Vegan clam chowder is a thick, creamy chowder full of vegetables and tastes so close to New England Clam Chowder that you won't believe it's vegan. But it's so good you may want to double this vegan clam chowder recipe!
Regardless of the weather, I love soup. Even in Arizona, when the temperatures are 100 degrees, I enjoy soup all year round. Soups are easy to make, but this vegan clam chowder recipe is filling, satisfying, and inexpensive, and freezes well. Vegan clam chowder is one of my favorite soups because it's creamy, full of vegetables, and simply delicious.
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Why Vegan Clam Chowder?
Typically, I am not a fan of chewy, slimy clams. However, clam chowder has nothing to do with the taste of clams—instead, the flavors and textures in the creamy, savory soup. So when I transitioned to a plant-based diet, I started "veganizing" my favorite foods.
Even though I don't remember clam chowder tasting like clams, I remember the potatoes and vegetables in a creamy, thick, savory broth. And I'm a savory girl.
Similarly, I remember clams tasting like oysters or escargot, slimy, difficult to chew, and tasteless. My dad wanted me to try a raw oyster when I was young.
Curious, I put the oyster in my mouth and swallowed. The oyster came right up my throat and back into my mouth within seconds. Let's say that wasn't one of my fondest childhood memories.
But the texture of cooked mushrooms is a much better option for vegan clam chowder soup. For that reason, mushrooms transform into vegan clams.
Does Vegan Clam Chowder Taste Like Clams?
Vegan clam chowder doesn't taste like clam chowder; it's way better! You may mistake this soup for the real deal with a similar texture and creamy base.
This plant-based vegan clam chowder recipe tastes creamy and buttery without any butter or added fat from oils or vegan processed food. The savory flavors remain but without the unhealthy fat. Plus, you get the added Iodine from the Dulse.
What is Dulse?
Dulse is a variety of seaweed that resembles leafy red lettuce when fresh. Its flavor will remind you of the ocean — its minerality makes it a great stand-in for salt.
The benefits of Dulse include, for example, high levels of protein and fiber. In addition, Dulse is a nutrient-rich red algae that has become increasingly popular in health food circles due to its numerous nutritional properties. As a result, more and more experts advise people to implement sea greens into their diets, including Dulse.
Other Ways to Use Dulse
- Mix flaked Dulse into homemade salad dressings.
- Use dried flakes on top of popcorn.
- Add strips of whole-leaf Dulse to your favorite pickled vegetables.
- Sprinkle flakes over your vegan poke bowl
- Steep whole-leaf Dulse in water for a refreshing and savory "tea."
- Mix flaked Dulse into homemade bread dough.
- Add to a bowl of ramen.
- Sprinkle the flaked Dulse over a baked potato to add a classic flavor.
To get the flavor of the sea, I use seaweed or chopped Dulse. Not only does Dulse or seaweed supply a sea-like flavor, but it also gives the addition of a natural form of Iodine.
Vegan Clams Ingredients
To create clams, I marinate the mushrooms in a small amount of liquid smoke, garlic, and soy sauce (or Tamari if gluten-free.)
- Portobello Mushrooms: Baby portobello mushrooms are firmer and meatier than cremini mushrooms.
- Garlic Cloves: I always use fresh garlic cloves when possible.
- Soy Sauce: Soy sauce provides an umami flavor.
- Liquid Smoke: I used hickory flavor liquid smoke.
The marinated mushrooms are cooked separately and added to the soup at the end.
Vegan Clam Chowder Ingredients
- Garlic Cloves: I always use fresh garlic cloves when possible.
- Yellow Onion: Yellow onion has a mild yet warm and umami taste when combined with the other ingredients.
- Celery: Celery provides a fresh and maintains a slight crunchiness in the soup.
- Carrots: Carrots are a vibrant and sweet addition to this vegan clam chowder recipe.
- Dried Thyme: Thyme has a delightful flavor balance that dances between earthy and minty, minty and citrus-laced, savory but also sweet, and slightly woodsy but also flowery, with traces of lavender or toned-down rosemary.
- Dry White Wine: I buy small bottles of Chardonnay to use for cooking.
- Organic Vegetable Broth: I buy organic vegetable broth bulk at Costco because I often make soups.
- Cashews: Raw cashews blended with plant milk make a creamy component and a thickening agent. See substitutions for nut-free options.
