16 clam soup recipes

Seafood chowder for a crowd with sole fillets, canned clams, shrimp, and cream of potato soup. Feeds 20 people in 30 minutes using mostly pantry and freezer staples. Freezes well.

Cold clam bisque blended with baby clams, half-and-half, Worcestershire, and hot pepper sauce. A creamy no-cook chilled seafood soup sprinkled with chives and paprika, ready in 15 minutes.

New England clam chowder, home-style: minced clams, potato, milk, butter and crisp bacon over a sauteed onion base. A simple, no-cream version that's pantry-friendly and ready fast.

Clam chowder with pasta is a brothy, Italian-style tomato clam soup with little ditalini cooked right in, brightened with garlic, white wine and a kick of dried chili. A rustic, coastal one-pot bowl.

New York-style clam chowder with hard clams, salt pork, potatoes, carrots, canned tomatoes, and thyme in a clear broth. The tomato-based cousin of New England chowder.

Manhattan Island clam chowder is the tomato-based East Coast chowder: littleneck clams steamed open, then simmered in white wine and fresh tomato broth with pork fatback, potatoes, and cracker crumb thickening.

Florida bouillabaisse: a Gulf Coast riff on the French classic with fish, shrimp, crab, clams, and softshell turtle in a saffron-tomato broth. Wine, herbs, and white bread for sopping. Feeds a crowd.

Manhattan-style red clam chowder with fresh-steamed clams, salt pork, tomatoes, and thyme. The tomato-broth chowder New England purists love to argue about.

To the delight of clam lovers on the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, clams are available year round. OK, let's make some clams.

Bacon clam chowder is a New England-style soup with minced clams, smoky bacon and half-and-half, simmered overnight for deep flavor. Skimmed and finished with seafood seasoning the next day.

If you don't have time for dinner, try this succulent dish made with fish fillets and lobster tails.

By adding extra fish such as a lobster per person this will become a meal instead of a soup.

Chopped black olives and canned clams stirred into sour cream with garlic powder and a kick of cayenne. Five minutes of effort, two hours in the fridge, and you've got a briny, creamy party dip.

Creamy sour cream clam dip with lemon juice, celery salt, and minced onion. A no-cook retro appetizer that comes together in minutes using canned clams.

Creamy sherried lobster bisque for two, made with lobster tails, red potatoes, clam juice, and light sour cream blended silky smooth. An intimate, elegant soup finished with dry sherry and thyme.

Definitely a lazy way to make a crab stew, but I was surprised by how great it came out, and it was so quick and easy too.