This thick and ultra creamy paleo and Whole30 clam chowder recipe is made with blended cauliflower to boost nutrients, but you can’t taste it! It’s chock full of clams, potatoes, and veggies, and you’ll never know that it’s dairy free and gluten free.
This gluten free dairy free New England clam chowder recipe was created because I missed this delicious and creamy soup so much. I haven’t been able to enjoy it for years after discovering my food intolerances. Not only that, both my dad and my husband are huge fans of New England clam chowder, so I’ve been wanting to recreate it at home so we can enjoy it anytime we want.
Paleo & Whole30 Clam Chowder Recipe
I have tried several paleo clam chowder recipes in the past, and they’ve all used coconut milk as the main soup base which I didn’t love. The coconut flavor was a bit too overpowering and it was hard to get a true, authentic clam chowder taste.
To make a gluten free dairy free clam chowder recipe that still tastes like what you would order at a seafood restaurant, I found that blending cooked cauliflower makes a perfectly creamy base. It doesn’t add any kind of cauliflower flavor AND it really acts as a hidden veggie to make this recipe healthier and more nutrient-dense.
Main Ingredients in Whole30 Clam Chowder Recipe
- Cauliflower: Since this is a cauliflower clam chowder, this is an important ingredient! I promise, you won’t taste the cauliflower at all once it’s cooked through and blended into cream.
- Broth: I like to use bone broth for an extra nutrient boost in all my soup recipes, but you can also use chicken broth or vegetable broth.
- Bacon: I think bacon is such a crucial ingredient when it comes to clam chowder! It adds such a delicious and addicting smoky flavor. I add bacon bits at the end just before serving, so you can enjoy the crunchy, salty bites with every spoonful. To keep it Whole30-compliant, make sure your bacon is sugar-free and-nitrate free.
- Clams: Of course, you can’t make this paleo clam chowder without clams. I like to use canned clams, and make sure to use all the juice in the can to create the best flavors in this dish.
- Potatoes: Another important ingredient when it comes to making this Whole30 clam chowder recipe! I can’t imagine enjoying clam chowder without the soft, pillowy bites of potatoes. If you are strict paleo or AIP, you can substitute with white-fleshed sweet potatoes.
- Coconut milk: Just a little bit of coconut milk makes this cauliflower clam chowder ultra creamy without adding any kind of coconut-y taste. I wouldn’t use anything else besides the full-fat version that comes in a can, or this brand.
How to Make Gluten Free Dairy Free Clam Chowder
While there are a few components to this dairy free New England clam chowder recipe, it’s quite easy to make and uses simple and easy-to-find ingredients.
- Make the cauliflower cream base. Boil together cauliflower florets, broth, and salt until the cauliflower is fork tender. Use a high-powered blender to blend everything together until smooth and creamy.
- Make the bacon bits by frying the bacon slices until crisp. Crumble and set aside until the end. You’ll use the rendered bacon grease to cook the chowder.
- Pan fry the vegetables in the bacon grease until soft. Then, add blended cauliflower and the potatoes and boil until the potatoes are tender.
- Add in coconut milk and clams and cook just until heated through. I like to add any additional salt and pepper at the end so you can adjust the amount to your taste.
- Finally, serve topped with bacon bits and parsley flakes.
It’s such a tasty and comforting meal and my husband couldn’t get enough. And he’s had many restaurant quality versions before, so this meant a lot to me. Hope you end up trying out this Whole30 and paleo clam chowder, because it’s really is so delicious and flavorful!
Other recipes you might love…
- Swedish Meatball Soup (Paleo, Whole30)
- Instant Pot Cabbage Soup with Ground Beef (Paleo, Whole30)
- Paleo White Chicken Chili (Whole30, Keto)
- Paleo Crab Dip (Whole30, Keto)
- Instant Pot Paleo Cauliflower Mushroom Risotto (Whole30, Vegan, AIP)
Whole30 Clam Chowder (Paleo & AIP Option)
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets
- 3 cups bone broth or chicken or vegetable broth, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 4 slices bacon sugar free & nitrate free
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 cups diced potatoes or white-fleshed sweet potatoes, for AIP and strict paleo
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 3 6.5 oz cans chopped clams undrained
- Salt and pepper to taste (omit pepper for AIP)
- Optional: chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, combine cauliflower florets, broth, and sea salt, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes until the cauliflower is fork tender.
- Use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender, and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat a Dutch oven or a large pot over medium heat and fry the bacon slices until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and crumble, leaving the bacon grease in the pot.
- Add onion, celery, garlic, and thyme to the bacon grease, and sauté until tender, about 7 minutes.
