Best Seafood Chowder Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do I thicken my seafood chowder? ›

Flour: Thicken the chowder up with all-purpose flour. Seasonings: Season the fish chowder with Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Evaporated milk: Evaporated milk makes the chowder even thicker and richer.

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.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

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.

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.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

1 Tbsp. flour mixed with 1 Tbsp. of butter or other fat should yield enough roux to thicken 3/4 to 1 cup of warm liquid. To avoid lumps forming, slowing whisk liquid into the roux and simmer until mixture thickens.

Customarily, chowder included onion, potatoes, and cream.

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.

For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.

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.

Which thickener is most often used in chowders? ›

A roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups and comes in three colors and strengths: white, blond, and brown. Brown roux is cooked longer to brown the flour and butter to deepen the flavor.

How Much Cornstarch to Thicken Soup? Start by using 1 tablespoon of cornstarch at a time, mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. More cornstarch slurry can be added, but be sure not to add too much. Only mix in a small amount of slurry at a time to ensure that your soup will thicken properly.

You really only have three choices when it comes to dairy for your chowder. You can use whole milk (hom*o milk), you can use heavy cream, or you can use a combination of the two. Any milk with a fat content lower than 3.25% is likely to split when heat, salt, acid, or even the seafood is added.

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.

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.

If you like a thicker gumbo, you can always increase the volume of the roux, throw some okra in the pot, or add filé powder after cooking.