Best Spices for Clam Chowder

The secret to clam chowder isn’t in the spice rack. Most of its flavor comes from cured pork, onions, clams and their juice, and dairy, and the herbs and spices are there to back them up: thyme, a single bay leaf and black pepper in both recipes here. If you want more, one chef adds a little Old Bay, cayenne and Worcestershire, and another goes for a whole head of celery plus celery seed. Below: when each seasoning goes in, and how the main styles differ.

At a glance

Seasoning	Job in the pot	Where it appears
Salt pork or bacon	Fat to cook the aromatics in; salty, cured base	Britannica’s standard New England list (salt pork); both recipes below¹²³
Onion	Sweet, savory base	Britannica’s standard list; both recipes¹²³
Celery (stalk or seed)	Green, savory depth	Both recipes; not in Britannica’s standard list¹²³
Clam juice	Briny backbone	Both recipes²³
Thyme	Herbal, slightly sharp note	Both recipes²³
Bay leaf	Subtle background	Both recipes²³
Black pepper	Gentle pungency	Both recipes, to taste²³
Cayenne, Old Bay, Worcestershire	Extra heat and complexity	One recipe (Hardy)²

What chowder is

Chowder is a hearty North American soup usually made with fish or shellfish, especially clams. The standard New England version has fish or shellfish, salt pork, onions, potatoes and milk; Manhattan-style chowder uses tomatoes in place of the milk.¹

The core seasonings and what each does

Salt pork or bacon: the cured base

The aromatics cook in pork fat, and salt pork is standard in New England chowder. John Fink’s recipe for Foodwise calls for 2 ounces of pork fat or salt pork, cooked slowly until lightly crisp,³ while Ryan Hardy’s recipe in the James Beard Foundation archive starts with ½ pound of diced bacon.² Salt pork gives a cleaner pork flavor, and smoked bacon adds smoke. Both show up in recipes from established sources, so go with what you like.

Onion and celery: the aromatic base

Onion is in the standard New England version and in both recipes here; Fink specifies yellow onions. Celery is in both recipes (three stalks for Hardy, a whole head for Fink, who also adds a teaspoon of celery seed) but not in that standard version, so it’s common but not defining. Cook both slowly in the pork fat before any liquid goes in. That takes the edge off and gives the soup its savory base.

Clam juice: the briny backbone

Both recipes use clam juice as part of the liquid: 2½ cups of fresh or bottled juice for Hardy, 2 to 3 cups for Fink.²³ It carries the sea flavor further than the chopped clams can on their own. Bottled juice is salty, so taste before you add more salt.

Thyme: the herbal note

Thyme is in both recipes: 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme in Hardy’s, ½ teaspoon of chopped leaves in Fink’s.²³ It has a sharp, slightly medicinal edge. America’s Test Kitchen classes thyme as a hearty herb whose volatile flavor compounds are somewhat more heat-stable, so it can go in early.⁴ For more, see cooking with thyme and fresh vs. dried thyme. If it takes over, see too much thyme.

Bay leaf: subtle background

Each recipe uses one bay leaf. Fish it out before serving. J. Kenji López-Alt compares eating a dried bay leaf to eating a fish bone.⁵ Out of bay? See bay leaf substitutes.

Black pepper: gentle heat

Both recipes finish with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Don’t want dark specks in a white soup? White pepper works (the recipes here use black). See white pepper vs. black pepper.

Optional extras

Old Bay seasoning

Old Bay is a Baltimore blend, not a traditional chowder ingredient, but Hardy’s recipe uses ½ teaspoon of it along with a pinch of cayenne and ½ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, added with the thyme, bay leaf and clams.²

McCormick’s label for Old Bay Classic Seafood Seasoning lists: “Celery Salt (Salt, Celery Seed), Spices (Including Red Pepper and Black Pepper), and Paprika.”⁶ The full spice list isn’t disclosed. Other spices often said to be in it aren’t confirmed by any source we found.

Since the label lists paprika and red pepper, a heavy hand will tint a white chowder. A small amount, like Hardy’s ½ teaspoon, seasons it without much color change. For more on the blend, see Old Bay seasoning and Old Bay vs. Creole seasoning.

Other additions in the recipes

Fink’s recipe adds chopped oregano, leeks, smoked shrimp, lemon juice and chopped chives to finish.³ Those are one cook’s choices, not part of any standard.

Two recipes side by side

Recipe	Pork	Aromatics	Herbs and spices	Other seasoning
Ryan Hardy, James Beard Foundation archive²	½ lb bacon	1½ onions, 3 celery stalks	1 tbsp fresh thyme, 1 bay leaf, pinch cayenne, ½ tsp Old Bay, salt and pepper	½ tsp Worcestershire, 2½ cups clam juice
John Fink, The Whole Beast, via Foodwise³	2 oz pork fat or salt pork	3 yellow onions, 1 head celery, 2 leeks	1 tsp celery seed, 1 bay leaf, ½ tsp thyme, ½ tsp oregano, salt and pepper, chives	2 to 3 cups clam juice, 4 tbsp lemon juice

These are the named cooks’ recipes, not a house standard.

When to add each seasoning

Here’s the order the recipes above follow:

Pork: first, cooked until it gives up its fat.
Onion, celery: next, cooked in the pork fat.
Thyme, bay, Old Bay, cayenne: with the liquid and clams, then simmered (Hardy).
Salt and pepper: at the end, to taste, since pork and clam juice both bring salt.

Chowder, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
New England Clam Chowder, Ryan Hardy, James Beard Foundation recipe archive. archive.jamesbeard.org · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³
New England Clam Chowder, John Fink (The Whole Beast), Foodwise. foodwise.org · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²
Our Guide to Fresh Herbs, Liz Bomze, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩
Bay leaves are an optional ingredient, David Leite with J. Kenji López-Alt, The Splendid Table, 2014. splendidtable.org · Publication ↩
OLD BAY Classic Seafood Seasoning, product page, McCormick & Company. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩

The Best Seasonings for Clam Chowder: Pork, Aromatics, Thyme, Bay and Old Bay