Seafood Chowder is a delicious, rich creamy soup that is table ready in about 30 minutes!
Tender shrimp, fish and scallops are combined in a creamy white wine broth with veggies. This flavor packed chowder recipe is a comfort food that can be easily enjoyed at home any day of the week!
A really great New England Clam Chowder is one of our favorite ways to enjoy a bowl of comfort food. There is just something so belly warming about a creamy bowl of seafood goodness! This chowder recipe can be prepared on a weeknight because it cooks really quickly!
What is Chowder?
So what makes a soup a chowder?
A chowder is a type of soup that most often (not always) has a creamy base and is chunky in texture. There are a few variations of chowder: clam chowder, corn chowder, and of course, this seafood chowder!
I start by simmering the veggies in seafood or chicken broth for great flavor and then add in the seafood and cream to cook at the end! Chowders can sometimes be thickened using a roux and in the case of this seafood chowder recipe, the potatoes also provide quite a bit of starch to help it thicken it!
Seafood chowder is a complete meal on its own loaded with shrimp, scallops and fish. We add in a side of Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits or Cheddar Bay Biscuits to sop up any of the creamy goodness at the bottom of the bowl!
When I make seafood chowder recipe, I always add corn for a color and a hint of sweetness. If you have extra vegetables you need to use up, this dish is perfect for it! Mushrooms, peppers, or peas all make great additions to this chowder!
How to Make Chowder
While some chowders take longer to cook (like my fave Slow Cooker Corn Chowder) this easy recipe is table ready in about 30 minutes!
- Cook onion in butter. Add flour.
- Add veggies, broth and wine and cook until tender.
- Stir in cream and seafood and simmer a few minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
You can add any kind of seafood into this chowder recipe; lobster, crab, salmon… just be mindful of cooking time so your seafood doesn’t overcook!
More Creamy Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Baked Potato Soup – Comforting!
- Creamy Sausage & Cabbage Soup
- Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup – Creamy and delicious!
- Easy Crock Pot Ham and Potato Soup
- Zuppa Toscana – Family favorite!
Creamy Seafood Chowder
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 rib celery sliced
- 1 carrot sliced
- 1 pound potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ cup corn kernels
- 5 cups chicken broth or seafood broth
- ½ cup white wine
- 8 ounces white fish like cod, salmon, tilapia or haddock, cut into chunks
- 8 ounces sea scallops
- 12 ounces medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 6.5 ounces chopped clams canned, drained
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Cook onion in butter until tender. Add flour, Old Bay seasoning and thyme and cook 2-3 minutes.
- Add carrot, celery, potato, corn, broth and wine & bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in seafood and cream. Cook until fish is fully cooked and flaky and potatoes are tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Soup
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REPIN This Creamy Chowder Recipe
It was very delicious, easy and quick. would like ro use bacon fat instead of butter.
Could I fry a few slices of bacon and use 1/4 cup bacon fat instead of the butter?
I think it’d be great!
The seafood chowder looks delicious But I’m not a fan of all the other fish ingredients. Could it be made with just shrimp, scallops, crab without altering the basic flavor of the chowder.
Thanks Matti
It will change the flavor but will still be delicious. Enjoy, Madeline!
I enjoyed the texture of the soup, it’s silky and smooth. The flavor is balanced of flavors. But most of how simple the recipe is to make. I highly recommend it!
Hi Holly
Question, I am a bit sensitive to heavy cream.
Is there a way to modify this recipe a bit on the
cream?
Thank You,
Bette
Hi Elizabeth, I have had good results with using a lactose free heavy cream in this recipe.
Fantastic recipe, easy to prepare. I added smoked salmon to give a light Smokey background
probably a silly question – does the stock need to be hot or cold?
Either is fine, mine is usually at room temperature when I cook.
Made almost exactly to recipe, just swapped the can of clams for can of crab due to what I had on hand, and it was wonderful! Thanks
Amazing and simple very tasty I love it I make it all the time now! Thank you!
Delicious! Added more veggies and all the leftover seafood from Christmas! So so good used both boxed chicken and seafood stock. Total keeper