Serves 6 to 8
Total time: 35 minutes (not including soaking time for cashews)
Active time: 15 minutes
Photo by Vanessa Rees
This is for all you fishheads out there. A mix of mushrooms stand in for the clams to create a super satisfying chewiness, while some chopped up nori give this chowder a true taste of the sea. It’s thick and creamy and loaded with the finer things, like potatoes and carrots. Crumble some saltines over the top and you’ll be able to hear the Atlantic ocean lapping at your feet. For authenticity, make sure to serve this while talking like a character from a Stephen King movie.
Hope you love the video! Please read more about “Make It Vegan”, my new video series!
Notes
~How fishy do you like it? Nori is pretty mild as far as seaweeds go, but the potency varies depending on the brand, and how fresh the nori is. Start with one sheet, then taste after everything is added at the end. If you think it needs more sea, you can still add another chopped up sheet. Just mix it in and let the flavor meld, off the heat, for about 10 miuntes.
~If your nori is really fresh, you don’t even have to chop it (as evidenced in the video), simply crumble it right into the pot.
~To efficiently chop nori, it works to chiffonade it. That means roll up and slice! So tightly roll up your nori sheet like a cigar, and thinly slice. Then run your knife over the curled up bunches to get them into even smaller pieces.
~If you’d like it even more chewy and you have a million dollars to spend on fungi, then go ahead and replace all of the white mushrooms with shiitake.
Ingredients
1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
2 cups vegetable broth
4 teaspoons organic cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced medium
2 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/4 inch thick half moons
3 stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks
3/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste
Fresh black pepper
1 to 2 nori sheets, finely chopped (see note above)
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Optional: fresh chopped parsley or chives for garnish
Saltines for crushing over the top
Directions
Preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Saute onion and carrots in the olive oil with a pinch of salt, for about 10 minutes, until carrots are softened.
In the meantime, we’ll make the cashew cream. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the vegetable broth and cornstarch. Blend like crazy, until smooth. This can take anywhere from one to five minutes depending on your machine. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula every now and again to make sure you get everything.
Back to the soup. Add mushrooms and celery. Cook briefly, for about 3 minutes, just until mushrooms are softened. You want them to keep their texture.
Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, nori and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Be careful to keep a close eye so as not to overcook them or they will turn into mush.
Stir in the cashew cream mixture, and gently heat, uncovered, for about 7 minutes, until nicely thickened. Add the tomato paste and lemon juice and taste for salt and seasoning. Add a little extra water if it seems too thick. Serve garnished with parsley or chives, if you like, and a few saltine crackers. A wedge of lemon looks pretty, too.
I just made this- it was AMAZING! thank you! you helped make my vegan teen daughter’s evening SPECTACULAR!
Just made the soup for the 4th time and we totally love it. since i keep kosher i’ve never had the original, but sure enjoyed this version. thanks!
I made this low-fat and without the pureed cashews. Just as a simple lovely broth, this was delicious!
Can’t wait to try this!
OMG- this was amazing, It will be in standard stock rotation in my house.
This turned out to be a family favorite! so good!
I am so making this and the latchkey lime pie today! Two foods that I have missed since I eliminated animal products!
this is the best soup i have ever eaten.
WOW! I love you. Everything that I have tried has been great. Made this today and it was yum-mazing. Recipes go together super easy and fast. I still marvel at the vegan Challah! OMFreakin’G. Thank you.
I made this last night, it was delicious and easy! I think I will try adding some coconut milk next time with some extra cracked pepper and garlic – but overall the recipe is wonderful as is!
Thank you! It was amazing how “sea” like it tastes.
First off…I think I love you! this soup made made day, clam chowder was always my fave but I haven’t had it since going meat free 20 years ago(vegan for the last 15)! Was wondering if you think rehydrated dried shitakes would work as well as fresh? I used fresh the first time I made it and it was awesome. I want to make it again and I have this gallon sized bag of dried shitakes from my co-op and wanted to try with these. Thanks for all your inspiring recipes and cookbooks!
