Fried Clams Recipe
Inside: Learn the time-saving tricks to cleaning and shucking fresh clams. Plus, the simple dredge for frying clams that gives them their legendary crunch.
If you’re a fan of fried seafood (and who isn’t?), you’re gonna want to make a batch of these fried clams, ASAP. To make them in the traditional New England style, use the Ipswich variety (also known as Steamers or soft-shells) and use the whole clam bellies, strips, and neck or siphon that’s been cleaned. Frying is the easy part, but I’m also sharing a time and hassle-saving tip for shucking and cleaning them.
In my personal opinion, summer and seafood go hand in hand. From Connecticut Lobster Rolls to Shrimp Salad Sandwiches, Conch Fritters to Northern Neck Crab Cakes, it’s not summer without them.
If you’ve ever dreamed of recreating those golden, crispy fried bivalve from a New England clam shack, like the ones from Woodman’s of Essex, this recipe is for you.
Made with shellfish from the muddy salt marshes along the Ipswich, Eagle, Essex, and Parker Rivers., these are the real-deal, whole-belly clams that deliver that iconic briny sweetness in every bite.
This recipe approximates a Massachusetts or Rhode Island clam box vibe and it’s easier than you think to make it at home.
And don’t worry—shucking the shellfish doesn’t have to be a hassle. I’ve got a foolproof, easy method (watch the two videos in the step sequences below) to prep them quickly without the usual frustration, so you can get straight to frying up a batch of restaurant-quality fried clams at home.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Authentic New England Flavor – These fried clams deliver that sweet, briny pop you expect.
- Easy Shucking Hack – No more struggling with stubborn shells! I’ll show you a simple shucking method that saves time and keeps the shellfish tender and intact.
- Crispy, Light Coating – The batter is perfectly balanced to give you that signature crunchy exterior without overpowering the delicate flavor of the seafood.
- Better-Than-Restaurant Freshness – Frying fresh shellfish to order, yields a hotter, crispier, and fresher flavor than anything you’ll get in a takeout basket.
- No preservatives or chemicals – unlike the package found in the frozen food case.
Ingredients:
- Fresh Whole Belly Clams–includes the whole belly, the strip, which hangs below the belly and the neck (or siphon), which protrudes from the shell and is what the bivalve siphons its own food from.
- Corn Flour–also sold as fish fry or you can use fine ground cornmeal.
- All Purpose Flour–to blend with the corn flour for a perfectly crispy exterior.
- Cayenne Pepper–to season the dredge.
- Salt–you’ll want this for seasoning the dredge as well as the fried clams after they come out of the fryer.
- Milk–you can use any variety; I used 1% milkfat.
- Buttermilk–adds a tangy flavor to the wet ingredients.
- Egg–combined with the milk and buttermilk, it creates enough of a binder to adhere the dredge to the strips and bellies.
Clam Anatomy:
There are three main components to the bivalve:
- Belly – The belly (the most tender part) is the soft, round center of the clam.
- Strip – Clam strips refer to the loose hanging piece under the belly.
- Neck (Siphon) The neck is actually the chewy and kinda gross part that protrudes outside of the clam. The outer coating needs to be removed and the neck trimmed away.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Place the Ipswich clams into a large bowl and rinse them selveral times to remove obvious grit and sand. Then cover them with more cold water and let them sit for 20 minutes. They will expunge any excess sand or grit from their siphons in this period.
2. Blanching: watch the video here.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, drain the cold water from the seafood and transfer them to the boiling water. Blanch the shellfish for 20 seconds (seriously, count it off). Drain them then transfer to another bowl filled with cold water to stop the cooking.
Cleaning: watch my video here.
Pry the shell open with your fingers (you wouldn’t be able to do this without blanching them first). Remove the clam and locate the black protrusion; at the base of it pull away the outer membrane and discard then cut off the black tip and discard.
Transfer the cleaned shellfish to a bowl of fresh water.
3. Assemble the flour, corn flour (or finely ground corn meal), cayenne pepper and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.
4. In a medium bowl combine the milk, buttermilk and eggs and whisk well.
5. Dunk the shellfish into the milk and egg mixture.
6. Dredge the clams in the cornmeal mixture to coat.
7. Heat the oil to about 375°F. I used peanut oil and my Fry Daddy. If you don’t have a thermometer to tell when the oil is hot enough, sprinkle a pinch of the cornmeal mixture into the oil – if it sizzles immediately, it’s ready.
