My creamy Corn Chowder recipe is the ultimate comfort food, loaded with sweet summer corn and tender potatoes in a rich, flavorful broth.
And if you can’t get your hands on fresh corn, no worries: You can easily swap it out for frozen or canned corn, making this a wonderful soup all year round!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Few ingredients: You only need a few simple ingredients to make this incredibly flavorful soup!
- Easy to make: There are no difficult steps in this recipe, and the soup comes together quickly. The hardest part is probably shucking the corn if you’re using fresh ears!
- Make ahead: Corn chowder keeps great in the fridge for up to 3 days, so you can preserve your farmer’s market bounty for that bit longer.
Corn may just be my favorite summer vegetable! If I’m not making grilled corn on the cob, corn fritters or corn salad, I’m probably making corn chowder.
During summer, I like to grab a few fresh ears from the farmer’s market for the most flavorful soup. But if I’m in the mood for chowder when corn season is over, it’s just as delicious with frozen (or even canned) corn!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Corn: Fresh corn is unbeatable in this recipe! Cooking the cobs with the soup makes it so flavorful, and the fresh corn is so creamy. But you can use frozen or even canned corn in a pinch. Frozen tastes a bit better/fresher to me than canned, but both are a good alternative to the fresh corn.
- Potatoes: I like using Yukon Gold potatoes because they hold their shape in the soup. If you prefer the potatoes to fall apart and make the soup thicker/creamier, use Russet potatoes.
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but 2% can be used. Do not go lower in fat content, as low fat milk tends to curdle easier. Feel free to use more cream in place of the milk, but for our taste it’s rich enough with a combination of cream and milk.
- Cream: This is one recipe where I recommend sticking to real heavy cream vs half and half, because the half and half tends to curdle in this recipe.
How to make Corn Chowder
1. Step: Prepare corn
This step only applies if you’re using fresh ears of corn. First, you’ll want to shuck your corn and remove any of the silk threads for the smoothest chowder.
Tip: How to easily shuck corn
I don’t know if this is old news to everyone, but did you know that it’s way easier to shuck corn from the back vs the front? I come from a long line of farmers and spent many summers watching the corn harvest. My grandpa would always get an ear of corn from the field on our evening walks and shuck it for me. This is how he showed me:
- First, make a cut at the bottom of the corn ear, where it was attached to the plant.
- Break open the husk where you made the cut.
- Break the husk all around the stem of the corn.
- Pull the corn ear from the husk backward, brushing off the silk threads and husk to the front/tip of the corn.
This “backward way (vs shucking from the “front” or the tip of the corn ear) makes it so easy to remove all of the silk threads without making a big mess or having them stick to the corn!
Once you have shucked your corn, shave off the kernels. They key to a creamy corn chowder is to avoid cutting off too much, or you’ll catch some of the gritty cob pieces!
It’s easiest to catch the corn by standing up each ear in a medium-large bowl, then running a knife along the cob. Just make sure you only cut off the creamy kernels, not the cob.
2. Step: Cook bacon
Place a large (5-6 quart) heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned and crispy. Remove the bacon bits to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the rendered bacon fat in the pot (if you end up with more than 2 tablespoons of bacon fat, feel free to remove some).
3. Step: Cook vegetables
Add the onion, celery and corn kernels to the pot and sauté over medium heat until starting to soften – about 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir through all seasoning, then stir through the flour until evenly coated – about 30 seconds. Do not allow the flour or the vegetables to brown!
4. Step: Simmer soup
Pour the broth over the vegetables, stirring well to evenly incorporate the flour. Stir in the cream and the diced potatoes. Place the empty corn cobs in the soup.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer the soup uncovered for 15-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
5. Step: Finish and serve
Once done, remove the corn cobs from the soup and discard. Remove 1 cup of the soup and blend it with ½ cup milk until smooth. Stir back into the soup.
If you enjoy a thicker and creamier chowder, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of cold milk. Stir this slurry into the chowder. Bring the chowder to a simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. It will thicken more if you let it stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve the chowder with the reserved bacon (and chopped green onion if you like)!
Top tips
- Careful when browning: Do not brown the vegetables or the flour while cooking them in bacon fat, else the soup will not have its signature light color. Plus, you may accidentally add a bitter note to the taste.