- Oat Milk: I prefer oat milk because of its creaminess.
- Flour: I like using oat flour. I like its texture, and it's gluten-free.
- Baking Potatoes: I used my Fullstar Vegetable Chopper on the large chopping setting to make uniform bite-sized pieces of potatoes.
- Dulse Flakes: Dulse is a seaweed—a large category of edible saltwater plants and algae that includes species such as nori and kelp. Like all edible seaweed, Dulse provides a wealth of fiber and protein and is also rich in vitamins, trace minerals, healthy fatty acids, and antioxidants.
- Bay Leaves: Bay leaves are used to flavor soups, stews, brines, vegetable dishes, and sauces. The leaves are often used whole (sometimes in a bouquet garni) and removed before serving.
- Sea Salt: Seas alt enhances the ingredients in the soup.
- Lemon Juice: A little lemon juice adds a citrus component and heightens the flavors in the soup.
- Fresh Ground Black Pepper: When you grind peppercorns in your own pepper mill, you expose the sealed, unoxidized center releasing all of the rich flavor and a variety of benefits.
- Old Bay Seasoning: Old Bay Seasoning, or creole seasoning of choice, flavors the vegan clam chowder.
Vegan Clam Chowder Ingredient Substitutions
- Choose canned mushrooms which are marinated and already have a chewy texture, and skip the marinating ingredients/process.
- Use ½ teaspoon of garlic flakes in place of each clove. Granulated garlic: Use ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic in place of each garlic clove.
- Try Tamari or liquid aminos for a gluten-free soy sauce option.
- Substitute white onion or shallots for yellow onions.
- If you have fresh thyme, substitute the dried thyme in the recipe; however, use double the amount.
- If you are allergic to nuts or don't eat nuts, you can blend ½ cup of gluten-free four with the almond milk and omit the cashews.
- Skip the almond milk altogether, and use vegetable broth instead with ½ cup of gluten-free or whole-grain flour
- Or, blend the cashews in vegetable broth and skip the plant milk.
- Substitute white wine with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, white grape juice, or white vinegar.
How to Make Vegan Clam Chowder
- Cutting the whole mushrooms into small bite-sized chunks (not slices) gives them a more "clam" texture. Any mushrooms can be used, but I decided to use baby Bellas, smaller portobello mushrooms, to get the heartier texture.
- Then, saute the mushrooms separately from the other soup ingredients to pre-cook them before adding them.
- Next, sauté the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and fresh thyme in a separate soup pot. The potatoes are all uniform in size but serve as the chunky yet soft component in the soup.
- To thicken the soup, make an oil-free roux. Although roux is generally made with butter or oil and flour to thicken soups, there is a simple way to make it without using fat: adding small amounts of gluten-free flour or regular flour into the cooking vegetables.
- Then, slowly add the vegetable broth, stirring until flour is absorbed into the vegetables. Then add the potatoes and Old Bay Seasoning( a creole seasoning), enhancing the flavors inherent in the Dulse.
- For the soup to thicken and develop a creamy texture, blend raw cashews with unsweetened, unflavored oat milk. Any plant milk works, but I always cook with oat milk.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. I used oat milk for this recipe, but you can also use coconut milk to make the soup richer. Make sure to choose unflavored or unsweetened milk without thickeners.
Yes. You can make gluten-free, vegan clam chowder. Just try to omit the flour as a thickener and use arrowroot instead.
Try marinating small pieces of tofu instead of using mushrooms.
Tips
- Marinate the mushrooms overnight for the most profound flavors.
- When using nori sheets, crumble one sheet in a food processor and grind it into powder.
- If you are allergic to nuts or don't eat nuts, you can blend ½ cup of gluten-free four with the almond milk and omit the cashews.
- Skip the almond milk altogether, and use vegetable broth instead with ½ cup of gluten-free or whole-grain flour
- Or, blend the cashews in the vegetable broth.
- Substitute white wine with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, white grape juice, or white vinegar.
- I like using Super Cubes to freeze soups for individual servings.
- This vegan clam chowder recipe stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze vegan clam chowder for up to 3 months.
Try this creamy, delicious vegan clam chowder soup. The flavors are incredible!
