Chipotle Lime Braised Clams

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Chipotle Lime Braised Clams is the best summer dinner served with buttery garlic bread! Tender clams are cooked in a spicy chipotle sauce with corn and cherry tomatoes topped with lime juice and fresh herbs. It’s a total crowd pleaser that only takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish! Enjoy with Pasta al Limone and a cold Chelada.

Overhead view of Chipotle Lime Braised Clams in a skillet.

There’s something about seafood that I crave every summer. It’s light but comforting and filling and it pairs so well with other summer produce like corn and tomatoes. Everything from Linguine con le Vongole, buttery Seafood Rolls, and Camarones a la Diabla comes together in about 30 minutes. It tastes like summer and will leave your heart (and your belly!) happy!

Side view of Chipotle Lime Braised Clams in a skillet with garlic bread near by.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Chipotle Lime Braised Clams

Overhead view of ingredients on a counter.
  1. Clams – Little Neck Clams but Manila clams or even mussels would work as well!
  2. Chipotle in adobo – Clams and chipotles are the perfect match! It’s spicy, tangy and perfectly smoky.
  3. Lime juice – Adds freshness and helps to balance out the brininess of the clams.
  4. White wine – Used to deglaze the skillet and add flavor to the clams and pan sauce.

For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!

How To Make Chipotle Lime Braised Clams

  1. Saute onions in a medium pot over medium heat with olive oil until soft. Next, add in the garlic then increase the heat and pour in white wine, tomato paste, cherry tomatoes, chipotles in adobo and butter. Bring to a simmer then taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  2. Add in corn and arrange clams in an even layer in the skillet. Cover the pot and continue cooking the clams for 5 – 7 minutes. They’re done when the clams have opened. Discard any that refuse to open.
  3. Squeeze lime juice over the clams, sprinkle with minced cilantro then serve immediately with buttery garlic bread.

Tips and Tricks

  • Prepping clams – The big key with clams is scrubbing the outside so theyโ€™re nice and clean. The ones I got had a good amount of sand on them and that would be in your dish; you definitely donโ€™t want that!
  • If your clams are exceptionally dirt – I usually only do this with mussels but if the clams you purchased are super dirty or sandy, you could soak them in a bucket of water with a tablespoon of all-purpose flour. The clams will purge their sand almost immediately.
Close up image of Chipotle Lime Braised Clams in skillet with garnishes all around.

Recipe FAQs

Why is it important to soak clams in water before cooking them?

Clams oftentimes will be covered in sand and you don’t want that in your food. Soak them in water with a little bit of flour or scrub them until they are clean before cooking.

How do you cook clams so they aren’t rubbery?

By steaming them! Clams don’t need to cook for very long at all. Just place them in an even layer in the skillet with some water or a sauce then cover and allow the clams to steam for a few minutes until their shells open.

What if my clams won’t open?

Then there is a high chance they’re bad. If you purchased really fresh clams, you can try removing the clams that have opened from the skillet and continue cooking the unopened ones for a couple of minutes more. If they still won’t open, discard them.

Overhead view of clams in a skillet.

More Summer Recipes

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5 from 2 votes

Chipolte Lime Braised Clams

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Chipotle Lime Braised Clams is the best summer dinner served with buttery garlic bread! Tender clams are cooked in a spicy chipotle sauce with corn and cherry tomatoes topped with lime juice and fresh herbs. Itโ€™s a total crowd pleaser that only takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish! Enjoy withย Pasta al Limoneย and a coldย Chelada.

Equipment

  • 1 (4-quart) pot or large skillet

Ingredients 

Chipotle-Lime Clams:

Instructions 

To Make the Chipotle-Lime Clams:

  • To a medium pot or braising pan, set over medium heat, add the olive oil. When the olive oil is warm, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Next add the garlic cloves and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Turn the heat to high and then pour in the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula. Mix in the tomato paste, chipotles in adobo and butter. 
  • Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, just until the flavors are married together; give it a taste and adjust the salt to your liking. I added about 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the corn and arrange the little neck clams in one even layer. If some overlap thatโ€™s ok. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover the pan; cook the clams for about 5 to 7 minutes. This will depend on the size of the clams. 
  • Some of the clams I had were stubborn that refused to open. I knew they werenโ€™t bad so I removed the clams that were totally open (so they wouldnโ€™t overcook) and covered the pot until all of them opened. The clams I had were sort of large so I think this was the problem.
  • Discard any clams that refuse to open (one of the clams in my batch were discarded). Squeeze the lime juice over the clams and serve immediately; serve alongside the buttery garlic bread. 

Notes

Tips and Tricks

  • Prepping clams โ€“ The big key with clams is scrubbing the outside so theyโ€™re nice and clean. The ones I got had a good amount of sand on them and that would be in your dish; you definitely donโ€™t want that!
  • If your clams are exceptionally dirt โ€“ย I usually only do this with mussels but if the clams you purchased are super dirty or sandy, you could soak them in a bucket of water with a tablespoon of all-purpose flour. The clams will purge their sand almost immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 270mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 602IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!

Cozy Latin-Inspired Comfort Food Recipes

Hi! I'm Adrianna and this is my cozy space on the internet that is super-charged by butter, flour and copious amounts of pasta. Stay awhile, will you!

5 from 2 votes

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11 Comments

  1. I love the sound of this recipe but I don’t trust myself to clean clams/mussels well. Do you think this sauce would work with shrimp, so that I don’t serve anyone sand? ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. yes absolutely. i would just cook the shrimp first so they get nice color and them remove them and make the sauce. and then add them back at the very end (no need to cook them again). just so the shrimp aren’t boiled in the sauce. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. 5 stars
    Not much of a summer person either (and currently suffering under 102ยฐF!!) but I do love the produce we find during these months. Thanks for this simple but subtle recipe, we eat alot of clams and mussels in France and I love this new chipotle/lime twist! Merci Adrianna!

    1. Ooof yes France is going to be 108F today! I cannot imagine what it must feel like. I was in Paris last month and it was 90F and it was very intense! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you!

  3. 5 stars
    There are not enough raves to express how well received this dish was. I prepped all earlier in the day, and slipped in the Clams when ready to prepare our dinner. Certainly an easy dish to prepare, but the chipotle/lime flavors screamed of something so refined and balanced. While corn is sweet as it is during the summer, this dish will be made often. Thank you Adrianna, for sharing this “makeagainable” recipe.

  4. OMG! My all time favorite dish:-)
    Every time we are i our house in Malaga, I am having clams 3-4 time a week:-)