How to Steam Clams
Key Takeaways
• It's Basically Just Heat: Clams are forgiving critters, all you really need is a lidded pot, a splash of liquid, and medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
• But not too much heat: The most common mistake is cranking the heat, which gives you tough, overcooked clams instead of the sweet, tender ones you're after.
• Know Your Clam: Manilas, purple savories, and native littlenecks all cook up a little differently, so knowing which one's in your pot changes how you handle it.
Steaming clams is incredibly simple. You basically just add heat. And clams, gotta bless em, are such sweet forgiving critters... even when you mess up a bit, they're still delicious. But you won't mess up, because here are our best tips.
The Basics
Storage:
Keep your clams in a refrigerator until you're ready to cook them. If they've been in cold storage for a few days, they might gape open slightly... this is ok. They're cold. Live clams should still close up when you tap on them or warm them up a bit. Dead clams will gape open completely and should be thrown out.
Rinsing / Soaking:
Before you cook the clams, rinse them under fresh water to remove any grit or algae from the shells. Use your senses as you do this: listen for clunkers (sign of a dead clam or chipped shell). Smell anything off? Toss it. And look for mudders (which are dead clams full of mud). These are terrible to cook, and they're sneaky because they don't sound hollow.
We give the clams time to purge before we ship them, so most of us don't soak our clams. If you want to take this extra step to be sure they're free of grit, just put them in cold fresh water for about half an hour, changing the water two or three times. (This piece of advice comes from our good friend and amazing chef Renee Erickson). Don't let them sit in fresh water for too long, because that will kill them eventually. Keep in mind soaking reduces their salt content, so you might need to adjust your seasoning. (Unsoaked clams bring plenty of salt to whatever dish you're preparing).
Cooking:
Put clean clams in a pot or a pan with a lid. Add a bit of liquid to get things started... wine, water, or chicken stock will work... but just a splash. Clams release liquid as they cook. Steam the clams on medium heat, with the lid on, for 5 to 7 minutes. Clams cook like popcorn: some cook faster than others. Stir or shake the pot during cooking so that all the clams have room to open up.
(Savory and manila clams cook up slightly differently from one another - read below for more detail).
Almost every clam recipe out there will tell you to toss the unopened clams. This is good advice. BUT if you know that the clams were alive and happy when you put them in the pot, you have a bit more leeway. Crowded clams can't open, and undercooked clams don't open, so give the late bloomers a bit of space, and a bit more time on the stove, before you toss them out.
There's often a little bit of sand in the bottom of a clam steaming pot, so keep that in mind as you prepare your meal.
Plan on a half pound to 2 pounds per person, depending on the dish.
Pictured below: nice clean clams. Read on for more tips!
Tip 1: Watch the heat
When we say medium heat we mean it... don't turn the dial up. Cooking slowly will help all the clams open. Cook them too fast, and you risk overcooking them, which can cause them to be a bit tough and fall out of their shells. Still yummy, but tough.
Tip 2: Know your species
There are many different species of clams in the PNW. We sell two types: manila steamer clams and purple savory steamer clams. Another popular steamer clam, which you might find if you're digging clams on a public beach, is the native littleneck (aka white clams). There are a few key differences in how you cook the various species:
Manila Steamer Clam - Manilas are the most common clam eaten on the west coast and the most important commercial species... most recipes are written with them in mind. Generally they're fully cooked by the time they open up. If they're undercooked, they won't open. If you overcook them, they'll fall out of the shell.
Purple Savory Clam - Purple savory clams are meatier and softer in texture than a manila... they're somewhat like a mussel. They flash open when exposed to heat, so an open clam isn't necessarily fully cooked. You can eat them at any point, but if you like a fully cooked clam don't be afraid to cook them a bit longer once they've opened.
Another difference between savory and manilas has to do with biology: savory clams are bimodal benthic feeders, meaning that they have two ways of procuring their planktonic food: they siphon it directly out of the water (like manilas do), and, sometimes, they extract it from sand. Because of this latter technique, they're more likely than manilas to have sand in them. We purge the clams before they ship, but can't guarantee they won't have sand... so if you're going to soak clams, soak savories. Just put them in a bowl of freshwater on the counter for 20 - 30 minutes (changing the water every 10) while you prepare the rest of your dinner.
Native Littlenecks: These are hard to find in stores, but if you're ever harvesting your own clams on a public beach in Hood Canal you'll likely end up with some littlenecks in your bucket. They're similar in texture and flavor to a manila, and you can cook them the same way as a manila. One main difference we've noticed is that littlenecks are harder to remove from the shell after they've been steamed. Littlenecks don't have as long a shelf life as Manila clams do... they die sooner once they're out of the water, and their shells are more fragile. These two reasona are why they aren't often sold commercially.
Below: A manila, a littleneck, and a purple savory, sitting pretty.
Tip 3: Add Flavoring
Clams are salty, sweet and satisfying all by themselves, but they definitely play well with others. Most steamed clam recipes will have you saute the extra ingredients (garlic, shallot, etc) in the pan before adding clams. You can follow a recipe, or just kinda wing it. Mushroom, celery, and peppers work well. Ginger is great. Red pepper flakes are nice. Tomatoes offer a nice alternative to butter or cream. And chorizo or salami offer a satisfying counterpoint.
