I think that New England Clam Chowder is a cornerstone of American cooking. It’s one of my favorite soups to eat, and it’s not super hard to make correctly.
I use milk and heavy cream in this clam chowder recipe because that’s what I usually keep on hand. You could also use half and half if you have some to use up, just replace the milk and heavy cream amounts with an equal amount of half and half.
I also use Wondra Flour for this recipe, because it’s the easiest ingredient to keep on hand for quickly thickening soups and sauces. It really is a magical ingredient and you should definitely have some in your pantry, but if you prefer you can always use all-purpose flour. If you go that route, ladle out about a cup of soup (without the bits, just the liquid) and let to cool for 10 minutes. Then whisk in the flour to your cooling cup of soup-liquid, and slowly pour the mixture back into the hot soup, whisking the soup the whole time to incorporate the mixture. Then boil for 5 minutes. It’s more complicated than using Wondra Flour, but totally doable.
