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Elite Edition

What makes it a chowder?

Author

Andrew Henderson

Published Mar 31, 2026

What makes it a chowder?

A chowder is a rich, hearty soup with seafood or chicken that starts with a base of salt pork or bacon and a mix of vegetables like onions, celery, and potatoes. Most chowders are creamy, but one in particular-Manhattan clam chowder-has a tomato base.

Why is chowder called chowder?

Chowder has its roots in the Latin word calderia, which originally meant a place for warming things, and later came to mean cooking pot. Vegetables or fish stewed in a cauldron thus became known as chowder in English-speaking nations, a corruption of the name of the pot or kettle in which they were cooked.

What’s the difference between a soup and a chowder?

Ever wondered what the difference is between a soup and a chowder? Now, a soup is usually made with stock or broth and can have vegetables, meat or fish as ingredients and is generally not very thick. A chowder may have the same ingredients, but is more chunky, creamy and thick, much like a stew.

Is chowder a soup or stew?

Chowder is a type of soup or stew that’s often prepared with milk or cream and butter, and thickened with a roux, crackers or hard biscuits. Oftentimes they’re made with vegetables or seafood, but some of our favorite chowders are meat-based (such as our Easy Ham and Potato Corn Chowder).

How do you eat chowder?

Here are 14 of the best side dishes for clam chowder.

  1. Bread Rolls. Clam chowder served in a bowl of bread is always a fantastic idea.
  2. Oyster Crackers. Or, instead of soft dinner rolls, how about some crisp and savory oyster crackers?
  3. Salad.
  4. Roasted Veggies.
  5. Corn on the Cob.
  6. French Fries.
  7. Bacon.
  8. Cornmeal Pancakes.

What are the two types of chowder?

The two types of clam chowders that most people have heard of are New England and Manhattan. New England clam chowder is traditionally cream based and “white.”

Is chowder supposed to be thick?

“Authentic New England chowders are never thick, however, with most relying on the starch from the potatoes to slightly thicken the broth and milk or cream,” explains Charlie Burke, at the online magazine The Heart of New England.

Does chowder have to be thick?

Is Clam Chowder Supposed to Be Thick? Yes, clam chowder is supposed to have a relatively thick and creamy consistency. One of the main ingredients in a traditional recipe is heavy cream, so this should give it a thickness that’s easy to see if you dip the back of a spoon in the pot.

Does a chowder have to have potatoes?

Like stew, it contains large chunks of meat or seafood and vegetables, notably potatoes. Regardless of the ingredients used, chowder is always chunky, and most variations are creamy (although Manhattan clam chowder breaks from the mold and uses a tomato base instead of cream or milk). Cold chowder would be… weird.

Why is cereal not a soup?

In modern usage, cereals are products made from grains and intended to be eaten with milk, usually as breakfast, but occasionally as a snack. So while you can put cereals (in the old fashioned sense) in soups, in the form of barley, rice, pasta, quinoa and the like, cereal is not soup. Soup is not cereal.

Is Chowder supposed to be thick?

Do you eat the bread in clam chowder?

You probably want to enjoy bread while you’re eating the soup, but you don’t want to destroy the bowl just yet. Fortunately, you can eat the lid of the bread bowl. You might see the lid already on the soup or it may be set to the side of the bowl.

What’s the difference between clam chowder and corn chowder?

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion. Some are prepared using bacon as an ingredient. Corn chowder may be prepared with fresh, frozen, or canned corn.

What kind of vegetables are used in corn chowder?

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion.

Chowder is a type of soup or stew often prepared with milk or cream and thickened with broken crackers, crushed ship biscuit, or a roux. Variations of chowder can be seafood or vegetable. Crackers such as oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish.

Where did the name for potato chowder come from?

Potato and corn chowder. The origin of the term chowder is obscure. One possible source is the French word chaudron, the French word for cauldron, the type of cooking or heating stove on which the first chowders were probably cooked.

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion. Some are prepared using bacon as an ingredient. Corn chowder may be prepared with fresh, frozen, or canned corn.

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion.

What kind of bread to serve with Chowder?

Chock-full of veggies, ham and cheese in every spoonful, this thick, creamy chowder will take the chill off even the nippiest of fall evenings. Serve it with crusty French bread. —Elaine Krupsky, Las Vegas, Nevada

What’s the best chowder to warm you up?

Warm yourself up from the inside-out with these chowder recipes. Fill your bowl with creamy clam chowder, corn chowder, potato chowder and more. This is the best New England clam chowder recipe, ever!