This decadent Earls Clam Chowder is rich, creamy and luxurious – reach for this perfect comfort food on a chilly day.
In the city, we have a restaurant that serves an excellent clam chowder.
Me even saying that is nothing short of a miracle, because I spent my entire growing up life loathing it.
At what point I finally saw the ‘clam chowder light’ if you will, I don’t know. But, once I embraced it ~ I am now officially a perfect-clam-chowder-hunting-queen. If I ever visit California, you bet I’m going to hunt down the best clam chowder in san francisco and the west coast.
Every restaurant similar to Fog Harbor I go to that has clam chowder – I’m ordering it, to see if it tops this recipe. So far, none of them have.
Given that this restaurant is smack dab in the middle of the city (can you say traffic?), I knew I had to come up with a way to recreate it at home and avoid all the chaos that is downtown.
I’m not gonna lie. This clam chowder is decadent. Rich, creamy and luxurious on your tongue. There is also a boat-load of clams! I use a combination of fancy baby clams, chopped and minced clams to provide a collection of flavors and texture in every bite.
For the perfect compliment to this hearty soup, serve it with the toasted bread crisps following the Clam Chowder recipe. The sea salt and cracked black pepper make the perfect scoop for sopping up all these delicious and complex flavors!
Enjoy!
Earls Clam Chowder
Earls Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 and 1/8 cups chopped roma tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon tarragon
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup clam base or substitute seafood or chicken base
- 1 1/2 cups low fat milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup unpeeled potatoes chopped, about 1/2 pound
- 43 to 45 ounces clams canned with juice (see note)
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- 2 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
- chives optional (for garnish)
Instructions
- Cook all bacon, drain, then crumble and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Set aside 2 slices of bacon to garnish and top each bowl of soup. Set aside the other 4 slices of bacon.
- Add bacon grease to a large stock pot and heat on medium-high heat until hot.
- Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, black pepper, thyme, tarragon and bay leaf. Heat on medium-high until carrots are tender, about 8 minutes more.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour (to make a roux) and heat until almost golden, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Add butter/flour mix to stock pot.
- Slowly stir in clam base, milk and heavy whipping cream, making sure there are no lumps. Add potatoes, clams with juice, and bacon and simmer on medium to medium-low heat until potatoes are soft, about 25 minutes.
Notes
Serve up these simple, yet delicious bread crisp rounds that go perfectly with this flavorful clam chowder!
Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper Crisps
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- sea salt
- cracked black pepper
- thyme
- artisan bread sliced into rounds
Instructions
- Slice artisan bread into 1/2" rounds and place on a cookie sheet.
- Melt butter in the microwave, or in a saucepan. Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter on each side of the bread.
- Sprinkle each slice with sea salt, cracked black pepper and thyme on one side.
- Place under the broiler until bubbly and golden brown. Turn bread over and and broil the other side.
- Remove and serve!
Julia says
The pursuit of the perfect clam chowder is a persuit I need to follow! I adore clam chowder – my brother makes it homemade, but I’ve never tried my hand at it. Your version looks amazing, so next time I have a hankering for clam chowder, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be trying your recipe! 🙂
Kristi says
Awesome! I keep trying them everywhere I go, but so far, this is the one I come back to every time. I hope you love it!
amy says
Can you believe I have never had a clam chowder? even though clams are one of my favourite seafoods so I am going to make this on Sunday dinner for me and my mum- I will let you know how it goes down 🙂
Kristi says
Oh Amy – if love clams, then you’ll love clam chowder! Part of the reason I never liked it, is because I didn’t like clams! Let me know how you like it!!! If you make modifications and they are fantastic, please do share!
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs says
I’ve never had the chance to try clam chowder, but it looks so wonderful that I’d love to give it a try right now. I don’t know about that restaurant’s version, but I believe that you looks spectacular and super delish! x
Kristi says
Clams are, what I think, an acquired taste – only because of their texture. They’re a bit chewy, which was always a turn-off for me. But, I kept trying and finally have decided that I love them! It wasn’t an overnight love though! It took me some time!
