How to Make Salmon Chowder: Easy Salmon Chowder Recipe
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Sep 1, 2024 • 3 min read
When you have salmon on hand but are craving comfortable cool-weather fare, turn to this creamy salmon chowder recipe. It’s as comforting as New England–style clam chowder, but with tender chunks of salmon instead of the clams.
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What Is Salmon Chowder?
In the family of seafood chowders, salmon chowder may just be one of the most decadent. Like New England clam chowder, it features a creamy broth, studded with classic stew vegetables like carrots, celery, and diced potatoes, but instead of the clams, it’s full of tender, meltaway pieces of salmon.
A chowder is a hearty, rustic cream-based soup. Many traditional chowder recipes feature seafood ingredients, like this fish chowder recipe, while others forgo proteins in favor of vegetables or starches, like corn chowder or potato chowder.
3 Tips for Making Salmon Chowder
The strength of a chowder is in the quality of its main ingredient and the balance of its creamy broth. Here’s what to know.
- 1. Adjust the recipe to the salmon you have. Fresh salmon, canned salmon, and smoked salmon (the key to Seattle-style salmon chowder) may all be used to make salmon chowder, with varying flavors and textural results. If starting with raw, fresh salmon, choose boneless, skinless pieces (or bone and skin the fish yourself) and allow the fish enough time to cook through during the final simmer. Pre-cooked canned salmon or flakes of smoked salmon only need a minute or so to warm up.
- 2. Choose the right potato. Much of a chowder’s indelible creaminess comes from potatoes, and for that, you’ll want Russets. These fluffy, starchy potatoes thicken the stock better than Yukon Golds or red potatoes as they cook and leave behind enough of a bite to complement the rest of the ingredients.
- 3. Try homemade fish stock. Most salmon chowder recipes call for vegetable or chicken stock, but if you have any leftover fish bones or shrimp shells in the freezer, a batch of fish stock will add depth and delicate briny flavor to your chowder. (If you don’t have any bones, ask your fishmonger—they’ll often let you have them for free.)
How to Store Salmon Chowder
Store salmon chowder in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three to four days. Reheat in a pot over medium heat for best results, and adjust seasoning if needed.
Salmon Chowder Recipe
makes
prep time
10 mintotal time
45 mincook time
35 minIngredients
- 1
Add the chopped bacon to a large pot like a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook until the meat is golden brown and crispy at the edges and the fat has rendered.
- 2
Add the butter, onions, diced celery, and leeks to the cooked bacon and its drippings, and reduce the heat slightly. Sauté the veggies until they become soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
- 3
Add the clam juice and stock, and season with salt and pepper. Bring the broth to a simmer, then add the potatoes, milk, cream, bay leaf, and thyme. Cook until the potatoes are fall-apart tender and the milk broth has reduced, 10–12 minutes.
- 4
Use a spider strainer to remove most of the solids from the pot, and set them aside in a separate bowl. Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme.
- 5
Use an immersion blender to purée the cooking liquid until smooth. (Alternatively, let the liquid cool slightly, then transfer it to a high-speed, heat-safe blender, then return it to the pot.) Add the strained solids, along with the salmon pieces, back to the pot.
- 6
Add the heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the salmon is opaque and creamy, pale pink, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
- 7
Ladle the soup into serving bowls, and garnish with oyster crackers and herbs.
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