Salmon Chowder

This salmon chowder is a delicious thick soup filled with tender chunks of salmon, carrots, potatoes, corn, and topped with crunchy bacon and fresh dill. This chowder is so delicious it’s hard to stop eating it! It’s healthy, nutritious, and filling.

You may also like this cheeseburger chowder.

What is a chowder?

Chowder is a type of soup or stew often prepared with milk or cream and thickened with broken crackers or a roux. Other types of chowder include clam chowder, corn chowder, seafood chowder, lamb or veal chowder made with barley, a wide variety of fish chowders, and potato chowder, which is often made with cheese.

What is the difference between chowder and soup?

A soup is usually made with stock or broth and can be made with vegetables, meat, or fish and is generally not very thick. Chowder can be made with the same ingredients but is more chunky, creamy, and thicker, it’s a little bit similar to a stew.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this delicious salmon chowder:

• Salmon – use regular salmon or wild-caught salmon. You could also add shrimp to this soup, if you have leftover cooked/baked salmon – you can also use that. You can use other fish than salmon for this recipe. Use firm-fleshed white fish such as cod or halibut.
• Milk and cream – you can use half and half instead of milk and cream.
• Broth – I used chicken broth, you could also use vegetable broth, you can swap 1 cup of chicken broth for fish broth of clam juice.
• Milk to broth ratio – depends on your preferences – we like just 1 cup of milk per 5 cups of broth, we didn’t liked it that much when I added more milk.
• Bacon – can be omitted, you can also use prosciutto (pan-fry it as well), it also comes out crispy and delicious, but bacon is more traditional.
• Potatoes – use starchy potatoes such as russets.
• Old Bay seasoning – optional but it adds so much flavor here and it goes perfectly with this soup, you could also use Cajun seasoning. Another recipe you could add the Old Bay seasoning to is this cheesy potato and egg scramble.

Step by step instructions

STEP 1: Prepare all the ingredients:

Cut the bacon and carrots into 1/2-inch (1.5 cm) cubes, cut the celery into slices, dice the onion, finely chop dill and garlic.
Cut the potatoes and salmon into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes.

STEP 2: Heat the frying oil over medium heat in a large pot and add bacon. Cook for a couple of minutes until fat renders from the bacon and it’s crispy. Transfer bacon to a plate.

You could also cook bacon in the oven and add cooked and crispy bacon directly to the mushroom sauce. You can still use bacon grease from cooking it in the oven to sautee the vegetables.

STEP 3: Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook, stirring from time to time, for 5 minutes, until softened.

Add the garlic and Old Bay seasoning, cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.

STEP 4: Add the broth and milk. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes.

STEP 5: Add the potatoes, bring the soup to a boil, simmer for 8 minutes.

STEP 6: Add drained corn and salmon, simmer for 3 minutes or until the fish is cooked through (you can take out a piece of fish onto a plate and cut it in half to see if it changed its color from dark pink to light pink).

This is the most important part of this recipe: DON’T OVERCOOK THE FISH! I can not stress this enough – small pieces of salmon will cook really quickly. If cooked for too long, it will be tough and rubbery. Make sure to add the fish to water that is only gently simmering and does not cook rapidly.

STEP 7: Take the pot off the heat, add the cream, season the chowder with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, stir in chopped dill.

Pour the soup into bowls, crumble with cooked bacon and sprinkle with more dill.

Enjoy!

What to serve it with

This soup is pretty perfect as it but you may want to serve it with oyster crackers, a crunchy baguette or a piece of crusty bread on the side.

FAQ:

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Salmon Chowder

This salmon chowder is a delicious thick soup filled with tender chunks of salmon, carrots, potatoes, corn and topped with crunchy bacon and fresh dill. This chowder is so delicious it’s hard to stop eating it! It’s healthy, nutritious, and filling.

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5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6 servings

Calories 424kcal

Author Aleksandra

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon frying oil
• ▢ 7 slices bacon
• ▢ 1 large onion
• ▢ 2 celery stalks
• ▢ 2 large carrots
• ▢ 5 cloves garlic
• ▢ 2 tablespoons flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• ▢ 5 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cup milk
• ▢ 2 lbs (900g) starchy potatoes such as russets
• ▢ 1 14-oz can corn (400ml)
• ▢ 1 ½ lbs (700g) salmon
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy cream
• ▢ 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ▢ 2 tablespoons chopped dill
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

• Cut the bacon and carrots into 1/2-inch (1.5 cm) cubes, cut the celery into slices, dice the onion, finely chop dill and garlic.
• Cut the potatoes and salmon into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes.
• Heat the frying oil over medium heat in a large pot and add bacon. Cook for a couple of minutes until fat renders from the bacon and it’s crispy. Transfer bacon to a plate.
• Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook, stirring from time to time, for 5 minutes, until softened.
• Add the garlic and Old Bay seasoning, cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
• Add the broth and milk. Bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the potatoes, bring the soup to a boil, simmer for 8 minutes.
• Add drained corn and salmon, simmer for 3 minutes or until the fish is cooked through (you can take out a piece of fish onto a plate and cut it in half to see if it changed its color from dark pink to light pink).
• Take the pot off the heat, add the cream, season the chowder with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, stir in chopped dill.
• Pour the soup into bowls, crumble with cooked bacon and sprinkle with more dill.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• You can use other fish than salmon for this recipe. Use firm-fleshed white fish such as cod or halibut. You can also add shrimp.
• Old Bay seasoning is optional but it adds lots of flavor to this chowder.
• The most important part of this recipe: don’t overcook the fish! I can not stress this enough – small pieces of salmon will cook really quickly. If cooked for too long, it will be tough and rubbery. Make sure to add the fish to water that is only gently simmering and does not cook rapidly.
• How to serve it: This soup is pretty perfect as it but you may want to serve it with oyster crackers, a crunchy baguette or a piece of crusty bread on the side.
• Calories: 1 serving (1/6 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

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