I Love Ivar’s Clam Chowder at Costco {A Taste of Seattle!}

I bought the Ivar’s Clam Chowder at Costco the other day and it just might be my favorite all time purchase.

My daughter and I took a vacation to Seattle earlier this year and had a wonderful time.  We navigated on all of our walking trips using a delightful tourist street map that was provided by Ivar’s Restaurant.  I kind of felt bad because by the end of the trip we had eaten a ton of clam chowder but somehow had never managed to eat at Ivar’s!

When I saw the Ivar’s clam chowder at Costco I had to buy it because I was finally able to throw some financial support behind the restaurant that helped us have such a wonderful vacation!

Ivars Clam Chowder from Costco

Taste Test

I think Ivar’s clam chowder is very tasty and I would gladly eat it any day of the week.  There are plenty of potatoes in the chowder, it is not too salty and the consistency is perfect. The chowder is nicely seasoned with a touch of bacon flavor sneaking through the clams.

That being said, my daughter and I both started making suggestions on how to improve the chowder after we had taken a couple bites.

My daughter thought the soup could use some more black pepper and I agreed.  Luckily adding a little pepper is a simple enough chore 🙂

I am tempted to add a can of Snow’s Chopped Clams to the next batch of chowder we heat up.  The clams that are in the chowder are diced up pretty small and I would have liked a bigger clam flavor profile.

There are two suggestions on the packaging to doctor up this chowder that I didn’t even notice until I started looking at the pictures of the label.  The suggestions are to:

  1. Add a pat of butter before serving
  2. Add a thimbleful of sherry before serving

Both of those sound like excellent suggestions!

Bowl of Ivars Clam Chowder

Heating Instructions

Heating the clam chowder is pretty simple and can be done on either the stove top or microwave.

Stovetop Heating Instructions:

  • Empty the contents of the container into a sauce pan.
  • Bring the chowder to a simmer over Medium heat stirring often.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and serve the chowder.

Microwave Heating Instructions:

  • Remove the lid and plastic seal from the container.
  • Heat the chowder in eh microwave for three minutes.
  • Stir the chowder and cover with a paper towel.
  • Microwave on High for three more minutes.
  • Let the chowder cool for two minutes and serve.

We followed the microwave instructions and the chowder came out great.

Clam Chowder Heating Instructions

Costco Value

Ivar’s chowder comes in two containers that each hold 24 ounces of food.  The two pack of chowder cost $11.69.

My daughter and I split a single container to have two reasonable sized bowls of chowder.  I feel like you are getting four legitimate big bowls of chowder with this package which works out to a cost  of $2.92 per bowl.

You can buy a slightly smaller bowl of this chowder at Ivar’s in Seattle for $7.50 which means you are saving 61% when you buy the chowder at Costco instead of at the restaurant…and that doesn’t even start to include the price of a plane ticket!

Cost of Clam Chowder at Costco

David

Good morning and welcome to the site dedicated to helping you find great products at Costco and other stores! My name is David Somerville and these are hands on reviews of products that I have bought and used or am seriously considering purchasing. I do most of my shopping at the Costco in Baton Rouge, Louisiana but will check out any other Costco warehouses I find while travelling. Please get in touch with any questions and let me know of any great products that deserved to be featured in this blog!

2 thoughts on “I Love Ivar’s Clam Chowder at Costco {A Taste of Seattle!}

  1. Having enjoyed Ivars chowder at a restaurant in Seattle, I bought this at Costco as a family treat.
    While good, it is even better with added ingredients, potatoes, sauteed onion, celery, Snows chopped clams, black pepper and a dash of mace. I also needed to add milk, clam juice and roux to make sufficient chowder for my family. Otherwise I would have had to open the second container. This is because the label is blatantly wrong in serving information.
    I am outraged at the egregious error – lack of truth in advertising?- in servings listed. The label says serving size 1 cup – 245 grams (this converts to 8.6 ounces). And just above these words, it says “about 5 servings per container”. BUT…Each tub/container holds ONLY 3 cups. So not even four servings let alone about 5 servings.
    This was a big aggravation, especially after a long day of shopping . Costco is 120 miles from our home. This was to be a quick, tasty and easy-on-our-budget dinner – the chowder, along with salad and crusty rolls – that night. The wrapper says net weight 48 ounces – 1360 grams… at 8 oz per cup, that is 6 cups/ servings for the whole package (two tubs) In grams it is only 5.5 servings for the whole package . Reading the label as written, Ivars is 5 servings short when using the metric system. How can this be? Somebody at Ivars needs to check the math.

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