crock pot

New England Clam Chowder

Posted by Elaine Smith on

I’ve tried a bunch of chowder recipes and haven’t found one I liked…until now! Found this via Baked by Rachel. I’ve had great luck with almost anything I’ve tried from her blog…so I shouldn’t be surprised that I liked this one so much.

The only additional ingredient I added was a chopped carrot to the veggies that you sauté at the beginning. I love carrots in my chowder.

I ran into a bit of an issue with the cooking time. My crockpot runs a bit hot I think.  I started with the option of cooking on high for 5 hours…after just a couple hours some of the potato began sticking to one side. I ended up turning it to low and still had to stir fairly often to avoid more sticking. It still only took 4 hours for the potatoes to be done even at this lower temp. Next time I’m setting it at low from the beginning…I think it will still cook within the five hours because you’re just cooking the potatoes until it’s time to add the 1/2 and 1/2. Lesson here is to not try this for the first time when you’re not going to be home so you can keep an eye on how your crockpot works with cooking the potatoes, clams, and veggies.

Some of the potatoes will cook down adding to the thickness of this chowder. If you prefer more broth in your chowder you’ll want to add additional 1/2 and 1/2 or milk. I like my chowder thick so the recipe worked perfectly.

The red pepper flakes and black pepper give this chowder a nice hot bite…if you aren’t a fan of heat…add the lower end of the black pepper portion. I added the full amount ;).

This turned out so flavorful…the addition of a bunch of yummy bacon at the end put it over the top!!

I will definitely make this again!

Enjoy!
xoxo


YIELD: MAKES ROUGHLY 6 GOOD SIZED PORTIONS.

 COOK TIME: 5-10 HOURS

Slow Cooker New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

4 1/2 C potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic
1 C onion
1/2 C celery
*4: 6oz cans clams (see notes)
*1: 8oz bottle clam juice (see notes)
1 tsp salt
1/2 – 1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
1/4 C flour
3 1/4 C half and half
5-6 slices of bacon
1/2 tbsp bacon grease

Directions:

Prepare veggies: peel and chop potatoes into small bite site pieces – add to crock. Chop onion, slice celery down the center lengthwise and then chop into small pieces, and finally mince 1 teaspoon worth of garlic. Take 5-6 slices of bacon, if you are using fatty bacon slice off the ends if they are extremely fatty and discard. Cut up bacon slices into small pieces by either slicing lengthwise in half or into thirds and then into small pieces.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Carefully add garlic, onion and celery. Sprinkle with thyme and red pepper flakes (if using). Cook, stirring frequently until heated through and very tender. The onions will be translucent and shiny. Transfer veggies to crock.
Drain clams (2 if using canned juice, 4 if using bottled juice). Add clams and clam juice. Stir contents well. Add flour, salt and pepper. Give another quick stir. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours or high for 5 hours. When 30 minutes remain, stir in half & half.
While that begins to warm and cook, heat up the large skillet again. Add in bacon pieces. Do not leave bacon unattended for any reason! Bacon can go from undercooked, to cooked to overcooked in a hurry. Depending on your bacon and the sizes of your pieces the timing will vary. At first cook with the bacon spread throughout the pan. When it begins to cook and produce more liquid grease, pull bacon pieces together in a small bunch. This will allow the grease to heat and cook the bacon better – or at least that’s how I feel. Toss and stir until it almost looks done then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Remove 1/2 tbsp bacon grease. Reserve a small portion of cooked bacon pieces (1 1/2 slices worth) for topping chowder later. Toss remaining larger portion of bacon pieces into crock and 1/2 tbsp bacon grease. Stir well. Replace lid and let cook.
Divide among bowls serving warm and sprinkling with bacon.
*Use 2 cans of clams drained and 2 undrained or 4 cans of clams drained and 1: 8oz bottle of clam juice.
*created in a 6-quart slow cooker on high

This delicious recipe brought to you by BAKED BY RACHEL 
http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/slow-cooker-new-england-clam-chowder/

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