER Chef Andrew Zimmern adds depth to his rich seafood chowder by making an easy stock with corn cobs and shrimp shells. Plenty of cream and butter make this chowder irresistibly decadent. Get the Recipe 22 of 24 Manhattan Clam Chowder Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This recipe for Manhattan Clam Chowder — known for being tomato-forward with a broth base — has layers of flavor, from the clam broth spiked with white wine to the tender vegetables that are cooked in bacon fat. Half of the clams are roughly chopped, while the other half are left whole in their shells for contrast. Get the Recipe 23 of 24 Chicken and Garlic Chowder © Tina Rupp The beauty of this recipe is that it takes advantage of an array of terrific prefab ingredients, from prepeeled garlic and precut butternut squash to rotisserie chicken and frozen sofrito (the Spanish green pepper and onion seasoning paste). Poaching the prepeeled garlic cloves in milk helps bring out an extraordinary depth of flavor. Get the Recipe 24 of 24 Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Mashed Potatoes © Lucy Schaeffer Simmering dill seeds with corn and shrimp makes a delectable soup. Instead of the traditional cubes of potato throughout the chowder, we've put a mound of creamy mashed potatoes in the center of the bowl. This comforting dish is a meal in itself. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit