Crockpot Seafood Chowder (That Actually Tastes Like You Spent All Day on It)
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Fifteen minutes of prep. Six hours of ignoring it. Seafood added at the end so it doesn’t turn to rubber. That’s the whole strategy!
I’ve been making this for years because it’s my favorite way to serve something impressive without being stuck in the kitchen all day!
Throw everything in the crockpot in the morning, walk away, then add the seafood 30 minutes before serving.
The rest of the time? That’s yours to do whatever you want! Do some laundry, set the table, or just sit down with a glass of wine.😉
Why This Works Better Than Stovetop
Low, steady heat means tender vegetables and rich broth without constant stirring. You add the seafood at the very end (don’t skip this part) so it stays tender instead of turning into expensive erasers.
Plus, this version uses mostly canned seafood, which is cheaper, easier to find, and honestly works just as well as fresh for chowder. The evaporated milk keeps everything creamy without curdling (regular milk gets weird in a crockpot). White wine adds depth without making it fancy or expensive.
Ingredients
Liquids:
- 3 cans evaporated milk
- 24 oz chicken broth (carton or canned)
- 2 cups white cooking wine
- ½ stick butter (or margarine)
Seafood:
- 3 cans chopped clams, drained
- 2 cans tiny shrimp, drained
- 1 package frozen (thawed) or fresh shrimp, about 25 count
- 1 lb white fish like halibut or cod, cut into chunks (optional)
Vegetables:
- 3-4 large potatoes, diced
- 2 carrots, shredded and chopped (or buy pre-shredded and chop smaller)
- 1-2 celery stalks, chopped small (optional)
- 1 can corn, drained
Seasonings:
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
For Thickening (optional but recommended):
- ½ cup flour OR cornstarch
- 1 cup warm water
Pro tip: If you’re using canned clams, save that juice and use it instead of part of your broth. It’s basically liquid gold for flavor!
Why canned seafood? It’s cheaper, easier to find, and you don’t have to worry about timing. The clam juice adds flavor, and the tiny shrimp are already cooked. Save your money—fresh isn’t necessarily better here.
Why evaporated milk? Regular milk can separate or curdle during long slow cooking. Evaporated milk stays smooth and creamy for hours.
How to Make Crockpot Seafood Chowder
Step 1: Build Your Base (5 minutes)
Pour the evaporated milk, chicken broth, white wine, and butter into your crockpot. Stir it together.
Add the garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
Step 2: Add Vegetables (5 minutes)
Toss in the potatoes, carrots, celery, and corn. No particular order, just get them in there.
These take the longest to cook, so they go in first. By the time the seafood goes in later, they’ll be perfectly tender.
Step 3: Cook (The Part Where You Walk Away)
Cover and set your crockpot to high for 4-5 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.
Cook until the potatoes and celery are soft. Check at the 3-hour mark (on high) or 5-hour mark (on low) to see if they’re fork-tender.
Don’t keep lifting the lid. Every time you peek, you add 15-20 minutes to the cooking time.
Step 4: Add the Seafood (Finally)
About 30 minutes before you’re ready to eat, add the shrimp, clams, and fish (if using). Stir gently so you don’t break up the potatoes.
Let everything cook for 20-30 minutes on high, until the shrimp are pink and the fish is cooked through. This is the most important step. If you add the seafood at the beginning, it’ll overcook and turn rubbery. Nobody wants that.
Step 5: Thicken It Up (Optional but Recommended)
If you like thick chowder, now’s the time.
Cornstarch method: Follow the directions on the box. Usually it’s 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with ½ cup cold water. Stir until smooth, then slowly pour into the chowder while stirring. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Flour method: Mix ½ cup flour with 1 cup warm water. Whisk until there are no lumps. Slowly pour it into the chowder while stirring continuously. Let it cook for another 10 minutes to get rid of the raw flour taste.
Add the thickener slowly! You can always add more, but you can’t thin it back out once it’s too thick.
What To Serve with Seafood Chowder
My mom has the best bread maker, but sometimes she doesn’t have the time to use it, so she grabbed a loaf of French country bread from the bakery section.
Honestly? It was perfect for dipping, and nobody knew it wasn’t homemade.
Other serving ideas:
- Oyster crackers (the classic)
- Sourdough bread bowl (if you’re feeling fancy)
- Simple side salad with vinaigrette
- Garlic bread (store-bought is fine, we’re not overachievers here😉)
Common Questions About Seafood Chowder
Sort of. Here’s the deal: the broth and vegetables freeze great. The seafood? Not so much. It gets rubbery and weird when reheated.
If you want to freeze this, make the base (broth + vegetables), freeze that, and then add fresh seafood when you reheat it. Extra work, but worth it if you’re meal prepping.
Halibut, cod, or haddock are your best bets. They’re firm and won’t fall apart. Tilapia gets mushy. Salmon is too strong-flavored. Mahi-mahi works if you can find it.
Hot take: canned clams are actually better than fresh for this recipe. They’re already cooked, so you don’t have to worry about timing, and the juice in the can is flavor dynamite.
Yes! Make the base (everything except the seafood) the day before. Store it in the fridge, then reheat on the stove or in the crockpot and add the seafood 30 minutes before serving.
This is clutch for holiday hosting (one less thing to worry about day-of).
