This is the best Instant Pot clams recipe ever.
Have a great dinner in only 10 minutes total using simple ingredients 🙂
Clams are usually something you eat at your favorite restaurant or on holiday at a seaside resort, but you can also easily cook them at home, especially with the help of your Instant Pot.
Try them with a delicate dressing made with white wine and lemon juice to enjoy a gourmet dinner at home anytime you want!
Serve as an appetizer or over rice or pasta for a complete meal.
This recipe can serve 8 people (or 4 hungry ones).
Table of Contents
Recipe Video
Why This Recipe Works
Steamed clams in an Instant Pot are an excellent choice because they cook quickly, ensuring tender and juicy clams. The pressure cooker traps the steam and flavors, enhancing the taste of the clams. Plus, it's a one-pot meal, making cleanup a breeze.
The combination of butter, garlic, white wine, and lemon juice creates a rich and zesty sauce that complements the natural sweetness of the clams. This recipe is great for both seafood lovers and those trying clams for the first time, as the flavors are both familiar and delightful.
Ingredients
Melted butter - Provides a rich, creamy base for the sauce; substitute with olive oil for a healthier option.
Garlic cloves - Adds a fragrant and savory touch to the dish; use more or less depending on your preference.
White wine - Enhances the flavor and deglazes the pot; substitute with chicken or vegetable broth if needed.
Clams - The star of the dish, ensure they are fresh and properly cleaned before cooking.
Lemon juice - Gives the sauce a tangy kick; can be substituted with lime juice for a slightly different taste.
Tips
- Ensure clams are properly cleaned to remove any grit or sand.
- Discard any clams that do not open after cooking, as they may not be safe to eat.
- Adjust the amount of garlic and lemon juice to suit your taste preferences.
- If you prefer a thicker sauce, use a cornstarch slurry to thicken it after cooking.
- Serve the clams immediately after cooking for the best flavor and texture.
Can I half the recipe?
Sure. You can make 1 lb of clams instead. Use ¼ cup of butter, ¼ cup of lemon juice and ½ cup of wine.
Same cooking time.
How to Serve
Serve your Instant Pot Steamed Clams in a large bowl, spooning the delicious sauce over them. Make sure to have some crusty bread on hand to soak up the flavorful liquid.
Serve as an appetizer: Offer small bowls of clams with sauce and bread for dipping.
Make it a main dish: Pair the clams with a side of pasta or rice, drizzling the sauce over the top.
Create a seafood feast: Combine the steamed clams with other seafood dishes like shrimp scampi or grilled fish for a mouthwatering seafood platter.
Instant Pot Seafood Recipes
More ideas? check out the Instant Pot seafood recipes page.
Instant Pot Steamed Clams
Ingredients
- ½ cup melted butter
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup white wine melted
- 2 lb clams
- ½ cup lemon juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Press "saute" and add butter.
- Add garlic and saute for 1 minute until brown.
- Add white wine and saute for another 2 minutes.
- Add clams, lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir.
- Close the lid and cook at high pressure for 3 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, do a quick pressure release.
- Serve and enjoy 🙂
What size clams are you using?
These are relatively small clams, like littlenecks. This method will work with any size clam though!
Great little recipe and some nice suggestions. I would also add the zest from the lemon after it's cooked. It will really bring out the flavor of the lemon and not just the acidity. Too many people just toss the rind or lemons and limes. It's a shame because there is so much flavor in the oils of the zest.
That's a great suggestion, thank you for sharing!
If you find the clams are "gritty' then before you cook - layer them on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with bread crumbs. As they eat the bread crumbs the "sand" will be pushed from their bellies, and you will have much "fluffier" clams! That's I trick I learned growing up in Massachusetts!
Thanks for sharing this tip, super helpful!
I’ve always used pepper to make them “sneeze” as my nana would say also grew up in Massachusetts
I don't drink, so I don't have wine in the house. Can I use white Sherry vinegar instead? Also, do I have to worry about stacking the clams on top of each other? I've seen other stovetop recipes that say put them in a single layer or bad things will happen. Thanks!
If you don't drink wine, I would recommend using clam juice, fish stock or chicken stock in place of the wine. You could also add some Sherry vinegar but I would not add a whole cup-- just a few tablespoons or it will taste too vinegary in my opinion. And that's a good point about a single layer, especially if you have a smaller Instant Pot! If they are overlapping a little bit that's ok but should be 1-2 layers only. If it's more than that, you may want to cook in batches for even cooking and allowing the shells to open.
Ive made this a few times so far. I dont actually measure much, and I always add a little shrimp stock after the wine. But it is SOOOO good! I'm sure it would be wonderful if you followed directions too.
I think the whole point of the instant pot, in my opinion, is a "set it forget it" kind of thing. Lol. So who cares if the 2 minute cook time actually takes about 10 minutes. I just got done with this receipt and it's a good easy one. I actually add shallots to mine as well. I'm from Rhode Island.....I highly suggest looking into making clam cakes or stuffies after you cook the clams.
Sounds delicious, great idea!
i am going to try this
Ha Ha Ha!
It takes much longer than 15 minutes. The instaPot takes a very long time to build pressure just for two minutes of cooking.
Instant Pot indeed needs some time to build enough pressure to start cooking. In my first recipes, I used to add this time to the cooking & total time in the recipe details.
However, it really made the users confused and I got many comments like "why you say 'cook for 10 minutes' while you mention that the cooking time is 25 minutes? What is the right time? What should I do? What is an Instant Pot? Who am I ? Why the earth rotates? etc. So I changed it and now I'm showing only the actual cooking time to prevent confusion.
Seems most people who have an Insrant Pot would know to account for this prep time so it makes sense to me to only lost actual cook time
Yes, and the time it takes to build pressure also varies based on the size of your model and the size of the batch you're cooking. Makes it tough to accurately estimate.
This was so delicious. The only thing I changed was leaving mixed garlic in the pot before adding wine. Sooooooo delicious!!!
Hi Lisa!
Great ! Thank you for you comment 🙂