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Looking for the best seafood chowder recipe? This creamy, hearty chowder is loaded with shrimp, white fish, and tender vegetables. It’s easy to make and perfect for seafood lovers!
What Our Readers Are Saying…
Simply remarkable!! Easy to follow step by step directions. I used the seafood I had which was fresh cod, shrimp, jumbo lump crab meat and quohogs. Can not wait to make it again!! Loved it!! – Art
This is hands down the best chowder I have ever had. Everyone raves about it and asks when I’m going to make it next. I have to make double batches just to have some left over. 🙂 – Ginger
I made it exactly to the recipe using halibut and shrimp it turned incredible. I will definitely make it again. Thank you – Brad
A Restaurant Quality Recipe
Get ready for the best seafood chowder recipe! It is my absolute favorite. It’s even better than the seafood chowders I’ve had at fancy seaside restaurants. The broth is seasoned with garlic, onions, hot sauce, thyme, and more flavorful ingredients. You can add tender red potatoes, cod, crab meat, lobster, scallops, or any seafood you like.
This recipe shares similarities with our Clam Chowder recipe, but even easier and more versatile. To complete the perfect seafood feast, serve this chowder with homemade buttermilk biscuits, hot and cheesy garlic bread, or easy cornbread.
🩷 Erica
Table of Contents
- Seafood: shrimp and a firm white fish (cod, halibut, or haddock are all great options).
- Vegetables: red potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, leeks.
- Seasonings: Old Bay Seasoning, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, salt, pepper.
- Liquids: half & half, chicken broth, clam juice, milk.
How to Make Seafood Chowder
- In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, sauté celery, onions, leeks, and garlic in butter over medium heat.
- Add chicken broth, clam juice, potatoes, carrots, all seasonings, and Tabasco sauce.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Potatoes should be almost fork-tender.
- Season shrimp and fish with Old Bay Seasoning.
- Add shrimp and cod to the chowder and simmer until shrimp turns pink and fish flakes easily (about 7-8 minutes).
- Add half and half to the chowder. combine flour and milk in a separate bowl and stir until flour is dissolved.
- Slowly stir the flour/milk mixture into the chowder until it reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove bay leaves. Serve with crusty bread or oyster crackers.
Pro Tips and Variations
- Sauté seafood first: Browning the shrimp and fish in a little butter before adding them to the chowder adds delicious flavor.
- Add-ins: Corn, bacon, or even a sprinkle of cheese can take this chowder to the next level.
- Spice it up: Add a few extra dashes of Tabasco sauce if you like heat.
- Potato tips: Dice potatoes small for even cooking. Yukon gold potatoes can also be used.
- Don’t skip the half & half: It makes the chowder creamy and rich – totally worth it!
Frequently Asked Questions
For this seafood chowder we recommend shrimp and a firm white fish like cod, halibut, or haddock. Salmon can also be used. Scallops, crab and lobster are also great additions!
Yes, frozen shrimp, cod or halibut will work. Thaw and pat dry before coating in seasoning and adding to the chowder.
For a thicker chowder prepare a slurry with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water. Slowly add to the prepared chowder until it reaches desired consistency.
Yes, you can make it up to a day ahead and keep it in the fridge until ready to reheat. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, and be careful to avoid overcooking the seafood.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Seafood chowder can also be frozen. Store it in an airtight container and freeze for up to 4 months. Thaw frozen soup in the fridge prior to reheating on the stove-top.
READ NEXT: Easy Crockpot Soup Recipes: Cozy Meals for Cold Days
More Seafood Recipes You’ll Love
🥣 Ready to Cozy Up with a Bowl?
If you try this seafood chowder, we’d love to hear what you think! Leave a star rating and comment below and share your favorite seafood add-ins. We’d love to hear from you!
Seafood Chowder – Hearty, Creamy and Easy
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Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup celery, finely diced
- 1 cup onions, finely diced
- 1 cup leeks, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup clam juice
- 4 red potatoes, diced (Yukon potatoes work great too)
- 1 cup carrots, finely diced
- ¾ tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1½ tablespoons Kosher salt
- ¾ tablespoon thyme
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
- Old Bay seasoning, to taste
- 1 pound shrimp, uncooked, peeled, de-veined
- 2 pounds cod, or halibut or haddock, cut into 1/2-inch cubed
- 2 quarts half & half
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or stock pot, melt butter and add celery, onions, leeks and garlic over medium heat.
- When vegetables have softened, add chicken broth, clam juice, potatoes, carrots, black pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaves, and Tabasco sauce.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to medium-low heat to simmer. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until potatoes are almost fork-tender.
- Season shrimp and cod with Old Bay seasoning.
- Add shrimp and cod to the stock pot and simmer another 7-8 minutes or until fish flakes easily and shrimp turns pink.
- Add half and half. Combine flour and milk until flour is dissolved.
