Creamy, hearty Corn Chowder with BACON!! My two little effortless tips that take this up a notch is to use the bacon drippings to make the soup base, and toss the used corn cobs into the broth to infuse it with extra corn flavour. This soup is guaranteed to warm your soul and get your taste buds dancing!
Corn Chowder
I’m a sucker for creamy soups in any form. In fact, I’m yet to come across a creamy soup I don’t love. Hmmmm…..that statement sounds somewhat awfully familiar.
I’ve written that here before. Oh, that’s right. I say the same thing about cheese. Umm… and potatoes.
This website would be a very different place indeed if I also said the same thing about salads. 😈
There are corn chowders, then there are corn chowders. A couple of years ago, I shared a quick ‘n easy Corn Chowder using leftover Christmas ham and frozen corn. This one is a teeny step up from that in terms of effort, and it’s totally worth it because it’s extra corny and loaded with extra flavour.
Here’s my tip: Use fresh corn and use the corn cobs to make a simple extra-corny broth. OH – and cook the bacon first and use the bacon drippings to make the soup base (i.e. sautéing onion and garlic then making a roux that thickens the soup).
This method of infusing the soup broth with the corn cobs (also used in this Cold Corn Soup) is a tip I picked up from Kenji at Serious Eats, The Best Corn Chowder Recipe. Kenji says this, Kenji says that, Kenji’s tip for this, Kenji’s tested that… his name gets thrown around quite a bit in the RecipeTin family. While I’m pretty sure none of us has actually made any of his recipes exactly as written, we find his food-science approach to making the “best of the best” (like crunchy fried Chinese chicken that stays crunchy) or why it’s impossible to do this-or-that in a home kitchen (like truly charring noodles the South East Asian way) interesting reading, and are sometimes able to pick up tips that we can actually use in our normal day to day cooking.
Infusing the broth with the corn cobs is one such technique. 🙂
Now, I must confess something. Well, 2 things. The soup you see in the photos is cleaner than what you will see in the video. I usually make this with sprigs of thyme to infuse the broth. When I made the recipe video, I only had a few shrivelled up brown sprigs so I opted to use dried thyme instead rather than doing yet another run to the grocery store, so the soup broth is speckled with thyme leaves.
Having made that decision, I proceeded with the recipe video. Got the step where I was to toss in a bay leaf…. and realised I was out of bay leaves!!!
So… that bay leaf you see me plop into the soup is actually….. errr ….well, it’s a kaffir lime leaf. I fished it out as soon as I stopped recording!!!
These are not deal breakers though. Dried vs fresh thyme sprigs is just about aesthetics, and the bay leaf does add a subtle hint of extra flavour but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have it.
Just don’t substitute with kaffir lime leaf!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Corn Chowder with Bacon
Ingredients
Corn (choose one)
- 4 ears of corn
- 4 cups / 750g / 1.5 lb frozen or canned corn , drained
Soup:
- 1 tsp butter (or oil)
- 250g / 8 oz bacon , chopped
- 30g / 2 tbsp butter (use 3 tbsp if bacon is lean)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 small onion , diced (or half large onion) (yellow, brown or white)
- 5 tbsp flour
- 2 cups chicken broth , low sodium
- 3 cups milk (I use low fat but full fat will work too)
- 600g / 1.2 lb potatoes , cut into 1 cm / 2/5" cubes (about 2 large)
- 2 sprigs of thyme OR 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 cup cream (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup shallots / scallions , green part finely sliced
- Salt and finely ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the corn off the cob. This is how I do it: Place a small ramekin in a large bowl. Place corn on the ramekin then cut the corn off. See video. Keep naked cobs.
- Place 1 tsp butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave fat in pot.
- Lower heat to medium high. Add 2 tbsp butter, once melted, add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add flour and mix it in. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add broth, milk, potatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Break naked cobs into 2 or 3 and add into the liquid. Put the lid on and simmer for 25 minutes (adjust heat so it's simmering energetically but not bubbling like crazy or super gently).
- Remove lid, remove corn cobs. Add corn and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked to your taste.
