Here’s a beautiful Seafood Chowder brimming with mixed seafood, tender potato, carrot, and sweet corn. The creamy soup broth is infused with seafood flavour, and the recipe is designed to be easy on your time and your wallet. It’s just gorgeous!
Seafood chowder
I feel like seafood soups often get dismissed as one of those foods that are not any good unless made with a homemade fish stock and fresh seafood. But who has time for that on a Wednesday night??
Turns out you can make a terrific Seafood Chowder without all the fuss – truthfully, I wasn’t sure until we tasked ourselves to invent this! Using fresh seafood will of course give you the best results, but seafood marinara mixes are a convenient, good-value alternative that you can get from grocery stores (deli counter or freezer section).
I also use chicken stock instead of fish stock – mass produced carton fish stock is, frankly, just awful, in my opinion. Chicken stock is neutral, and the seafood juices adds lovely flavour as the soup simmers away.
And my final touch is a cheeky dash of fish sauce to gently boost the fishy taste and umami!
Ingredients in Seafood Chowder
The baseline for this Seafood Chowder was to make it great even using frozen marinara mix which is around $16/kg at grocery stores. Even fresh marinara mixes from fishmongers typically don’t run more than $25/kg, and you can of course pick your own seafood mix!
At $16/kg, it works out at just $10 worth of seafood to feed 4 or 5. Who said you can’t enjoy seafood during a cost of living crisis? 🙂
1. The seafood and vegetables
Seafood – I used a fresh seafood marinara mix for the recipe video and photos. Fresh is preferred over frozen because you lose tasty seafood juices when the seafood thaws, but, as noted above, my baseline was to make this great even with frozen!
Seafood marinara mix – Find it at deli counters and the freezer section of grocery stores, or at the fish markets and fish mongers (they use leftover fish that didn’t sell so it’s usually fresh). Marinara mixes can be a little fish-heavy however, so you can always buy some extra prawns etc to balance it out. There is no shame in asking for just 8 raw prawns!! 🙂
Choose your own fresh seafood – Get a mix of fish, squid, small prawns/shrimp, and a handful of mussels. Peel the prawns. Have the fishmonger clean your squid. Slice head into rings and divide tentacles into 3 or 4. Soak and scrub the mussels per this recipe, then put the raw mussels in the shell into the broth, then you can either pick the meat out and discard the mussels, or serve the soup with the mussels shells (great visual impact!)
Bacon – A chowder favourite! This goes a long way to add flavour into the broth especially if you make this with frozen marinara. I love a good smoky bacon for my chowder, but any bacon is fine.
Potatoes – Another chowder classic! Any variety works fine here, starchy or waxy.
Corn and carrots – Great for colour, and vegetable sweetness and freshness, also commonly used in chowders.
No onion or celery? These are often used in chowders but I decided to skip them because they don’t improve broth flavour (so nothing lost by excluding them), and I wanted this chowder to be seafood rather than vegetable forward. If you add them, the chowder is very,,,,cluttered. 🙂 Stew-like! Still delicious though, so feel free to increase the vegetables in this, I’ll pop some ideas and guidance in the FAQs.
2. broth
Here’s what you need for the seafood soup broth. Secret ingredient – fish sauce! 🙂 (See rantings above about store-bought fish stock)
Chicken stock or homemade fish stock – If you are lucky enough to have some homemade fish stock on hand, this is definitely the best option! But store bought chicken stock does a great job here and this recipe was designed to taste great using that. Chicken stock is way preferred over store bought fish stock which is Awful with a capital A (the mass produced stuff, that is, if your fish monger sells homemade fish stock I am sure that is terrific!).
The chowder broth does not taste chicken-y, it has lovely seafood flavour from the seafood we poach in the broth. (Note: I am referring to liquid chicken stock here, not powder reconstituted with water which is more artificial tasting).
Fish sauce (secret trick!) – My little trick to pack in a bit of extra umami and seafoody-ness (is that even a word?!), taking the place of flavourless salt. You cannot taste it at all, and the fish sauce functions as a background seasoning. More subtle than using anchovies which I also considered. Totally optional, just use salt if you don’t have it or don’t want to use it.
Cream – I like cream for this recipe because it adds the creaminess without diluting the broth, unlike milk. If you are calorie-conscious, feel free to use milk instead, or reduce the cream though I would not go any lower than half a cup (125ml).
Butter – Feel free to substitute with a neutral vegetable oil, but butter has more flavour.
