Easy corn chowder with potatoes and bacon is hearty, creamy and perfectly seasoned. This comforting classic is great for summertime, holidays or special meals.
This post is sponsored by the American Dairy Association Mideast. As always, as thoughts and opinions are my own. This post has also been updated with new photos.
I've been making today's recipe on repeat this summer!
This easy corn chowder is creamy, well seasoned, and a little bit savory and a little bit sweet.
It's absolutely loaded with bright, sweet corn kernels and also has plenty of chunks of potatoes throughout.
This corn chowder is seriously satisfying.
It's perfect for summertime, too, when the corn is erupting all around us, but you can totally use frozen corn, so this recipe works all year long.
And it's just some simple ingredients and everything cooks in one pan. Gotta love that!
Pro move: We're cooking the bacon in the pot first, then using the bacon grease to sauté the onion and build the chowder. Adds so much extra flavor!
Plus of course, the salty, crumbled, crunchy bacon served on top of this corn chowder just takes it over the top.
This corn chowder tastes just like the classic version I remember, and I think you're going to love it too.
You can also check out my chicken corn chowder if you want more of a main dish meal.
(Speaking of classics and corn love, check out this corn pudding that's a Thanksgiving and holiday side dish favorite.)
Also, I'm so happy to be partnering with the American Dairy Association Mideast again to share some healthy, veggie-focused recipes this year.
OK, let's get to cooking.
I've got some tips and notes coming up. I've made this recipe lots of times and tested it several different ways, so I want to share what I've learned.
Ingredient Notes:
Corn: I find it really easy and convenient to use a couple of bags of frozen corn for this recipe. (You don't even have to thaw them.) But you can substitute fresh corn if you'd like. You'll need about 5-6 cups total.
Potatoes: Russet potatoes help give the starchiness and texture to this chowder. You could try it with another type of potato, like Yukons, but I'm not sure how it might change the chowder.
Milk: My preference is to use 2% milk for this recipe. I've tried it with skim and it just seemed a bit more watery and less rich.
Lactaid: I have also tested this recipe with a 2% Lactaid milk and that worked great. So that's a good option if you or someone you're serving has lactose intolerance. (If you need to skip the butter for that reason, you can certainly try it, but I haven't tested it without butter.)
Bacon: We're using the bacon in two ways. The grease from cooking it is what we sauté the onion in, and then we serve the chowder with the cooked, crumbled bacon pieces. This is a must for me.
Vegetarian: If you want to make a vegetarian version of this corn chowder, use oil and butter to sauté the onion and skip the bacon. (Insert sad face from me.)
Spicy: You can add a jalapeño to sauté along with the onion if you want to add some spice to this. You can also serve it with hot sauce (which is what I do to keep it mild for my kids).
The only part of this recipe that is a tiny bit fussy is the potatoes.
First, you really do need to peel the potatoes.
I love a rustic look on potatoes as much as the next person, but those peels will come right off and float around in your chowder after you blend them down. (Cause I tried it.) That's not great for the flavor or the appearance. So peel 'em first.
Next, as I just mentioned, you need to partially blend or mash the potatoes to break them down a bit.
They don't need to be completely broken down to mush - I like having some intact potato chunks in my chowder - but you want to give them a good mashing. This helps thicken the chowder and give it the right texture.
I use and love my immersion blender for this.
(It's also great to have for single serving smoothies, salad dressings, sauces and more besides just soups.)
If you don't have a hand blender and you don't want to fuss with transferring this to a regular blender, you can use a potato masher and just partially mash all of the potatoes.
I tried skipping this step once to keep the recipe even simpler, but it just didn't taste as good. It was too soupy. So I highly recommend you take the few minutes to break down the potatoes.
Also, you can halve the recipe if you are serving a smaller group and don't want leftovers. The recipe is easily halved and would work great as a side for a family of four.
Summer, fall, winter or spring, I think you are going to love this creamy, flavorful corn chowder. I hope you give it a try soon.
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Easy Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 5-6 slices of bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced in ½ inch pieces
- 1 cup water
- 3 cups 2% milk (see notes)
- 2 (10 oz.) packages frozen corn (or 5-6 cups fresh corn)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For serving (optional):
- Chopped chives, black pepper, hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until well cooked on all sides. (Reduce the heat if yours starts to blacken.) Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel.
- Add the chopped onion to the bacon grease and sauté over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes.
- And the diced potatoes and water. Cover the pot and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Add 1 ½ cups of the milk then carefully use an immersion blender to lightly blend the soup and break down the potatoes. They don't need to be pureed and it's OK to have some chunks, but you want them broken down a bit to help with the texture of the chowder. (Alternatively, you could transfer the mixture to a regular blender and pulse to break them down. Or use a potato masher and roughly mash the potatoes to break them down.)
- Add the remaining 1 ½ cups of milk, the corn, sugar, butter, salt and pepper. Bring the chowder to a low simmer then reduce the heat and cook over low heat for 5-10 minutes, until warmed through.
- Serve the chowder topped with the reserved bacon and any desired toppings. Enjoy!
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Notes
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Nutrition
If you are a corn lover like me, check out this summer corn salad, skillet chicken with creamed corn and rice with bacon and corn.
Monika says
Will this be ruined if canned corn is used?
Kathryn Doherty says
Hi Monika! No, I don't think so... I would make sure to rinse the canned corn well though. Would love to hear if you try it!