This lighter Clam Chowder, full of canned clams, potatoes, and corn, is still creamy but with less fat than most other versions.
This thick and creamy chowder is lighter and healthier than most traditional clam chowders. For some other chowder recipes, try my Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Chowder, Smoked Salmon Chowder, and Cheddar Corn Chowder with Bacon.
New England style chowder is creamy, and is usually high in fat and calories like you can see in the Bon Appetit recipe, which has over 700 calories per serving. Bacon, heavy cream and potatoes all come into play. My chowder recipe is much lighter, made with 2% milk instead of cream which reduces the calories significantly. I also blend half of the soup in a blender, which helps thicken it giving it a creamy consistency without adding cream. I also skip the bacon, but you can certainly add some if you wish.
It’s delicious served with oyster crackers or a slice of crusty bread. You could also serve it with a simple mixed green salad, this Green Bean Salad, or Wilted Baby Spinach.
What kind of clams are used for clam chowder?
I live on the bay, so naturally we have lots of clams around. But shucking clams to make soup is quite a bit of work, so using canned clams are usually my preferred choice when I want to whip up a quick meal. To make this soup quick and easy, I used canned clams in my clam chowder. While you can use fresh clams if you’re lucky to live neat the coast, canned clams are just so much easier and affordable. I also use the juice from the cans to season the soup.
How do you make clam chowder from scratch?
Making canned clam chowder from scratch is pretty easy.
- Melt the butter and cook the onions until translucent. Stir in the flour.
- Add milk, vegetable broth, clam juice, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
- Put half of the soup in the blender and blend until smooth. Return the soup to the pot.
- Add the clams and corn to the soup and more salt if needed, and then cook for five more minutes.
- Serve the soup and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love:
- Cauliflower Chowder
- French Onion Soup
- Cheddar Corn Chowder with Bacon
- Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup
- Smoked Salmon Chowder
Clam Chowder, Lightened Up
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 large white onion, chopped fine
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed small
- 3 cups 2% milk
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 10 oz cans clams, drained, juice reserved
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- kosher salt and fresh pepper
- 1 cup fresh corn
- oyster crackers, optional for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt butter. Add onions, and heat on low heat until onions are translucent, 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add flour and stir 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the milk, vegetable broth, reserved clam juice, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme and salt & pepper to taste.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.
- Remove half of the soup and discard bay leaves, put soup in blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot.
- Add clams, corn and adjust salt if needed and cook another 5 minutes.
- Serve and garnish with fresh parsley.
Do you have a preferred brand of canned clams for this recipe?
Loved the flavor and will make again. I too think a few more veggies are required; I am definitely going to double or triple the corn and maybe extra clams but not extra juice. Someone’s idea of mushrooms or spinach is a nice option.
No flavor, too thin. Sorry, but not good
Wonderful. Really close to the full fat clam chowder. I added mushrooms after the blender part plus spinach and garlic at the end with the corn.
This clam chowder is seriously the only recipe I’ll use from now on. The only change I made was I used razor clams we had harvested and froze, so I added a can of clam juice to make up for the missing broth. Then I used a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up just a bit(not because the recipe was wrong, just because I had added more liquid). It got rave reviews!!!
Love this! I slightly changed by adding a low carb take left out corn and flour and blended with cauliflower instead. Used less potatoes 🙂
Very good!
I would I like to try this but can’t use regular milk. Would coconut milk or another milk substitute work in this recipe?
I’ve used the coconut/ almond creamer made by nut pods it’s great!
Thank you for this! My mother made hers this way (thin and with milk never cream) but I never got around to learning how she made it before she passed sadly. I had some tonight and was instantly reminded of my mom. So good! Very grateful, thanks again! ❤
I love meals that invoke memories!!! Thank you for sharing!!
I love this soup, only use a quarter of a teaspoon of thyme and subbed clam juice for vegetable broth. Delicious and the texture and creaminess is wonderful! A new winter staple in my household.
I love clam chowder and after leaving our the corn which I don’t like, this was delicious!! I wish Ww would let us save your recipes. It is so petty of them while you are so helpful to Ww customers.
