Southwestern Corn Chowder
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This creamy corn chowder is perfect when nights turn cool and for using up the last corn of the season.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
I think of this corn chowder from my new cookbook as a summer-into-fall soup, perfect for when the nights turn cooler and you’re looking for new and interesting ways to use up the last corn of the season. Blending some of the kernels with the broth gives the soup a sweet corn flavor and lightly creamy texture. It’s filling on its own, but if you’d like to bulk it up, crispy bacon, shredded chicken, grilled shrimp or fresh lump crabmeat would all be delicious additions. And you can never go wrong with chips and guacamole or chicken quesadillas on the side.
Table of Contents
“I made this for my family last night…everyone LOVED it!! It is not spicy, but has a nice corn flavor with some smokiness in the background. HIGHLY recommend.”
What You’ll Need To Make Southwestern Corn Chowder
Step-by-Step Instructions
Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add the onions, bell pepper, and jalapeño to the pot.
Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not brown.
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Add the broth, 1 cup of the milk, salt, cumin, coriander, and potatoes; bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring once halfway through, until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a blender, puree the remaining milk with 1 cup of the corn until smooth.
Add the milk and corn mixture to the soup along with the remaining corn.
Simmer until hot.
Off the heat, stir in the sour cream, scallions, and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with lime wedges.
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Southwestern Corn Chowder
This creamy corn chowder is perfect when nights turn cool and for using up the last corn of the season.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, and finely diced (save the seeds and ribs; see note)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 pound yellow, red or purple baby potatoes, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 3 cups fresh corn kernels, scraped from 4 to 5 raw cobs (see note)
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 3 scallions, dark green parts only, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell pepper, and jalapeño and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not brown. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Add the broth, 1 cup of the milk, salt, cumin, coriander, and potatoes; bring to a boil. The soup will seem thick; that’s okay. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring once halfway through so the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes (if your potatoes are not tender at this point, just continue simmering until they are).
- Meanwhile, in a blender, puree the remaining 1 cup of milk with 1 cup of the corn until smooth.
- Add the milk and corn mixture to the soup along with the remaining 2 cups of corn; simmer until hot. Off the heat, stir in the sour cream, scallions, and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with lime wedges.
- Note: I like this soup a little spicy, so I mince about half of the jalapeño’s seeds and ribs and toss them in with the onions and peppers. If you’d like more control over the heat, you can add cayenne pepper at the end, to taste, or offer hot sauce at the table.
- Note: To scrape the corn from the cobs, place the corn on a clean dish towel set over a cutting board, then use a serrated knife to cut the kernels of the cobs. (The dish towel prevents the kernels from bouncing all over the place.) Alternatively, you can invert a small bowl inside a larger bowl. Hold the cob upright on top of the inverted small bowl, with the flatter end of the cob down, and use a sharp knife to slice downward as close to the cob as possible.
- Make-ahead Instructions: Before adding the sour cream, scallions, and cilantro, the soup can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, and proceed with the recipe.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 540
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 70 g
- Sugar: 16 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 15 g
- Sodium: 1,339 mg
- Cholesterol: 56 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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A straight forward and tasty recipe. It can be spiced up to taste. I’m thinking cod, crab, etc. may be added to make it a fish chowder. Very nice, Thank you.
Absolutely perfect! Full of flavor and pretty to serve. I ended up using frozen corn and can not imagine it being better with fresh. Just yummy! My husband went NUTS over it and said “this is company worthy!”.
Someone just gave me a huge bag of frozen corn. Would that work in this recipe?
Thanks!
Sure, Elaine, that should be fine. Enjoy!
I make this savory, satisfying chowder on repeat as long as sweet and crisp Hadly corn is in season. We are a soup family and this soup is at the top of our long list faves. You have to try it. You will like it! 🙂
Love this recipe! I add uncooked shrimp at the same time as the corn and it just hits the spot (and use the shells to make a homemade shrimp broth which I also use in this soup).
As with all of your recipes… I’ll make it again!
One question… suitable for freezing or can it be made to be?
Thanks, Jen.
Hi Ron, Glad you liked it! Because of the significant amount of dairy and the potatoes, I’m not confident it would freeze well – sorry!