Fish Chowder is such a great easy fish recipe that’s can’t-stop-eating-it good! A thick and hearty creamy white fish soup, I adore this combination of tender potatoes, carrots, sweet corn and peas with big flakes of fish.
A wonderful fish recipe for Easter – or anytime! Just imagine that moment when you dunk in a hunk of warm crusty bread…..
Fish Chowder Soup
This is really just a Fish Soup but I like to call it a “chowder” because the immature child within believes it sounds a heck of a lot more interesting to say “we’re having Fish Chowder for dinner tonight” rather than just “fish soup”.
Who’s with me on this? ?
Well, whatever we think this should be called, it doesn’t matter! What matters is that it’s utterly delicious, and I think it’s a great easy fish recipe that’s a little different to the usual pan frying or baked fish recipes that can be made with many types of fish.
Best fish for fish chowder
“Meaty” firm types of fish are ideal for fish chowder, such as: Snapper, barramundi, tilapia, basa*, cod, ling, monkfish, marlin, latchet (gurnard), leatherjacket, Spanish mackerel, shark (flake), salmon.
Avoid delicate fish such as whiting, garfish, John Dory, flat fish (flounder, sole) and flathead as they tend to fall apart in soup.
Avoid lean fish like Swordfish, tuna, kingfish, normal mackerel. These tend to be a bit dry unless cooked with care if it’s not the super fatty bit like the belly which is hard to get outside of Japan! So best not used in soup.
* Popular economical fish in Australia, this is actually a type of catfish found in South East Asia.
I’m using Barramundi fillets, a popular fish here in Australia. I like how big and meaty the fillets are – 1 fillet usually weighs around 300 – 400g (10 – 14 oz).
What goes in Fish Chowder
Pretty straight forward list of ingredients. Just some notes on a few of the items:
- Wine – optional, but it does add that little extra something something to the soup broth. It’s pretty traditional to use white wine in a seafood broth base. Can be skipped.
- Vegetables – feel free to switch with vegetables of choice, just add them according to the cook time. Potato and broccoli is great (it basically ends up looking like Potato Broccoli Soup with fish in it), or try Corn Chowder type soup with fish added. Anything goes here!
- Best broth for fish chowder – in order of preference:
- homemade fish stock – reserved for special occasions around these parts!
- high quality store bought fish stock ie not standard supermarket brands like Campbells
- clam juice – US product, not sold in Australia, hope it comes to our shores!
- chicken broth /stock – yes really, try it and be amazed how good it is in this recipe. This is what I use for everyday purposes.
Just to be clear, there is no denying that the best seafood soups are made with homemade seafood broths and any respectable seafood restaurant will use house-made broths. But there’s also no denying that it’s not practical for most people to manhandle giant cauldrons of fish heads on any given night, and that’s the basis on which I give my recommendations!
How to make it
Chowder is a great straightforward recipe – sauté onion and garlic, deglaze the pot with white wine, add flour to make a sludge then basically tip everything else in.
The broth for Fish Chowder is thickened with the flour – no need for cream unless you want to add richness (I do not miss it).
I used to sear the fish first before making the broth, believing that this gave an overall better flavour. But actually, for fish soups, I think it’s best to just plonk the uncooked fish straight into the broth so all the fish juices leech into the soup as it poaches.
If you’ve been around since Easter of last year, you’d be forgiven for thinking the ingredients in this recipe are somewhat familiar. In fact kudos to you for picking it up! Because this Fish Chowder is in fact pretty much my favourite Easter Fish Pie – in soup form. 🙂
Try this soup with Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread…. wait until you SEE it in the video below. Makes my knees weak every single time!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Fish Chowder Soup
Ingredients
- 40g / 3 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small onion , finely chopped
- 2 small carrots , halved, cut into 0.5cm / 1/5" slices
- 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine (can skip)
- 1/4 cup (35g) flour (plain / all purpose)
- 3 cups (750 ml) milk , any fat %
- 2 cups (500 ml) fish stock, clam juice OR chicken stock, preferably low sodium (Note 1)
- 2 cups potato , 1.5 cm/ 0.5" cubes (~1 large potato)
- 1 cup corn , frozen or canned (drained)
- 0.5 tsp salt , plus more to taste
- Finely ground black pepper
- 600 g/1.2 lb white fish fillets , skinless, cut into 2cm / 4/5" pieces (Note 2)
- 1 cup peas , frozen
Garnish/serving (optional):
- 1/4 cup green onions , halved and finely sliced (garnish)
- Crusty bread for dunking
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add garlic and onion, cook for 5 minutes until translucent but not golden.
