I can’t remember the first time I had Corn Chowder, but I do remember instantly falling in love with it. I love corn and get so excited for fresh, sweet corn in the summer. Our recipe uses both the kernels and the cobs, soaking up every last bit of flavor.
We add bacon which adds a nice smoky and salty element to the chowder, the potatoes give it body and the roasted peppers add a bright finish! Our recipe takes a little more time and effort but is 100% worth it for the best corn chowder you’ll ever taste!
How to make Corn Chowder
- First you start by placing half of the corn kernels and all of the corn cobs into a pot with the stock and letting the mixture simmer for 20 minutes. This is a great way to draw out the milky, corn goodness from the cobbs.
- Remove the cobbs from the pot and purée the kernels and stock together until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the stock into a large measuring cup or mixing bowl and set aside. This is the delicious corn stock base for your soup.
- Place the pot back over the stove over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and render for a few minutes until the bacon has browned and crisped. Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside.
- Drain all but about 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pot and sauté the onions, roasted peppers, celery and potatoes. Once the vegetables begin to sweat and soften, after about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add remaining corn kernels into the mixture and season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle flour over vegetable mixture and stir together for a few minutes to remove the raw flour flavor.
- Continue stirring together while adding the tequila. Allow the alcohol to burn off, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the stock to the mixture, stirring to avoid lumps forming. It’s important for the Allow mixture to come to a hard simmer to allow the chowder to thicken.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the herbs, half the cooked bacon and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook chowder for 10 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.
- Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Adjust seasonings (salt and pepper) as needed.
- Finish chowder with a sprinkle of crumbled cotija, the remaining bacon, cilantro leaves and extra lime wedges on the side. Serve.
FAQs
Yes! This chowder can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Note that the cream should not be added to the chowder until ready to reheat and serve.
To reheat, pour the chowder into a pot and simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until heated through and slightly thickened up. Remove the chowder from the heat and stir in the cream. Adjust seasonings as needed and serve.
I don’t recommend freezing this chowder as the consistency will really change when reheated and will be much thinner than intended.
You can char the corn by placing the corn on the cobs under the broiler for a few minutes, turning the corn after each minute to char all sides. You just want each side to lightly char. Cool corn then slice kernels from cobs.
Yes! If using frozen, I recommend using frozen corn on the cob, thawing completely, patting dry and then charring.
If using canned, thoroughly drain, rinse and pat the kernels dry (about 2 cups). Spread the kernels out onto a baking sheet in a single layer and char under broiler for a minute or 2. Add 1 cup kernels to the stock, simmer and puree as stated in the recipe.
The peppers can be roasted under the broiler as well. Place the peppers under the broiler and char each side until completely black. Once the peppers are totally black all over, quickly transfer them to a heat-safe bowl and cover with a damp towel.
Allow peppers to steam for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove towel and rub all the charred skin off each pepper. Stem and seed each pepper and dice.
Variations
- Vegetarian friendly version: The bacon can be omitted and replaced with 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and 4 ounces of stemmed and thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms. To replace bacon with mushrooms: Melt 1 tablespoon butter into the pot and add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and saute until cooked down and crisp around the edges. Remove mushrooms from pot, reserve and use in the recipe in place of the cooked bacon. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter into the pot before adding the vegetables.
This Corn Chowder is one of my favorite soups ever. It’s so rich, creamy and bright! The corn is so vibrant and really pops through all the other flavors going on.
It’s a really good way to use up all the sweet corn that’s in abundance during the summer! If you love summer corn as much as I do, you’ll also love our recipes for Cheesy Buttery Jalapeno Corn Cakes, Browned Butter and Halloumi Summer Corn Salad, and Cream Shrimp and Corn Ravioli Enjoy!
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Corn Chowder
INGREDIENTS
- 3 ears corn, roasted and kernels removed from cob
- 1 quart unsalted chicken stock
- 8 slices bacon, diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 roasted poblanos, diced
- 1 roasted red bell peppers, diced
- 2 rib of celery, diced
- 6 baby new potatoes, diced
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup gold tequila
- ½ bunch cilantro, minced
- 1 tablespoon oregano, minced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
garnishes
- 6 tablespoons cotija cheese, crumbled
- lime wedges
- crumbled bacon
- cilantro leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place ½ corn kernels plus all cobs into a pot with the stock and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove cobs, puree kernels and stock in a blender until smooth and transfer to a large measuring cup of bowl. Set aside.
- Place pot back on stove over medium heat and render bacon, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and drain onto paper towels.
- Drain all but 3 tablespoon grease from pot, sauté onions, roasted peppers, celery, and potatoes. Sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until the vegetables begin to sweat and soften.
- Stir in remaining corn kernels and season with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle vegetables with flour and stir for about 3 minutes. Continue to stir while adding the tequila. Allow alcohol to cook off, about 2 minutes.