Fry the clams in the hot oil in batches of 8-10 clams per batch. They should take about 1-2 minutes or until they are golden and crisp. Smaller bellies may take less time and larger size bellies, a little longer.
8. Scoop them from the oil using a kitchen spider (pictured above), shake a few time to drip off any excess oil.
9. Transfer the fried clams to a sheet pan lined with craft paper or a brown paper grocery bag to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt for seasoning.
Pro-Tips:
- Fresh clams are sold live and you can (and should) keep them alive in the refrigerator by placing the clams and any ice they came with in a colander set over a large bowl (to catch the ice as it melts). Soak a dish towel with cold water and squeeze some of the water out so it’s damp. Tuck the towel around the shellfish and refrigerate for a day or two until you’re ready to fry them.
- Though there is salt in the dredge, adding an additional sprinkle as soon as they’re out of the hot oil will give them just the right flavor.
Swaps and Variations:
- Use the same method for frying oysters.
- You can use other spices in the dredge, such as onion powder, dried parsley or even a spice blend, like my Creole seasoning.
- New England natives serve themwith tartar sauce, but if you like cocktail sauce, I won’t judge.
FAQs
Ipswich clams come from Essex County off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Specifically the sand flats.
The mild flavors are sweet, briny and satisfying and the crunchy coating is irresistible.
Traditional clam shacks serve them with fries or onion rings and tartar sauce.
Storage:
- These fried clams are so good, you shouldn’t have any leftovers, but if you do, wrap them in foil and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Reheating:
- To reheat, lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan and heat in a 375°F oven for 5-8 minutes or until they’re hot and the coating gets a little crisp.
Freezing:
- Freezing fried items is tricky because the breading can get soft and gummy, thereforeI don’t recommend it–that’s a job for seafood companies, who have the ability to flash-freeze.
More summer seafood recipes to try:
Fried Whole Belly Clams
INGREDIENTS:
FOR FRIED CLAMS
- 72 whole belly clams in their shell (aka: steamers, Maine clams or Ipswich clams) (about 18 clams per person)
- 1 cup corn flour (also sold as fish fry or use fine ground cornmeal)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to season after frying
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- peanut oil for frying
SERVE WITH:
- lemon wedges
- tartar sauce
- french fries
DIRECTIONS:
SHUCK THE IPSWICH CLAMS
- Place 72 whole belly clams in their shell in a large bowl and rinse them several times with cold water to wash away the grit and sand on their shells. Cover the clams with fresh cold water and let them sit for 20 minutes so that they can expunge any excess grit in their siphons.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drain the clams and add them to the pot. Blanch the clams for 20 seconds, then immediately drain the water off of them. Transfer the clams to a fresh bowl filled with cold water to stop the cooking. Watch the video
- Pry the shell open with your fingers (this would be impossible to do if you didn't blanch them first.) Remove the clam and locate the black protruding neck (actually a siphon that they use to filter their food). Watch the video.
- Go to the base of the “neck” and pull the outer layer or membrane from the clam and discard. Cut the tip of the black siphon off and discard. Transfer the shucked clam (this includes the neck, belly and strip) to a bowl of fresh water. Continue to shuck the clams in this fashion.
- Change the water several times to make sure the grit has been removed from the clams and set aside.
MAKE THE FRY BLEND:
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup corn flour (or fine cornmeal), 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Use another medium bowl to combine 1 cup milk, ½ cup buttermilk and 1 large egg with a whisk until well blended.
FRYING THE CLAMS:
- Heat 2-3 inches of peanut oil for frying in a deep fryer and heat to 375℉. Line a baking sheet with craft paper, newspaper or brown paper bags to soak up the oil.
- Dip the clams into the egg mixture and then toss them individually in the corn flour blend to coat.
- Fry the clams in batches with no more than 8-10 clams per batch. Cook each batch for 1-2 minutes or until the clams are crispy and golden. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer the clams to the paper-lined baking sheet to cool. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt. Continue frying and seasoning the clams in this manner.
TO SERVE THE FRIED WHOLE BELLY CLAMS:
- Serve the clams with simple tartar sauce and lemon wedges. Most New England clam shacks also serve them with french fries… I used a frozen bag of Alexia fries and crisped them in a convection oven… worked great!
RECIPE VIDEO:
NUTRITION:
Pin “Fried Whole Belly Clams” For Later!
great recipe…nice seasoning, onion rings go well with fries, one hour from the NH coast. when you can’t afford lobster this hits the spot.