Delicious Vegan Soups to Try This Season
If you love this vegan clam chowder recipe, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Clam Chowder
Ingredients
CASHEW CREAM (or substitute white beans)
- ½ cup raw organic cashews ( or substitute silken tofu, or white beans for a nut-free option)
- ¾ cup unsweetened oat milk or plant milk of choice; make sure it is unflavored and unsweetened
MUSHROOMS
- 8 ounce portobello mushrooms cut into ½-inch pieces (or mushrooms of choice)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or Tamari
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke I used hickory flavor
SOUP
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- ½ cup celery diced
- ½ cup carrots diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup dry white wine a vegan variety
- 6 cups organic vegetable broth
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour gluten-free or regular
- 3 baking potatoes peels on and cut into bite-sized pieces (I used my [Fullstar Vegetable Chopper]; large chopping size)
- 1 Tablespoon dulse flakes finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt more to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning or creole seasoning of choice
Instructions
Cashew Cream
- Blend the plant milk & cashews or white beans (discard soaking water) together until very smooth. Set aside.
- Another option is to blend ½ cup gluten-free flour with the plant milk and skip nuts and beans.
Marinating the Mushrooms
- Cut mushrooms into chunks and marinate them for at least 30 minutes.
- In a separate pan, saute the mushrooms with marinade; add a small amount of vegetable broth to avoid sticking.
- Remove mushrooms and set them aside.
Soup
- Add the onion to a large skillet and sauté until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme.
- Sauté about 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender.
- Add wine and turn the heat up to medium-high to simmer.
- Cook the wine down by turning down the heat and simmering for about 3-5 minutes, stirring often.
- To make a roux, sprinkle flour over veggies and constantly stir for 30-60 seconds.
- Stir in teh vegetable broth and add the potatoes, bay leaf, chopped dulse or flakes, and the Old Bay Seasoning or Creole seasoning of choice.
- Bring to a simmer for about 25 minutes, until teh potatoes are tender.
- Discard bay leaves.
- Now, add the cashew cream and stir.
- Taste for seasoning and add more seasonng if desired.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes and remove from heat.
- Stir in mushrooms, lemon juice, and pepper.
- Garnish with the chopped parsley.
- Serve with crackers.
Video
Notes
- Marinate the mushrooms overnight for the deepest flavors.
- When using nori sheets, crumble one sheet in a food processor and grind it into powder.
- If you are allergic to nuts or don't eat nuts, you can blend ½ cup of gluten-free four with the almond milk and omit the cashews.
- Skip the almond milk altogether, and use vegetable broth instead with ½ cup of gluten-free or whole-grain flour
- Or, blend the cashews in the vegetable broth.
- Substitute white wine with apple cider vinegar, apple juice, white grape juice, or white vinegar.
- I like using Super Cubes to freeze soups for individual servings.
- This vegan clam chowder recipe stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freeze vegan clam chowder for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Lisa
Hello Kathy,
This was a yummy soup recipe with great flavor. I didn’t want to wait for Dulce flakes to arrive and my local Whole Foods did not carry. Since I use various dried seaweed in Asian cooking, I tried out a substitute, putting some dried seaweed strands in my Vitamix and whirring to a powder. I opted to use soy milk with a little cashew cream. Delicious. Will make again. Thank you for the recipe. Keep the videos coming!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Lisa. seaweed is a great substitute for dulse in t soup, and if you want to use soy milk, you may want to blend with a Tablespoon or two of flour for a thicker soup. I am so glad you liked the soup. And, I will definitely keep the videos coming. Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it.
Meta Passannante
This was outstanding. Had two bowls and so did my husband. Will make this often.
Kathy Carmichael
I'm so glad you both enjoyed the soup! It is one of our favorites as well. Thanks for the feedback.I appreciate you taking the time to rate the recipe and comment.
Scott Carson Ausburn
This turned out great even my wife liked it . I am always looking for more ways of incorporating more mushrooms in my diet so this soup really hit the spot . Thanks for doing all the experimenting so i don't have to ; )
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Scott, thank you so much for reaching out. I'm happy you and your wife enjoyed the soup. I love mushrooms also, so I try to incorporate them in as many recipes as I can.
Carol Bradstreet
This sounds so good! I can't wait to try it out.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Carol, let me know what you think.
Elena
Lovely recipe.
Would you please please consider implementing a “skip to recipe” button on your website.
It would be very appreciated!!