Hi! I’d like to input this info into WW. Is there any way of getting more complete nutritional info so that I can calculate points?
Do you use chopped clams or whole clams??
Whichever
I use both, I figure the more clam the better!
Delicious. Do you freeze left overs or leave in the fridge?
My husband was hankering for good clam chowder and we found it with this recipe! Its so easy to make, delicious and much healthier! Thank you so much for sharing this, its definitely going to be a favorite of ours.
Just got back from a weekend in “the Hamptons” our first visit and was craving clam chowder (which I passed on while there). I truly enjoyed this healthier slimmed down version last night and can’t wait for leftover lunch today!
So glad I did this one, It is now a favorite soup of ours. We loved it. I did do some swaps based on reading some reviews, used only one tab brummel and brown to saute–and used 7.5 ounces of leeks instead of onion that I happened to have, and I liked the idea of adding celery so added 1 cup chopped celery. I didn’t add corn and for us we liked without the corn, so that was fine. I had some left over steamed fingerling potato and sliced them up and added those so a bit hard to tell how much potato I added for a perfect calorie count –as already steamed they were about 12.3 ounce worth of potato. I used almond milk unsweetened. I had two types of clams in cupboard some small whole ones in a 10.5 ounce can and some larger ones in 6 ounce can (two different brands) Seemed just fine to us. I did add fresh thyme at least a tab and parsley and a bit of seasoned blend Penzey Fox Point that has a mix of salt/ pepper and herbs in it. Will make again and again. Oyster crackers are great with this.
yes it was very good
Hi your rating doesn’t match your comment. Did you mean to add 5 stars?
@hotdogboy – Your rating doesn’t match your comment. Did you mean to give it 5 stars?
This recipe was awesome! I used chicken stock because it’s what we had on hand, 3 potatoes to beef it up a little, and whole milk + some cream. Flavors were great! I’m from the east coast and was missing clam chowder – I’ve never tried to make it myself before and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is!!
Love your recipes. It would be helpful to know the serving size – 3/4 cup, 1 cup etc., especially for soups/stews.
1 1/4 cups, they are always posted below the directions
I usually love all the skinny taste recipes but not this one, I’m not sure why? It could have been me and my cooking?
I only had 2 6.5 cans of clams and 1 russet potato so I used 1/2 an onion, 1 1/2 cups milk, and 1/2 tsp thyme…left butter, flour, veg broth and corn the same. I did add some sliced celery. This was delicious! I was surprised how rich and creamy it was. A definite winner, thank you for the recipe!
Yum! Used this recipe to create a seafood chowder with clams, scallops and shrimp. Sautéed onion and celery in water to reduce fat and subbed non-dairy milk due to allergies. A hand whizzer worked great to thicken the soup. Also added a little Old Bay seasoning. This will definitely replace the high calorie, high fat version we usually make at Christmas. Thanks!
How many ounces of potatoes do you use? Thanks
Do you blend the potatoes with the soup??
Yes
Delicious and light! Will definitely make again!
Excellent recipe for clam chowder! Be sure and blend half the recipe as this gives it a lot of it’s creaminess. It has a wonderful smooth taste. We ate ours with saltine crackers for a crunchy addition. Highly recommend!
Clams are crazy expensive in my area. I ended up purchasing half the clams this recipe calls for, and then added a few drops of fish sauce, to taste, as compensation. It’s FANTASTIC!!!
I love this! It’s tasty and the texture is still really thick and creamy but so much healthier!
I made this tonight and it was great! I used Italian seasoning instead of Thyme because we like those flavors more. I also doubled the corn (two ears made two cups) and used my stick blender so I didn’t have to deal with transferring hot soup. My whole family loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!
My husband and I love Clam Chowder. He was reluctant to try this recipe because it was ‘healthy’ lol. Now its his favorite! Asks for it at least once a month, all year long. Thank you Gina for all your healthy recipes!!
Delicious!
Wow!! Doesn’t even taste lightened up!! Amazing recipe! Wouldn’t expect anything else! Did add celery per other suggestions!
