Rich & Creamy Seafood Chowder
A hearty chowder chock full of clams, shrimp and crabmeat.
Equipment
- Dutch oven pot
Ingredients
- 8-10 strips bacon
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 large leek, white part only, quartered and thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
- 2 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed to thin out soup
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 4 cups half and half
- 2 (6½ oz) cans chopped clams with juice
- 6 oz shrimp
- 8 oz crab meat, shredded
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1-2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 stalks green onion, or handful of chives sliced
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp.
- Remove bacon from the pot and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain; set aside.
- Add butter to the bacon drippings and sauté the celery, leek, and onion until tender.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Sprinkle flour into the pot and stir to combine with the vegetables. Cook until flour begins to brown slightly. This is the base for a roux and will help to thicken the soup.
- Stir in the diced potato, chicken broth, clam juice from the two cans of chopped clams, salt, pepper and the bay leaf.
- Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes or until the chunks of potatoes are tender.
- Whisk in half and half to the soup. Bring to a low simmer. Cook and stir over low heat until soup thickens 5-10 minutes.
- Add in 2/3 of the cooked bacon, and season to taste with Old Bay seasoning.
- Crumble the remaining bacon.
- To serve, garnish each bowl of chowder with crumbled bacon and fresh chopped chives.