Market Street Grill is a very popular seafood restaurant in Salt Lake City. The restaurant is famous for its incredible creamy clam chowder, as well as the freshness of their fish, which is flown in daily. The decor and ambience in Market Street Grill reminds me of the restaurants near the pier in San Francisco – black and white checked tile floors, wooden antique-style tables, and hundreds of sour dough loaves lining shelves on the many partitions around the restaurant. The crackly crisp crust on those sour dough loaves, which are served with plenty of real butter, make the chowder taste even better.

Many years ago, Market Street Grill published the recipe for its clam chowder; I made it as published, then changed it to suit my family’s tastes. This recipe is an adaptation of that wonderful Market Street Clam Chowder. This version is made with my versatile Basic Cream Soup Mix, which cuts down the preparation time to only 30-45 minutes (hands-on time significantly less). Since we don’t often find fresh clams in Utah, I use canned ones, but you may use fresh ones if they are available in your area.

The soup is slightly spicy; if you prefer milder clam chowder, feel free to cut down on the black pepper and Tabasco. If you like lighter soup, you may also substitute half and half for the whipping cream; however, it won’t be as rich or good. Make sure you serve this delicious clam chowder with fresh sour dough bread; homemade is best of course, and this can be accomplished with a minimum of hands-on time by dumping the ingredients into your automatic bread baker and setting it to be finished when you arrive home from work. Enjoy!!


6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup celery, diced (or 1/4 cup dried)
1 cup onions, chopped (or 1/4 cup dried)
1/4 cup green pepper, diced (or 1 tablespoon dried)
1 cup leeks, white part only, diced
6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce
3/4 tablespoon thyme
3/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
3/4 cup sherry or white wine
8 cups water
2 6 1/2 ounce cans clams with juice

2 cups Basic Cream Soup Mix

2 cups whipping cream

1. Mix potatoes, celery, onions, green pepper, leeks, bay leaves, Tabasco, thyme, pepper, salt, sherry, and water.
2. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender.
3. Add the clams with juice.
4. Remove 2 cups cooking liquid and mix with the cream soup mix, whisking until smooth.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the whipping cream; heat through, and serve.