This was fantastic. I made a few modifications:
– used 4 6.5oz cans of clams (with about 2c of juice)
– left out broth
– used half potatoes
– added ½ head cauliflower
– subbed 1c milk with cream
– no corn
– added ¼ cup bacon bits
– added 2tsp garlic better than bullion
– used immersion blender to make it super creamy with the cauliflower
I wonder if the cauliflower trick you used in the cheeseburger soup would work in this too to replace some of the milk and get that thick texture. I might have to try that. I have leftover mussels from dinner tonight😁
Sure!
I love clam chowder (and chicken pot pie) but the one ingredient they have in common are potatoes, which I don’t really think do either of them much favor. I wonder if there is a way to cut that ingredient way down and maybe increasing the main ingredient to make up for it (clams (or chicken)). I think at least for the pie I prefer to sub frozen white mini onions and other veggies but cannot think how to do a substitute for the soup.
not sure if this could help but I use sweet potatoes with another recipee I used to make.
What about diced carrots or other root veggie (if you like turnips or parsnip), cauliflower?
How about cauliflower? Think I’m gonna try that this weekend 😉
Do the calculated points include the Oyster Crackers (since they are optional)? Thank you!!!
No, they are not included in the calculations.
Is it possible to freeze this chowder?
What if you are allergic to clams and shellfish? Can you sub another canned fish like salmon?
Uh — this is Clam Soup. If you want to use another fish, find a soup recipe that uses that fish.
I have made a similar soup using fresh salmon and it is delicious. You can just cook it whole in the soup until done and flake it apart. I top it with fresh basil, but parsley works, too!
I would look up fish chowder recipes and then use whatever fish that recipe says as a substitute.
I am going to make this using smoked salmon. I think it would be great!
How necessary is the corn? This sounds amazing, but I can’t eat corn. It doesn’t like me.
BTW – Your recipes are all go-tos for me. Thank you for all you do and keep up the good work!
Most New England Clam Chowder recipes I have made don’t call for corn. Celery is usually used though so try subbing corn for celery or just leave it out if you don’t have either..
When do you add the reserved clam juice and how much do you add?
Direction #3- Add the milk, vegetable broth, reserved clam juice, potatoes, bay leaf, thyme and salt & pepper to taste. 🙂
Hey this is completely unrelated, but when you save a recipe, where do they get saved? Thank you very much!!
I use Copy Me That to save all of my recipes.
Thanks for the Copy Me That suggestion — just signed up and added recipes! Love it!
I have everything for this recipe except russet potatoes, plus we are trying to go low carb. Do you think sweet potatoes would work here? I mean I know they are a very different taste, but I’m curious.
I haven’t tried it? Let me know if you do!
This soup was amazing!! I too made a few alterations to the recipe. I used Better Than Bouillon Veggie with Roasted Garlic with White Wine rather than water, added the carrots and celery, used the Old Bay seasoning and an extra 6.5 oz can of clams. I want to make it again today, so good!!
I have made this recipe many times and it is delicious. We have a home on the Oregon Coast and I make this chowder with fresh razor clams. I use 1 1/2 t of Old Bay Seasoning instead of the thyme and pepper. When I blend half of the soup, I actually do include the bay leaves and they just blend in with the other ingredients! It freezes beautifully!
This soup is SOOO good. I read some of the reviews before making it and opted to add some sliced carrots and celery (cut down the middle, about 3 stalks). I am glad I did. I didn’t think that the soup lacked any flavor whatsoever. It’s a little thinner than restaurant style, but for the calorie count, it is fantastic! I’m making it again tonight.
I made this and we didn’t like it. I used frozen corn and it was too sweet. It needs some more spices or something.
Does the recipe change if I use frozen corn? Making this tonight and have frozen in the freezer.
Nope same directions, corn really doesn’t take too long to cook.
What would the point value be with the freestyle pts?
Outstanding, I am a retired fire Captain and have had several firehouse. Clam chowders. This is by far the best I have ever had. The only thing I changed was I added three ribs of celery and one carrot. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome!!
I would like to make a Dairy free clam chowder and was wondering what I should use? I would also like to use real clams is that possible? I run a cooking class for senior college and plan to make three different chowders .