- Add potatoes and blended cauliflower, let everything come to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Stir in coconut milk and clams (with the juice) and cook for 3-4 minutes until the clams are heated through. Add more broth if you like your chowder thinner in consistency.
- Add salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with bacon bits and parsley flakes.
Simply delicious! I followed the instructions with only one modification – I used two 10 oz bags of frozen cauliflower rather than fresh produce to save time. I made this during lunch and then placed it on low for hours until dinner, which wasn’t necessary but convenient. I heated some up for lunch today and added fresh crumbled bacon – so good! Thank you so much for the great recipe.
This is our second time making this and it is amazing!! No one had any idea it was dairy free. The only changes we made were that we added 2 cans of baby clams (instead of 3), and no salt as our broth was salty enough. We just 4x the batch… do you think it will freeze okay? Thanks!
I had never made clam chowder before, so I was eager to try this recipe. I used 1 (10 oz) bag of frozen cauliflower, and I think next time I will use 2 bags. Also, I did not use any coconut milk! Frankly, this was still quite tasty without it. I will definitely make it again.
This chowder was amazing. So delicious and tasty. I used mixed raw seafood including prawns, mussels, fish and squid rather than clams and cooked them in the soup and it worked perfectly. All my guests raves about it. Thank you.
What a great idea! I’ll have to try that. Thanks so much for trying it out!!
Can I make this in crockpot? Would I cook cauliflower and blend first before putting in crockpot?
Yes, I recommend blending first before adding everything into the crockpot. Should be good after 7 hours on LOW
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it. I am lactose intolerant and look forward to being able to enjoy Chowder again with this.
This has instapot as a tag. Are there instructions for that?
Oops sorry about that. This is not an Instant Pot recipe. I removed the tag.
We made this clam chowder last night. Such a hit!! My kids loved it. So simple and fantastic. Love your recipes.
Thank you so much!!
Hi, I have not made this yet but I’m very interested after buying Trader Joe’s seafood blend. What do you think about frozen cauliflower rice cooked, drained and blended? It’s the only thing I have right now and I’m not going to the store for another week. Thanks!
I’ve never tried but it could work. I would think you’ll need a large amount of cauliflower rice. 1 head of cauliflower yields about 6 cups of cauliflower rice. But you won’t need to drain it, since the original recipe blends the cauliflower with the broth it’s boiled in.
Made this for my grandfather, who is lactose-intolerant. He hasn’t been able to enjoy a good clam chowder in decades. He absolutely LOVED it and went through 3 bowls in one sitting. He knew I made some substitutions, but couldn’t believe it when I told him it was a cauliflower base. I actually had to show him the recipe because he thought I was messing with him. Thank you so much! This dish put a huge smile on his face.
Ah that’s amazing! This makes me so so happy. Thank you so much for sharing this story.
This was so delicious! I am AIP but could not find a white-fleshed sweet potato at the grocery store but was still determined to make this so I substituted some turnips instead, and it came out perfect. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly as you have it. Everything I make from your recipes comes out fantastic!
So you CAN make this without the coconut? I’m allergic and currently have no alternatives dues to lots of sensitivities. But the rest of the recipe sounds yummy. I’m not a cauliflower lover so I’m hoping you really don’t taste it.
Yes, you can use another type of milk. I would suggest cashew milk since it tends to be thicker than other dairy-free milks but any of them should be fine. And you can’t taste cauliflower much at all!
I wanted a clammyer taste, so added an 8 oz bottle of clam juice. Because the broth didn’t taste very clammy as is, but then it made the broth too liquidy, and I didn’t have the energy to reduce it. So in the future I would do much less chicken broth and more clam juice.
This was delicious! I used rutabega instead of white sweet potato because I find their sweet taste unpleasant in savory soups. This soup was incredibly satisfying and I felt no guilt after eating because my body likes it too. I prefer this to traditional clamchowder.
Thank you so much, Ingrid! So happy you enjoyed it, and using rutabega sounds delicious. I have to try that!
I made this today. I doubled the recipe. I only used 3 cups of chicken broth and the rest was one bottle of clam juice and all the juice from the canned clams (6 cans) I added a bay leaf to it. I didn’t add the coconut milk as mine tasted funny for some reason. From a clam chowder lover it tasted pretty good. I felt like it was missing something. My mom’s clam chowder was never made with dairy. So it was close to her’s. It was creamy because of the cauliflower. Next I will just use all clam juice instead of chicken broth, and add more clams. Be careful of doubling your thyme as it will be to strong. I used a teaspoon. You might want to cook up more bacon…. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Thanks so much for trying the recipe and leaving a review! Appreciate sharing how you switched it up and adjusted to your taste. I’m glad you enjoyed it!