By Amanda Hesser
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
- Total Time
- About 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(234)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This oyster chowder was one of Amanda Hesser’s grandmother’s standbys, a recipe untouched over generations and passed along to The Times in 2005. If you have oysters, the rest is fairly straight-forward: Bacon adds smokiness, while milk and potatoes lend creaminess. And, as if that weren’t appealing enough, the whole thing is ready in 30 minutes or less.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- ¼pound bacon, cut into ¼-inch strips
- 1cup chopped onion
- 1cup chopped celery hearts
- 3white potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
- 14 to 16large oysters and their liquor
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper
- ⅔ to 1cup milk
- 1tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Spread bacon in a soup pan and place over medium heat. Cook until browned and its fat has rendered. Drain. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat and put pan back on the heat. Scrape the onion and celery into the pan and saute until softened. Drop in the potatoes. Add enough water to cover, about 3 cups. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 minutes.
Step
2
Take the pan off the heat and, using a masher, lightly crush the potatoes to thicken the chowder. Add the oysters and oyster liquor and season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Simmer until the oysters curl, about 5 minutes.
Step
3
Pour in the milk (use ⅔ cup if you prefer it less rich), bring to a boil, then shut off the heat. Crumble in the bacon and stir in the parsley.
Ratings
4
out of 5
234
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Cooking Notes
Katharine
It was missing something. I added about 1/2 cup of cream and it was greatly improved.
Nancy
Like the previous cook, I thought this benefitted from a half-cup of heavy cream, and I also added about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. It's a terrific recipe, the first one that has motivated me to save it in your online recipe box.
Steve
Yes, this recipe needs some help. Would have been better without mashing the potatoes. They made the chowder grainy. Next time I'll not mash cubed potatoes. I recommend adding a bay leaf, use cream or half and half, and cook parsley with the oysters.
Carol
This is a great recipe which can be embellished not only with some heavy cream & Worcestershire sauce (like others), but also diced carrots, paprika, black pepper & a little chicken bouillon or miso. Delicious!
Jon
I substituted chicken stock for the water and I used 1/2 & 1/2 instead of milk.
amazing
To make the recipe low-fat, I added a teaspoon of Liquid smoke and a tablespoon of tamari to the oil when sautéing the onions and celery. I didn't use any milk or cream and added a lot of black pepper. It was a great chowder!
Susan
I liked this recipe a lot. I shucked the fresh oysters we had left from the holidays. I didn't understand that I was supposed to remove the bacon from the pot before I added the aromatics, although common sense should have told me to do that. It was fine anyway. Next time I might use half and half or heavy cream instead of milk for a richer chowder. Sure, you could dress it up, if you wanted to, but overall, this is a delicious and satisfying soup for a snowy evening.
Carol
I added a little heavy cream and left the potatoes cubed.
waterloom
Delicious. I added a sprig of Rosemary to the cooking water.
meinmunich
Wow, this was so good! My oysters were smallish and it was not so oyster-y but still very delicious. My milk was low fat, but still very good. Husband was shocked how good it was. Had some breads in case but not needed. Made a full, quick, satisfying dinner out of it.
Bea
Delicious! Didn’t have potatoes so used half a butternut squash. A hand held blender made it smooth and creamy. No bacon. Creamy cashew milk. A little bit of fish sauce, a bit of chicken base.
Phil
Why is the onion and celery to be ‘scraped’ when it’s already in the potato boil?The bacon is also in the boils as the first ingredient- how are bacon bits supposed to be added in the last step?
Effie
We liked this recipe for oyster chowder. I did use half and half instead of milk.
Kevin
I have been aching for an oyster chowder for months now and I found "Amanda Hesser's grandmother's standby" recipe both genius in its simplicity, and delicious just as written. The flavor and texture matched my dreams' taste-buds perfectly. Thank you, NYT!
gordon
"This oyster chowder was one of Amanda Hesser’s grandmother’s standbys, a recipe untouched over generations..."Readers: (Completely missing the point.) I can make it better!
Rich
My wife and I loved this!Changes, Substitutions and additions: Used only 1/2 cup of lactose free milk; added about 2 or 3 Tbs chardonnay, 3 or 4 dashes of Worcestershire, thickened the stew slightly by adding 2 tsp. Corn starch. Used 16 large, fresh oysters that I plucked from the ocean yesterday.
amck
I followed other recommendations from here and added about 1/2 c of heavy cream to add richness, as well as a can of corn to add some bulk. delish!
katie
Great recipe. I did not mash the potatoes, and added only a splash of milk for sweetness as I wanted more of a RI style chowder. If you mash some of the potatoes and add cream you get a New England style chowder. Both are good. I had some fennel I needed to use up, which was a nice addition. Used a bay leaf and added dill at the end. I will go sparingly on the parsley or omit it next time as it overwhelmed the other flavors.
Annie B
Made this for Super Bowl half time; i have made oyster stew before but wanted a recipe refreshlike others, i didn't mash the potatoes but cut red potatoes into small cubes. kept some of the red skin for color. used mix of leeks and onion. and used Lactose- free 1/2 and 1/2 for thickness. a nice warmed baguette was the perfect accompaniment
Steelpanwoman
I did the curry version with sour cream. It needed something more. We added about a TBSP of sherry and a TBSP of fish sauce and that sparked it right up!
Juanita
Taking advice from the comments; I used homemade Lobster stock instead of water, substituted petite roasted potatoes and added heavy cream. Silky and satisfying on a blustery day.
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