Creamy Clam Chowder Sourdough Bowl (Printable)

Rich, smoky chowder with clams and cream served in a warm sourdough bowl for ultimate comfort.

# What You'll Need:

→ Seafood

01 - 1 lb canned chopped clams, drained (reserve juice)
02 - 1 cup reserved clam juice (plus bottled clam juice to total 1.5 cups if needed)

→ Meats

03 - 4 oz thick-cut bacon, diced

→ Vegetables

04 - 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
05 - 2 celery stalks, diced
06 - 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced

→ Dairy

07 - 2 cups whole milk
08 - 1 cup heavy cream
09 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter

→ Pantry

10 - 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
11 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
12 - 1 bay leaf
13 - 1/2 tsp dried thyme
14 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

→ Serving

15 - 4 small round sourdough bread loaves
16 - Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

# How-To Steps:

01 - Slice off the tops of the sourdough loaves and carefully hollow out the centers, leaving about 1/2 inch of bread around the edges. Reserve tops for serving.
02 - In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook diced bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving about 2 tbsp of bacon fat in the pot.
03 - Add butter to the bacon fat. Sauté onion and celery for 4–5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
04 - Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to form a roux.
05 - Gradually whisk in reserved clam juice and enough bottled clam juice to make 1.5 cups total liquid. Add potatoes, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a simmer.
06 - Cover and cook for 12–15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
07 - Stir in milk and cream. Return to a gentle simmer without boiling. Add clams and half of the cooked bacon. Simmer for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
08 - Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaf. Ladle chowder into bread bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • The bread bowl isn't just theatrics; it soaks up all that creamy broth and becomes the best part of the meal.
  • Once you nail the basic technique, you can make this on a weeknight and feel like you cooked something that took all day.
  • It's the kind of dish that makes people feel cared for without requiring you to fuss in front of them.
02 -
  • If you skip the step of letting the roux cook for a full 2 minutes, your chowder will taste floury and break when it hits the cream—I learned this the hard way on my second attempt.
  • Never add cold clam juice directly to a simmering base; it will shock the temperature and can curdle your dairy, so let it sit on the counter for a few minutes first.
  • The potatoes must be completely tender before you add the cream, because they won't cook much further once the dairy goes in.
03 -
  • If your chowder breaks or looks separated when you add the cream, a simple fix is to blend a spoonful of cornstarch with cold water, whisk it in slowly, and let it simmer for a minute—this almost always brings everything back together.
  • The difference between good and great clam chowder is tasting and adjusting as you go; clams vary in saltiness, so treat salt like an instrument you're tuning rather than a measurement you're checking off.

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