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Seattle-style smoked salmon chowder loaded with cubed potatoes, capers for zing, and a hint of cream cheese. This tastes just like the stuff from Seattle Pike’s Place Market and is perfect to serve with crusty bread.
All you need is a hunk of crispy, crusty baguette to soak it all up.
Smoked salmon chowder was definitely of the best things I ate in Seattle.
After spending 10 days on our west coast trip and eating our hearts out in three different states, one of the most memorable things we ate till this day is the creamy bowl of smoked salmon chowder at Seattle’s Pike’s Place Market.
The thing about salmon chowder is that it gets you from the very first bite—the creaminess cut from the briny capers, the seasonings, the texture of salmon, all in a rich soup base.
By far the best recipe I ever found on the internet. Seriously delicious. I prepared it just as the recipe instructed, no substitutes. Silky, smoky, rich with flavors. Thanks so much.
What is chowder?
A chowder is a homemade soup that has a creamy base and is often made with seafood, vegetables, and potatoes. You can make fish chowder, clam chowder, corn chowder, and so many other kinds. Chowder can be thickened with the natural starch of potatoes, a roux, or even crushed crackers. The most widely known is the New England clam chowder.
Ingredients for salmon chowder recipe
- Butter: The butter is the base of this chowder. We’ll use it for cooking our veggies in a large stock pot.
- Onions: You want to do a fine chop on the onions, so they just blend right into the soup base.
- Celery: Again, chop them finely so that they just melt into the chowder base, and the flavor runs through and through.
- Garlic: I’m using a good six cloves in this recipe as it helps provide lots of flavor! Feel free to use less if you aren’t a fan.
- Potatoes: You can use Yukon Gold potatoes or even russets for this recipe. Russets, are the starchiest potato, so keep in mind that they will make the chowder thicker.
- Seasonings: he most important one being a seafood seasoning, such as old bay. You’ll also need kosher salt and black pepper. I also add crushed fennel. Seafood loves the licorice flavor of fennel and the lemony flavor of dried thyme both work so well in the chowder! You also need bay leaf and some dried basil. You could also sprinkle in some fresh or dried dill or chives if you’d like. I usually leave those out and prefer it without any of the green stuff on top!
- Diced tomatoes: I use the regular stuff, not fire-roasted.
- Stock: Seafood, chicken stock, or shrimp stock works here. We’ll boil the potatoes and everything else in the stock so use one that you like the flavor of. Some readers have mentioned swapping a portion of the stock for clam juice too.
- Tomato paste: The paste adds a nice deep tomatoey flavor to the chowder and also gives it a pretty blush color!
- Capers + brine: Capers and brine add a bit of zing to the chowder, which cut through the richness of the heavy cream and cream cheese.
- Dairy: Heavy cream and cream cheese add richness to the chowder.
- Seafood: I use two types of protein in this chowder recipe. I use salad shrimp (or you can use larger cooked shrimp that you just diced up) along with diced cold-smoked salmon in the recipe. I find it’s way more satisfying with the two different types of seafood.
How to make smoked salmon chowder
- Soften the veggies: Melt the butter in a dutch oven. Allow the onions and celery to soften. Then, we’ll add in the minced garlic and potatoes. Give it all a good stir. Crush the fennel and add it into the soup along with bay leaves, dried basil, diced tomatoes, capers, brine, and stock. The two tablespoons of capers and a splash of caper brine provide a nice zing to the soup. The heavy cream we add later mellows the whole thing out. Let the soup come up to a rolling simmer, cover, and let cook for 8-15 minutes or until the potatoes have softened and cooked through.
- Make it creamy: When the potatoes have softened, stir in the tomato paste, cream cheese, and seafood seasoning. Allow the cream cheese to just melt right into the soup.
- Add the seafood: Then, add the heavy cream and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Allow the chowder to gently warm through until a light simmer develops. Then, stir in the shrimp and smoked salmon.
- Serve it: If time permits, make the chowder a day in advance. The flavors much much richer on day two! Heat through, garnish wth fresh herbs and serve!
Recipe Tips
- If possible, make salmon chowder one day in advance.
- Use less sodium seasoning. You’ll need a full 4 teaspoons so the low sodium stuff is a much safer option!
- Use shrimp lobster, fish, or seafood stock if possible. The seasonings in the chowder pair beautifully with these stocks. If you have the time, you can even make it homemade. Usually, I save the shells off of a couple of pounds of shrimp and make homemade stock by simmering it with a few leaves of parsley, black peppercorn and a couple cloves smashed garlic. You can read all about it here.
- Don’t waste extra money on buying larger shrimp. Smoked salmon is a pricy ingredient, so I suggest cutting back wherever you can when it doesn’t make a huge difference to the recipe.
- Trust that the natural starch in potatoes will thicken the chowder. If you’re really worried, make sure to use russet potatoes. There’s no need to make a roux from flour and butter here. Potatoes are a great natural source of fiber and carbohydrates and they work so well in thickening soups naturally.
