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)
This was easy and turned out great. Some things I changed, bc I always do — more bacon of course, an extra potato, thin sliced carrot, 2 diced jalapeños (husband likes kick) and 2 TBS of four instead of 5. Excellent basic recipe to modify as your own. Thank You, Rebecca
Very similar to my recipe which I have been making for many many years. Next time I make it I’m going to add the corn cobs though. I always flavour my chowder with a dash of dry sherry and a dash of worcestershire sauce and use a tin of evaporated milk instead of cream
Whoa, your recipe did not fail me. One word to discribe it, “onolicious”!
Mahalo,
Chuck
I have a friend coming this weekend and this soup will be the perfect lunch with a salad. I have a question-what is a brown onion? Never heard of them here in the states.
Such a tasty recipe! I made a half batch and loved the deep savory flavor of all the Thyme. I didn’t use as much butter, only a tablespoon and used more chicken broth and a half cup of milk with just a splash of half and half at the end. Didn’t have the the shallots, so I don’t know what I’m missing there. I’ve made corn chowder but it was too sweet. I don’t like cream style corn – also way too sweet. The bacon and thyme totally balanced the sweetness. I’m looking forward to another batch! Thanks for such a good, easy recipe.
I’m excited that you liked it so much Lamar!! N x
I don’t even bother looking at other recipe websites any more! Just plug in the ingredients I have at home (corn that needed to be used, potatoes and 3 really thick slices of bacon) and I always find exactly what I need and it’s perfect. One of the best soups (Chowdah, Frenchmen, say it! LOL) I’ve ever made or eaten. You are a wonder, Nagi.
I’m happy you liked it Meryl! N x
Instead of the chicken stock I add a packet of Knorr Seafood soup mix diluted with the water from the sieved boiled shells of fresh prawns and a packet of mixed seafood. It turn the whole thing into a seafood chowder which is well received by my Chinese dinner guests. I have to add some green chilies cooked together with the onion for the local taste. A splash of white wine and some cream enhances the taste.
So delicious and creamy! Easy to follow recipe. Love the infusing the cob trick.
Made this yesterday came out excellent TY Nagi
I liked the part where they treated shallots and scallions interchangeably lol
I like how you don’t know that scallions are called shallots in Australia.
This turned out really good. Making it again, cause it’s a really easy recipe to follow. Thank you!
Can’t eat this because of the dairy.
Yummy!
Made with no alterations.
Will definitely cook this soup again.
This was absolutely delicious. I used crab meat instead of bacon. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Nagi!
OMG I found this recipe this morning after picking some fresh corn and wondering what to do with it and this recipe was amazing. I like very plain food, so left the herbs out, couldn’t bring myself to put the corn cobs in for extra flavour and was worried about the garlic, but this is hands down the most delicious soup my husband and I have ever eaten. We will certainly be back to the farm next weekend for more corn. Thank you Nagi x ps. I reckon your mushroom soup will be on the table here in England in the very near future
Hi Nagi, I am LOVING your recipes – I made this for lunch yesterday and it was delish! I wanted to ask you how get your nutritional information? Do you use a website or do you have a human do it?
is the corn raw or cooked when you cut it off the cob
It’s raw here Lorna 🙂 N x
Any suggestions on what type of potatoes to use?
Yukon Gold holds up well in soups
THANK YOU
Red potatoes are also great here>
Thanks for that tip Lamar!! N x
Can this soup be frozen and enjoyed later?
Yes 100% Abby! N x
I have made this soup several times and it is always a hit. It is SO GOOD!!!! Even my ‘i hate soup soup’ daughter likes it.
I usually use corn flour to thicken it as my best friend’s daughter is coeliac. She’s always so happy if i make soup for her that she can eat. 🙂