Creamy Fish Chowder Recipe

You will love this Creamy Fish Chowder Recipe that is loaded up with Yukon potatoes, crispy bacon, fresh fish, and herbs in a delicious creamy broth. This is an easy-to-make hearty soup that is a great way to use up leftover seafood.

I’m a massive fan of cooking and serving seafood because it’s simple to prepare and it cooks in minutes. If you are similar and love it, you must try my Sicilian Swordfish or my Blackened Salmon.

Fish Chowder

Fish chowder is a thick chunky seafood soup consisting of onions, celery, potatoes, seafood, stock, and milk. In the early days of this 18th-century recipe, it didn’t initially start off using clams like in the classic clam chowder we know today. The seafood in the chowder was whatever was caught in the ocean. This could be fish, clams, lobster, or anything they were able to gather was used.

The word chowder gets its roots in the Latin word calderia, which originally meant a place for warming things, like a cauldron, that big black pot that hangs over the fire. In French, the word became chaudiere which describes fishermen who made their stews fresh from the sea.

This recipe can be customized to your liking depending on what seafood is available.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Fish – Any fish is good to use. You can additionally add shellfish to this recipe. I used halibut, cod, sea bass, and sablefish.  
• Bacon – Regular-cut bacon will add a lot of flavor to the soup.
• Onions – I like to use a combination of yellow onions, leeks, and garlic. You can use white, sweet, or yellow onions for this recipe.
• Celery – A few thick-sliced celery ribs add a lot of body and flavor to the soup.
• Potatoes – You can use Yukon gold, russet, or red potatoes in this recipe.
• Herbs – I used bay leaves and dry thyme in the soup and garnished with chopped fresh parsley and thyme.
• Wine – Cream sherry makes this fish chowder incredibly flavorful. Other options are regular sherry, white wine, or vermouth.
• Cream – Half and half is perfect in this. However, you can use whole milk or heavy whipping cream.
• Stock – I used homemade fish fumet in this recipe. The other alternatives are clam stock, water, a combination of clam and water, or chicken stock.

How to Make Fish Chowder

Remove the skin from your fish, and season both sides with salt and pepper.

Start by browning some diced bacon in a large rondeau pot over medium heat, which takes about 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove the bacon and set it aside.

Turn the heat to high until it begins to lightly smoke and add in the fish and 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and sear it for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until it starts to turn brown. If the fish falls apart, it’s no problem. I sear it to add more flavor to the fish and soup.

Remove the fish and set it to the side.

Add the onions and leeks to the pot and cook over low to medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned while occasionally stirring.

Pour in the celery and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Stir in the garlic until fragrant, which takes 30 to 45 seconds.

Deglaze with the cream sherry and cook to au sec or almost gone and absorbed.

Add in the stock, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and potatoes, and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, turn the heat to low-medium, and place back in the pre-seared fish.

Place on a lid and cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is cooked.

In the meantime, heat the half and half in a small pot until scalded.

Add back in the crispy bacon, and pour the half and half into the chowder with Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Gently stir the soup to incorporate the flavors and to break apart the fish into large bite-size pieces.

Serve with optional garnishes of chopped fresh parsley, thyme leaves, and oyster crackers.

What’s the Best Fish to Use?

You can use pre-frozen or fresh fish in this fish chowder. Here are my favorite fish to use:

• Halibut
• Bass
• Snapper
• Cod
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Mahi Mahi
• Haddock
• Walleye

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: This soup is meant to be eaten right away, but you can make it up to 1 day ahead of time. 

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day, or until thawed, before reheating and serving.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of fish chowder to a small pot and cook over low heat while whisking until warm. You can also heat it in a microwave until warm.

CHEF NOTES + TIPS

• White wine options are chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon Blanc.
• This makes a substantial amount of soup, so cut the ingredients in half if necessary.
• If you are nervous about pan-searing the fish, place it in seasoned and raw in step 12 and cook for a total of 15 minutes instead of 5.

More Fish Recipes

• Brown Sugar Salmon
• Tuna Noodle Casserole
• Smoked Salmon
• Pan Seared Halibut
• Chilean Seabass

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Creamy Fish Chowder Recipe

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5 from 27 votes

You will love this Fish Chowder Recipe that is loaded with Yukon potatoes, crispy bacon, fresh fish, and herbs in a delicious creamy broth.

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 2 pounds fish, cod, halibut, bass, etc.
• 8 strips of bacon, cut into thin slices
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 peeled and small diced yellow onion
• 2 thinly sliced leeks
• 6 thickly sliced ribs of celery
• 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
• ½ cup creamy sherry
• 6 cups fish stock, clam juice, or water
• 2 teaspoons dry thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 large Yukon potatoes, cut into 1” cubes or quarter moons
• 2 cups half and half
• Worcestershire to taste
• Hot sauce to taste
• sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

• Remove the skin from your fish, and season both sides with salt and pepper.
• Start by browning some diced bacon in a large rondeau pot over medium heat, which takes about 6 to 8 minutes.
• Remove the bacon and set it aside.
• Turn the heat to high until it begins to lightly smoke and add in the fish, 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and sear it for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until it starts to turn brown. If the fish falls apart, it’s no problem. I sear it to add more flavor to the fish and soup.
• Remove the fish and set it to the side.
• Add the onions and leeks to the pot and cook over low to medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned while occasionally stirring.
• Pour in the celery and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic just until fragrant, which takes 30 to 45 seconds.
• Deglaze with the cream sherry and cook to au sec or almost gone and absorbed.
• Add in the stock, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and potatoes, and bring to a boil.
• Once boiling, turn the heat to low-medium, and place back in the pre-seared fish.
• Place on a lid and cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
• In the meantime, heat the half and half in a small pot until scalded.
• Add back in the crispy bacon, and pour the half and half into the chowder with Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
• Gently stir the soup to incorporate the flavors and to break apart the fish into large bite-size pieces.
• Serve with optional garnishes of chopped fresh parsley, thyme leaves, and oyster crackers.

Notes

Make-Ahead: This soup is meant to be eaten immediately, but you can make it up to 1 day ahead. 

How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day, or until thawed, before reheating and serving.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of fish chowder to a small pot and cook over low heat while whisking until warm. You can also heat it in a microwave until warm.

White wine options are chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon Blanc.

This makes a substantial amount of soup, so cut the ingredients in half if necessary.

If you are nervous about pan-searing the fish, place it in seasoned and raw in step 12 and cook for a total of 15 minutes instead of 5.

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 34gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 859mgPotassium: 1137mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 850IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 176mgIron: 3mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Alaskan, American

Author: Chef Billy Parisi