Seafood Chowder
A thick, creamy chowder built on a quick roux and loaded with your favorite seafood — ready in about 30 minutes.
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 stalk celery, minced
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 3 tablespoons flour (or buttermilk baking mix)
- 3 1/2 cups milk (more can be added for a thinner soup)
- 2 (10.5 oz) cans condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
- 1 1/2 lb seafood of choice — shrimp, scallops, whole baby clams, or crab, alone or combined
- chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
- Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan set over low heat, letting it melt gently rather than browning.
- Add the minced celery and onion to the melted butter and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until both are softened and tender.
- Stir in the cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried marjoram, and flour (or buttermilk baking mix, if using), mixing until the mixture is smooth and no dry flour remains — this quick roux is what gives the finished chowder its thick, creamy body.
- Pour in the milk and the condensed cream of potato soup, stirring well to dissolve any lumps. Continue cooking and stirring over low heat until the mixture is piping hot throughout.
- While the base heats, clean and prepare your seafood of choice. If using shrimp, a nice way to vary the texture is to halve some and cut the other half into smaller pieces, leaving a few whole; if your scallops are extra-large, quartering them helps them cook evenly alongside the smaller pieces of shrimp and clams.
- Once the soup base is piping hot, add the prepared seafood and raise the heat to medium. Stir occasionally and cook just until the seafood is cooked through — shrimp should turn pink and opaque, and scallops should turn firm and white, which usually only takes a few minutes.
- Ladle the chowder into bowls and finish each with a scattering of fresh chopped parsley. Serve alongside crusty bread or oyster crackers and a simple green salad for a complete meal.
Chef's Note: This chowder leans on a quick butter-and-flour roux plus canned condensed soup to build a thick, restaurant-style base in a fraction of the time a from-scratch stock would take — proof that a shortcut ingredient, used well, doesn't have to mean a compromise on flavor. The real trick is not overcooking the seafood once it goes in: a few minutes over medium heat is all it takes for shrimp and scallops to turn tender, and pushing much past that risks turning them rubbery.
Feel free to use whatever seafood you have on hand or prefer — shrimp, scallops, whole baby clams, or crab all work beautifully here, alone or in combination. If you'd like a thinner chowder, simply stir in a little more milk once everything is cooked through, adjusting the consistency to your taste.
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