An easy, fresh, and flavorful corn chowder focused on emphasizing the fresh sweetness of summer corn. This is one of the quickest soups to make with ingredients preserved in the summer. It comes together in under 40 minutes, 30 if you can chop fast.
Fresh corn is one of the best things to come out of the garden. For several years, I have grown the serendipity variety from Territorial Seed. It is sweet and grows remarkably well in the Pacific Northwest, even with our shorter summers.
Focus on the fresh corn flavor
This corn chowder is based on simplicity. You will find a lot of corn chowder recipes that call to start with bacon and use bacon grease as the fat source. When using fresh corn (or a good frozen one), I find that this muddies the flavor and detracts from the experience.
Butter is a natural pairing with corn, so that is what I start with. If you start with butter, you will also see many corn chowder recipes calling for a roux (cooking flour into the melted butter to thicken the broth). Once again, a roux is not needed here. Yes, a roux adds body, but it makes the soup feel heavy, like a stew. The fresh sweetness of the corn gets lost in this process, and the resulting soup leans very savory.
Making corn stock
This recipe calls for corn stock, and you can make this yourself if you start with fresh corn! Once you cut all the kernels away from the cob, place the cobs in a large stockpot, scraping along the edges of the cob as you do so to pull out any remaining liquid catching it in the pot. Add one cup of water per corn cob. While you could add an onion and celery to add more dimension, I prefer just the corn. Simmer for at least an hour, strain out the cobs and it’s good to go!
When I harvest my corn, I chop all the kernels off to freeze and make a large batch of stock with the cobs. I freeze it for the sole purpose of having it to make this soup in the winter. I have a peeler that makes removing the kernels super fast, and is much safer than using a knife.
Substitutions
If you do not have fresh corn or corn stock, you can use frozen corn and chicken stock. If you want to keep the soup vegetarian, you could also use vegetable stock.
Since I cook from my garden, I often substitute leeks for the onion. When I make this soup in the colder months, leeks are ready to harvest. If you use leeks, cook the light parts with the celery and carrots, but keep and chop the greens and add them to the corn and potatoes.
You could use any other variety of potatoes if you don’t have Yukon gold. If you use russets, make sure to peel them.
Serving suggestions
My favorite way to serve this easy corn chowder is with these dinner rolls from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The sweetness of the rolls pairs nicely with the sweetness of the corn. You could use any other fresh, crusty bread.
A side salad also goes well with the soup. I like to make one with arugula as the base since it cuts the soup’s sweetness.
Easy Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 4 cups corn kernels You can use fresh, frozen, or canned
- 4 cups corn stock you can substitute chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 bunch chopped fresh parsley, chives, or celery leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the diced onion, carrots, celery, and a little salt and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the potatoes, corn, corn stock, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the cream and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Garnish with your choice of herb to serve.