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
It’s been such a cold, rainy day. I would love a bowl of this clam chowder!
Kristi says
PERFECT for a cold, rainy day! I’ll bring the clam chowder – you bring the crusty, crunchy bread! 🙂
Kristi says
PERFECT for a rainy day! I’ll bring the clam chowder, you bring the crusty, crunchy bread and we’ll eat together!
Cailee @ http://hellohealthyeating.com says
Oooh I love Clam Chowder!! Perfect for a cold fall day 🙂 YUM
Kristi says
Me too Cailee! It took me a long time, but now I’m a Clam Chowder fan!
Ruby @ The Ruby Red Apron says
haha you saw the clam chowder light? Well I haven’t seen the clam chowder light yet because I’ve never tried it before. But I definitely want to try it now! You describe it so well and it looks delicious!
Kristi says
Hahaha! Clams (for me anyway) were an acquired taste – it was a texture thing that was blocking me – they are chewy. If you’re cool with that kind of texture, you’ll probably love it!
Monet says
I’m pretty picky about my clam chowder but this looks and sounds so good! Thank you for sharing. My little sister still won’t eat chowder but I’m going to convince her one of these days!
Kristi says
I was the same way! Try this one and see if she likes it! 🙂
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Perfect on a rainy cold day!! I don’t like clams maybe due to texture, but love to try this with other seafood 🙂
Kristi says
I’m with you Kiran – it took me quite a while to adapt to the texture! I’ll bet it would be good with other seafood too – maybe shrimp, or a white fish!
Johlene says
I love clams but I´ve never made clam chowder, when I look at the list of ingredients you have, I know that I will love this recipe!! It looks very tasty!!! Xx
Kristi says
Awesome! I’m so glad it sounds like you & your family will enjoy it. I love finding recipes that ‘fit’ my family!
Cindy @ Pick Fresh Foods says
Yum, on a cold day like today I could go for a big bowl of this! Looks delicious!!
Kristi says
Thanks Cindy! It was tasty!
Daniela @ FoodrecipesHQ says
Beautiful dish! It’s new to me, I’m SO willing to try it because I love clams and it’s been ages that I don’t taste them. It’s something I only eat when I go back to Italy. I definitely need to experiment more and this chowder it’s just perfect for me to start cooking new things. Hopefully a version without bacon will be good too!
Kristi says
I’m sure it will be delicious without bacon as well! I am now an official clam lover too. Enjoy!
Dana says
Do the tomatoes make this a Manhattan Style Clam Chowder; the photo doesn’t appear to be tomato based? Is Clam base an artificial seasoning; is it easily located in the grocery store; is there another option other than “base”?
This sounds great; I particularly like the variety of clams you use, great idea!
Kristi says
Hi Dana! I’ve never had “Manhattan” Clam Chowder before but according to Wikipedia, Manhattan Clam Chowder is a clear broth and this is clearly not! :-), so I would say no. My clam base referenced in the recipe is clam juice and it’s easily found in the grocery store. I hope you love it like we do. You had great questions! Good luck with the recipe! And, let me know if you have more questions!
Melissa says
This looks delicious! When do we add the non-garnish bacon?
Thanks a lot!
Melissa
Kristi says
I didn’t realize I had omitted that. I’ve updated it now – thank you Melissa for the catch!
Brian says
It always amazes me that people make comments on how good it sounds, or they dont like certain things but this version sounds/looks delicious. Why not try the recipe and then comment? I tried this recipe and it is very good. Thank you
Kristi says
Thanks Brian. I am so glad you liked it.
Terry says
Not exactly the Earls recipe but close. You can leave out the roma tomatoes. Earls just adds diced tomatoes(not romas) at the end. The russet potatoes should be baked in the oven first and then diced. Add at the same time as the tomatoes. Clam juice(nectar) no clam base. Whole milk and whipping cream. I’m pretty sure that there was no tarragon in the recipe either. Just salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. I made this chowder dozens of times at Earls. It is very tasty.
Kristi says
Awesome! Thanks Terry. I’m definitely trying your version, and I really appreciate you commenting and sharing the recipe! Cheers and good health!