Fun fact: if you don’t leave the clams out before you blend, the whole thing turns green 😆
Hahahahaha. That is good to know. I’m making it tonight for the first time. Shooting for NOT green chowder.
First time making Clam Chowder. It was pretty good. I added some celery to It because I wanted to use them up. I also had some half and half (fat free) left over from another recipe and wanted to use up as well. So I used 1-1/4 half and half and rest 1% milk. Didn’t have 2%. I thought it was better than some restaurants I’ve eaten at. Thank you. ????
Can you use instant pot for this recipe? I just bought one and can’t wait to use it!
I haven’t tried it yet but you can take a look at my instant pot tab for more recipes 🙂
Fantastic!
A friend of mine just came back from the Maritimes and brought back fresh clam in a jar… I assume I can use those instead of cans?
Can you freezer leftovers?
Hi Gina
I have lost over 70 pounds. Your website has be invaluable. My husband lost 15 pounds without even trying! All I did was start using your recipes for dinner. Thank you so much for your help. I have both of your cookbooks and my dream is to cook my way through both of them.
That is awesome Paula!!!Thank you for sharing, I love to hear stories like yours! 🙂
I just made this recipe for the first time and it is really good! Gina, what size clams do you usually use? I used whole canned clams because that was all th store had, and they seem a bit too big. I also wish I would have read these comments first because I totally put the bay leaf into the blender ? Also, how many days s good in the fridge? Thanks for all your amazing recipes, they are the only ones I use!
This may be a stupid question but, you don’t put the bay leaf int he blender, do you?
No.
Perfect for a rainy evening! I added 3 pieces of precooked bacon to give it a little extra flavor and well…..bacon! Took it out and discarded. It was delicious. Lessened the thyme as it’s not a favorite in my family. Will definitely make it again!
My family loved it! We didn’t miss the fat at all. It was especially a hit with my pescatarian daughter. We served it in bread bowls like they do at Panera. Thank you for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it!
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Great recipe! I added a 12 oz pkg of Oceankist baby clam meat and celery. I really didn’t need to blend the chowder, just mashed the potatoes some. Delicious!!!!
Great recipe! I added a 12 oz pkg of Oceankist baby clam meat and celery. I really didn’t need to blend the chowder, just mashed the potatoes some. Delicious!!!!
Dear Gina,
How many ounces is in a medium russet potato?
Thanks,
Marsha
This is so good!!! Thank you!!!
When is says to remove half of the soup and bay leaves, does that include the potatoes as well? I am making this tonight i am SO EXCITED!!! My family loves clam chowder i was so glad i found a less fattening recipe!
This was outstanding! I had made clam chowder years ago and never made it again because I remembered it being expensive, fatty and labor intensive. This was none of those and delicious. Thanks! P.S….I love that I can google skinny such and such and most always end up here. 🙂
If I leave out the corn, how many calories will there be then?
Made this tonight for me and my "picky" husband. We LOVED it! It was easy to make and you really don't miss all that extra cream from the high-fat versions. Very, very good. Thank you!
Love your website and most of the recipies on here but this one had just a bit to much thyme for my taste but i am just going to have to make it again with out it. Other then the thyme it was really good. 🙂
If I do this as just a fish chowder- thinking shrimp and cod-should I still use the clam juice for flavor- or just broth? I guess I could add a few clams but I want it to basically be a fish chowder.
I mix about 1 tbsp cornstarch with some water and gradually add it after you puree half the soup… you can add as much or as little as you want.
When should I add in the cornstarch? I also like mine very thick…
Absolutely loved this recipe and made a few changes. I added 2 stalks of celery and two carrots along with the potatoes to bulk up the veggies. I added fresh scallops, prawns and halibut as well since I love seafood. Added some dill and a teaspoon of cornstarch since I like my chowder really thick. Turned out amazing. I'm never letting go of this little gem, Thanks Sooo much Gina. You're a genius and I'm a huge fan <3
Can you use fresh clams? If so then how do get the clam juice needed? Never made chowder and BF really loves and I would like to make.
