Grab your favorite bowl  and help yourself to a few ladles of thick, rich, creamy Seafood Chowder to warm your heart and belly with an almost decadent combination of red potatoes, celery, shrimp, lobster, fish, scallops, crab, clams, and oysters. I can promise you if you enjoy seafood this remarkably simple easy to follow a recipe for Seafood Chowder is going to make your day.

When I was a child, I loved when my father would make his Chowder after all it was one of my favorites that he cooked… Sometimes he would make what he called a “Fisherman’s Chowder” which was utterly delicious even though the only seafood ingredient would be fish he had caught when he took the boat out that day.

Chowder is an extremely forgiving  and friendly recipe that has generated several variations over the years ranging from extremely traditional to a simple recipe that includes potatoes and only corn (Potato Chowder) so believe it our not you can pretty much add or omit ingredients and change this recipe to suit your taste and budget very easily.

I love seafood so below you will find my recipe does contain shrimp, lobster, fresh fish, scallops, crab meat, and clams I always say, Go big if you can and enjoy what you love. The recipe may be a little extravagant however, the directions and method fairly easily follow.

Seafood Chowder Recipe

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, roughly diced
• 4 stalks of green celery,sliced
• 6 cups shrimp or fish stock
• juice of 1 lemon
• 6 to 8 sprigs fresh dill, chopped
• A pinch of tarragon
• 2 dried bay leaves
• Kosher salt,to taste
• freshly ground black peppercorns,to taste
• 8 small red potatoes, skin on, cut into 1×1 inch pieces
• 3 pounds of seafood mix (shrimp, lobster, fish, scallops, crab, clams, oysters)
• 1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
• chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, melt butter over medium heat; sauté celery and onion about 4 minutes. Add 6 cups of fish stock or shrimp stock, lemon juice, chopped dill, a pinch of tarragon, bay leaves, kosher salt and freshly ground peppercorns to taste. Next, add red potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes.
2. Add your choice of  a seafood a mix such as shrimp, lobster, fish scallops, crab, clams, oysters whatever you desire. Be sure not to overcook seafood as it cooks very fast about 5-7 minutes in simmering soup will be more than enough to thoroughly cook most seafood.
3. Completely remove from heat and let set on a heat resistant area for about 8-10 minutes while the Seafood Chowder slightly cools.
4. Once 8-10 minutes have passed slowly add heavy cream little at a time and any additional salt and pepper you may desire .
5. Place in desired serving bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

 We were picked as one of the 30+ Soups to Warm the Soul for this recipe!

What an honor to be picked as one of the 30+ Soups to Warm the Soul by one of our favorite Photographers and Lifestyle Bloggers – A Dish of Daily Life Blog 

Notes:

1. You can easily make homemade shrimp or fish stock and there are several great recipes on the net, however, in a pinch most local grocers also sell it.
2. If you are unable to purchase fresh seafood you may also substitute quality  frozen seafood, be sure to look if it’s raw or cooked to adjust time as not to under or over cook.
3. Heavy cream may also be substituted with half and the half, you may need to use a thickener to make Chowder desired thickness.

© Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material or photos without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner are strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. You may not copy and paste recipes to share on Social Platforms.