JFK’s Favorite New England Fish Chowder Recipe
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If you love New England Fish Chowder, it doesn’t get more New England than President Kennedy’s favorite New England Fish Chowder recipe. Easy to make, historic, and utterly delicious!
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President Kennedy’s Favorite Fish Chowder Recipe
The Kennedy family and New England will forever be joined in our minds. And thus, I think he would know a thing or two about New England Fish Chowder.
The following is his favorite recipe for this iconic soup.
The Boston Globe notes that even before our present-day 24-hour news cycle, the American public was fascinated by the Kennedy family’s daily routine.
They write that a young woman with disabilities wrote to JFK asking what he liked to eat. “Please reply to her,” Kennedy’s staff wrote in a memo to the president, according to the paper. “She will be extremely happy. Do not mention anything in the letter about her handicap please!”
Fortunately for us, Kennedy’s assistant responded, and his favorite soup recipe—New England’s signature fish chowder—was archived by the JFK Library, so generations to come can enjoy it all winter long.
Fish Chowder Ingredients
The recipe card at the bottom of this post provides specific measurements and a summary of the ingredients you’ll need to make the chowder.
- Haddock
- Salt pork
- Onion
- Potatoes, diced
- Celery, chopped
- Bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
- Milk
- Butter
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JFK’s Favorite New England Fish Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds haddock
- 2 ounces salt pork diced
- 1 large onion sliced
- 4 large potatoes diced
- 1 cup celery chopped
- bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 quart milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
Equipment
Instructions
- Put the haddock in a soup pot with 2 cups water and simmer for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the broth. Remove any bones from the fish and set fish aside.
- Saute the salt pork in the soup pot until crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove the pork and set aside. Saute the onions in the pork fat until golden brown. Add the fish, potatoes, celery, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to taste.
- Pour in the reserved fish broth plus enough boiling water to make 3 cups liquid. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the milk and butter and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve the chowder sprinkled with the diced pork.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
I made this recipe using the fresh caught rainbow trout I caught and oven baked 2 days ago. Using half and half milk, with 2 cups 2% milk made the broth creamy. Living near Helena Mt we enjoy catching trout to smoke, or bake and use in recipes like fish chowder. Delicious historical recipe!
Hi Judy! I know your area well, you live in a beautiful part of the country. Fresh caught rainbow trout would make this soup extra special! Thank you so much for trying it and sharing how you used the ingredients. It’s so fun to make historical recipes and I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
Thought it was supposed to be CLAM CHOWDER. Not fish.
The recipe clearly says JFK’s Favorite New England FISH Chowder.
Great soup, can use cod or haddock. I don’t put the fish back in until right before you add the cream or milk in, to prevent it from falling apart too much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! It’s fun to make recipes with historic significance– and that tastes good too! Thank you for sharing your tip!
I made this recipe as written and it’s very good. I’ll definitely make it again. I’ve never had fish chowder before but I had some cod that I needed to use. So glad I tried it!
Hi Nancy! I’m so glad you liked this historic recipe! It is different than traditional recipes but so good!
I’m from North of Boston, and this is my family’s recipe too!!
Hi Katie! You live in such a beautiful part of the country. I hate to admit this – because Seattle people are quite fond of our chowder – but the best chowder I’ve ever had was in Boston too!!