Summer Corn Chowder – Rich and creamy corn chowder with fresh summer corn and crisp bacon and fresh thyme. Serve with some crusty bread and a salad.
Well, we made it to NJ in one piece. As far as driving cross country goes, with 3 kids and a dog, it was a pretty easy trip. I am thankful to be settled for awhile, and spending more than a week at a time with my family. The thing about only getting to visit for one week a year is that you feel like you have to cram a year full of fun into a week. It hasn’t really sunk in yet that we are here for awhile, and that we can take it easy and really enjoy being here. It feels weird, but in a really good way.
Growing up in such a seasonal place meant that we had two groups of friends – school friends and summer friends. Summer friends are the kind of friends that you meet on the beach and spend long days with, playing in the waves, eating popsicles from the ice cream man, and making sand castles. But by the end of the summer, they went back to their houses wherever they lived and we did not see each other again until the next summer. Unlike me, who got to stay past Labor Day. This year, my children might be someone’s summer friend. This summer has promise. Lazy days on the beach, spending time with people we love, and getting to eat lots and lots of Italian ices.
I also associate chowder with summer. It seems counter-intuitive to stop and get a bowl of chowder on a screaming hot day on your way to the beach, but it is something that we do all the time. We stop at The Clam Bar, eat a bowl of soup in sweltering, humid heat, and then head to Longport Beach. There, the only options are red or white clam chowder, but I love a chowder that showcases the star of the summer – corn. If you are going to make corn chowder, do yourself a favor and use the freshest, sweetest, summer corn that you can find. The end result is night and day better. I served this soup with a salad and warm, crusty bread. This simple soup is comforting and a perfect way to welcome summer.
6 slices thick cut bacon
1 medium onion, diced
3 scallions, sliced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
5 cups fresh corn kernels
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken broth
1 large potato, peeled and grated
salt and pepper
In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium to medium high heat. When the bacon is brown and crispy, take the bacon out and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Pour out most of the fat, leaving about 3 Tablespoons in the pan.
Add the onion, scallions (reserving some for garnish), celery, pepper, and thyme.
Cook the vegetables until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add the corn, and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chipotle powder, salt, and pepper.
Add the half-and-half and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
Add the potato, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, covered, until the potato is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Check for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as needed. Top with reserved bacon and scallions. Serve with crusty bread. This recipe comes from Fine Cooking.
Summer Corn Chowder
Summer Corn Chowder - I freeze the last of the summer corn just for this soup. I stock up at the farm stand, take the corn off the cob and freexze in bags. Pull it out when you need to feel the sun on your face.
Ingredients
- 6 slices thick cut bacon
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 5 cups fresh corn kernels
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 large potato, peeled and grated
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium to medium high heat. When the bacon is brown and crispy, take the bacon out and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Pour out most of the fat, leaving about 3 Tablespoons in the pan.
- Add the onion, scallions (reserving some for garnish), celery, pepper, and thyme.
- Cook the vegetables until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the corn, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the chipotle powder, salt, and pepper.
- Add the half-and-half and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
- Add the potato, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, covered, until the potato is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Check for seasoning, and add salt and pepper as needed. Top with reserved bacon and scallions. Serve with crusty bread.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g
This Post Has 47 Comments
Corn chowder is one of my summer favorites! Glad you made it to NJ safely!
thank you Kelley! I am so happy to be home.
I spent long lazy summers at my Aunt’s house on Long Beach. Fishing for blue crab and then crab in spaghetti sauce for dinner. Always fresh fish and fun at the beach and my best summer bud that lived next door. Man has that been 35 years already? Lol Yummy recipe. Loving the corn but still a bit early for us in Nebraska.
What a fabulous soup! This sounds awesome!
Thank you Katrina, I love this soup. Creamy, rich, and sweet and salty from the corn and bacon.
That looks really good! I’m not big on soup in the summer time, but this soup might make me change my mind!
I can promise you, your mind will be be changed. Especially on those summer nights when it gets chilly. Shorts and sweat shirt weather.
Looks delicious! will be making this recipe soon 🙂
thank you Yesenia!
Looks delicious!
Yum! For some reason, clam chowder has never really appealed to me, I had an aversion to fish as a kid. But this looks delicious, and learning the ingredients in a chowder makes it seem not so bad after all!
Not bad at all! Give this version a go, and I bet you will love it.
Love this post! Spent 14 summers ladling out red and white at The Clam Bar! Would probably still be there while teaching during the winter months if my hubs job hadn’t taken us across the country and back a few times 🙂 Enjoy the shore this summer!
Yes you did! Can you even eat clam chowder anymore? And I can relate to being moved every few years! This was our 5th move in 9 years.
Glad you made it to NJ! So exciting. This does look fabulous! 🙂
Thank you Carla, I am so happy to be home with my family.
This soup is lovely. I love your addition of chipotle powder. Corn chowder is one of my favorites and I haven’t made it in a while. Glad to hear you made it to NJ! 🙂
thank you Jennifer, it is so nice to be back.
2 questions — are the corn kernels cooked, or can you take them right off the raw corn? Also, if you don’t have the chipotle powder on hand, can you think of a substitute that might work?
And, welcome back to Jersey, by the way!!
Uncooked. Just cut it off of the cob, and add it to the soup. And I would use a little chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne.
I am happy that you made it perfect…I will try to make this kind also..Thanks a lot for sharing the recipe..Its a big help to me.
thank you Angelica.
This looks great and tasty for Summer.
thank you Chineka!
can not WAIT to make this! mmm.
You will love this soup. So yummy.
I would like to try this kind of soup thank you for sharing the recipe..Love it..
new follower here and i am so glad i found you. i definitely am trying out a few of your recipes, those sugar cookie bars make me wanna reach through the computer screen and take a bite! we are huge corn chowder lovers in my house so this looks great to try out and do a little something diff than my old stand by. can’t wait to come back!
I am so glad that you found me too.
This chowder looks so delicious, love the bacon on top.
You are welcome to join in my monthly food blogger event THE SOUP KITCHEN, here for entry details and current theme offering a new theme each month.
All bloggers are welcome, hope to see you participate soon.
thank you Debs!
Eager to try this — I’m assuming I can skip the bacon, though? (I don’t eat red meat)
Of course you can!
Corn Chowder has got to be one of my favorite soups of all time! This sounds so yummy!
Me too Peggy!
I can’t wait for summer corn! This will be made 🙂
Me either! Corn in NJ is the best.
I can’t wait to try this, it looks deliciou
Can it be made without a dutch oven
Of course!
This looks great! Local corn will be here in the next week so I’ll make it soon.
You will love it!
I saw this post in the summer and have been wanting to try it -finally. Have you ever frozen it, too? How did it turn out? Thanks!!
No I haven’t. I don’t think that cream soups freeze very well.
So glad I found this. I’ve been craving corn chowder and will give yours a try!
I hope you enjoy!
This looks great!
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