Corn Chowder
Believe me when I say, this is like no corn chowder that you’ve ever had. It’s SO flavorful with such a smooth consistency and the best combination of flavors. It’s comfort food in a bowl, and if I handed it over to you for a taste, you would swear that it came from a gourmet restaurant. There are a few tricks to this recipe that make it different than other other. Not only is it cheesy, but it’s thickened with mashed potatoes that are blended into the broth along with the corn, celery, onions, garlic, and red bell peppers. This makes it super smooth instead of chunky, which gives you more savory broth. (And picky lovers love it with no detection of vegetables except for a cup of reserved corn.) Scroll down to see how simple the ingredients are and how easy to is to make!
How to Make It
Cook bacon in a large pot over medium-low heat. Remove and set aside once crisp. Leave 1 Tablespoon of drippings in the pot and add 1 Tablespoon of butter. While the bacon cooks, boil the potatoes gently for 15 minutes or until very fork tender.
Soften the onions, celery, and carrots in the pot with the bacon drippings. Add bell peppers and garlic, cook 1 more minute. Whisk in flour.
Add 1 tablespoon butter and a splash of half and half to the potatoes. Gently mash and set aside. Add the chicken broth, half and half, and ranch seasoning to the pot with the softened vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Set aside 1 cup of corn and add the rest to the soup along with the potatoes.
Use an immersion blender and carefully mix the soup until smooth and well combined. (This is optional but makes the soup very creamy. Alternatively, you can let it cool a bit and transfer to a blender in batches.) Add the remaining cup of corn and red pepper flakes. Gradually sprinkle the cheese into the soup over low heat and stir to combine.
Garnish with bacon, chives, a few more red pepper flakes, and freshly cracked pepper. Remove from heat and serve!
Pro Tips
3 cups frozen corn or 4-5 ears of fresh corn may also be used. Canned or fresh corn is ideal as it’s sweeter in taste. The Bacon, Ranch Seasoning, and Cheese all contain sufficient amounts of salt, so you shouldn’t need to flavor it with any additional. You should consider unsalted butter and reduced sodium chicken broth. You may choose to eliminate the Ranch seasoning if desired, but I like the subtle additional flavor that it adds. If preferred, you could use 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1/4 tsp paprika, a bay leaf, and perhaps a little salt and pepper. (Remove the bay leaf before blending.) I don’t recommend using a food processor to blend the soup, as you would have to do it in several batches to ensure you don’t overfill it, which will cause the hot soup to overflow.
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This soup does freeze and reheat well, especially if blended until completely smooth.
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Immersion Blender. This is one of my all-time favorite kitchen tools for making soups and sauces. Kitchen Scale– To measure the weight of the potatoes. This is the one I have, I use it all the time. Dutch Oven. I love making almost all of my recipes in a dutch oven as it conducts heat really well. Soup Crocks. These are pictured in the process shots above and are an elegant and cozy way to serve up soup!
