Healthy Chowder Recipes

A tomato-based broth made with reduced-fat cream cheese and fat-free milk is the backdrop for this delicious fish chowder that's bursting with flounder, shrimp, corn, and potatoes.

Manhattan chowder is the red kind, made with disease-fighting lycopene-rich tomatoes. This version substitutes crab for the clams. To make it cook faster, take your time to finely dice the vegetables. We call for convenient canned crushed tomatoes, but you only need 2 cups; store leftover tomatoes in an airtight container for 1 week in the refrigerator or months in the freezer. Then take them out to toss into other soups or sauces--you can't go wrong with adding tomatoes, from a heart-health perspective! All you need is crusty bread or oyster crackers and a tossed salad and you've got dinner.

This wonderful winter vegetable chowder recipe is rich, filling and great for a winter supper. It's full of potatoes, rutabaga and carrot, but other vegetables could be added, such as sautéed mushrooms or fennel, chopped tomatoes or cubes of roasted winter squash.

The smoky flavor of the chipotle peppers in this recipe combines with corn to make a bordertown chowder with substance and sizzle; the Southwest at its best!

Reducing the potatoes by half, and adding cauliflower in its place, lowers the carbs in this creamy meal-in-a-bowl.

Take a basic corn chowder recipe, add potatoes, jalapeños, and oysters and what do you get? A hearty 45-minute soup that will have people begging for seconds.

Evaporated fat-free milk is the key to this slimmed-down version of classic corn chowder.

The addition of halibut, scallops and clams turns ordinary corn chowder into an extraordinary meal-in-a-bowl.

Comforting and wholesome, corn chowder served with a green salad makes a satisfying light supper. Stir in some cooked diced or shredded chicken if you crave more protein.

You'll love this classic New England chowder with a twist--lima beans!

In this healthy clam chowder recipe, traditional heavy cream is replaced with milk and flour-thickened clam juice and we keep sodium amounts reasonable with lower-sodium clam juice instead of higher-sodium broths. By making your own creamy clam chowder, you can save up to 300 calories, 20 grams of saturated fat and 500 milligrams of sodium per serving compared to many store-bought or restaurant chowders.

Turkey bacon gives this creamy corn chowder a fabulous flavor without adding a lot of saturated fat. The soup has less than 190 calories per serving so it's an excellent choice if you are watching your weight. If you don't have fresh corn, frozen will work just as well.

Cooked chicken or seafood would be a nice addition to this soup. For an even richer flavor, sauté the corn first in a teaspoon of oil until lightly browned.

This hearty soup is full of root vegetables: celery root, rutabaga, carrots and parsnips. The chowder is made with beef broth, but vegetable broth can be used instead to make a vegetarian version. This robust-flavored recipe makes 12 first-course portions. Or serve double-size portions along with a salad and crusty bread for dinner.