Essential recipe ingredients
Less sodium Old Bay seasoning |Fennel seeds | dried basil |seafood stock | lobster base | shrimp base | fish base | capers
Seattle-Style Smoked Salmon Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb. potatoes Yukon Gold or Russets, diced
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes drained
- 2 ½ -3 ½ cups fish stock or shrimp or chicken
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons capers plus 1 tbsp of the brine
- 4 ounce cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 4 teaspoons low sodium Old Bay seasoning
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces shrimp chopped or use salad shrimp
- 8 ounces smoked salmon roughly diced into small pieces
Instructions
- SAUTE: Heat the butter in a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring, until translucent and softened about 6-8minutes. Add the garlic and the potatoes. Crush the fennel seeds between your fingers and add them in. Add the bay leaves, dried basil, diced tomatoes, 2 ½ cups of stock, capers, and brine. Let the soup gain a rolling simmer, cover, and let cook for 8-15 minutes or until the potatoes cook all the way through. The timing may vary as this depends on how small you dice your potatoes.
- CREAM CHEESE: When the potatoes are fork-tender, remove the lid, kick the heat up to medium and stir in the tomato paste, cream cheese, and old bay seasoning. Allow the cream cheese to melt into the soup.
- SIMMER: Add the heavy cream and reduce the heat to low, allow the chowder to gently warm through until a light simmer develops. Add the shrimp and smoked salmon and let everything just heat through.
- SERVE: the chowder immediately or as I recommend, chill the chowder for several hours before serving. This will allow the flavors to develop further and will help thicken the chowder further. Rewarm before serving. Use additional stock to thin the chowder to preference. Season with additional salt as desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Very similar to the outstanding smoked salmon chowder I had in Oregon! SOOO glad I found this recipe. The fennel and capers make the dish!
Totally awesome. Followed recipe exactly. Definately a keeper!!!!!
It’s PIKE Place Market.
So So So yummy! I did not have low sodium Old Bay so I reduced 2 teaspoons and that worked out. I also threw in a 2 diced carrots. I will most definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!
This was so full of flavor. Did not change a thing, but do think a good substitute would be coconut milk for those who can’t do dairy. It was wonderful, thanks for sharing.
I don’t have smoked salmon but I do have liquid smoke. How much would you recommend?
We have so fallen in love with this recipe, that I had to finally come in and print it off, so my tablet would quit shutting down on me during prepping so often!! Thanks for a great chowder!
Can this be made without the heavy cream? Can 2% milk be used?
I made this twice now and get rave reviews each time I made it. I did use low fat cream cheese and cut the cream amount using half and half.
Hi I’ve made this many times and love it. I cut up fennel from the produce and really like that instead of the seeds. All the flavors are amazing. It’s one of those chowders you could eat every day. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
We’ve been making this for years now, since we started CSA-ing salmon shares. It’s the most delicious use of hot smoked salmon outside of breakfast. Perfect for cold snowy days, or just a comfort food that comes together pretty easily when you need it.
So delicious. Also works with J.O. seafood seasoning just fine. Unlike many recipes, I don’t even find I change much of anything when making it. Add some thyme maybe? Extra potato? But that’s about it.
Our son lives in Seattle and gave us the smoked salmon for Christmas. This was so delicious my husband was sighing the whole time he ate it. I didn’t have cream cheese but subbed Boursin cheese and this may have been a secret ingredient. It was fabulous, thanks.
I made this chowder for an annual sip and soup party that included 25 guests. I chose this recipe as it looked quite different from most the smoked salmon chowder recipes. I followed all the instructions, and used my homemade chicken broth with a 1/2 Tbls. of anchovy paste to add more fish flavor. I also used medium shrimp that I cooked and chopped, and added the shrimp broth to the chowder as it was very thick. I made it the day before and warmed it up over low heat. Received many requests for the recipe, and got rave reviews. This is an awesome recipe!
AMAZING!! We’ve made this so many times at our house and its just amazing each and every time! Put this on your next meal plan!
So good! My husband smoked some salmon a few days ago so this was a great way to use some of it.
I followed the recipe without any changes.
Delicious! Pink salmon is fairly difficult to cook due to it’s lack of texture, but I smoked it and used it in this recipe and it works really well. I added a little fish sauce, but other than that pretty much followed the recipe as is
Thanks,
Thank you for the recipe! I had crab legs meat laying around so I decided to mix them in. This is the most delicious chowder I have ever taste and I live in Alaska. The chowder they served at the restaurant could not beat yours.
I have made this a few times. My husband smokes salmon for me a lot as it is my favorite thing. I was telling the Chef at the college I work at about the smoked Salmon and he said that he Love smoked salmon. So I brought him in some of this Chowda..yes, I’m from New England so that it what we call it. He absolutely loved it! And by the way…I have had Salmon chowder in Seattle, and this beats anything I have had there Hands Down!