White wine – This adds a touch of extra depth of flavour into the broth. Preferably use chardonnay, or another dry white. Don’t use anything too sweet or too woody. If you cannot drink alcohol, leave it out, it’s not a deal breaker in this recipe.
Flour – This thickens the broth. Some chowders don’t use flour so the broth is very watery. I do not think I can get my head around that!
White rather than black pepper – To keep the soup a beautiful unblemished white colour and avoid little black spots. But I promise you won’t destroy your chowder if you use black pepper instead!
Chives or parsley – Optional garnish. It is nice to have something fresh and green on an otherwise very white soup. 🙂
How to make Seafood Chowder
There is a handful of “turn stove up” “turn stove down!” directions, but I know you can handle it – turn the knob one way, then the other. You got this! 🥰 Other than stove strength changes, this is very straight forward. 🙂
Prepare marinara mix – Separate the raw and cooked seafood (usually mussels, sometimes prawns/shrimp). They will go into the soup at different times. Then cut large fish pieces into ~2.5cm/1″ pieces.
💡Note: Unlike some seafood dishes, I feel like chowder is more forgiving so you don’t need to be overly meticulous about the size of the seafood pieces and cooking them for the exact time required so they are perfectly cooked. Relax. 🙂 This recipe is intended to be easy!
Bacon first – Cook the bacon in the butter until light golden, then remove with a slotted spoon so you leave the butter and bacon fat in the pot. We are not wasting a scrap of flavour!
Deglaze – Give the garlic a quick sauté in the butter, then simmer the wine rapidly on high heat until mostly evaporated which will cook out the alcohol and just leave behind the tasty flavour that will add depth to your broth. As it simmers, scrape the base of the pot to loosen any bacon golden bits so it dissolves into the wine (it’s called fond and it’s free flavour!).
Roux – Next, cook the flour for 1 minute. It will be a pastry sludge. This is called a roux, and this flour mixture is what thickens the soup broth.
Broth – Then, while stirring, slowly pour about 1 cup of the stock in. Keep stirring vigorously until the roux dissolves into the stock – it will become quite thick. Add the rest of the stock and mix until it’s lump free – use a whisk if needed (I do, quick swish is all that’s needed).
Simmer – Put the potatoes and carrots in, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every now and then so the base doesn’t catch, until the carrots and potatoes are just about done. They will only cook a little more in the next steps, so check them.
Raw seafood 3 minutes only! – Put the raw seafood in along with the cream, fish sauce, pepper and corn. Let it simmer for just 3 minutes – seafood cooks fast, and nobody wants rubbery bits of calamari in their chowder!
Cooked seafood – Then stir in the cooked seafood. No need to cook it, it will warm up in the time it gets you to take the pot off the stove and serve.
Serving – Ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkle of something green. (Chives is very classic which is what I opted for. Parsley is common, dill would also be lovely, even green onion is great).
Soup dunkers!
I feel like serving chowder with something crusty for dunking is a mandatory chowder eating rule! I am pretty sure I’ve ranted about this in the past, along with anti-carton-fish-stock rants and other matters. 🙂
Here are some options – choose the one that works best for you!
Quick and Dirty Focaccia – The SOS version of focaccia I describe as 93% as good for 30% of the effort of traditional focaccia. Very well received by readers!
The infamous Easy Artisan, NO KNEAD crusty bread – or the Cheese version (gasp!)
Herb and garlic quick bread loaf – the muffin batter sort, so it’s much faster to make than yeast-based breads. The buttery herby garlic flavour in this is everything! The Cheese muffin version is also excellent, and faster to make. 🙂
GARLIC BREAD – I’m putting this in caps in the secret hope that it catches your attention that this is the one you choose!
Love to know what you think if you try this! And if you use your own seafood mix, tell me what you use! – Nagi x
FAQ – Seafood Chowder
You sure can. In the ingredients section, I made comment that I deliberately dialled it back to make an elegant white seafood-forward chowder rather than making it a colourful stew-like chowder.
To add more vegetables, my first option would be to add onion or leeks and celery which I would sauté in the butter before adding the flour. These are both quite common in chowders.
Here are some other ideas:
Frozen peas – add with the seafood
Broccoli, cauliflower – chop into small spoon sizes, add with seafood
Zucchini, green beans – sauté in the butter before adding flour
Baby or regular spinach, kale, other cookable leafy greens – stir in towards end to wilt
Cherry tomatoes (small ones) – Pop them in whole towards the end.
Fennel – This would be lovely to sauté in the butter before adding the flour, but be mindful that it will change the broth flavour (not in a bad way though!).
