Top 12 American Clam Dishes

One of the earliest and quintessential American dishes, New England-style clam chowder is a creamy stew made with briny clams, chunks of salt pork, sweet onions, potatoes, and milk. The dish was invented by the Pilgrims who had landed near Plymouth Rock in 1620. Hungry and with nothing to eat, they turned to delicious clams that are commonly found on New England's shores and cooked them in pots filled with water over an open flame. As for the word chowder, some claim it stems from the French chaudiére, denoting an iron cooking pot, while others claim it stems from chaudeau, meaning hot water. The creamy version we all know and love today started to become popular at the beginning of the 19th century, and by the end of it, there were also some regional versions of the dish. Some of them added crushed crackers, butter, or chopped fish to the already flavourful broth. Aromatic and sea-flavored, it is almost a sacred dish in New England, regularly celebrated with various competitions, festivals, chowder lovers societies, and boat races. Today, there are many versions of clam chowder in Manhattan, Rhode Island, Long Island, Minorcan, Hatteras, Delaware, and New Jersey.Expand

Regularly served at clam shacks throughout New England, fried clams are a delicious appetizer made with clams which have been dipped in milk and corn flour, then deep-fried. The appetizer is typically prepared with whole soft-shell clams, which have a fuller flavor than regular clams. Although clams have been fried since 1840, the modern version of deep-fried, breaded clams is credited to Lawrence Henry Woodman from Massachusetts, who supposedly created the first version of the dish in 1916.Expand

Following in the footsteps of the classic New England-style clam chowder, Californian clam chowder is a creamy stew containing clams, potatoes, and onions. The key to making it Californian-style is to carefully tuck the chowder inside a sourdough bread bowl, which is the Californian way to enjoy this iconic American dish. Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is believed to have originated in 1849, in the San Francisco restaurant called Boudin, and has since become the signature dish of the city.Expand

Originating from Rhode Island, clams casino is made with littlenecks or cherrystone clams and bacon that are first seasoned and cooked, then placed together with breading on a half of a clam shell, and finished by either baking or broiling the concoction. Despite many variations, the one constant ingredient is bacon, and the finished clams are often sprinkled with fresh parsley. The dish became extremely popular with Italian-Americans and is served in almost every trattoria in Manhattan’s Little Italy.Expand

A regional specialty hailing from New England, stuffed clam is usually made with a mixture of clam meat, onions, garlic, breadcrumbs or crumbled crackers, butter, and parsley. This mixture is stuffed into clam shells before being baked. Other typical ingredients include red and green peppers, celery, lemon juice, paprika, red pepper, and cayenne pepper. Often referred to as stuffies, the dish is typically made with the meat of large clams such as quahogs or cherrystone clams, and it can also be enhanced with grated parmesan cheese. Some variations of the dish call for a chunkier or smoother filling, while others use a variety of additions in the mixture, such as crispy bacon strips or lingucia, a type of Portuguese sausage. While the dish is usually consumed as an appetizer, it can also be served as a main meal for lunch or dinner, when it is accompanied by other foods. Stuffed clams are a typical treat at festive occasions and can be commonly found throughout New England’s coast.Expand

Although New England clam chowder boasts with its salt pork, mollusk, potato, and onion mixture, New Yorkers have their own Manhattan variety of the dish, a light tomato stew similar to minestrone, filled with carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, and lots of large, chopped chowder clams accompanied by aromatic herbs such as thyme, oregano, and pepper. It is said that the flavor significantly improves after a day, so if making it at home, it's best to let it sit and reheat it the next day. As for its origins, some claim that it was invented in Rhode Island regardless of Manhattan in its name and that the original recipe was inspired by immigrants from Italy or Portugal. Since the dish has tomatoes in it, and they were thought to be suspicious, if not poisonous in New England until the mid-1800s, Manhattan clam chowder would have to date back from at least the period after those years. It differs from the New England version as it doesn't have any milk in it, and the New England version doesn't contain tomatoes, so the dish is sometimes called red chowder, while the New England version is called white chowder. The rivalry between the two is so great that in 1939, a bill was introduced in the state of Maine in order to make it illegal to add tomatoes to the dish. Regardless of the dispute, Manhattan clam chowder is a unique and special stew that must be tried, and it's never bad to have two different versions of a universally loved dish.Expand

Clam cakes are a summer tradition throughout New England, most commonly found in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. It is a deep-fried combination of chopped clams (usually quahog clams) and batter, usually consisting of flour, milk, clam juice, eggs, and a leavening agent. The cakes are crispy and golden brown on the exterior, with a light and fluffy texture on the interior. They are especially popular during the clamming season, when clams are in abundance and must be used quickly so they do not spoil over time. Clam cakes are served throughout coastal New England, at restaurants and roadside stands, typically consumed as finger food and accompanied by a bowl of clam chowder for dipping.Expand

Clams oreganata is an Italian-American dish made with a combination of 6 or 12 clams (usually littleneck clams), butter, breadcrumbs, oregano, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and white wine. The clams in their shells are topped with a mixture of butter, breadcrumbs, oregano, garlic, parsley, and lemon zest before baking. The name of the dish refers to the addition of oregano to the breadcrumb mixture. Clams oreganata is a must-have appetizer for the Feast of the seven fishes, an Italian-American celebration of Christmas Eve which incorporates various fish and seafood dishes.Expand

Minorcan clam chowder is a Floridian dish hailing from St. Augustine. This Manhattan-style, tomato-based chowder is made with a combination of onions, bacon, green bell peppers, clams with their juice, crushed tomatoes, celery, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, and datil chili pepper, which is grown in the St. Augustine area. The chowder is cooked until the potatoes are fully cooked. If the broth is too thick, it's recommended to dilute it with water or tomato juice. However, the consistency should remain on the thick and chunky side. Some claim that Minorcan clam chowder is even better if reheated the next day. The dish was brought over by the Minorcans to St. Augustine in 1777.Expand

This clam chowder is a traditional dish hailing from Delaware. The dish is usually made with a combination of pre-fried salt pork, potatoes, quahog clams, butter, onions, and salt water. The ingredients are cooked until soft, and the chowder is then served while still warm. This clam chowder variety was especially popular during the early and mid-20th century. It's often compared with the New England clam chowder, with which it shares some common traits. Sometimes, white wine, cream, and corn are added to Delaware clam chowder, giving the broth a slightly yellowish hue.Expand