The Ingredients You Can Use To Thicken Your Clam Chowder - Mashed (2024)

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The Ingredients You Can Use To Thicken Your Clam Chowder - Mashed? ›

Starches can help thicken clam chowder

If you'd like your chowder a little thicker, though, you can thicken it with a cornstarch slurry.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

What is the best thickener for clam chowder? We find that using flour to make a roux makes the perfect thickness for clam chowder, but you can also use a slurry of cornstarch and water/broth added along with the clams in the last step.

A roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups and comes in three colors and strengths: white, blond, and brown.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute.

Chowder is a soup with cream or milk mixed with ingredients such as potatoes, sweet corn, smoked haddock, clams and prawns, etc. Some cream-style chowders do not use cream, and are instead prepared using milk and a roux to thicken them.

Also referred to as “Boston-style” clam chowder, New England chowder is milk or cream-based, making it significantly thicker than other regional styles. It's often made with milk, butter, potatoes, pork, onion, and clams and accompanied by oyster crackers.

How to Thicken Soup with Rice, Bread, Potatoes or Beans. Foods like rice, bread, potatoes and beans are naturally high in starches, which, when broken down, act as a thickening agent. With rice, the grains will break down into the soup as it's simmered and stirred, releasing the starches and thickening the soup.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

Which thickener is often used in chowders? ›

White and blond roux are the most common, used to thicken sauces, soups, and chowders. Brown and dark brown roux have more flavor, but less thickening power than white or blond roux.

Starches can help thicken clam chowder

It's recommended to add more fat or more starch to the clam chowder, using ingredients such as cornstarch, flour, crackers, potatoes, or heavy cream (via Foodsguy). Adding cornstarch results in very thick clam chowders.

To do so, make a cornflour slurry by combing equal parts cornflour and cold water, broth, or soup. Add the slurry to your chowder and cook it for a few minutes to allow it to thicken without adding any unwanted taste.

One of the best and easiest ways to thicken your watery chowder is to add crackers. Try oyster crackers, which are a known accompaniment to clam chowder. Just crush and stir them into the chowder while it's cooking.