I personally would avoid capsicum (bell peppers) as they will change the flavour of the soup, and eggplant because they are a sponge for soup and may hog too much of the tasty broth.
The potatoes can be switched for other root vegetables – parsnip, swedes, sweet potatoes.
Yes. Make recipe as written, skipping the flour step. Mix 2 1/2 tablespoons of cornflour/cornstarch with the 2 1/2 tablespoons of water, mix that into the cream then pour it in with the cream.
Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge then heat gently on the stove (don’t microwave, it’s too harsh for delicate seafood).
This is my brother Goh’s recipe. He’s on fire at the moment! I shared his Filipino Pork Adobo a couple of weeks ago (wow, it was well received!) and I have another one of his creations coming on Friday (it’s an extra special one).
He’s our resident world-foods-expert as well as taking care of all things IT here at RecipeTin. Read more about him in the Pork Adobo FAQ section (I really need to create a bio page for him!).
This seafood chowder was one of the more simple recipes he’s made. He made a great seafood chowder for VIP a few weekends ago with homemade fish stock and fresh seafood. It was, unsurprisingly, absolutely beautiful.
I challenged him to invent a midweek version using store-bought stock and a grocery store marinara mix. Being a food snob (him) and also having a Michelin trained chef in the team who had to give it his tick of approval as well, I was not convinced it was possible. Truthfully, I secretly believed he would fail. We bench a lot of recipes as “not good enough”, it just comes with the territory of what we do!
But I was proved wrong. The chowder is excellent. It’s so good, it’s hard to believe it’s made with cheap ‘n cheerful frozen marinara mix and store bought stock.
He did deploy some flavour tricks – dash of fish sauce instead of salt, start with bacon, a decent amount of butter. And absolutely nailed it!
I’ve been having a lot of “not good enough” cooking stints lately so it was actually really nice to have a simple straightforward recipe to film and photograph. The recipe coming on Friday is a big one – it took me almost 8 hours of shooting time, so I needed a simple one for today!
Watch how to make it
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Seafood Chowder
Ingredients
- 650g/ 1.3lb seafood marinara mix or mixed fresh seafood – fish , squid, prawns, cooked mussel meat (Note 1)
- 50g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 100g/ 4oz streaky bacon , chopped into 1.5cm / 1/2″ squares
- 2 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 1/2 cup chardonnay or other dry white wine (can skip)
- 1/3 cup flour , plain/all-purpose (Note 3 for gluten-free)
- 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock/broth, low sodium OR homemade fish stock (avoid store-bought fish stock) (Note 2)
- 2 medium carrots , peeled, cut into 7mm / 1/3" pieces (~1 1/2 cups)
- 2 large potatoes (any type fine), peeled, cut into 1cm / 0.2" cubes (~2 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup thickened cream / heavy cream (sub milk for lighter option)
- 1 cup corn (frozen or canned, drained)
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- Pinch white pepper (substitute black pepper)
SERVING
- 3 tbsp chives or parsley , finely chopped, for garnish
- Crusty bread or better yet, garlic bread!
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Cook bacon in butter, remove. Sauté garlic, deglaze with white wine, make roux. Add stock, simmer potato, carrots and bacon 10 min. Add cream, corn, fish sauce, pepper, raw seafood – simmer 3 min. Stir in cooked seafood, taste for salt. Serve!
FULL RECIPE:
- Marinara mix – Separate cooked seafood (usually mussels, sometimes prawns/shrimp) from raw seafood. We put them in at different times.
- Cut any large pieces of fish into 2.5cm / 1" cubes.
CHOWDER:
- Bacon – In a heavy-based pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add bacon and cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the edges are light golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove into bowl, leaving fat in the pot.
- Deglaze – Add the garlic and cook for 10 seconds (don't let it brown). Add the wine, simmer rapidly on high for 3 minutes, scraping the base to loosen any golden bacon bits, until the wine is mostly evaporated.
- Roux – Reduce heat down to medium, add the flour and mix for 1 minute ("roux").
- Broth – While stirring, pour in about 1 cup of the stock and mix to dissolve the roux – it will thicken into a paste. Add the remaining stock and stir well until lump free (use a whisk if needed).
- Simmer 10 minutes – Increase heat to high, bring to the boil, add the carrots, potatoes and bacon. Lower heat to medium and simmer for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the carrots are just about done.
- Simmer raw seafood 3 minutes – Add the cream, fish sauce, pepper, corn and raw seafood. Simmer for 3 minutes until the fish is just cooked (test – flesh should flake).
- Cooked seafood – Stir in cooked seafood, taste and add more salt if needed (I don't).
