I love me some chowda’…especially when it’s chock full of seafood.  I never get chowder when I’m dining out because it’s just too fattening for my taste and the seafood to liquid ratio is WAY off.  So one day not long ago I was thinking about how I never eat chowder even though I love it and I got really sad…and then I started crying.  Ok, maybe I didn’t cry but whatever.  It was then that I had the craziest idea ever, I could make seafood chowder at home and do it the way God intended…My holy chowder would be full of flavor, low on fat, and the ratio of seafood to soup would be about 100:1.

So I did it…and all of my wildest chowder dreams came true in a matter of about an hour…and now I will share the dream with you.  (Are you tearing up yet?)

First things first, this recipe will feed 7 armies.  My lust for chowder must have resulted in me inadvertently making 50 gallons of it.  So this would be great for your next party…or just halve the recipe.

Here’s what you need:

1 pound – raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2 cans – fancy lump crab meat
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup – flour
1/4 cup – olive oil
8 small yellow potatoes
16 oz – vegetable stock
4 cups – 2% milk
2 cans – creamed style corn
2 cans – whole kernel sweet corn
1 bay leaf
2 tsp – thyme
1 tbsp – hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste


Get out a HUGE stock pot or dutch oven and start sauteing the onion, pepper, and celery in olive oil.

Wow, that looks festive doesn’t it?  After the veggies have softened, go ahead and add the thyme, more olive oil, and your flour (this is going to help thicken the soup).  Side note, if you want a gluten free version, just omit the flour and use corn starch at the end to thicken it.

Stir everything together…

Now it’s time to add the vegetable stock…so go ahead and do that.