Just made this Chowder….It was SOoooo good. Thank you Isa
I just made this yesterday.its chilly and raining on the east coast today.I couldn’t wait to get home and heat it up..OMG yummmy..Thanks for the easy recipes ..you’re the best!!
I made this and it was quite tasty. The amount of nori used may need tweaking. I want to attempt this recipe again and use kelp powder instead of nori just for an experiment. Later today we hope to make the chili from your video and see how that is. Isa, thanks for producing these videos, pictures are worth so much more than print
RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!!! Thank you!!!
This may seem like a silly question but can you use fresh seaweed? I live on the CA coast and have access to fresh.
I made it. It was absolutely delicious. I didn’t alter it a bit.
wait, I lied. I did alter it. I used arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch, cause that’s what I had.
I made this tonight, followed the recipe to a T. Freakin’ hell it was good! Next time I will use some dried shiitakes, which I think are even chewier. Deeeelish!
OMG I absolutely LOVE this recipe! I made this last night for my meat-loving family and even they enjoyed it! It’s incredible how similar this tastes to real clam chowder. Thank you so much for this. You are amazing. Your recipes have never failed me.
Made this last night. ABSOLUTELY DELISH! Hubs was always a huge Clam Chowder fan, and was so surprised how close it came. He ate three bowls. 🙂
Hi Isa —
Can I use seitan in place of the mushrooms? Thanks!
Yum!! I may be a little late to the party, but at least I got there. Like some others, I’ve never had clam chowder. Not so craving the fishy thing, so I left out the nori and added sautéed leeks and red bell pepper, as well as some picked smoked jalapenos. Oh, my. So delicious and satisfying. Truly spectacular. Thank you!!
YUM! Does this freeze well? If not how many servings does it make?
THIS WAS SO GOOD! Like, soooo good. I don’t really like clams so I tried your recipe instead. I used a pack of dried shiitakes since they were cheaper. I also found that cutting rolled up nori with a scissors was way easier than trying to cut it with a knife. My very non-vegan husband and sister also loved this recipe. I was happy to see how creamy it was without actually using any cream. Thumbs up from my med student perspective- this is totally low cal and heart healthy. Will definitely make again.
can you use Silk cashew milk instead of using cashews? i’m wonderin if its possible to thicken the milk to a cream like texture for this recipe??
This was amazing! Tastes better than clam chowder! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
My family loved this soup! The cashew cream just made it so nice and smooth. Great on a cold night.
Fantastic soup! I added two tablespoons of cooking sherry and it added a nice dimension to it. Thanks for a great recipe!
I was wondering if anyone has substituted sweet potatoes for potatoes in this recipe?
I followed every part of the recipe except that I left out the added oil, and OMG, this is sooooooooooo good. The hubs and I are eating the leftovers for lunch at this very moment, and I just couldn’t not come by to post how much this is one of our most favorite vegan meals, ever. I can’t wait to throw this in my omni-loves-clam-chowder sister’s pie hole next time she visits. She’s gonna love the crap out of it!
Thanks!!!
I made this tonight! It was so good and I made it in my ” Give and Let Live” shirt so I felt extra vegan lol. Anyway, I made this with roasted seaweed and it was so much easier to crumble. No cutting needed! Thanks for this beautiful recipe, Isa!
To quote my six year old daughter, “what is that delicious smell?”
Enough said.
Isa, you’ve done it again! This recipe has 2 of my favorite ingredients, mushrooms and cashew cream. I made a couple minor changes, I used roasted seaweed sheets (like another fan, Cassidy) and mushroom broth because that’s what I had on hand, and I added chick peas for a little more protein and texture. It was the BOMB! Another one of your recipes to add to our list favorites (including my meat eating husband) along with beet burgers, chana masala, and veggie korma. Keep it coming!
This is by far one of my favourite things I’ve ever eaten. It’s hearty and creamy and chewy and everything you could ever want in a chowder. It was one of the first things I made since switching to vegan 3 years ago. Isa Does It is still my most used cookbook.
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