- Serve – Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with chives. Serve with warm crusty bread for dunking!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I like creamy soups!
Life of Dozer
I spotted a print on the wall of a waiting room called Pack of Dogs, snapped a photo, and after a quick Google image search, discovered it was by Bill Hope – an artist who not only lives in Sydney, but also illustrates for Andy Griffiths, the famous children’s book author I coincidentally share a publisher with (Pan Macmillan).
It just seemed to be a sign!
So I commissioned my very first Dozer artwork, and illustrated piece called Life of Dozer. 44 Dozers drawn from photos in the Life of Dozer section of this website. I love it so much!
Absolutely adorable!
I love Dozer 🥰
OMG that is so neat! Mr. Dozer is so famous, so well loved and yet do modest! 😊
What a beautiful tribute to Dozer! The artist’s drawings are fantastic. Of course, his subject is very special!
Hello to you and our lovely Dozer well I absolutely adore your sidekick and love these special touches to the home with him in it.
Seafood chowder is one of my highest ever favourite requests!! I think my recipe has a difference with smoked cod but bacon is bang for your buck here!!
I LOVE New England Clam Chowder. But how to source clams in Australia (Canberra)? I bought some tins through Iherb in America. But where to get some in Australia, please? Loving your recipes. Hope Dozer is doing OK.
Search for pipis, as they’re called in the eastern states of Australia. Canberra isn’t known for its seafood but you may be lucky enough to find some in a shop. In South Australia they are called cockles. Fresh Goolwa cockles are superb. If you can find some of these in Canberra, you are in for a treat.
I have been using your seafood chowder recipe for a while (along with soooo many others of yours) and it is always fabulous. I tweak and add depending on what’s happening in my fridge and my life and everyone I serve it to LOVES it!
Many heart felt thanks from an older foody 😘
Another one that’s so simple and straightforward that it’s going to be a Weekend Favourite of ours!
I’ve substituted Coconut Cream for the cream (no dairy in these parts) and found the coconutty flavour plays beautifully with the prawns and seafood.
Paired with the home-made bread and my out-of-home kids are starting to come round more. Beautiful, thank you lovely Nagi!
Coconut cream is a wonderful idea. I have family who cannot eat dairy, and this would make a great get-together meal with that substitution.
Love the recipe and love, love,love ‘Life of Dozer’
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This seafood chowder will definitely be on my weekend menu.
Anything fish is a winner, my favourite protein.
Absolutely love the drawings of Dozer…wish I had done something like that for my much love Golden Labrador, Gus ❤️
Love the drawings of Dozer. If I was to buy fresh seafood from the fish markets what fish would you recommend as best for the seafood chowder?
Looks delicious 😋 Can I cook this recipe earlier in the day and reheat for dinner?
Beautiful sketches of Dozer
Thanks for putting in a GF option and in the right sequence for GF flour. It means a lot to the coeliac community
Always have frozen marinara mix in the freezer. Great for chowders, spaghetti marinara, fried gnocchi and mixed seafood and so on. Create a tasty dinner in a flash. Happy cooking to all. Luv Lesley
Added my own personal touch.
Used leeks (white part only)
Very satisfying winter warmer
Are you seriously trying to tell me you just happened to have marinara mix ready to go? 🙂 GLAD YOU ENJOYED IT LESLEY!!! – N xx
Fantastic drawings of a superstar! Quick question regarding the seafood chowder-can the base be used to make clam chowder? Had it in Boston served in a bread cob-delicious!
Hi Nagi, I’ve been reading about Dozer and making your delicious recipes for about a year now. This is my first note to you. I love hearing all about your sweet Dozer. He’s a very lucky guy to have a terrific and loving mom such as you are. I’m so happy that he is getting on his feet again! And the art work is awesome. I’ll be making this chowder soon. Making the delicious pineapple upside down cake again today. I’m very happy I happened upon your recipes. I get great compliments on everything I’ve made all thanks to you. Thank you for generously sharing your recipes and your Dozer.
Sue
Hi Nagi. Absolutely love Dozer repeated over and over in artwork. Gorgeous boy. Thankyou again for great recipe. You just keep giving out. 🙌🤗
Fantastic Nagi. what an amamzing piece of art wor.k
LOVE IT.
ROBBIE UK.
Love, love your recipes and hearing about Dozer. We have a 13 year old golden too so can relate to some of the health problems. Glad he is doing so well now though!
Absolutely adore the artwork Nagi. Hugs and kisses for Dozer. The recipe looks delicious.