I’m from Boston and grew up eating this delicious treats! My condiment is tarter sauce! Enjoy!!
very good tartar sauce recipe. i tried a gluten free variation of the batter substituting flour with Bob’s Red Mill baking flour and it worked well. we fried bar clams from the sand flats out front of our cottage, scallops from Digby and Malpeque oysters from PEI…it was a super tasty meal for sure.
Malcolm Macartney
Tidnish Nova Scotia
Excellent recipe, I adjusted the tarter sauce adding finely chopped onion and lots more capers, best I have ever had! I read other reviews and one said in New England we use vinegar instead of tarter sauce, I must say I never heard of that in Maine.
Here in New England sometimes we use VINEGAR instead of tarter sauce for the clams and fries. (chips)
We love fresh seafood and my husband will eat a fried boot if I make it. But we had a gift of fresh Bar clams from our daughter’s boyfriend’s parents and so I wanted a coating to fry the clams that wasn’t going to take away from the fabulous fresh sea flavour ot the clams. This recipe is perfect. I used a coarser ground flour and that was a mistake. You need the fine ground cornmeal flour for the flavour and the non crunchy texture. It’s so easy!! AND I LOVED the tartar sauce. Make sure you use fresh dill. PERFECT companion for the fish and I even dipped my home made french fries into it.
It’s a 10 from us. Thanks Lisa.
Good evening Patricia Roberts and I hope all is well. Your reference to fried boot made me reply. I hope you don’t mind. I was also a husband that said I would eat a boot if deep fried by my sweetheart. If you have no objections, I would love to review your recipe. If not, please have a wonderful week!
The clams you are describing are softshell clams or steamers. If the clams are freshly harvested, the bellies will be full of mud. If you have access to clean saltwater, you can take a 5 gallon bucket and put 5-10 lbs of yellow corn meal and 3 gal seawater, add the clams and let sit overnight. The clams will gorge themselves with the cornmeal and purge themselves of the mud. Instant stuffed clams. If you use hardshell clams such as cherrystone, littlenecks, or mahogany clams this is not necessary as they do not ingest the mud. They just filter the water for food like mussels or oysters. The reason that fried clams are considered a summertime treat is because the water is too cold for most harvesters during the winter months. Me, I dig clams year round here in Long Island Sound.
Yes, I mentioned them being called soft-shell clams or steamers in the post. Unless you’re from that area, it can be a confusing distinction. Thanks for your tips on cleaning them and the difference between them and hardshell clams. That’s great info!
I live in the Boston area and find this a pretty decent recipe. I would like to mention a few local suggestions. Many people instead of just rinsing the clams in fresh water, cover the clams in a bowl with fresh water and add approx 1/4 cup of corn meal to the water and refrig over night, this is ingested in the clam, irritates their stomach and forces them to remove more sand and grit leaving a much cleaner stomach. And you were right, the neck gets cut off just before it starts turning black. lastly, almost every clam shack I am aware of uses evaporated milk instead of milk and or butter milk.
Evaporated milk! ? Wow… must try that! Thanks for the tip…I have just recently tried making fried clams at home( since they are no where to be found in Va!) and used a very similar recipe to the one here, but there was no egg in the batter. I will try that too!
The batter also works well for scallops! YUM!
New England born and bred but living on the Gulf Coast of Fla.for 38 years.Can’t get full bellied steamer clams here,but I can order them,which I did!They arrive tomorrow from Gloucester,cold packed and as fresh as I can get.Got the frier out and all the ingredients.Can’t wait!Bye the wy,GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Lynne! Oh you’re in for a treat! I live in South Eastern Florida, but we head to the Gulf Coast all the time — it’s beautiful. Hope you enjoy the clams!
I love fried seafood, but I have never had fried clams – its just not a thing where I live. Thank you for the excellent tutorial! I love clams in pasta, and I would love to try making fried clams at home.
To be fair, it’s not a “thing” here either, but I figured I had to go the extra mile for the Patriots.
How fun that your whole family participates in planning the Super Bowl menu. Love that. I’d say you have one lucky family if this is what they’ll be munching on this Sunday. (Go Rams!) And your tarter sauce recipe sounds superb!
I want a big basket of these clams ASAP! The homemade tartar sauce sure takes then to another level too.
Thanks, Sharon! I’m so glad you like them!
Oh boy, these clams have me wishing it was warm and sunny out because I would love a great big plate of these out on my back porch. Yum!
I know, they’d be perfect in the summertime, too. That said, they weren’t bad in the dead of January!
Yum! This reminds me of when I lived back East – Tartar sauce is the tastiest!