Swap the evaporated milk for coconut milk (the full-fat canned kind, not the carton). Use olive oil instead of butter. It won’t taste exactly the same, but it’ll still be creamy and good.
Sure, but it’s not necessarily better. Canned clams and shrimp are already cooked, so there’s less room for error. Plus they’re cheaper and easier to find.
If you want to use fresh, add it all at the same time (30 minutes before serving).
Just use more chicken broth. The wine adds depth, but it’s not make-or-break. You could also add a splash of lemon juice at the end for brightness.
Ways to Make This Your Own
For a heartier chowder: Add the optional white fish (haddock or cod). It makes the chowder more filling and adds a different texture.
For extra flavor:
- Add a bay leaf or two while it cooks (remove before serving)
- Throw in some Old Bay seasoning or smoked paprika
- Add crispy bacon pieces on top when serving
For a spicy kick: Red pepper flakes or a diced jalapeño (add with the vegetables at the beginning)
If you’re feeling fancy: Garnish with fresh parsley. (I usually forget, but it does look nice.)
Troubleshooting
Chowder is too thin: Make the flour or cornstarch slurry (see Step 5) and stir it in. Let it simmer for 10 minutes to thicken.
Chowder is too thick: Add more broth or water, ¼ cup at a time, until you hit the consistency you want.
Seafood is rubbery: You added it too early or cooked it too long. Seafood should only be in the crockpot for 20-30 minutes max.
It tastes bland: You need more salt. Seriously. Taste it, add a pinch of salt, taste again. Repeat until it tastes right. Also, if you skipped the garlic or butter, go back and add them.
The Bottom Line
This crockpot seafood chowder is the kind of recipe that makes you look like you know what you’re doing in the kitchen, even if you spent most of the day binge-watching Netflix while it cooked itself.
It’s creamy (but not heavy), full of seafood (but not expensive), and takes about 15 minutes of actual work. The rest? That’s the crockpot’s job.
Make it for Christmas. Make it for a random Tuesday. Make it because you have a bag of frozen shrimp you need to use before it gets freezer burn.
Just make it!
Seafood Chowder Crockpot
Supply List
- 3 cans evaporated milk
- 24 oz chicken broth container or canned
- 1/2 stick butter or margarine
- 2 cups white cooking white
- 3 cans chopped clams drained
- 2 cans tiny shrimp drained
- 1 package frozen dethawed or fresh shrimp (about 25 count)
- 1 lb white fish like halibut or cod, cut into chunks optional
- 1 can corn drained
- 3-4 large potatoes diced
- 2 carrots shredded and chopped or buy already shredded carrots and chop into small pieces
- 1-2 celery stalk Chopped to small pieces optional
- 1 tbsp garlic
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Corn Starch optional / to thicken broth
Instructions : Step by Step
- Add all the liquids to the crockpot and stir
- Mix in garlic, salt, pepper and butter
- Add corn, potatoes, celery and carrots
- Cook on high for 4-5 hours (6-8 hours low) or until potatoes and celery are soft
- About 30 minutes before serving, add your shrimp and clams (and fish, if using). Stir gently. Let cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until shrimp are pink and fish is done
- Use corn starch and water to thicken the broth if desired. I didn't have corn starch so I mixed 1/2 cup flour with 1 cup warm water and thickened broth slightly buy slowly pouring flour mixture into crock pot. I prefer corn starch but flour will do the trick as well. Follow the directions on the corn starch box to get the thickness you desire.
More Seafood Chowder Recipes You will Love
- Easy Clam Chowder Crockpot Recipe that takes only 10 minutes to prepare using half and half
- Thick and creamy clam chowder with evaporated milk
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Yum! This looks delicious! I love adding wine to my stews, chowders and I always use wine in my tomato sauce. It’s a great way to add flavor or sweetness without using sugar. Love this recipe!
What are the sizes of the cans of evaporated milk? Thanks!
12 ounce!! 🙂
White cooking WINE, correct? And can sizes would be helpful as can sizes have changed throughout the years.
Thanks for this recipe, I can’t wait to try it! I Love anything yummy that I can put in a crock pot!
Debbie
That sounds great, have you ever tried adding any other seafood to it like crab, fish, etc. to give it more protein or just play with the flavor?
I added sauteed scallops and lobster. Amazing!
Looks amazing! I’ll have to make it!
I made this last night, but my husband and I added cod, crab and some scallops and it did turn out pretty tasty. But, for just 2 of us, this made a TON of chowder, and leftovers with fish don’t last too long in my experience, even if you freeze it. My only big complaints would be that first, I wasn’t sure if I had the right size can of evaporated milk (I see it in the comments, but it really should be updated in the ingredient list), and adding the cornstarch at the end did not go well. My box did not say how much to add (to anything, really) in order to thicken, like your instructions suggested it would. I added some about a 1/4 cup at a time, because I had no other instruction, and it didn’t really thicken that much. And unfortunately, the cornstarch just thickened in clumps, so every so often, you’d bite into a “nugget” of cornstarch. I would make this again, but I think I’d have to play around with the milk amount, and I’ve got to figure out a better way to thicken it… we like our seafood chowder very thick!
Is this kid friendly with the wine? Thanks, sounds yummy, looking for Christmas recipes.
Can I prepare everything in a bowl overnight in the refrigerator then cook in the morning?