Our Creamy Corn Chowder is not just a soup; it’s a delightful symphony of flavors and textures that will tantalize your taste buds and warm your soul. But here’s the surprise: there’s no added cream! Yes, you heard it right.
Prepare to embark on a culinary journey where decadent creaminess meets nourishing goodness in every spoonful. This wholesome chowder achieves its luxurious texture through a magical blend of fresh ingredients, making it not only a feast for the senses but also a guilt-free indulgence. Get ready to fall in love with corn soup all over again.
This hearty corn soup explodes with flavor from vegetables and corn blended into a creamy chowder, with the addition of whole corn kernels for a full body finish. Additionally, this chowder is rich and thick without the use of cream or milk.
This corn chowder recipe is bursting with flavor and flaunts a rich, creamy texture as well. And this flavorful chowder is not only low calorie but offers a vegan option.
Creamy chowder gets hearty texture from corn, twice.
This hearty chowder achieves great corn flavor by sauteing vegetables with corn, which is blended into a creamy rich base. Meanwhile, the addition of whole corn kernels brings added texture. Also by using corn to help thicken the base, there is no need to use cream or milk.
The Corn
Fresh vs. Frozen
When I first started making this dish, fresh corn was not available all year. Which meant for the most part, that my family would only enjoy fresh corn chowder only during the summer months. And quite frankly, California is too warm in August for a bowl of hot chowder. However frozen corn is always available. Frozen corn works wonderfully in this dish and can be cheaper and a more convenient way to prepare this recipe. With frozen corn, there is no need to clean the cobs and trim the kernels from the cob.
Often times, I will make the base of the soup using frozen corn, and save the fresh corn kernels for the finish. By doing this, the frozen corn is pureed into the creamy base and the fresh corn provides the crisp texture. But this is largely based on what is available and more economical. Whether you use fresh or frozen, I am sure you will be pleased with the flavor this chowder provides.
However today, it seems that fresh cobs of corn are always available in produce departments. You know the ones where the corn is nicely cleaned and packaged into four neatly trimmed cobs waiting for you. But these come at a premium cost. If this is not of concern, they are a wonderful choice for this recipe. Yet even so, it can be a lot of work cutting 7 cups of fresh corn from cobs. Generally, one medium sized corn cob will produce a cup of cut kernels.
Vegan Option
Earlier I mentioned that there is a vegan option. But technically, this soup is made of vegetables. I use chicken broth as a liquid. But this is solely, because I buy my broth in bulk if it isn’t homemade. If you wish to make this chowder for a vegan diet, simply exchange chicken broth for vegetable broth. Additionally, I serve this dish garnished with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and a pinch of bacon bits. For a vegan option, these would be omitted; and I might add without detriment to the finished flavor. Simply said this chowder is soooo good on its own.
Blending
Once the vegetable base has been made and the liquids added, the soup will need to be blended into a puree. There are two ways to do this. One is by placing liquid in a blender. However, this can be dangerous. If you plan on pureeing the soup in a blender, I highly recommend letting the soup cool. Pureeing hot liquids can be quite risky as the heat creates pressure in the blender. Without any warning, the lid can blow off creating a dangerous hot mess.
If I may, I will share my cautionary tale of my experience. I have always been aware of the fact that hot liquids can explode without warning in a blender. However, I attempted to blend hot liquid with the notion that if I hold the lid down in place an accident would be avoided. While this sounded good in theory, I was proven wrong. Even after turning the blender off, the force of expansion blew the lid off of the blender the moment I removed my hand. Thankfully no one was hurt or burned, but I learned my lesson.
For this reason, I highly recommend an immersion blender. It is a wonderful tool, and a good one will last for many years. I’ve had mine for 18 years. With the aide of this powerful stick, this pot of broth and vegetables will soon be turned into golden delicious chowder. There is no need to transfer to a processing bowl, or dirty the blender. Not to mention, the need to handle hot liquid is eliminated. Additionally, an immersion blender makes clean up easy. Simply rinse under hot water and dry. During the fall and winter months, I use my “boat motor” almost weekly.
