Westport Clam Fritters Recipe & Clam Cleaning Guide

Westport Clam Fritters are made from fresh or fresh frozen clams dug right here in Westport Washington.

These Clam Fritters are coated with an easy to make, seasoned breading batter; with chopped fresh veggies and fried in coconut oil. Enjoy this simple, delicious seafood dinner after a clam dig or buy clams from your local fisherman and add to a salad for a quick nutritious meal.

Fresh, locally sourced clams make delicious meals like in our Homemade Clam Chowder Recipe. If you’re able to source your own seafood, or support a local fisherman it’s absolutely the best way to enjoy the bounty of our oceans.

We have family down in Westport, WA which is just a few hours south of us. Susie is an avid fisher and a skilled professional in boating and all things coastal living. When we visit she is always educating us on the local sea life, boating, and sharing her favorite recipes.

What’s the difference between Clam Cakes and Clam Fritters?

The terms ‘clam cakes’ and ‘clam fritters’ are fairly interchangeable. Clam fritters tends to be more round and ball shaped, while clam cakes are flatter. The batter, cooking methods, and seasonings are all pretty much the same.

Recipe for Clam Fritters

If you need help preparing and cleaning fresh clams look at the clam cleaning guide and Susie’s YouTube videos links below the recipe walkthrough.

1. After your clams are defrosted or fresh cleaned chop them up fine.
2. Then chop up your preferred vegetables. Green onions are considered must for the best flavor.
3. Add garlic, peppers and whatever else you prefer.
4. We had some cooked bacon and threw that in.
5. Make sure your fritters hold together. Use a stickier fritter batter (maybe add an extra egg) if you’re using a lot of veggies and mince them fine.

The batter can be adjusted by adding more dry batter mix or more eggs to accommodate your ingredients.

Too loose and the fritters will fall apart. Too sticky and they may burn or have uncooked middles.

1. Add in your clams and stir it all up.
2. Ladle the mixture with a large spoon or ladle into your heated oil with space in between so they form patties as they cook.

The Batter Ingredients

Susie made it clear that the best clam fritter batter recipe depends on the seasonings and flour mix you use.

• We are including the picture of the Trader Joe seasonings used in case you need to improvise.
• Pride of the West Baking Mix is also recommended for best flavor. (We linked it in the recipe card ingredients list)

The Oil

Coconut oil is a great choice for this recipe. The medium heat won’t damage the healthy properties of coconut oil. And the flavor of coconut oil is so good in this recipe.

Avocado oil would also work as it’s a heart healthy high heat oil.

Vegetable oil will work but you will lose some flavor and it’s not the best for your health.

Can I freeze Clam Fritters?

Clam fritters freeze well and reheat easily in a toaster oven. If you make extra simply wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, store in an airtight freezer safe bag and pop them in the freezer. They can be frozen for up to 3 months without losing flavor or texture integrity.

How to prepare fresh Clams

Clam fritter recipes with fresh clams require a bit of prep. Fresh caught clams are full of sand and need proper cleaning.

Cleaning Fresh Razor Clams

Here is your Fresh Clam Cleaning Guide. Links to Susies videos follow if you need further help.

1. Throw your live clams into a pot of boiling hot water for 20 seconds or so until they are dead. Be careful not to keep them in too long, we are not intending to cook them.
2. Remove the clams from the hot water. The shells should open and the clams should pretty much fall out or release with a slight yank.
3. Hold each clam with the frilled edge up and the digger to the bottom of your hand.
4. Run the clam under fresh water and cut the tip off (top of your clam) and discard.
5. Cut up the ruffled edge (called a zipper).
6. Cut up under the tip (there is a second layer of skin-go under it and cut. videos have details)
7. Open the clam and lay it on your palm under the running cold water.
8. This exposes the digger. Cut away the entire bulging digger section including the stomach. Cut the stomach away from the digger and set the digger aside.
9. Run the opened clam under water and carefully remove the sand from the zipper.
10. With your thumb carefully slide any remaining sand out of the crevices of the clam. It’s cleaned.
11. Now return to the digger. Cut it open and wash away all the dirty stuff. Digger is cleaned.

These three short videos take you through the process of preparing fresh caught razor clams from live caught to fully cleaned.

Clam cleaning part one

Clam Cleaning part two

Clam Cleaning part three

Frozen Clams for Clam Fritters

Just defrost the clams to room temperature and chop them into bite sized pieces. Use as directed in the recipe.

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