Thank you for your consideration.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Elena, thank you for the suggestion. I will talk to my tech guy. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Bernie Lewis
Hi Kathy, I just found this recipe for fish sauce, ,I am going to try marinating the mushrooms in this.
Vegan Fish sauce
★★★★★
4.8 from 22 reviews
Author: Sylvia Fountaine Prep Time: 5 Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Yield: 2 cups Category: sauces, condiments, Method: Stovetop Cuisine: Asian Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make Vegan Fish Sauce! – a plant-based substitute for fish sauce that adds depth and umami flavor to Asian dishes. Gluten-free adaptable!
Ingredients
4 cups water
¼ cup soy sauce– shoyu, tamari, or Braggs liquid amino acids
1/2 cup dried mushrooms (like dried shiitakes)
1 4 x 8 inch sheet of dried kombu (seaweed) or wakame seaweed
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
optional additions- 1 fat shallot sliced, grilled (charred) onion, roasted garlic, black garlic, small splash rice wine, sherry, or rice vinegar. Smoked Shoyu if you can find it, is a great option for the soy sauce.
Instructions
Bring all to a simmer in a medium pot, uncovered, over medium heat. Simmer on low until reduced by half. You should have about 2 cups of liquid.
If you have time, let this steep overnight, or up to 24 hours, covered on the counter. Then strain and pour into a clean glass bottle or jar.
***If liquid is less than 2 cups, add water to make it 2 cups. This will ensure the right amount of saltiness.
Store in the fridge and use as you would fish sauce, one to one.
Notes
The Vegan Fish Sauce will keep up to one year in the fridge. Probably longer. 🙂
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Bernie, thanks for sharing. I will give it a try.
Catt
I notice your recipe (like numerous others) you like to add WINE. I just don't have wine in the house. And it's not worth buying as it makes me ill. What in all these recipes, can I use to get that idea of taste/ flavour.... instead of just water? I do love your recipes and make them often!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Catt, you can leave the wine out. I buy the tiny bottles to cook with, but it just adds a little tang. White vinegar and lemon juice are often used to replace wine in recipes.
Bernie Lewis
Are you marinating the mushrooms in the Vegetable broth?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Bernie, at the bottom of the recipe card it specifies you marinate the mushrooms in:
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons soy sauce or Tamari
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (I used hickory flavor)
Bernie
I thought the marinate was too dry so i added vegetable broth to cover the mushrooms, marinated over night and the chowder was great "I ate the whole thing!"
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Bernie, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Carla
My boyfriend JUST asked me if I could make a compliant clam chowder so I'll try yours. It looks delish! Question: the creole seasoning to which you link is flavored garlic & herb. Will it make a difference if I don't use one that is specially flavored garlic & herb? I also keep Kelp flakes on hand but not Dulse. Will dulse be better due to it's flavor or does it not matter?
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Carla, you can use any creole seasoning you have on hand, and kelp flakes, as well as crumbled seaweed sheets, works just as well as dulse. I hope you and your boyfriend enjoy the soup.
Tamara Lumpkin
I look forward to trying this. Under the mushroom portion, it says sauce mushrooms with marinade. Was that supposed to mean sauté? Also, how much broth is to be added to avoid sticking? Just enough, if needed? Just wondering because the soup calls for broth, too.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Tamara! Yes. Saute the mushrooms separately in a pan and use a little vegetable broth so they don't stick. You can also use water; it's just so the mushrooms don't stick, because I don't cook with oil. I hope you enjoy the soup.
mikepdr
made it tonight, came out very good, but not as creamy as clam chowders from my pre-vegan days. next time i'll try with double the cashew cream, i think that'll do the trick. thanks for the recipe!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Mike, I'm glad you liked it. You can also try allowing it to cook it down a little more and it will thicken. If you have any leftover today, I bet it is much thicker 🙂 Add some oyster crackers and it's pretty close. Thanks for reaching out. Have a great week.
Kandy
Under mushrooms you have: Cut mushrooms and marinate with the mushrooms. Interesting recipe. I am beginning more plant based meals and this looks intriguing! Thanks.
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Kandy, just marinate the mushrooms for at least 30 minutes. When I plan to make the soup ahead of time, I marinate the mushrooms overnight, so they are chewier (like a clam). Let me know if you like it. And have a great holiday weekend.
Brenda
This one is definitely on my list as “must make”!
Kathy Carmichael
Hi Brenda, 🙂 Let me know if you like it!