- Slowly stir into the chowder until you reach your desired thickness (you may not need all of it). Stir until thickened and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove bay leaves and serve with crusty bread or oyster crackers.
Notes
- Don’t like the veggies or fish in this recipe? Swap them out for your favorites!
- To prep ahead, wash and cut vegetables, cut and prepare fish, and remove shells and tails from shrimp.
- To store, keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to one month.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Hearty Soup Recipes
Like this seafood chowder? Then you’ll love these other hearty soup and chowder recipes:
Chicken and Rice Soup
Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
Corn Chowder with Bacon
Ham and Bean Soup
Can I make a larger amount and freeze the remainder?
Chowder typically doesn’t freeze well. This will be best fresh or refrigerated for up to 2-3 days. Hope this helps!
This was so good. I used shrimp, crab, cod and clams. It made so much we invited the neighbors over and we also sent some home with them and still have leftovers for tonight. Everyone loved it. Thanks!!
Oh good! I am so glad you and your neighbors enjoyed this recipe! The combination you did sounds SO good! YUM! Thanks so much for the 5-stars!
I use shrimp and lump crab meat! Awesome soup!
Thank you, so glad you like it!
Oh yum! Great way to use up lump crab meat 😀
Would substituting seafood broth (or stock) instead of chicken broth be okay or would it be too salty? And still ok to add the clam juice? Also, is the clam juice from the can of clams the same as the bottle of clam juice (w/out any clams)?
I haven’t used seafood broth before, so I can’t speak to how it would change the recipe. Clam juice is different than what comes out of the can – it actually contains extract of clams.
Made it for diner toning using frozen sea food mix-shrimp, scallops, clams, calamari, crab, and lobster except our 5 qt dutch oven couldn’t hold it all so we shorted 1 quart of half and half and thickened the mixture with corn starch. Sprinkled crispy bacon pieces on top too. It was delicious, we’ll be looking forward to eating this as a leftovers for the next couple of meals.
Oh yum! That sounds delicious! Love the idea of using a big seafood mix. Thank you for sharing!
It was very liquidity added extra flour i like thick stand your spoon up thick
Yes, definitely, if you like it thicker you can add more flour or some cornstarch!
Does anybody know the calorie count for this dish? Thanks!
Hi
I’m making this chowder for a large group as a first course so I’d like to make it a day ahead. Does it work well made a day before serving?
Thanks
Hi Janet– it tastes best fresh, but you should be able to make it a day ahead and re-heat. Hope this helps!
hi I am currently at my client’s house trying to make this recipe for him, you say three onions I’m sorry potatoes hi I am currently at my clients house trying to make this recipe for him, you say 3 I’m sorry potatoes but not what size or how much. Please reply to my email address as checking this website is very time consuming
Hi Ddra– I am sorry we weren’t able to respond to this in time. Next time you have an urgent question– please e-mail (see “contact”) us as sometimes we are able to respond to e-mails more quickly than comments. We are getting SO many comments right now because of the holidays and we must answer them in the order received. Hope the chowder turned out ok for you!
FEEDS HOW MANY?
This should make about 8-12 servings, depending on if you serve as a main dish or a side dish. Hope this helps!
I am making this tomorrow morning around 10 a.m. PST Friday. Your recipe is very vague regarding potatoes. Red come in multiple sizes. Can’t you just say cups, small medium large potatoes?
. Diced, what size is this?
Finely diced, same thing. Please reply to my email address, it is very difficult and time-consuming to come back to this recipe.
Thank you for your comment, as we get hundreds of comments and e-mails it is extremely difficult to respond to each one in less than 48 hours. We try to answer emails/comments as quickly as possible and answer them in the order that we receive them. For the potatoes, you can dice them any size you would like– we like them to be about 1/2″ dices. It should be about 4-5 cups of diced potatoes. Hope this helps!
Easy recipe to follow and the chowder turned out great!! Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
This chowder was really good! I followed the recipe, except left out the leek. My young kids even liked it! Will definitely make again soon!
In your ingredients list, you mention the quantity “c” . I am not familiar with it. Is it a cup? Thank you.
Yes, c = cup Hope that helps!
I’m from Australia
I’m from Australia can you give me a substitute for old bay seasoning we don’t have it in Australia.Faye
You can use any kind of seafood or all-purpose seasoning salt if you can’t find “Old Bay” brand. Hope this helps!
I am trying this tonight with shrimp and scallops. Also have to make a few changes due to food allergies. Can’t wait to try this!
Hubby is allergic to clams. Is there anything I can substitute for the clam juice?
You can use chicken broth
How many cups or servings does this make? It looks like quite a lot.
It makes about 6-8
Could you use crawfish tails or catfish filets instead of the cod?
Absolutely! You can add whatever seafood that you think would go well!
How much Old Bay do you like to use? Thanks.
Approximately a teaspoon, but usually I just sprinkle it on until it looks like it is well seasoned. Does that make sense?
A nice soup recipe. Thank you.