Healthy Chowder Recipes

This seafood stew from Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, dates back hundreds of years and reflects the region's diverse population and history. It merges the African ingredients of dendê (red palm oil) and coconut milk with indigenous traditions of preparing seafood in clay pots over coals. Dendê is traditionally used for its rich flavor and beautiful red color, but you can use canola oil instead, as the tomato paste will still lend the dish a vibrant hue.

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

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.

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.

You can use any kind of fish to make this fish and corn chowder, but try to avoid full-flavored varieties like mackerel or bluefish unless it's straight off the boat or it'll overwhelm the soup. "When you're staring down a new type of fish, chowder is a foolproof preparation," chef Mike Lata says, so try this recipe with different kinds of fish.

There's long been a feud between Manhattan's tomato-based clam chowder and the cream-based New England clam chowder. No matter which you prefer, you can't deny that this easy clam chowder will put dinner on the table before you can finish the debate.

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.

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

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

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.

Low-fat milk and mashed potatoes make this chowder so rich and creamy you won't miss the actual cream. Farm-raised tilapia and abundant Pacific cod--both with tender, flaky textures--are ocean-friendly choices.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Start your prep work in the afternoon and this slow-cooker chowder will be ready to serve for dinner. Topped with broccoli and shredded cheddar--and full of potatoes, carrots and ham--it's a meal the whole family will enjoy.