The chowder base a clam chowder lover has been waiting for: it brings the potatoes and the spice, and you decide what swims in it.

Rill Foods builds this one on dehydrated potatoes and a chicken base made with Real Salt, dried chicken, rosemary, garlic, carrot, celery and turmeric, then rounds it out with thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley and dill. That backbone is deliberately seafood neutral, which is the whole idea. Add a pound of shrimp, a pound of chopped clams, crab, cod, or whatever came home from the counter, and the same bag turns into a different chowder every time. Bacon is optional and very good. On the stove it takes about twenty minutes of simmering, and the milk goes in at the end so it never breaks.

One 6.8 oz bag makes 8 servings. The front of the package reads Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Washington State Potatoes, because those potatoes come from growers close to the Rill kitchen in Thorp, Washington, where the mix is hand packed in small batches.