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Minorcan Clam Chowder from United States

Minorcan Clam Chowder

Also known as Minorcan chowder, Minorcan clam soup, datil pepper chowder, St. Augustine clam chowder, Mahón-style clam stew

📍 North Florida, especially St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, the Matanzas and Tolomato river basins, Crescent Beach, and the broader First Coast ★ 4.6
Last updated Aug 13, 2026 · Reviewed by the WhatWhereVacay editorial team

A tomato-based Florida chowder of clams, potatoes, and datil peppers, brought to St. Augustine by Mahón-Menorca settlers in the 18th century.

About Minorcan Clam Chowder

Minorcan clam chowder is a tomato-based clam chowder of north Florida, descended from the cooking of Mahón-Menorca settlers who arrived in St. Augustine and New Smyrna Beach in the late 1700s. It looks and tastes more like a Mediterranean fish soup than the cream-based New England version: a clear, deeply savory broth built on a sofrito of onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic, to which chopped tomatoes, clam juice, potatoes, and the chopped clams themselves are added. A final splash of dry sherry gives the bowl a slightly briny, nutty finish that you do not get from the cream- or flour-thickened American chowders.

What sets the Minorcan version apart is the seasoning: datil peppers, a small yellow-orange Capsicum grown almost exclusively in the St. Augustine area, lend a sharp, fruity heat that wakes up the broth without overwhelming the sweetness of the clams. When datils are out of season, cooks use a combination of sweet banana pepper and a touch of hot sauce as a stand-in, but purists insist on the real thing. The clam is most often a chopped local Atlantic quahog, sometimes supplemented with a few oysters or a piece of finfish for depth.

Minorcan clam chowder is served at almost every seafood restaurant in St. Augustine and the surrounding coast, where it is ladled into a mug or a deep bowl and paired with an oyster cracker, a slice of Cuban bread, or a hush puppy. You can find it at the Columbia Restaurant's original St. Augustine location, at the Oyster Bay Cafe in the historic district, at Cap's on the Water, and at long-running fish camps along the Matanzas and Tolomato rivers. It is also poured into a bread bowl at festivals in the fall, when datil peppers are being harvested.

🏛️ History & Culture

Minorcan clam chowder traces its roots to the Minorcan settlers who arrived in Florida from Mahón in the late 1700s, initially founding New Smyrna Beach before many moved to St. Augustine. These Mediterranean immigrants adapted their traditional fish stews to local ingredients, creating a tomato-based chowder that diverges sharply from the cream-based New England or the milder Manhattan styles. The defining element is the datil pepper, a fiery chili that gives the chowder its signature heat; however, the exact origin of the datil pepper in Florida is debated, with some attributing its introduction to the Minorcans themselves and others to later Caribbean trade routes.

Today, the chowder is a proud symbol of St. Augustine's Minorcan heritage, often served in local restaurants and featured at community festivals. Regional variations primarily center on the intensity of the datil pepper, ranging from mildly spicy to intensely hot, and the chowder is sometimes called "St. Augustine clam chowder" or "datil pepper chowder" to distinguish it from other American clam soups. Its cultural significance lies in its role as a living food tradition, preserving the culinary identity of a small immigrant community that has become deeply woven into the fabric of north Florida's history.

🍳 How to make Minorcan Clam Chowder

AI-assisted, not kitchen-tested

Minorcan Clam Chowder

A clear, tomato-based clam chowder from St. Augustine, Florida, descended from the cooking of Mahón-Menorca settlers. It is more Mediterranean fish stew than New England chowder, with a sofrito base, chopped clams, potatoes, and the signature fruity heat of datil peppers.

Prep
20 min
Cook
45 min
Total
65 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Medium

Recipe ingredients

  • 45 ml (3 Tbsp) olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced (about 200 g / 7 oz)
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, diced (about 150 g / 5¼ oz)
  • 2 ribs celery, sliced (about 100 g / 3½ oz)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 datil peppers datil peppers, minced (seeds and all), Substitute: 1 small banana pepper minced + ¼ tsp Tabasco or other vinegar-based hot sauce. Note: this is a deliberate departure from the traditional seasoning, not an equivalent.
  • 30 g (¼ cup) tomato paste
  • 400 g (14 oz) crushed or diced San Marzano-style tomatoes, canned, with their juice
  • 450 g (1 lb) russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1.5 cm (½ in) cubes
  • 500 ml (2 cups) clam juice or fish stock, use clam juice for the most traditional flavor
  • 2 whole bay leaves
  • 900 g (2 lb) chopped Atlantic quahog clams with their juice, freshly shucked or canned, drained with juice reserved. If using frozen, thaw fully before measuring.
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) dry sherry (Manzanilla or fino), added at the end, not cooked down hard
  • 5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt, adjust after tasting, clam juice and clams are salty
  • 1 g (½ tsp) freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pinch sugar, balances the acidity of the tomato
  • 10 g (¼ cup) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Steps

  1. 1 Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the diced onion, green bell pepper, and sliced celery with a small pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until softened and translucent but not browned.
  2. 2 Add the minced garlic and minced datil peppers (or the banana pepper plus hot sauce mixture). Cook, stirring constantly, for 60 to 90 seconds, until fragrant. Do not let the garlic brown.
  3. 3 Stir in the tomato paste and cook, pressing it into the vegetables, for 2 minutes, until it darkens slightly and smells roasted.
  4. 4 Pour in the crushed tomatoes with their juice, the reserved clam juice from the clams, the additional clam juice or fish stock, and add the bay leaves. Stir to combine, scraping any fond from the bottom of the pot.
  5. 5 Add the diced potatoes, the salt, pepper, and the pinch of sugar. Raise the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender when pierced with a knife.
  6. 6 Add the chopped clams with their juice and simmer gently for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the clams are heated through. Do not boil hard, as the clams will turn rubbery. Safety: clams must reach an internal temperature of at least 63 °C / 145 °F; they are safely cooked when they are opaque and curl slightly.
  7. 7 Remove the pot from the heat. Discard the bay leaves. Stir in the dry sherry and taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed.
  8. 8 Ladle into warm bowls, garnish generously with chopped parsley, and serve immediately. Traditionally accompanied by oyster crackers, saltine crackers, or crusty bread, and often a bottle of hot sauce on the table.
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