Smoked Salmon Chowder
Submitted by tialeo
Pacific Northwest smoked salmon chowder with red potatoes, fish stock, dill, tarragon, and a finish of half-and-half. Smoky, herby, and built on bacon fat for layered depth.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
30 minREADY
45 minPacific Northwest cooking distilled into a single bowl. This smoked salmon chowder leans on the smoky, salty intensity of cured salmon as its main flavor anchor, with a flour-thickened fish stock base and red potatoes holding everything together. The result is more refined than a typical clam chowder: smokier, more complex, and a touch lighter.
The combination of margarine and bacon drippings is the move that builds layered fat flavor. The bacon fat brings smoke and savor that pairs beautifully with the salmon. Don’t sub it out; if you don’t have bacon drippings on hand, render some bacon strips first and use the fat (eat the bacon as cook’s snack).
Three dried herbs (thyme, tarragon, dill) layer different aromatic notes. Tarragon brings anise-like complexity that pairs naturally with salmon, dill is the Scandinavian-Pacific Northwest herb of choice for fish, and thyme grounds it all with earthy depth.
Add the half-and-half off the heat at the end. Boiling dairy in a roux-based soup risks curdling, especially with acidic ingredients like lemon juice and wine in the mix.
Serve with a hunk of crusty sourdough for dipping. Originally a Seattle Pike Place Market staple, this is fishermen’s food gone fancy.
Pro Tips
- Use cold-smoked (lox-style) salmon for delicate flavor, or hot-smoked for heartier chunks.
- Save the salmon skin and simmer in the stock for extra flavor; remove before serving.
- Diced red potatoes hold their shape better than russets in long-simmered soups.
- Reduce salt by half if your salmon and stock are already heavily salted.
- Stores 3 days refrigerated; reheat gently to avoid breaking the cream.
Variations
- Add 1 cup corn kernels for sweetness against the smoke.
- Sub clam juice for fish stock if salmon flavor is dominant enough.
- Stir in baby spinach or chopped kale at the end for a green chowder.
Ingredients
Directions
In a 4-quart pot over medium heat, melt margarine and bacon fat.
Sauté the onion, celery, potatoes, garlic, thyme, tarragon and dill weed until the onions are translucent.
Reduce heat and add the flour and paprika, blending well.
Stir in the fish stock.
Add the smoked salmon, bay leaf, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot red pepper sauce, pepper, salt and wine.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in half-and-half and parsley.
Serve.
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