Gordon Ramsay’s clam chowder is smoky, creamy and loaded with tender clams that taste properly of the sea. The secret is steaming the clams open in white wine first and using that liquor as the base of the broth, which gives it a depth you just can’t get from stock alone.
I built this around two of Ramsay’s techniques that work perfectly together. The chowder base follows his Cullen Skink from Great British Pub Food, where he sweats aromatics in butter, cooks waxy potatoes until golden and partially blends for body. The clam handling comes from Quick and Delicious, where he steams them in wine and strains the liquor through a cloth because clams always carry grit that will ruin the soup if you skip that step.
The bacon pairing is his too. In Great British Pub Food he cooks clams with smoked bacon in his Cod with Clams dish, and the combination is brilliant here because the smokiness from the bacon and the brininess from the clams meet in the cream. That contrast is what makes a proper chowder feel like something special rather than just another bowl of soup.
Gordon Ramsay’s Clam Chowder
Course: Soup, Main4-6
15
minutes25
minutes350
kcal40
minutesMedium
A clam chowder built from Gordon Ramsay’s Cullen Skink method and his clam techniques from Quick and Delicious. Clams steamed in white wine, smoky bacon, waxy potatoes and cream, partially blended for a thick base with chunky pieces. About £11 to make, serves 4 to 6.
Ingredients
1kg (2.2 lb) fresh clams, scrubbed and rinsed
150ml (⅔ cup) dry white wine
20g (¾ oz) butter
1 tbsp olive oil
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
2 banana shallots or 1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
400g (14 oz) waxy potatoes such as Charlotte, peeled and diced
Few thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
100ml (⅓ cup) double cream
Sea salt and black pepper
Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to garnish
Directions
- Steam the clams: Put the clams in a large pan over a high heat with the white wine. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan once, until the shells open. Strain through a sieve lined with a cloth into a bowl to catch the liquor. Pick the clam meat from the shells and set aside. Discard any that haven’t opened.
- Cook the bacon: Melt the butter with the oil in a large saucepan. Add the bacon and fry until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove half the bacon and set aside for garnish.
- Sweat the aromatics: Add the shallots and garlic to the pan with the remaining bacon. Cook gently for 5 minutes until soft.
- Cook the potatoes: Add the diced potatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Stir through for a minute, then pour in the strained clam liquor and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
- Partially blend: Remove the bay leaf and thyme. Use a stick blender to give the soup a few pulses so some of the potato breaks down and thickens the broth, but keep it chunky.
- Finish: Stir in the cream and the clam meat. Warm through gently for 2 minutes without boiling, or the clams will toughen. Season with pepper and taste before adding salt because the clam liquor is already salty. Ladle into warm bowls, scatter over the reserved crispy bacon and chopped parsley.
FAQs
Can I use tinned clams instead of fresh?
Yes, and honestly they’re easier to work with if you’ve never cooked with fresh shellfish before. Drain a 290g tin, keep the brine and use it where the recipe calls for clam liquor. You won’t need the white wine step at all. The flavour is a bit milder than fresh but the bacon picks up the slack, so you’ll barely notice the difference in the finished bowl.
How much does this chowder cost to make?
About £11 for 4 to 6 bowls, and most of that is the clams at around £6 to £7 per kilo from the fish counter. Ask for palourde clams if your fishmonger has them because they’re meatier than small carpet shells. Bacon, potatoes, cream and wine fill in the rest for about £4.
It works well with creamy coleslaw on the side or before a scallop risotto if you’re doing a seafood night.
Why add the clams right at the end?
Because they turn rubbery within seconds of overcooking, which is something Ramsay warns about across all his seafood recipes. Two minutes on the gentlest heat is enough to warm them through. If you boil them in the chowder they’ll shrink and go chewy, and no amount of cream will fix that.
Do I need to soak the clams first?
Give them 20 minutes in cold salted water before cooking. This helps them spit out any sand trapped inside, which is the same reason you strain the cooking liquor through a cloth afterwards. One gritty spoonful is all it takes to put someone off the whole bowl, so it’s worth the extra step.
