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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!
This soup if FANTASTIC!!! Just as it is written.
I made it. I can’t have potatoes so I used carrots instead. It’s super yummy. It instantly took me to a restaurant on a dock in the ocean. It was a huge hit.
Used fresh smoked salmon from the butcher and left out the cream cheese and fennel…kept everything the same and it was a winner! Fresh ingredients are the key! Time consuming, but worth it! Tips were very helpful.
Rainy day and a pound of smoked salmon to use. Found this absolute gem of a recipe. Was easy and enjoyable to make and tastes amazing. Will be making this again and again! Thank you!!
Delicious! We especially loved the soup the next day when the flavors had time to meld. Thank for sharing this wonderful recipe.
This is the best smoked salmon chowder recipe! I left out the fennel seeds (not a fan), and it still has an abundance of flavor! Here in Alaska, we like our smoked salmon. I’m always looking for a great recipe, and I have just found it!! Make this for your family and they will love it!
Ohhh boy! This is amazing! We made it for Christmas and subbed out shrimp for crab, Old Bay for Chesapeake Bay seasoning, and added fire roasted corn. It was so good, that I was still thinking about it in February and made another batch.
Delicious! We loved it! I only used 1 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning and that was plenty of flavor for me. Thank you for creating such a fabulous soup recipe.
I have read salad shrimp are often not deveined which could make this painful? Any thoughts?
You can use larger shrimp, and just chop them up if you prefer!
Ohh Boy! This was amazing!! My family and I made the chowder this this week. Didn’t have shrimp but used frozen crab. Also used Chesapeake Bay seasoning instead of Old Bay and added frozen fire roasted corn. Not a drop wasted. WOW!
Looking for smoked salmon recipe …. this one sounds good
It’s the juice in the jar of capers?
Hi Leslie! Yes, the brining liquid (juice) in the jar of capers is what you need. Hope you enjoy the chowder 🙂
Delicious. Made it with frozen salmon. Would recommend a bit less Old Bay seasoning. Mine came out a bit salty.
We love this chowder!!!! I sometimes use regular baked salmon and it is still outstanding!
OMG most delicious chowder EVER! I made it for guests for tomorrow night but if I don’t stop “tasting” it there won’t be any left! I couldn’t find Low Sodium Old Bay here so I went with regular but low salt broth and didn’t change anything else and it’s PERFECT..
This Recipe is excellent . I made it almost just as written I added a couple ears of fresh corn because I had it on hand . Also i didn’t have low sodium Old Bay Seasoning so I did not need to add any additional salt . I will be putting this recipe on rotation in my house this fall and winter. Thanks for posting this great chowder.
Just made this chowder, it’s so good! Made it with most of the ingredients listed just added a bit more chicken stock, fennel, basil, cream cheese, capers and shrimp. I did sub coconut milk for the heavy cream which was the only variation. Will be making this often thanks for this delicious and easy recipe!
I use this recipe each time I am asked to make it. I add scallops, clam meat, shrimp and smoked pink salmon we catch. With this recipe you cant go wrong. 2 year old granddaughter loves the stuff. Best part of this recipe, you can add what you want and it turns out great.
How much capers is recommended
I altered this considerably to use what I had available and it came out incredibly! Very adaptable recipe. I used fresh shiitake mushrooms in place of the shrimp (added with the onion and celery) and a mushroom stock base. I omitted the basil, Old Bay and cream, but I did use the cream cheese- it was plenty creamy for my taste without the cream. No doubt shrimp or even crab would be delicious and decadent in place of the mushrooms, but it was still wildly yummy.