Thank you
Bev
This is an answer to my prayers. We love clam chowder but the calories are too many. I did make some more WW modifications to mine and doubled the recipe since we have a family of six. Very tasty and my children enjoy it better than the canned version.
This was AMAZING! Even hubs loved it! 🙂 THANK YOU!!!
thanks
Just made this chowder tonight, and it was amazing! I didn't miss the heavy cream one bit. Your blog has made losing weight SO.MUCH.EASIER !! Thank you!
Your recipes are so amazing. I cook for my boyfriend and me and he doesn't like "diet" food. With all of your recipes, I never have to tell him dinner is good for him!
I was looking for a salmon chowder recipe, do you think I can omit the clams and add canned salmon?
I only have chicken broth? can i use that instead of vegetable broth?
sure
I've always made it with milk, and use a little bit of flour to thicken it instead of blending (I love my soup super chunky) and always add extra clams. I also use dill and a little liquid smoke, soooo good. I love clam chowder!!
Do you have a recipe for chicken chowder? I've had one before that was really good with chicken, corn, and mushrooms. I'm sure it was a lot of calories though. I'd love a skinny recipe for it.
Just made this- LOVE it!!!! Cant wait for my husband to get home and give it a try. Thank you Gina.
Very good. I doubled the recipe and used half crab and half clams. I used soy butter and soy milk (dairy allergy) and used the emulsion blender to blend, but still leave some chunky. At first it had too much thyme for my taste, but I added some garlic salt and it's perfect now. Wouldn't change a thing next time 🙂
Thanks Susan!
Gina, This soup is the best! My husband and son thought it came from a high end restaurant! Thank you Gina for making my life full of healthy, DELISH food! Susan
Sure! I would use real crab, not imitation.
This looks delicious. However, my grandmother (with whom I live) really dislikes clams. Do you think it would taste as good with crab, or even imitation crab?
Yes, points are the same.
What about using fresh diced clams from the deli instead of canned? Are the points the same?
Hi Gina, I just have a question that is not really about this soup. Do you have a good recipe for chicken spagetti casserole that uses spagetti noodles, cream of chicken soup, velveeta, onion and bell pepper, etc. It is my favorite dish and I cant find a really good one that is low enough in calories. My email is lpatt39459@aol.com. Also, congratulations on your beautiful daughter. Mine daughter is already 5, soon to be 6 and it seems like yesterday that she was born. Thanks for any help you can give.
Shrimp would be great. Substitute it with 20 oz of shrimp. Points would remain the same.
Has anyone tried this with shrimp? If so, do you know if it would change the points?
Could I substitute shrimp instead of the clams. And how much shrimp would I need to use? How would it affect the points?
Shrimp would be great as well. I would do 16 oz of peeled shrimp.
Gina, I just had my second child 4 months ago and have been looking to lose the extra 20 pounds or so of baby weight. I love food so I figured I was just stuck with a few extra "mom" pounds because I know I will not give up something I love to do (EAT!) just to go down 2 jean sizes. Your blog has given me the motivation to do Weight Watchers because with recipes like this I'm sure I can get it done! LOVE your site, I'm going to share it with both of my moms groups!
I love that this uses the potatoes as a thickener rather than cream. It sounds like a great recipe!
Wow, that is very impressive! Keep up the great work and happy you like everything!
Gina, I have been using your website for WW recipes for the last 8 months. Every dish I've made has been amazing! Thanks you, thank you, thank you! I wouldn't have been able to lose my 68 lbs without you!
comforting specially during cold rainy evenings…
This sounds amazing! Great way to enjoy clam chowder without all the guilt! Thanks! Can't wait to try it.
I just love a nice bowl of chow-dah!
My husband LOVES clam chowder, and now that I have this recipe that is lower in fat – I can make it for him with less guilt.
Good one!
Gina-
I love your blog and have made several of your recipes so far. I have been looking for a good WW recipe for clam chowder…so this is perfect timing!
I am definitely going to try this chowder…always crave it, but the calories/points always scare me away! I'll let you know how my family and I like it! Thanks
Oh, this is perfect. My son absolutely loves clam chowder & I resist making it due to fat/calorie content!