The Fastest, Easiest Corn Chowder, Ever.
There’s a time and a place for 100% scratch-made pots of soup that simmer all day and into the night and have a list of ingredients that’s miles long. However, that time and place is NOT a busy weeknight. Despite the lack of time available on busy weeknights, it turns out that my family still expects dinner. Thankfully, quick recipes like this exist. Five ingredients, 20 minutes. Fry bacon, open cans. Boil potatoes. A quick purée and ta da! Creamy, rich potato and corn chowder recipe ready to fill some hungry tummies.
Everything You Need To Make This Easy Corn Chowder Recipe.
Smoky and rich, bacon fat is the key to every great chowder recipe and my speedy, full-of-shortcuts corn chowder recipe is greater than the sum of its parts thanks to the inclusion of bacon fat. It doesn’t just add flavor! Rendered bacon fat also adds a unique richness and heft that nothing else can, and contributes to the creaminess of the finished chowder. Don’t skip it! When there are only 5 ingredients, don’t try for any swaps.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this super easy potato and corn chowder:
- Bacon
- Chicken stock
- Canned creamed corn
- Yellow potatoes
- Green onions
You Know You Love It, But What Is “Chowder” Anyway?
As with so many of these old culinary words, “chowder” is hard to define. You know it when you see it, right? New England clam chowder is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we say chowder: It is thick, creamy and loaded with potatoes and clams. Then there’s Manhattan clam chowder, which is brothy and tomato-based and really throws a wrench in the search for a particular type of soup that’s allowed to be called “chowder”. So, what can we say for sure about chowder? Well, chowders are always soups. They often have seafood, but not always. They often are rich and creamy, but not always. The word “chowder” might be a derivative of chaudière, the French word for ‘cauldron’, so chowders are cooked in a cauldron (or stock pot). Chowder! What can we say? You’ll know it when you see it. For a more elaborate version of this recipe, try our corn chowder.
How To Make This Easy Corn Chowder Recipe
Five ingredients and three simple steps, this ultra easy soup recipe relies shamelessly on canned creamed corn and good old starchy potatoes for its richness and creaminess. It’ll be ready in no time and it requires absolutely no special skills. Promise!
- Fry the bacon. Do this in the pot you’ll cook the soup in, and leave about three tablespoons of bacon fat in the bottom of the pot (you can just eyeball it).
- Pour in the chicken stock, creamed corn, potatoes and green onions and simmer the chowder until the potatoes are cooked.
- Make it creamy! Use an immersion blender or regular blender to purée about half of the soup, leaving some texture but making it nicely creamy.
- Crumble the bacon into the soup and serve!
Tools You’ll Need:
Can I Freeze It?
You sure can! Corn chowder can definitely be frozen. It’ll keep for up to three months in the freezer. The bacon won’t hold up perfectly in the freezer, so you could wait to add the bacon pieces at the end until you’re ready to defrost and reheat the chowder. Or, you can just accept that the bacon will get a little chewy in the freezer—the flavors will still be wonderful.
More Easy Soup Recipes
Soup’s On!
For more recipe inspiration, follow us on Substack, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest or order our cookbook. We love when you share your meals. Tag us on Instagram using #themodernproper. Happy cooking!
