Easy recipe for how to make Steamed Clams that are tender and flavorful! Served in a delicious garlic, lemon, and white wine cooking sauce.
This seafood dish is an amazing Dinner Recipe for a special occasion or dinner party. Try Shrimp Scampi, Garlic Butter Salmon, and Classic Shrimp Alfredo for more impressive but easy-to-make seafood dishes.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Steamed Clams Recipe
This recipe for steaming clams is an easy cooking method for a classic salty, buttery seafood dish. The one-pot recipe combines easily with a delicious white wine sauce to cook and flavor the clams. As the hardshell clams steam, they pop open naturally, making them easy to dig into when you serve the dish.
Delicious Steamed Clams can be enjoyed as the main dish, along with a crusty piece of baguette to dip in the sauce. The crisp bread is perfect for soaking up all the amazing flavor from the clam bake. However, other kinds of bread, like sourdough or crispy garlic bread slices, would also taste amazing. Alternatively, you can serve the clams in a bowl over rice or pasta for a filling meal.
Chef’s Note: Testing for Good Clams
To check if clams are good before cooking, ensure they don’t smell fishy. You can also tap gently on the outside of the shell to see if the shell closes more tightly. If it closes, the clam is alive and good to cook. If the clams don’t open during cooking, they aren’t alive and won’t be safe to eat.
Ingredients
- Littleneck clams: You’ll want 72 fresh littleneck clams for this recipe. Remember to tap on the top of the hardshell clams when picking out fresh clams. The clam should respond to this stimulus and close tighter. Throw out broken or dead clams that don’t respond to the tap before cooking.
- Onions: Before adding the clean clams and sauce ingredients, you’ll start the recipe by cooking diced onion and garlic in oil. These key ingredients create a savory, buttery, and rich base flavor. The aromatic ingredients continue to flavor the sauce and clams throughout the recipe’s cooking time.
- Clam juice: To make the cooking sauce, use 1 cup white wine and 2 cups clam juice. Clam juice has a mild, savory flavor, enhancing sauces and seafood dishes.
- White wine: Cooking with wine helps make tender, juicy clams with a crisp flavor. For this recipe, it’s best to use a dry wine such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. You don’t need to get a high-end wine, but you also don’t want to go too cheap. A mid-range bottle you enjoy tasting will complement the seafood dish well.
- Lemon: Many seafood recipes call for fresh lemon juice because it highlights the seafood’s fresh flavor while reducing some salty flavors. This recipe calls for just half a zested and juiced lemon.
How to Make
Time needed: 28 minutes.
- Prep time:
Rinse the clams under cold water to remove any sand and debris. Then, set the clams to the side. Dice the yellow onion and finely mince 5 garlic cloves.
- Saute the Onions
Add the vegetable oil and unsalted butter to a large pot or Dutch oven, and turn the stovetop to medium heat. Add the diced onions and stir to coat. Continue to cook for 5-6 minutes until the onions are translucent.
- Add the Garlic
Add the garlic, stir, and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
- Combine Sauce Ingredients
Add the white wine, clam juice, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, kosher salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Simmer the Sauce
Stir the sauce ingredients and bring them to a simmer for 2 minutes.
- Steam Clams:
Add the clams to the pot, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes. Then, remove the lid and discard any clams that have not been opened during cooking time. Unopened clams are not safe enough to eat.
- Serve:
Place the Steamed Clams in a shallow bowl. Add butter to the cooking pot and stir to melt. Then, add the cooking liquid to the clams. You can garnish with a sprinkle of lemon zest and fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread for dipping.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 72 fresh littleneck clams
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion , diced
- 5 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups clam juice
- 1/2 lemon , juiced and zested (reserve other half for serving in wedges)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- fresh parsley , finely minced as garnish
- french baguettes , for serving
Instructions
- Rinse your clams well, making sure to clean any sand/debris.
- Set aside.
- Add vegetable oil and unsalted butter to a large pot on medium heat.
- Add in the onions, stir to coat, and cook for 5-6 minutes until translucent.
- Add in the garlic, stir, and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the white wine, clam juice, lemon juice and lemon zest, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes (optional).
- Stir and cook for 2 minutes to bring to a simmer.
- Add in the clams, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Very important: Discard any clams that have not opened, these will not be fresh to eat as the clams were not alive to begin with.