The Cheese
I have included two options for cheese. And once again, I will mention that this chowder is fantastic without the addition of either option. But sometimes, it’s fun to just kick it up a little.
Cheese Powder
First of all if I have not mentioned this before, I am a big fan of King Arthur baking products. This is not a paid promotion. It is just the simple truth. For years, my pantry has been stocked with baking essentials from King Arthur. One of my favorite products is their Vermont Cheddar Cheese Powder. I use this in several of my baking recipes, as well as tossing a few teaspoons on my popcorn.
My earliest version of this recipe contained copious amounts of shredded cheddar. Over the years, this was eliminated. However last year, I had a thought. “Why not try a little cheddar cheese powder in this soup?” The change in flavor is very subtle. But this delicate flavor is boosted by the additional garnish of shredded cheddar. But don’t worry, this is just an option. The cheese powder may be omitted all together.
Cheddar Cheese
As I mentioned before, the original recipe called for an abundance of shredded cheddar cheese that was added to the chowder just before serving. If you wish to bring a little cheesy flavor to the chowder there are two options to consider.
- Garnish each serving of chowder with 1/4 ounce of shredded cheddar.
- Adding cheese powder near the end cooking time and then garnishing each serving with 1/4 ounce of shredded cheddar.
- VEGAN OPTION: Omit all the cheese products and the bacon bits. Garnish with diced fresh red bell pepper.
VEGAN OPTION: A 1 1/2 cup serving is 2 WW Smart Points or 222 calories.
A 1 1/2 cup serving garnished with 1/4 ounce of cheese and a sprinkling of bacon bits is 3 WW Smart Points or 265 calories. (Cheese Powder Omitted)
A 1 1/2 cup serving made with Cheese Powder and garnished with both a 1/2 ounce of cheese and sprinkling of bacon bits is 4 WW Smart Points or 292 calories.
Buon Appetito!
PrintHearty Creamy Corn Chowder
This hearty corn soup explodes with flavor from vegetables and corn blended into a creamy chowder, with the addition of whole corn kernels for a full body finish. Additionally, this chowder is rich and thick without the use of cream or milk.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 13 1/2 Cups 1x
- Category: Soup/Chowder
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 1 cup Bell Pepper, diced
- 2 cups Onion, diced
- 1 cup Celery, diced
- 3 cups Carrot, shredded
- 7 cups Corn Kernels, Fresh or Frozen (divided)
- 1/2 cup Flour
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 5 cups Chicken Broth
- 4 Sprigs Thyme (divided)
- 2 ounces Sharp Cheddar, shredded (optional)
- 4 Tablespoons Vermont Cheddar Powder (optional)
- 2 slices Bacon, cooked crisp and chopped into bacon bits (optional
Instructions
FOR THE BACON BITS:
- Saute bacon in heavy large pot over medium heat until fat is rendered and bacon is brown, about 5 minutes.
- Remove bacon, cool and chop into crumbles. Set aside.
- Remove bacon drippings from pot by blotting with a paper towel.
FOR CHOWDER:
- Reheat pot over medium-hight heat.
- Add 4 teaspoons of olive oil to pan.
- Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the onion and bell pepper. Saute for 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften and become translucent.
- Add the celery and carrots and continue to simmer until the onion becomes translucent, about an additional 5 minutes.
- Add 4 cups of corn kernels and continue to saute until cooked, about another 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over softened vegetables and stir to combine.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Gradually mix in 5 cups chicken stock, while gentle stirring to combine.
- Add 2 sprigs of thyme and cover pot. Simmer until the soup thickens slightly, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Remove thyme stems from pot.
- With an immersion blender, blend all ingredients until pureed. Alternatively the contents could be pureed in a blender. (But this should be done very carefully as hot liquid can explode in a blender.)
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- If using the Cheese Powder, gently whisk it into the soup.
- To the seasoned soup add the remaining corn kernels and the remaining two thyme stems. Continue to simmer until the corn is cooked, about an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove all stems from soup before serving.
- Serve soup and garnish with 1/4 ounce of cheddar cheese and light sprinkle of bacon bits.