- Stir through cream and 3/4 of the bacon and shallots. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and shallots.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More creamy soups
LIFE OF DOZER
Nowhere to be seen when I was cutting the corn, made an appearance when the bacon was cooking. (PS I shot this recipe pre Cindy Crawford beauty spot in the photo I shared last Friday a.k.a smudge of permanent hair colour on his face)
The sweet corn was at the ripest this weekend so I made a big pot of soup it was excellent
Thanks
Delicious! Our go-to corn chowder recipe. We added foraged mushrooms (black velvet boletes) for even more deliciousness.
I am now the worlds BEST wife after making this delicious soup for my husband ! He has always loved my homemade soups but this one tops the lot for sure. We had it for lunch (with your no knead bread rolls) and then for dinner. Just as delicious heated up the 2nd time. Thanks Nagi x And his to Dozer x
Hi Nagi
Just want to tell that I made your creamy Corn Chowder with Bacon … easy to make plus delicious… family enjoyed it
Perfect Ginger!! N x
I cooked this a few weeks ago and only tasted onion from the soup. This has happened a few times, I think the onions I buy are larger than the ones you use in your recipes 🙁
Today I only used 1/4 of a large yellow onion, and it’s perfect. Eating this with garlic bread is a must!!
Recooked your recipe, amazingly good delicious creamy like chowdeeer, but not overpowering thick… its light and savoury… oya, i added bits of chicken that i made from the chick stock too.
Um so glad you enjoyed it Eryka! N x
Amazing! I’ve made corn chowder before but never boiled the cobs. What a game changer! Creamy corn taste throughout with that slight salty bite from bacon. Thanks so much Nagi!
Made this a few times now and it is absolutely brilliant. I also like to throw in a small can of white crab meat into it and/or some fresh prawns.
Woah that sounds decadent, I must try! N x
Loved it! Even my son who likes very little, thought it was great!
That’s great to hear Sherri!!
So YUM!! Family loved it. I had no thyme so replaced with some rosemary and was still good. Added this to the comfort food list. Thanks for the recipe will make again for sure 😊
Perfect! I’m so glad you loved it Tenille!!
I made this recipe as written and it was the absolute best soup ever. We make a variety of homemade soups on a regular basis but my family devoured this and appropriately name it “the best soup ever”.
You need to make this soup!! Life changer. 😬 side dish of fresh bread from the oven and you have a little piece of heaven.
Woah what a great compliment Kim!
This was delicious!! I even had all the ingredients, for a change. Thank you for sharing this. And my husband thanks you too!
Awesome thanks so much Alene ❤️
Oh, and I forgot to say that I am gluten free, not by choice unfortunately. So I added cornstarch instead of flour, a little over 3 tablespoons. It was perfect and we couldn’t taste the change at all.
IF I had any leftover, is it suitable to freeze?
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tried with this recipe, I think it may not be suitable because of the cream in it – N x
OMG this soup is delicious! Will be making this time and time again.
Thanks Nagi
What kind of cream do you use
Hi Christine, it’s all in the recipe notes ☺️
OMG !!! This corn chowder with bacon soup looks amazing .. I love making soup. I make a soup that is pretty much the same but it is potato chowder with bacon.. I do use corn in it also . is much the same .. I love thick rich cream soups !! Thanks and keep sending the yummy recipies…
I hope you give this one a go and love it!
Winner winner chowder dinner! I used leek instead of onion and skipped the shallots, adding fresh parsley instead. So yummy, all devoured and no leftovers.
Sounds like a winner Sarah!
So yummy!
Shallots or scallions?
Hard to make that exchange. We are doing shallot, no green part to slice thinly. Put the shallots in sooner?
Thank you for the recipe, we are still getting lovely “candy corn” (white and yellow kernels mixed.)
Scallions to you! We call them shallots here 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
It was pouring outside yesterday so Chowder was the perfect meal! Your recipe is absolutely delicious and so easy! Just ran out of cream so I used evaporated milk – not sure how it would be with the cream, but I think I’m going to stick with the milk… This recipe is husband, 4 year old & baby approved 😉
Can you freeze this ?