Thick, creamy, and loaded with sweet chunks of lobster, Lobster Chowder is the king of all chowders. This humble soup is chunky, hearty, and easy enough to be a weeknight meal. Grab your soup pot and make this East Coast classic for lunch or dinner today!
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It’s funny to think that lobsters, one of the ultimate luxury foods, were once discarded as inedible. Today, lobsters are sought-after and served everywhere, from high-end restaurants to family dinners served at home.
If you’re lucky enough to live on the East Coast, lobsters may be a regular part of your diet, but this Lobster Chowder is easy enough for anyone to make regardless of where you live.
What you’ll love About This Recipe
- It’s thick, creamy, chunky, and loaded with lobster.
- It’s easy to make and oh-so-good!
- It freezes just fine!
The Secret To Making The Best Lobster Chowder
The secret to making restaurant-quality and oh-so-delicious chowder is in the stock. Yes, chowder also has cream, but like any good soup, you need to build flavor layer by layer, and it all starts with lobster stock.
If you don’t have lobster stock, use chicken, vegetable, or even seafood broth or stock. But if you have lobster shells, you can make an easy lobster stock.
How To Make Basic Lobster Stock
Add the following ingredients to a large soup pot and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. Then strain it and freeze what you don’t use!
- 10-12 cups water
- 4-6 cups lobster shells (legs, head, it all goes into the pot)
- 1 onion
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 carrot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
Recommended
Ingredients to Make Lobster Chowder
- Lobster stock – Homemade is best, but you can also use chicken, vegetable, or seafood broth/stock.
- Lobster meat – Pre-cooked tail, claws, it all works.
- Bacon – You really just need the bacon fat; use oil if you prefer.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted.
- Onion – White or yellow onion.
- Carrot – Diced into bite-sized pieces.
- Celery – Also diced.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is best!
- Potatoes – Diced small.
- Corn – Frozen corn niblets are fine.
- White wine – Optional but highly suggested.
- Old Bay Seasoning – This blend has all the spices and herbs to make this chowder perfect!
- All-purpose flour – To thicken the soup.
- Cream – You can use heavy cream or half and half. Milk and unsweetened evaporated milk can also be used, but heavy cream will give you the richest chowder.
- Salt and pepper– To taste.
How To Make Easy Lobster Chowder
For a complete list of ingredients and instructions, please scroll down to the recipe at the bottom of this page.
- Fry the bacon in a large soup pot until crisp, then set the bacon aside for another use. You need the bacon fat.
- Add the butter, then saute the onions, carrots, and celery until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and Old Bay seasoning and cook an additional minute.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and let most of it evaporate.
- Turn off the heat and whisk in the flour, then slowly add the lobster stock, whisking until smooth.
- Turn the heat back to low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes or until just tender. Then, add the corn and lobster chunks.
- Stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- Save lobster shells in the freezer until you have enough to make stock, then make the stock and freeze it for easy soup-making.
- Don’t boil the lobster meat, or it’ll get tough and chewy. Add it at the end of the cooking time and heat it through.
- Save a bit of claw meat for a pretty garnish.
- Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to your chowder if you like it a bit spicy.
Make It A Meal
Lobster and corn chowder is so rich, thick, chunky, and hearty that it can be a meal all on its own. Or, you can serve it as a prelude to seafood meals or just a good steak. I also love this delicious soup recipe with a slice or heel of sourdough bread or a light salad. These air fryer sweet potato chips are also tasty alongside this lobster soup.
Frequently Asked Questions About New England Lobster Chowder
Yes! The hardest part is making the stock. Make the lobster stock ahead of time, and then the soup is ready in about 45 minutes!
Chowder is a thick, creamy soup loaded with chunky vegetables like potatoes, corn, carrots, onions, and celery. Of course, there’s lobster meat in it, too.
Seafood is highly perishable and should be eaten within a few days, so this soup will be fine in your fridge for about 2 days. If you want to keep it longer, freeze your lobster chowder.
Step By Step Process
Lobster Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 6 cups lobster stock
- 1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
- 1 cup corn niblets
- 2 cups lobster meat diced
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fry the bacon in a large soup pot over medium heat until crisp, about 4 minutes, then set the bacon aside for another use. You only need the bacon fat.
- Add the butter to the bacon fat then saute the onions, carrots, and celery until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and Old Bay seasoning and cook an additional minute.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and let most of it evaporate.
- Turn off the heat and whisk in the flour, then slowly add the lobster stock whisking until smooth.
- Turn the heat back to low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and cook an additional 5-10 minutes or until just tender. Then, add the corn and lobster chunks.
- Stir in the cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Chef Jenn’s Tips
- Save lobster shells in the freezer until you have enough to make stock, then make the stock and freeze it for easy soup making all year long.
- Don’t boil the lobster meat or it’ll get tough and chewy. Add it at the end of the cooking time and heat it through.
- Save a bit of claw meat for a pretty garnish.
- Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to your chowder if you like it a bit spicy.
Nutrition
A Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for this recipe is provided as a courtesy and is calculated based on available online ingredient information. It is only an approximate value. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site cannot be guaranteed.