Be wary of anything salty: We've gone wrong adding too many olives, because the clams themselves, especially if you don't soak them first, are super salty.
Check out our clam recipes here.
Tip 4: Serve them up!
Leaving the clams in the shell is a great way to give your dinner guests a tactile experience (and spread the work around). Ladle clams and broth into shallow bowls, and make sure you have bowls on the table for empty shells. A hunk of crusty bread is non-negotiable here... you'll want it for sopping up that broth, which by the end of cooking is basically clam liquor plus whatever you threw in the pan. Toasted and rubbed with a cut garlic clove, it's even better.
If you want to round it out into more of a meal, toss the clams and their broth with a pound of cooked linguine. You can pick the clams out of their shells first, or not, or pick half of the clams, leaving a few in their shells for presentation value. Top with parmesan cheese and parsley.
Serve clams alongside a simple green salad to cut the richness. A cold glass of a crisp, dry white wine is a classic combo, but a light beer does the job too.
Final Thoughts
If you can boil water, you can cook clams. Whether you’re steaming 10 pounds for chowder, or two pounds for a small dinner party, the process is the same: Give them a rinse, a lidded pot, a splash of liquid, and a little patience.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do you steam clams?
Most clams are done in 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat once the pot's covered. But like we said above, clams cook like popcorn... some pop open faster than others. Give the stragglers a bit more time and a bit more room in the pot before you write them off.
Do I need to purge the clams?
You do not need to purge our clams. Really, the only time you might need to purge is if you’re harvesting your own clams from a beach, and in that case, just use cool fresh water for half an hour, changing 2 to 3 times. Yes, fresh water kills them, but not immediately, and that’s the path they’re on anyway. Ignore the advice about purging clams with oatmeal, cornmeal, flour, or cornstarch. And even if you’re lucky enough to have access to seawater, unless you are 100% certain that the seawater is certified safe by a local Health Authority, do not use it to purge your clams.
You do need to rinse clams to remove algae from the shells, and look for clams with broken shells. Keep a sharp eye for mudders, aka mud bombs. Mud bombs are clams that are full of mud, and they’re tricky because they don’t sound hollow like a clam with a broken shell, and they don’t gape open, like a dead clam usually does. Instead, they explode in your cioppino and get mud into every other clam. One giveaway: mud bomb shells are lighter in color and frequently have a green hinge. However, if you haven’t spent a lifetime looking at clams, chances are you won’t be able to spot a mud bomb from the color of its shell, and instead will need to rely on a colander, some fresh running water, and some jostling to open the dead clam prior to steaming it.
What kind of pot should I use?
Your pot should be large enough that there’s at least a few inches of clearance between the clams and the lid to give the clams room to open. If your pot is too small, the clams will cook but remain closed. This isn’t the end of the world, just keep in mind you’ll need to shake the pot, or stir the clams, before they’ll open.
You don't need a fancy steamer basket. A regular pot or pan with a tight lid works just fine.
What's the best way to steam clams?
Low and slow. Medium heat, lid on, a splash of liquid, and a shake or stir partway through so every clam gets a chance to open.
Can I freeze clams?
We occasionally find ourselves with too many clams on our hands, and our Oyster Saloon crew steams them open, picks them out of their shells, and freezes the clam meat for future chowder. It works great. Be sure to label and date the bag, and get all the air out of it before you stick the clams in the freezer. For best results, you should also reserve and freeze the broth too, and use within 3 months.
Customers sometimes tell us they freeze whole, live clams. We’ve tried this, and it seems that the clams get kinda mushy in texture after cooking, so we don’t recommend it.
Can I grill or barbecue clams?
Yes! If you’re just trying to cook outside, you can absolutely use a grill as your heat source to steam clams. If you want to cook the clams directly on the grill without a pot or skillet, make sure they’re large enough to fall between the grates, or deploy a vegetable grilling basket. They’ll release a lot of liquid as they cook, which can put a damper on your coal or wood fire, so prepare accordingly. After they open, remove one of the shells so that they’ll lay flat on the grill, and add your flavoring of choice. (Take care not to burn yourself during this process). Or you can skip this step, serve the clams whole, and have your guests pick them out of the shell and dip in melted garlic butter.
In our experience, it can be hard to fully cook live clams directly on a barbecue. (See note above about them putting a damper on the fire). In the winter it’s fine to eat an undercooked clam, but if you’re grilling them in the summertime, make sure they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees for 15 seconds.
What to serve with steamed clams?
According to the results of March Clamness 2026 (a silly contest we run through our Instagram each March - long story), white wine is the most essential clam cooking ingredient, beating out crusty bread 55% to 45% in the final round of voting.
We think these results are biased, and that folks just voted for white wine because they like having something to drink while the clams steam.
So let's treat it as a tie: you can't serve clams without crusty bread, and you shouldn't cook clams without white wine.