This is a family favorite soup recipe, fancier than potato soup but not too complicated for a fish soup, with a lovely well balanced range of flavors. It calls for a few special ingredients, but can be simplified further as long as you have the salmon and dill.
We often buy frozen salmon for this sort of thing and I keep the ingredients for my “Quick & Easy” fish broth on hand so remembering the leek, fennel, cream and dill are all I have to pick up. Also, dill can freeze pretty easily if you have extra left over.
If you want to serve this quickly, use a food processor on the veggies and make the broth ahead. Cooking the vegetables in the broth is the longest step, so you could even make the soup up to that point and then set it aside to add the fish and cream and herbs later. If you chill it you would have to factor in reheating time, but it’s only a few minutes to cook the last steps.
Salmon Chowder with Dill
4-6 servings (we often double it)
Note: If fresh fennel and leeks are harder to find, I would use 2-3 onions instead of just one
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 leek, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fennel
- 1/4 cup flour
- 6 cups fish stock (I use this pantry-friendly recipe, but if you can’t get the ingredients use a vegetable broth)
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 lb. salmon, cut into 3/4″ cubes
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 Tbsp. chopped dill
Melt butter in a large soup pot and mix in the chopped onion, leek, and fennel. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until they are all softened. Stir in the flour and cook on low for a few minutes, gradually stirring in the broth.
Mix in the chopped potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Add the cubed salmon and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until just cooked through and tender. You don’t want them to be falling apart.
Stir in milk, cream and dill. Cook just until warmed through – don’t leave it to boil. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.
The Kitchen Tourist 