Yeah, I could just do it, but I thought I’d ask first: is there any good reason not to add canned tuna fish to canned clam chowder to boost the protein? Is there anything else people have added (besides canned clams)?
It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Maybe make a very small amount to see if you like it.
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Bacon 
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Since you’re considering canned tuna into canned chowder, I think the risk is pretty low. I mean, it’s not like you’re making four quarts of homemade chowder, so if you don’t like it, you don’t have a lot of time and money invested.
That being said, I wouldn’t do it because I’m doubtful I’d like the result. If you try it, though, please report back and let us know what it’s like.
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I have enjoyed homemade (canned) tuna chowder with clam chowder ingredients (onion, bacon, potatoes, milk) and added corn and green peas. It was delicious. I also made a clear (no dairy) chowder once with jalapeño peppers, scallions, lots of corn, and bacon, and added canned tuna to it. That was also very good.
I personally wouldn’t add tuna to a clam chowder because for me, they are two different flavor profiles.
For more protein in clam chowder, I’d add bacon as others have said and also more clams.
That’s just me, however.
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I’d add salmon or cod before tuna. Canned tuna in particular has such an assertive flavor, I wouldn’t want it in there messing with my clams.
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LOL at “tuna fish”. Laughing at myself, too, because that’s the term my family also used.
Wahine kids me with the redundancy whenever I use the term. She’ll say something like “As opposed to what, tuna pork?”
Seriously, I bet tuna chowder would be very good. Salmon chowder is common in restaurants where I live. I wouldn’t eat tuna more than one day/wk because of pollution issues, though.
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I also grew up with the family saying “tuna fish.”
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I have never thought of how odd that is. I’m pretty sure I grew up calling it tuna fish too. Maybe it was to set apart from catfood.
I would not add tuna to clam chowder, but I wonder if canned crab might work. I have no logical reason for why except that it can be less strong smelling and might not flake up so much. The thought of canned salmon also does not bother me. Probably because salmon chowder is a common menu item where I live.
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Interesting. One of those things I never thought about, I just did it. My family always said “Tuna fish” when it was from a can, and “tuna” steaks were from the grocery store seafood department. It was never Yellowfin steak or Bluefin Steak, it was just tuna steak.
And we ate a lot more tuna fish than tuna! LOL!
And if I was trying to add protein to a clam chowder, I would use canned clams if they were on sale or fresh/frozen cod if it was cheaper. Both would make the clam chowder better in my opinion. Adding canned tuna fish would be different. Not sure if it would be nice for a change or just odd. It would be worth trying if I was at home this month!
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Another thought occurred to me. If you’re looking to boost the protein content AND you are not set on a New England-style chowder, I bet adding some shrimp or salmon or crab to a can of Manhattan-style would be pretty good. Tuna (fish) might even work in a red chowder.
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I always keep at least one Costco 2-pack of 51oz canned minced clams around for when the chowder urge strikes. One great thing about these is that the ratio of clam:nectar often aligns well with what recipes specify. Also make it easy to halve or double a batch.
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I hear you, I try to keep the 15 ounce cans on hand by buying a couple every time they go on sale. I think that is what you meant though it looks like you transposed the 15 into a 51. That would be a nice sized can of clams and juice!
One thing that Covid reinforced for me is that a nice sized pantry full of pasta and canned goods is not only a SHTF sort of fallback, it also means you have cans of just about everything on hand when the whim hits you to try something new. I just sort my cans and pasta on different shelves with each shelf having a different “use by” time period.
Which brings up a frustration of mine I will skate over quickly. Canned goods makers shortened the Use By time frame on most canned goods a few years back. Most canned goods used to be dated 36 to 48 months out and now they are dated to be used within 18 to 30 months.
On edit: I was wrong twice in one post! There are 51 ounce cans of clams and juice! And the can size i use most of the time is 6.5 ounces, not 15. I will tuck my tail in and retreat from this thread. LOL! I was going to edit my above post but now it makes me laugh so I will leave it.
On 2nd Edit: I just noticed my favorite clam can, Snow’s, has been bought by Bumble Bee. Sad.
Or maybe it happened years ago and I just noticed it? I can not really taste the difference between Snow’s and any of the others, I just liked the fact that I thought it was a small local brand from the NE US. I guess I assumed too much.
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Also “seagull.”
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My husband just informed me that there is a cactus called tuna. I have seen canned catus so, well maybe but I don’t think that is why some of us call canned tuna, tuna fish and fresh tuna, tuna. We don’t call canned salmon, salmon fish. It must have been a marketing issue when things first started being canned. Yes people, we found a fish that cans easily. It’s tuna. To you in-land people, tuna is a fish.
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They’re called seagulls to differentiate them from…bagels.
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Tuna fish is from the can; I never experienced tuna steaks, or sashimi, until I was grown (that’s a testament to my age, tuna as prepared fish just wasn’t around that I knew of). I’d put canned clams in the chowder, too. I always have canned clams on hand. When I was studying for the bar exam back in the last century with my neighbor/classmate, who was divorced from a guy from Italy, linguine with those clams is what she taught me to prepare as our study snack!!
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All’s OK, stick around! I remember being wrong one time (I thought I was wrong, but I was right).
Actually, the Costco 51 oz cans can be a little large for small batches. In the rare instance when I use less than’s in a can for chowder, I make clam and corn fritters.
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Me, too, about the joys of my Covid pantry! And the “best by” dates are complete BS. I don’t have any current canned (as opposed to refrigerated) stuff that says “use by.” A “best by” date is arbitrarily determined by the producer/manufacturer to indicate optimum taste quality. It has nothing to do with safety. I didn’t leave my condo for almost a year (I’m high risk) until the vax was available. Shipments and my pantry kept me well fed and grateful for the delicious things I realized I could make.
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Agree that canned tuna might be a dominating flavor. How about a tin of oysters or smoked oysters (or mussels if you enjoy them)? Or a handful of white beans.
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