- Serve the clams into a shallow bowl.
- Add butter in chunks to the pot, stir to melt.
- Add the cooking liquid over the clams and serve with crusty bread for dipping and white wine to drink with your meal.
Nutrition
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Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, If you cook this recipe ahead of time, you can keep the cooked clams in an airtight container in the fridge or the freezer. To make the recipe fresh, reheat the clams on the stovetop with the white wine sauce; you can add an extra splash of whine and melted butter to revitalize the sauce and make the recipe taste fresh before serving the Steamed Clams.
Nutritional Facts
Tips & Tricks for this Recipe
- Choose Fresh Clams: Opt for fresh clams that are tightly closed. If any clams are open, tap them lightly. If they don’t close, discard them, as they may be dead and unsafe to eat.
- Use a Large Pot with a Lid: Select a large pot or Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. This allows enough space for the clams to open without overcrowding them.
- Serve Immediately: Transfer the steamed clams to serving bowls and spoon some cooking liquid over them. Serve with crusty bread or garlic bread to soak up the delicious broth.
What to Pair With Steamed Clams
- Bread: Bread is a simple, traditional side for Steamed clams, perfect for soaking up the amazing rich, garlicky wine sauce. Instead of a plain baguette, try these clams with some buttery classic Garlic Bread or fresh baked Crusty French Bread Rolls.
- Pasta: Another classic way to serve Steamed Clams is over a bed of pasta like linguine or fettuccine. The sauce for the clams doubles as the sauce with the pasta. Top off your linguine and clams with grated parmesan cheese.
- Veggies: Sauteed Green Beans or Italian Roasted Vegetables would be tasty, veggie side dishes to serve with these clams, along with fresh cooked pasta.
How to Store
- Store: To keep leftover clams fresh, wait for them to cool. Then, place them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- Reheat: The best way to reheat leftover clams is to reheat the sauce by itself then let the residual heat warm the clam pieces back up. You could also do this with hot pasta.
- Freeze: Store leftover clams in a freezer-safe storage bag for up to 3 months. Reheat frozen clams and sauce without thawing first by submerging the bag in boiling water for a few minutes to steam the clams and heat the sauce.
Frequent Questions
Steaming clams is a deliciously quick and easy way to prepare clams. They only take 10 minutes to steam and may be done in as short as 7 minutes. You’ll know the clams are done cooking when most or all have popped open. The clam shells will open on their own once they’ve cooked. If a few stubborn shells remain shut after 10 minutes, throw them out.
Enjoy this Steamed Clam recipe as your main course with garlic bread, a baguette, or another type of crusty bread to dip in the sauce as you eat. You can also serve the clams and clam sauce over fettuccine or linguine pasta for a more filling dinner.
Littleneck clams, the smallest kind of Eastern hard-shell clam, are the best option for this recipe. Smaller clams are preferred for steaming, as larger clams are more tough and better for chowder dishes.
Should I soak clams before cooking?
It’s essential to remove dirt and sand from your clams before cooking. You can rinse and wipe them off or soak them. To soak clams, add them to a bowl of cold, salted water. Let them soak for 20 minutes before scrubbing them clean.
This recipe calls for littleneck clams, a small variety of hard-shell clams. Steamer clams, on the other hand, are soft-shell clams. They’re called steamers because steamer clams can never be eaten raw.
Variations
- Seasonings: To alter the flavor of the wine sauce, you can add different spices and fresh herbs. For example, add fresh chives, red pepper flakes, and diced green onions to bring a fresh and bold flavor to the clam recipe.
- Clams: Although littleneck clams are preferred for this recipe, you can replace them with other clams if needed. Cockles, mussels, and cherrystone clams can all make good alternatives for making Steamed Clams.
- Wine-free clams: Most, if not all, of the alcohol will cook out of the wine sauce while you steam the clams. However, you can easily make clams without wine if you prefer not to cook with wine. For this version, you can swap the white cooking wine for chicken or vegetable broth. Or, use apple juice as a sweeter substitute.
More Delicious Seafood Recipes
This sounds awesome!!! I can’t wait to try them!!! Much more upscale than what I remember from my childhood!
My dad & uncles used to just throw them on the grill, while it preheated for the chicken or steaks they were cooking later. They were great BASIC appetizers, but nothing like yours!
Let us know how your Clams turn out John and thanks for the vote of confidence!