Easy Clam Soup – Barefoot in the kitchen

Did you know you can make restaurant quality clam chowder in under 30 minutes? It’s easier than you might think!

Bratten’s famous clam chowder

When I was in Louisiana for Sean’s family reunion a few weeks ago, I sat down with his cousins ​​and of course the conversation turned to food. (Is it just me or does it happen to everyone? I think maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sad about it.)

Sean’s cousins, Andrea and Wendy, make an amazing New England clam chowder and were kind enough to share their recipe with me. As the story goes, many years ago there was a restaurant in Salt Lake City called Bratten’s.

Her aunt and uncle loved the clam chowder at Brattens so much that her uncle paid the owner to share the recipe when the restaurant closed in the late ’80s.

In the years since, the recipe for Bratten’s clam chowder has been shared in the local newspaper and also posted online in a few places. However, the recipe given to our family is a little different and having now tried both I am biased towards this one.

There are a few “secret” ingredients here that are not common in most clam chowder recipes.

At the end of cooking, add a dash of red wine vinegar. The vinegar enhances the flavors beautifully and you may be wondering why you haven’t added more vinegar to more recipes.

White Clam Soup

While you can certainly make a delicious soup with a simple roux and some milk, half and half, or cream, it brings out the flavors so much more when you add the extra clam juice to this soup.

There just isn’t enough clam juice in those little cans of clams. Go ahead and put canned clams and clam juice on your shopping list, because this easy clam chowder has got to be a new family favorite, too.

Clam chowder ingredients

• potatoes
• celery
• Onion
• Garlic
• clam juice
• butter
• Flour
• milk
• clams
• red wine vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• kosher salt

Easy clam chowder recipe

To make roast clam soup, start by combining potatoes, celery, and onion in a large saucepan and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt.

Add the clam juice and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes total. Take off the heat.

While the vegetables are cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir smooth.

Very slowly add 1 cup milk, whisking constantly to get a smooth consistency. Add another cup of milk just as slowly, stirring constantly.

Pour in the remaining milk, stirring constantly, and simmer on low for about 3 minutes to thicken. Don’t let this cook.

Remove from the heat and add the milk mixture to the saucepan with the tender vegetables.

Add the mussels and juice from the can to the soup along with the red wine vinegar. Season with pepper and additional salt if needed.

Only if necessary, set the pot on low heat just long enough to warm the soup.

Mussel soup without bacon

You may have noticed that many clam chowder recipes start and end with bacon. Now you know my family loves bacon, and we add it to a lot of recipes (see this clam chowder link for proof), but this particular clam chowder delivers a whole lot of great flavor without the bacon.

Rather than cooking the veggies in bacon fat, they’re simmered in clam juice to ensure the flavor shines here.

Feel free to garnish your bowls of clam chowder with crumbled bacon if you have it on hand. And while I personally don’t recommend it, my youngest son likes to pile grated cheese on top of his clam chowder.

Whatever else you put on your bowls, don’t forget the oyster crackers! (And if you’re lucky enough to have some leftover oyster crackers when the chowder is gone, try making a batch of these flavored oyster crackers for a super fun snack.)

Want some more easy soup recipes to try? Loaded with our favorite Mexican flavors; This Southwest Chicken Soup is slightly spicy with chunky tomatoes, corn, black beans and tender chicken. Best of all, it’s ready in less than 15 minutes.

This is without a doubt the best tomato soup I have ever tasted. If you have someone in your family who doesn’t like tomato soup, you can convince them otherwise with this three-ingredient recipe. It’s made die-hard fans of me and my boys.

Dill Pickle Soup is a creamy, potato soup-style soup that’s loaded with dill pickles and loads of flavor. I can pretty much guarantee you’ve never tried anything like this!

I’ve called this slow-cooker potato soup my “busy day potato soup” for years. It can be assembled and started in the crock-pot anytime 5-10 hours before eating.

For the ultimate in lightning-fast soup recipes, Chinese Egg Drop Soup is a classic, and for good reason. When I first made this recipe my kids loved it and devoured every single sip. They requested it again the next day for lunch. From start to finish, it’s ready in less than 10 minutes.