Grilled Clams with Lemon Butter Sauce
Updated May 08, 2025, Published Sep 02, 2024
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Direct and Indirect Heat
In grilling recipes, you will often be told to grill over direct or indirect heat. Direct heat is grilling directly over the heat source; it’s quick and hot. It’s good for cooking burgers, hot dogs, vegetables, seafood, bread, steaks, and fish filets. Indirect heat is low and slow. The food is not cooked directly over the heat source – the fire or burners – but instead is placed on the other side (not directly over the heat source) of the grill. This is good for cooking large pieces of meat, ribs, whole chickens, cedar plank fish, and turkeys. A combination of direct and indirect heat will get you grill marks and let you cook the ingredients through.
Grilled Clams with Lemon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter or dairy-free butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 24 little neck clams, , scrubbed
- Lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Combine the melted butter, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and keep warm.
- Prepare the grill for direct heat and preheat to high. Place the clams in a single layer directly on the grill rack. Grill just until the clams open – this will take between 5 – 10 minutes. Using tongs, carefully remove the clam shells from the grill and place them on a serving platter, trying not to lose the liquid inside the shells. Discard any clams that do not open. Spoon a little of the lemon butter into each clam and serve with lemon wedges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
