Salmon Chowder Recipe | Easy 30-Minute Meal

Making delicious salmon chowder is easy with this recipe from the beautiful April Point Resort and Spa in British Columbia. If anyone knows their salmon, it's a chef in the Pacific Northwest! This healthy soup recipe takes 30 minutes from beginning to end.

This dish is free from corn, wheat, and dairy.

What is Chowder?

Chowder is a thick soup made with seafood such as fish, clams, shrimp, or crabs. A chowder contains large chunks of vegetables such as potatoes and onions.

The most notorious chowder is New England Clam Chowder, a thick white soup made with big chunks of potatoes, carrots, onions, and lots of chopped clams. It is thickened with heavy cream, and cornstarch or flour, and is white in color.

Salmon chowder resembles Manhattan Clam Chowder, a heavily spiced soup flavored with tomatoes instead of heavy cream, popular in New York City.

How to Buy Salmon

This morning I picked up wild-caught sockeye salmon from Key Largo Fisheries. It looked so fresh, I had to have it. Fresh salmon is hard to come by in South Florida.

When buying fish, look for the following:

• The fish should feel firm, have an even texture, and look shiny, not mealy. It shouldn't have any dark patches or look dry.
• At a fish counter, ask to smell the fish. It should smell like the sea, without a strong fishy odor.
• If you're pulling fish from your grocer's freezer, the package should be labeled with the species of fish you are buying as well as the country of origin. The bag's contents should move freely and not be a big clump of ice, which indicates the contents have defrosted and been refrozen.
• Look for salmon certified by reputable organizations such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for wild-caught salmon or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) for farm-raised salmon.

What You Need

• 1 pound fresh wild-caught salmon fillets, boneless and skinless
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (you can sub olive oil)
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 2 russet potatoes (you can sub sweet potatoes for Paleo and Kaufmann diets)
• 5 cups seafood stock, chicken stock, or filtered water
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste 
• ¼ cup minced parsley (flat-leaf or curly)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped capers
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Sour cream for serving

How to Make Salmon Chowder

• Cube the salmon, and refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a 6-quart pot, melt butter. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes until onions are softened. Add garlic; stir for 10 seconds.
• Add carrots, celery, and potatoes.
• Cover and allow vegetables to steam for 5 minutes.
• Add stock, water thyme, and dill. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
• Add salmon and tomato paste.
• Simmer uncovered for an additional five minutes or until the salmon begins to flake. Turn off the heat.
• Stir in parsley and capers. 
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve hot with dollops of sour cream.

The Health Benefits of Salmon

Salmon is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins, and potassium. If you can get wild salmon for a few extra dollars, it's worth the expense for the amazing health benefits.

Wild-caught salmon is a cold-water fish from the Pacific North West. Because of the colder water, salmon have to gain fat on their bodies to stay warm.

Wild fish naturally eat smaller fish, shellfish, algae, and plankton. Farmed fish might have a diet that includes genetically modified (GMO) wheat, corn, soy, and canola oil. They might be administered antibiotics. Whatever the fish is eating, you are eating.

The fat on salmon is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, unsaturated fats, known to reduce inflammation, support heart and brain health, and promote healthy skin.

Serving and Presentation Chowder

Each bowl of chowder should have an equal amount of salmon in it. To serve a chunky soup like this, use a slotted spoon to scoop up the fish and veggies and divide it into four serving bowls. Then ladle the soup into the bowls.

Red pepper flakes or hot sauce can be offered at the table for extra spice. A sprig of fresh dill or parsley would make it extra special.

Skip the sour cream for a dairy-free chowder.

Reheating & Storage

To reheat the salmon chowder, of course, you can microwave it, but it would be best to put the leftover soup in a small or medium saucepan and heat for 8-10 minutes over medium heat.

Store the leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

The soup can be frozen for up to 2 months.

About This Recipe

I adapted this recipe from A Taste for Comfort: A scenic tour of Pacific Northwest Inns with selected recipes. We have a Salvation Army store in Key Largo and when people sell their homes and move away, they tend to bring all their old cookbooks there. This one is a real gem.

Check out the April Point Resort! The waterfront resort on Quadra Island in British Columbia, Canada, has fishing charters whale watching, and grizzly bear tours. Wow!

This northwest salmon chowder is a healthy soup that is made with wild-caught Pacific Northwest salmon, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomato paste, chicken stock, parsley, dill, and capers. It tastes great and makes a very hearty meal.

Resources: Stewart, Anita. A Taste for Comfort: A scenic tour of Pacific Northwest Inns with selected recipes. C&D Publishing, 1993.

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