Crockpot Clam Chowder {shortcut recipe}
91 Comments Aug 01, 2021
Updated Jun 16, 2025
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This crockpot clam chowder has all the decadent flavors you expect, but with not much effort! Perfect for dinner any night of the week.
Recipe Highlights
- Minimal prep with little chopping
- Made with canned soup and basic spices
- Rich, restaurant-quality flavor
- Easy crockpot method—just dump and go
- Want the tomato-based version? Try my Crockpot Manhattan Clam Chowder
Key Ingredients
Find the full recipe with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below the images.
- Cream of Potato Soup – The shortcut base that adds creamy texture without extra steps like making a roux.
- Minced Clams – Canned clams offer classic flavor and convenience.
- Cream Cheese – Melts into the soup for rich, velvety body.
- Bacon – Adds a smoky depth.
- Thyme & Black Pepper – A simple blend that enhances the seafood.
- White Onion – Finely minced to melt into the chowder for subtle savory flavor.
How to make Crockpot Clam Chowder
- Toss everything into your slow cooker—even the cream cheese cubes.
- Let it simmer low and slow until creamy, rich, and irresistible.
- Stir, scoop, and serve.
Variations
Here are ways to change up this recipe:
- If you want a strong clam flavor, add some clam juice from the canned clams, I would add about a half-cup. If you want a big punch of clam flavor, add one cup of bottled clam juice.
- Fresh clams can be used. Cook the fresh clams, baby clams, or razor clams in boiling water on the stove top for 8-10 minutes. Remove the clams from the water and pull the meat from the shells. Add to the chowder in the slow cooker.
- Stir in a cup of sweet corn kernels for a bit of texture and natural sweetness.
- You can make this clam chowder without bacon and still have great results.
My Serving Suggestions
Here is how we like to serve this clam chowder. Who needs a seafood restaurant when your homemade clam chowder looks this good?
- Serve your crockpot clam chowder recipe in a bowl with saltine crackers or oyster crackers.
- For a restaurant style, top your chowder with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of paprika.
- Warm sourdough bread and butter is an excellent side for chowder.
- You can serve the soup in a bread bowl for an extra special touch..
Featured Comment
“I made this today and it will now be added to my favorite recipes of all time! It is delicious! Thank you for sharing.”
– Carol
This is one of my favorite recipes to take on vacations. I also make ravioli lasagna and crockpot pulled pork while traveling in the RV or at vacation houses; cooking in a crock pot can feed a crowd quickly.
Crockpot Clam Chowder Recipe
How to Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 21 oz. Cream of Potato Soup, (two-10.50 oz. cans)
- 21 oz. milk, (measured in above cans) use whole milk for an extra creamy soup
- 8 oz. cream cheese, cubed – Philadelphia brand melts the best.
- 13 oz. minced clams, (two-6.5 oz cans) drained (see notes for adding the clam juice)
- 1/2 cup white onion, finely minced
- 8 slices bacon, sliced, cooked and drained
- 1/2 tsp. dried leaf thyme (not ground), or two teaspoons fresh
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add everything into the slow cooker.
- Stir. Don't worry about the cream cheese mixing in, it will melt as the slow cooker heats up.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours. Stir occasionally so the soup doesn't scorch. This is a thicker soup and can tend to stick to the edges.
- Serve with desired sides and toppings!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More crockpot soup recipes you’ll love:
Warm up with Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana, loaded with sausage and kale, or try Slow Cooker Busy Day Soup, a quick, hearty option with meat and veggies.
For something rich and comforting, Slow Cooker Cauliflower Cheese Soup and Turkey Chowder are creamy, flavorful picks that come together with minimal effort. Another seafood recipe we love is Cream of Crab Soup.
Crockpot Corn Chowder and Ham and Green Bean Chowder are great ways to use up leftovers and bring bold, comforting flavors to the dinner table.
I’m throwing out all my other clam chowder recipes as this one has to be the blue ribbon winner! Sooo good! And sooo easy, with everything just put in the crockpot all at once! I did have the same problem one of the other reviewers did in that the cream cheese did not melt entirely even after I softened it in the microwave and added it to the crockpot in pieces, not as a whole block, and cooked it the full 5 hours. I think the issue is how old your crockpot is – I used one I got as a wedding gift more than 40 years ago and the newer ones cook hotter.. Next time I will use one of my newer ones (I have 4 LOL!). Everybody – YOU’VE GOT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE!
How long to cook if I double this recipe?
5 hours on low will do the trick still!
Delicious and I didn’t like New England clam chowder
“Real Bacon” works well in recipes like this.
Do I have cook the bacon or csn I just cut up the bacon and put it in the crockpot
No, uncooked bacon in the slow cooker, tastes like fat. The browning is where the flavor comes from.
Do I have to add bacon or no
I think it adds a layer of flavor, but you can leave it out if you prefer.
my batter was very thick but Inas was more like a cake batter. did anyone else have this ? I just put it in the oven ..hope it turns out good !!
This clam chowder had tons of homemade flavor for canned ingredients, so good! I used 1/2 cup of the clam juice (juice from one can) and would consider using all the juice next time. I also did 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy whipping cream. I added two additional raw potatoes, cut into smallish pieces and omitted the bacon and was still soooo great on flavor! Only question, after 5 hours in crock pot there were still little bits of cream cheese unmelted. Could I melt the cream cheese before adding it or did I do something wrong? Thanks for terrific recipe!
You have to stir pretty hard to get the cream cheese to dissipate. I’ve heard of people putting the cream cheese in the microwave to melt it before adding to the slow cooker.
I have made this twice so far, in the last 10 days. Last night we had it with ribs for dinner. I like the clam taste so I use all the juice from the clams. I don’t add water. I use one can whole milk and one can heavy cream…(soup cans). It was awesome, I love my Clam chowder thick. I grew up in the S.F. Bay Area. My Mom was from Nova Scotia so seafood is in our blood. This recipe is the bomb.
So glad to hear!
Can I use half and half instead of whole milk
Yes! that will make it even creamier.
I did a 1.5 recipe with pacific razor clams I caught. Got a review of best ever. Thank you so much! And I gave you the credit!
Great to hear Dustin. This recipe has such homemade flavor with little effort!
May I use fresh Barnegat Bay clams caught in NJ instead of the can clams?
I don’t see why not!
My slow cooker broke how can I adjust this to cook on the stove. Thank you.
You can get this done very quick on the stove. I would sauté the onions in oil. Then add the other ingredients and heat up. Won’t take long.