Grilled clams with lemon ginger butter will convince you the grill is not just for burgers. Tender clams in a buttery sauce with grilled bread for the win!
Okay, so I know that clams are probably not the first thing you think of when you get that urge to crank up the grill. Me either…my mind goes right to burgers, or chicken, or (my fave!) grilled pizza.
But one day I happened across a recipe for grilled clams with lemon ginger butter and grilled bread, and I just couldn’t look away. Live dangerously, I thought, and I went out and bought me a couple of pounds of clams.
Grilled clams with lemon ginger butter will convince you the grill is not just for burgers. Tender clams in a buttery sauce with grilled bread for the win! Now, you aren’t actually putting the clams directly on the grill itself. They are going to cook in one of those big disposable aluminum pans that you can get in the supermarket, and which you can toss after dinner, thereby saving you (or your Southern husband) from washing yet another dish.
But before we get to the clams, we need to discuss the lemon ginger butter. Prepare yourself.
You take a 1/2 a stick of soft butter, and mix it up with some minced shallot, some chopped fresh parsley, a little lemon juice, some lemon peel, and some minced fresh ginger. Add in a little salt and pepper. Now take a few slices of French bread and spread a thin layer of this fabulous butter on both sides.
Now crank your barbecue up to high and lay the clams in a single layer in your aluminum pan. You may need two pans, which worked out great for me since my store sells them in sets of two. It’s like it was meant to be.
Put the pan on the grill, close the cover, and open it up about 8-10 minutes later. The clams should now be opened up and cooked. So far so good!
Scoop the clams out with a slotted spoon and pop them in a big serving bowl. Your pan will have a nice amount of clam juice in it – this is good. Very good.
Grab the rest of the lemon butter that didn’t go onto the bread, add it to the pan, and put the pan back on the grill until it is all melted and wonderful, and at the same time pop the buttered bread on the grill and toast it until it is all wonderfully charred and crispy.
Now you have your lovely cooked clams and your hot melted butter sauce…now pop the buttered bread on the grill and toast it until it is all wonderfully charred and crispy.
Now take the pans of lemon butter juice and pour it over the clams in the bowl. All of it. Go crazy.
I don’t bother dividing the clams among separate plates – I just put the big bowl in the center of the table with the toasted bread, give everyone a plate with some toasted bread, put another bowl on the table for the empty shells, and say “Dig in!!”
And you thought the grill was just for burgers. :)
Grilled Clams with Lemon Ginger Butter
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings 1x
Category: Dinner
Method: Grill
Cuisine: American
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Grilled clams with lemon ginger butter will convince you the grill is not just for burgers. Tender clams in a buttery sauce with grilled bread for the win!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- Juice and zest from one lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- Zest from 1/2 lemon
- 6 slices French or Italian bread, about 1/2 inch thick
- 2 pounds Manila clams or steamers, rinsed thoroughly (toss out any with open or broken shells)
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to high heat.
- Put the butter, minced shallot, parsley, lemon juice and zest in a bowl with a small pinch each of salt and pepper and mash it together with a fork until it is well combined, then spread it sparingly over your bread slices. You are going to have some butter left over that we are going to use in a sec!
- Put the rinsed clams in single layer in a disposable aluminum pan. Put the pan on the grill, put down the lid and cook just until clams open, 8 to 10 minutes (toss any clams that don’t open).
- Scoop the cooked clams out into a large serving bowl and cover with foil while you make the toasts and the sauce.
- Place the bread buttered side up on the grill and grill it until it just starts to get browned, which will take a couple of minutes per side.
- At the same time add the rest of the lemon ginger butter to the aluminum pan with the clam juices and let the butter melt.
- Pour that buttery sauce from the pan over the clams. Serve with bread, using the aluminum pan to toss the empty clam shells into.
Recipe adapted just a smidge from Epicurious
Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. Let’s cook together!
Mmmm. Now this sauce sounds heavenly. Must try this.
I am going to dream about that butter. I might start putting it on everything. Clams are only the beginning.
This sounds so simple, and the pictures are beautiful (as always). :D
My husband was just telling me he had a craving for grilled clams! What a simple summer meal. Thanks! ;)
Okay. I don't even like clams and you made me want to try this. How much simpler (yet complex – flavor wise) could it get?!
Sooo I just made these for a dinner party. Pretty sure at least 4 people had an organism at the table. The only change I made, was adding 5 cloves of minced garlic.