Ariana Losch
Clam chowder. Corn chowder. Potato chowder. Seafood chowder. Long ago, the four chowders lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when clam chowder rose to unparalleled fame. Only the Chowvatar, master of all four chowders, could restore balance to the bowls.
That’s me, the Chowvatar. It’s my job to taste-test and rank the best chowder you can find at a grocery store, with the hopes of shining a little spotlight on other types of chowder besides the many popular stylings of clam. What separates chowder from soup, you ask? Great question, great question…one I would be willing to explore in more detail if I hadn’t just spent an hour arguing with my coworkers about the difference between a sauce and a marinade. I’m going to say “chowder is thick and chunky” and call it a day. The Chowvatar is on a tight schedule and cannot concern herself with semantics.
Where are you buying all these chowders?
So, listen. The canned soup aisle isn’t exactly swimming with chowder options. I looked at stores like Kroger, Walmart, Target, Sprouts, and Trader Joe’s and tried basically everything that called itself a chowder, from canned to deli-fresh options. Our favorite clam chowder, though, comes straight from our more in-depth clam chowder ranking.
Anyways, let’s get right to it. Here are the five best chowders from the grocery store.
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- Old El Paso Chipotle Corn Chowder
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Old El Paso has something here, but I don’t think it’s fully fledged. The smoky, lightly spicy chipotle flavor is new and exciting, but the rest of the ingredients (corn, red peppers, potatoes) play it too safe. Black beans and sweet potato could do wonders for this, especially since the corn itself doesn’t retain a natural sweetness. Fresh cilantro could be the simple way to brighten the whole soup, but on its own, it isn’t super special yet. That being said, it’s easily one of the yummier canned chowders I tried, which is why it’s on the list!
Read our full review of Old El Paso’s line of canned soups
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Heyday Creamy Coconut Corn Chowder
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As it stands, Heyday’s Creamy Coconut Corn Chowder is the best vegan chowder I’ve tried so far. It’s lightly sweet from the corn, but not too sweet, which is a common problem with canned corn chowder. The creamy coconut base is convincingly dairy-like—I didn’t clock this as a fully vegan soup until after the taste test. The potatoes are tender and diced small, which we really love. I’m sorry to the brand rep reading this, but we haven’t had the best experience with Heyday soups in the past. But look, Heyday’s whole thing is that they have minimal ingredients and a nutrition label that doesn’t make your eyes bug out of your head, which sometimes translates to bland flavor. That isn’t a problem here—but I highly recommend topping this chowder with some sliced jalapeños and cilantro. (The only real drawback is the smell. I think it’s something in the mirepoix extract. If you’re sensitive to that, you’ve been warned.)
Credit: Liv Averett / Whole Foods
- Signature Select Shrimp & Corn Chowder
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We tried this shrimp chowder from the deli section at Albertsons-owned grocery stores alongside a more expensive shrimp chowder brand and preferred nearly everything about Signature Select. You get very small but tender whole shrimp in this, which is pretty much all you can expect from a grocery store shrimp chowder, let’s be honest. That briny shrimp flavor is more in the creamy soup base itself, but it still satisfies a craving for the sea. It has a strong roasted red pepper flavor that might lean too sweet for some, but it’s still one of the best seafood chowders outside of a seaside restaurant.
Credit: Liv Averett / Vons
- Pacific Foods Poblano Pepper & Corn Chowder
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Pacific Foods, you are my go-to soup brand, and I’m proud to have you on this list. This corn chowder definitely leans very sweet, but that’s why the sheer amount of roasted poblano peppers, chile peppers, and spices thrown in really rounds out the flavor. It’s so, so egregiously peppery…which is great for a pepper freak like me (but admittedly not for everyone). It has a bit of a salsa verde quality going for it. The corn has a crisp, grilled texture that tastes fresh, too.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Bar Harbor New England Style Clam Chowder
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Bar Harbor is the best clam chowder we’ve tried in multiple clam chowder taste tests. It’s brimming with clams and small, neatly chopped potatoes that got us way too excited during our taste test. (Hey, it’s the little things.) Most importantly, this canned clam chowder simply tastes like the sea. If clam chowder doesn’t have that musky, umami-rich salinity from the clam juice, how can we pretend we’re sitting at a crab shack on the beach? And if we can’t imagine ourselves at a crab shack on the beach, how are we supposed to feel anything close to real joy? Anyways, I might have failed my job as Chowvatar, because this clam chowder is also the very best chowder of our taste test. Ah, well.
Credit: Liv Averett /
Best Spicy
Best Plant-Based
Best Shrimp Chowder
Best Peppery
Gwynedd Stuart
Jessica Block
Sporked Staff
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!