- Soup looks odd after cooking: Right after cooking, the top of the soup may look odd and like the soup has broken. Don’t worry, that’s completely normal and will go away once you stir!
- Thicken to taste: I like a thick corn chowder, my husband likes it more brothy. I will usually divide the entire batch in half and leave one more brothy and thicken the other one with some cornstarch slurry.
Helpful hints
Recipe variations
- Make it vegetarian: Skip the bacon, use 2 tablespoons of butter to sauté the vegetables.
- Add heat: Add a minced jalapeño for some spiciness.
- Add a protein: Add peeled shrimp during the last minutes of cooking and cook until pink, or stir in shredded rotisserie chicken.
Leftovers
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove until steaming hot all the way through, thinning out the chowder with a little extra broth, milk or cream if needed.
Serving ideas
We usually have chowder as a complete meal, with some crackers or bread for dipping. Here are some of my favorites:
If you want to add some greens, try a big green salad with homemade honey mustard salad dressing or homemade ranch dressing.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Corn Chowder
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 5 ears corn OR 4 cups canned or frozen corn, not thawed
- 4 slices bacon chopped
- 1 large onion finely diced (about 1.5 cups)
- 3 sticks celery cut into ¼ inch dice (about 1 cup)
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes (about 3 medium), peeled and cut into ¾ inch dice
- ½ cup whole milk
Instructions
- Prepare corn: Shuck corn. Cut corn kernels off cobs over a medium bowl. Reserve cobs.
- Cook bacon: In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot (around 5 quart), cook bacon over medium-high heat until browned and crispy. Remove bacon bits and set aside.
- Cook vegetables: Add onion, celery and corn kernels to bacon fat. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, dried thyme, salt and pepper.
- Make soup base: Reduce heat to medium-low. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir until evenly coated, about 30 seconds. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in heavy cream.
- Cook chowder: Add potatoes and reserved corn cobs to pot. Bring to a boil over medum-high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Take off the heat, remove cobs and discard.
- Finish and serve: Blend 1 cup of soup with ½ cup milk until smooth, stir back into soup. For a thicker soup, whisk 1 tablespoon cornstarch into 1 tablespoon cold milk. Stir slurry into soup, bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Allow soup to stand 5-10 minutes before serving to thicken even more. Serve garnished with bacon (and chopped green onion, if desired).
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Potatoes: I like using Yukon Gold potatoes because they hold their shape in the soup. If you prefer the potatoes to fall apart and make the soup thicker/creamier, use Russet potatoes.
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but 2% can be used. Feel free to use more cream in place of the milk.
- Cream: This is one recipe where I recommend sticking to real heavy cream vs half and half, because the half and half tends to curdle in this recipe.
Recipe tips
- Careful when browning: Do not brown the vegetables or the flour while cooking them in bacon fat, else the soup will not have its signature light color.
- Soup looks odd after cooking: Right after cooking, the top of the soup may look odd and like the soup has broken. Don’t worry, that’s completely normal and will go away once you stir!
- Thicken to taste: I like a thick corn chowder, my husband likes it more brothy. I will usually divide the entire batch in half and leave one more brothy and thicken the other one with some cornstarch slurry.
- Store leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Jill says
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
Marisol says
Made this today for a group of neighbors so I doubled the ingredients. It took about an hour prep time and about an hour cook time. So delicious and hearty. Everyone raved about tastyness
Sherry says
We first had corn chowder at the OLD MILL in Pigeon Forge, Tn, You need to visit if you are ever in the Smokies! Your recipe is also great-We always pick up mix for the chowder at their store. Your chowder hit with us because of the potatoes and thickness. Thank you for sharing.
Nora says
I’m so glad, Sherry!
Cathy says
Have u ever frozen the soup?
thank you
Nora says
Cathy, I haven’t! Creamy soups with potato really change their texture after being frozen, so it’s not something I would recommend. If you must freeze it, the texture would probably be better if you blend it after defrosting. Hope this helps!
Maddie says
Delish!!!! Made with all cream because I had to use it up. New favorite corn chowder recipie
Sandy says
Kids and husband brought home corn from the farmers market and I decided to try this recipe from Pinterest came out very good tastes buttery and creamy!
Nicky says
Very good. Used all cream. Added half of cornstarch. Nice and thick, very flavorful