Smoked Salmon Chowder

5 from 4 votes

Smoked Salmon Chowder comes together in less than 30 minutes, is made in one pot, and tastes like you spent several hours putting it together. Be careful when heating the chowder at the end after adding the cream. Don't let it boil too hard or the cream will separate.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Soup

Servings: -6

Calories: 469kcal

Author: Sally Humeniuk

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and sliced (about 3 cups)
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
½ cup chopped celery heart, including leaves
¾ teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups milk, any fat content, I used whole milk
8 ounces smoked salmon, flaked (Not the lox style salmon. Use the thicker filet looking salmon)
¾ cup heavy cream
Fresh chives or dill, chopped for garnish, optional
Extra fresh ground pepper for garnish

Instructions

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add 3 leeks and 2 minced garlics and sauté them for 2 minutes.
Add 1 cubed potato, ½ cup chopped celery, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¾ teaspoon pepper and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add 3 cups broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove lid and continue to simmer until potato is tender, about 5 minutes more.
Add 3 Tablespoons tomato paste and 3 cups milk, and 8 ounces salmon, reserving a few flakes to decorate top of soup. Continue to heat soup for a few minutes but don't let it come to a boil or the milk will separate.
As the chowder heats, stir in ¾ cup cream and continue to heat through.
Remove from heat, garnish with chives, crack more pepper over the top, and serve.
This soup is still delicious one and even two days later which is not always the case with fish recipes.

Notes

Shallots or green onions may be substituted for the leeks, if necessary.
For an even traditional chowder, cook up about 3 slices of bacon, chop and sprinkle on top before serving. Most chowders start with bacon in the beginning of the recipe with the onions, celery, and garlic. But the bacon grease isn't necessary in this recipe for abundance of flavor and if bacon is preferred, adding it crisp at the end is good. But also, not needed for great flavor.
If you don't want to add heavy cream at the end, you could add additional whole milk or half and half. If you opt to add milk rather than the cream, I suggest adding a tablespoon of butter to melt into the chowder just before serving.

Nutrition