- Stir corn infused stock to vegetable mixture until fully incorporated and no flour lumps remain. Allow the mixture to come to a hard simmer, about 10 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and potatoes are fork tender. Season with salt and pepper and stir.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the herbs, half the cooked bacon and the lime juice.
- Remove from heat and stir in the cream and adjust seasonings. Top with a sprinkle of cotija cheese, remaining bacon, cilantro leaves. Serve with extra lime wedges.
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Thanks for another delicious corn recipe
Corn Chowder is one of my most favorite soups and this recipe is fantastic. This one will replace the recipe I have been using. Highly recommend this amazing Corn Chowder.
Easy to make. The bacon gives it the extra touch.
Really love this recipe. Such a nice summer treat
Phenomenal recipe. Thanks for sharing! I love the trick with boiling the cobs in the broth. The lime juice and tequila really knocked this recipe out of the park. The only thing I changed was that I used an immersion blender to avoid the hassle with transferring.
Immersion blender is such a good trick!
nice
This recipe is amazing!
Thanks! Glad you like it!
I made it and it crushes everything I know about soup.
I used smoked turkey sausage instead of bacon.
It’s 105 today here in my corner of Texas. But I was going to have a smoker and a grill going most of the day anyway so I gave this a try. Grilling the peppers (and the corn for that matter) just brings out so much sweetness. This chowder was just overflowing with flavors. My 22 yr old nephew, who lives with me, fixed his plate and headed off to his room. About a minute later I hear him yell “OH MY GAWD, THIS IS SO GOOD” – he was talking about the chowder.
So happy to hear that! I love this one! And love that you grilled the peppers and corn, that sounds so good!
This recipe is amazing! I make it all the time (but it neglects to say when to add the bacon back in).
Oh! Thanks for letting me know! Will update the recipe shortly :)
I made this soup tonight and it was a big hit with my husband. I did not have poblano peppers so I used two chipotle peppers instead. I also substituted evaporated milk for the cream. Excellent recipe. Thank you for posting it.
It was rainy, windy, and cold all day today. My husband works outside and called me today at his lunch hour and asked if I could make some soup for dinner because he was cold and wet. So I went on the hunt for the perfect soup recipe and I found this one, and it didn’t disappoint! We found a new cold weather comfort food, even my 7 and 9 year-olds wolfed it down, and they are SUPER picky. I did take a couple of short cuts, first, I bought a bag of Hampton Hills frozen roasted corn with cilantro and lime, and a bag of roasted red and yellow peppers. I added half of the bag of corn to the stock and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, then followed directions as written. The frozen roasted peppers were perfect for the soup, nice and smoky. I served the soup with grilled sharp cheddar cheese sandwiches. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
How long can this awesome soup last in the fridge!?
Just finished making this and let me tell you…..sooo good! Dont want to share. As with everything, this seemed hard the first time, but im sure will be easier from now on. I will be making this all winter! Byw..omitted celery and added carrots. Yum.
Made this today and it was AWESOME! My husband said it was THE BEST soup he’s ever had. I didn’t have the cobs to simmer because I roast & freeze a lot of corn when it’s on sale but the results were just as delicious!
I just made this tonight. Absolutely delicious! Love the pepper in it. I got to use the potatoes, celery, organo, and garlic from the garden. I should freeze some corn broth to cut the time in half to make this. Yum! Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Did anyone else find this recipe incredibly spicy? I doubled the recipe because it looked so good; therefore I roasted 4 fresh poblanos peppers on the grill. I following the recipe exactly and when I served it to my family it was inedible due to the spiciness (we are a family who likes spicy food too). Help did I do something wrong?!
I think the peppers were just too spicy. It’s a crap shoot sometimes when determining the heat in a particular batch of chilies.
Small note: the recipe omits what to do with the reserved half of the corn kernels. I’d imagine they are added with the stock, yes?
Yes, you’re totally right! The remaining corn gets stirred into the overall chowder. I’ll add that in shortly, thanks for catching that!
You know what would be great? If you could do a curried corn chowder. They have a delicious version Paradise Bakery and I have been trying for years to recreate it at home to no avail (my versions are always flavorless or waaayyy to spicy). I would be forever indebted if you would give it a shot!
I made this last night, so worth all the dishes~ It got foggy and cold all of a sudden up her in NorCal. This was just what I needed to make the days/nights a bit warmer.
Looooooooooved this! Perfect soup for a cold canadian fall day. Thanks for sharing!
This soup was unbelievably delicious! Thanks for sharing!
After an especially warm weekend, we just got nailed with an unseasonably cold day… One where soup would be very welcomed. What I would have given for a bowl of this.
Teri, this is perhaps the best looking corn chowder I have ever seen in my life! Instant droolage! Thank you for unleashing this into my life! I look forward to making it sometime!
I need to find teh motivation to cook dinner tonight cause I would love to have this