When I think of summertime food, seafood is first on my list. To me it really is the quintessential food of summer. Perfect for outside cooking and eating, messy but not too filling. And somehow no matter how simply prepared, seafood is still so celebratory and special to me. Buttery clams, lobster, crab legs - they all scream summer to me and remind me so much of my dad and our many beach adventures. This steamed clams recipe popped into my mind one day when I was thinking about chowder. I love corn and bacon in most chowder recipes and I thought it would be fun to add them to these Garlic Butter Steamed Clams for a little sweet and salty pop of flavor, texture, and color.
What is the best way to steam clams?
I prefer steaming clams in a small amount of liquid, either wine, beer, or in this case water. They only take 5-7 minutes at a low boil. I chose water here because I wanted the pure taste of the clams to shine as well as the garlic herb butter and the bacon and corn. I didn't want the strong flavor of beer or wine competing with the other flavors. My husband loves clams steamed with wine, butter, and garlic so when I told him I was just using water he was a little skeptical. One taste of these though and he was a happy man.
What you'll need for these Garlic Butter Steamed Clams
If you're making this as a meal, you'll need a lot of clams. It always looks like an unreasonable amount but when you take the meat out of the shells it's really not much. So for Jason and I, I used 2 bags of clams that had about 50 clams per bag. When I say my husband loves clams I really mean it! That equals about 10 pounds of clams. This will serve 2 generously as a meal, but easily 4-6 as an appetizer or light lunch. Just make sure you get little neck clams. They are the smallest and in my opinion the most tender and tasty. So here's what you'll need:
- about 100 littleneck clams (please don't count them! it's about 10 pounds)
- 2 ears of fresh corn
- ½ pound bacon
- 2 sticks of butter (½ pound)
- 4 cloves fresh garlic
- lots of fresh herbs - use your favorite. I used parsley and chives
- baguette or other hearty bread for grilling and dipping in all those buttery juices!
I hope you'll try this steamed clams recipe
It is such a delicious meal and fun eating experience. Pour some crisp, cold wine or beer, grab plenty of napkins, and enjoy the hands-on, leisurely experience with someone you love. xoxoxo - Anita
Garlic Butter Steamed Clams with grilled corn + bacon
Tender, buttery steamed clams topped with grilled corn and crumbled bacon and served with grilled bread for mopping up all those buttery juices! This is summertime eating at its finest.
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 main course or 4-6 appetizer
Ingredients
- 10 pounds fresh, little neck clams (about 100 clams, but please don't count them out! haha)
- 2 ears of fresh corn
- ½ pound bacon
- 2 sticks of salted butter (½ pound)
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
- ½ cup fresh herbs, chopped - I used parsley and chives but use your favorite
- crusty baguette or other hearty bread for grilling and dipping in all those buttery juices!
Instructions
- Begin by scrubbing your clams very well under cold tap water and discarding any that are cracked or that are open and do not close when you tap them. For an extra precaution, you can soak them in cold tap water for 20 minutes and then rinse again thoroughly - I have read that this will cause the clams to spit out any sand they may be holding.
- Put a large pot of water on to boil. Make sure you only fill your pot about ½ way as the clams will displace a lot of water and you don't want boiling water overflowing on your stove. The clams do not all have to be submerged, they will steam open even if they are above the water as long as they are covered with a lid. The next few steps can be done simultaneously if you are a good kitchen multi-tasker.
- Melt butter over medium heat and add garlic and herbs off heat. Feel free to add some red pepper flakes or black pepper if you like.
- You can prepare the corn by either grilling it outside over high heat until it is charred on all sides, or use a grill pan or cast iron skillet inside over high heat to achieve some nice charred kernels. Once charred, remove kernels by slicing down the cob carefully.
- Use the same method you used to grill the corn to grill your bread. Make some nice big slices and grill until toasty.
- Prepare bacon by either chopping first and then frying until crispy (my preferred way) or fry it in strips and crumble or chop once cooled slightly. Either way, cook over medium heat until crisp to your liking and make sure to drain it well to remove excess bacon grease.
- Once water boils, add clams all at once, keep at a low bowl, not a rapid, full boil, and cook with the lid on for about 7 minutes. Give the pan a careful shake every so often. Once clams open they are done. I like them just cooked. So I will usually fish out any that are open after 7 minutes and continue cooking the rest for another 3 minutes or so until they all open. If any do not open, give them a hard tap with a wooden spoon and see if this opens them. If not, discard them.
- Drain clams into a colander, transfer to serving bowls, drench with garlic herb butter and crumble over bacon and corn.
- Serve with grilled bread and lots of napkins!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: seafood
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Jason says
I was very delightfully surprised when you used just water to steam these tasty little morsels. The bacon, corn, and herbs with melted butter on top just goes so well with them. This is my favorite seafood dish, ever. - Jason (Anita's lucky husband)