- Add carrots and stir through.
- Turn heat up to high and add wine. Stir then let it simmer rapidly until it's mostly evaporated.
- Add flour and stir for 30 seconds - it will become sludgy!
- Slow pour in broth while stirring to dissolve paste, then stir in milk.
- Add potato, corn, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer then turn heat down so it's simmering gently.
- Cook, stirring every now and then, for 8 minutes or until potato is almost cooked.
- Add fish and peas, simmer for 3 minutes or until fish is just cooked (should flake easily).
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick, add a touch of water or milk.
- Serve, garnished with green onions and crusty bread on the side for dunking!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer! I said FISH chowder, not PELICAN chowder!!!
mmmmmmm …………
So good!!
And how could this be called anything but a chowder??
Actually, this is a chowderas the thick creaminess puts it somewhere between a soup and a stew.
That being the case, my mpther’s pea and ham soup would definitely fall into the “chowder” category!!
Wonderful recipe and as usual for a Nagi creation, chock full of flavour :)))))
Made it about 5 times. Sooo good! I change it a bit but it is always delicious!
That’s great to hear Pauline, I’m so glad you love it! N x
Hello Nagi,
Can I use coconut milk or any other dairy free milk and hoki fish in this recipe?
Thank you.
This soup was super tasty! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
You’re so welcome Kanako!
Love it as usual, I made this using Dashida clam soup base, it comes in a powder form and worked a treat, rich in flavor so we might not be able to get the real deal in Oz but this certainly gave the chowder a lift.
Sounds amazing Tony, I’m so happy it worked out!
Another YUM Nagi! For the stock, I used these bonito granules used for making miso soup (2 cups water to 1 tbsp, no more salt) and it worked! Thanks so much!
Sounds divine Kris!
Is it possible to use a mixture of seafood to make a seafood chowder? (Instead of just fish)
You could, seafood chowder is one to add to my list!
Made this Fish Chowder last Friday night was a big hit with my wife as we have fishy Friday.
I used wild caught barramundi 500grams with 100grams of pealed Prawns.everthing else as per tbe recipe.
Thank you great meal.
Sounds divine Spencer!!
Another yummy meal, I used chicken broth from the chicken soup on the weekend which worked great! Nagi, if you have time, I was going to make fish stock but when given the choice of salmon, redfin and orange roughy at the fishmongers I didn’t feel they were suitable. What are good fish to use for stock? The only other option was snapper but it want ready at the time. Thanks, love your recipes!
Hi Zoe, chicken stock would have been a perfect sub! I would recommend lean, white fish for stock – fish like salmon or trout is too oily and rich in my opinion. – N x
Great recipe! I only had 400g basa, so I added some prawns. Delicious 😋
Is it suitable to freeze the leftovers?
This was delicious. Thank you! Every recipe I have tried my hubby and I really enjoy.
That’s great to hear Cindy!!
YUMMY!! Nagi this is absolutely delish & super simple! I used Basa Fillets which are a very cheap option but I did splurge on fish stock from the fish shop and it was worth the $9!! The flavours just sung! I did make this in the afternoon and it reheated beautifully for dinner. Served it with a crusty loaf, got a standing high 5 from the husband and my other guests really loved it too. Had some left over so popped it in the fridge and the next evening heated it up on the stove and threw in some fresh prawns and scallops and had it again for dinner!! It was absolutely delicious again! Another winner Nagi, thanks.
Wahoo, I’m so glad it was a hit Vikki ❤️
Nagi can I make this earlier in the day and reheat it??
Cheers
Vikki
Hi Vikki, yes of course!
I made half the recipe for two of us and had one serve left. I added a slice of bacon and used mostly Basa and a small piece of salmon as I was worried it may lack in flavour due to not having my own fish stock and making it up with powdered fish stock. We loved it and the only change I would make is to use a little more flour to have it a little thicker as we like our soups thick. Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
You’re so welcome Karen!!
made this tonight for dinner and it was scrumptious! left out the wine and peas though, and sub in more corn. love it. thanks for the great recipe!! xo
I’m so glad you loved it Naomi!
yummy, nutritious soup! Hv tried some of your lovely recipes and your blog is my ‘go-to’ for healthy, yummy homemade food!
Thanks Nagi
Thanks so much Corine!
Tastes great with hot smoked salmon! Adds real depth to the broth. Love the recipe x