Recipe Ideas for Snow’s Canned Clams from Costco

Costco is selling Snow’s Chopped Clams in a six can pack and I was excited to buy them.

I love having a nice stash of canned clams in my pantry.  They are great for quick and tasty seafood diners like pasta with clam sauce, New Haven White Clam Pizza or even a quick prepped clam chowder.

Overall Review

The canned clams from Snow’s are okay but not amazing.

On the Positive Side

• The clams are chopped into a decent size and don’t looked minced.
• I have been through several cans and so far have only found one piece of shell.
• The flavor of the clams is acceptable.
• The 6.5 oz can is a convenient size.
• The canned clams are a bargain.

On the Negative Side

• The clams are packed with clam juice along with salt, sugar and a phosphate based preservative.  The added salt brings the sodium content of the can up to 1160mg which is 46% of your Daily Value.
• The clams are a bit chewier than I prefer.
• The cans seem to be 50% clams and 50% broth.

Summary

The canned clams from Snow’s at Costco are about average in terms of quality but are above average in terms of value.  I will be buying these again as they are extremely handy for quick and tasty meals.

Recipes for Chopped Clams

I love eating pasta with clam sauce.  I don’t really have a standard recipe but my “close enough” version is:

• Melt 1 tbls butter in a sauce pan.
• Add the contents of one can of clams to the pan, juice included.
• Add 1/4 cup dry white wine.
• Add the juice of half a lemon.
• Add a shot of hot sauce.
• Simmer for five minutes and serve over noodle of choice.

I have been using this sauce on Costco’s Healthy Noodles and topping it with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and shredded parsley.

The cans of clams have the following recipe for  a Sour Cream Clam Dip:

• 2 cans Snow’s Clams, drained
• 8 ounces Sour Cream
• 1 Tbls Diced Green Onion
• 1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
• Dash of Black Pepper
• Combine ingredients in a bowl, mix well then refrigerate before serving.

For other recipes you can follow these links:

• New Haven White Clam Pizza
• Easy Clam Chowder

Another nice way to use the clams is to add them to a container of Ivar’s Clam Chowder to make the soup a little more flavorful!

Item Number and Location

The canned clams are Item Number 206112.

The clams are usually found in he non-refrigerated grocery aisles where the canned tuna, canned chicken and canned roast beef are displayed.  Sometimes this product gets moved to the end-cap when it goes on sale but that does not happen very often.

Price

I bought the six pack of canned clams, 6.5 ounces each, at Costco for $8.99 which works out to a cost of $1.49 per can.

You can buy these same clams at Walmart for $1.96 a can.

This means you will save $0.47 a can (24%) when you buy your clams at Costco.

And don’t worry if you are concerned about buying a six pack as these clams have a shelf life of two years.