Fresh Corn Chowder loaded with sweet summer corn and tender potatoes in a creamy and flavor-packed corn broth. You’ll love that you have options using either fresh corn on the cob, frozen or even canned corn when it’s not in season. It also keeps well in the refrigerator, which I love for meal planning!
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Helpful Reader Review
“This is hands down the best corn chowder that we have ever had. I made it for company and they said that we could have just served them the chowder and skipped the main course because the chowder was so scrumptious! Thank you!” – Karen ★★★★★
The Best Corn Chowder Recipe
If you love the comfort of Clam Chowder, this corn chowder recipe is sure to become a new favorite. This crowd-pleasing soup is perfect for entertaining on cool summer nights. Pair it with warm homemade biscuits and dinner is made!
Corn chowder is quite a treat when fresh corn is abundant. We love to use both the kernels and the stripped cobbs for sweet corn flavor. This corn chowder has the creamy richness of a Potato Soup and the addition of tender corn and bacon makes every bite memorable.
Corn Chowder Video Tutorial
Watch my video tutorial and I’ll show you just how easy it is to make corn chowder. Corn chowder is actually one of the first soups I learned how to make when I got married 21+ years ago. I remember researching the top restaurant copycat soups and then developing this recipe – it’s a keeper!
Ingredients for Corn Chowder
The ingredients here are simple pantry and refrigerator staples that come together to make the best pot of soup.
- Corn: Corn that is still on the cob is best so you can utilize the kernels and the corn milk from the husks. Check out my tips for buying corn. If fresh corn is out of season, no problem – see below for corn substitutions.
- Potatoes: we use Yukon gold potatoes for their tender, waxy texture which is perfect for a chowder.
- Carrot, Celery, and Onion: This aromatic trio is critical to adding flavor and we use them in nearly all of my soup recipes.
- Bacon: Sauteeing the bacon and then cooking the veggies in the bacon grease adds wonderful flavor and we use the cooked bacon to garnish the soup. No one will resist that bacon topping!
- Chicken Broth, Milk and Cream: These form the base of the corn stock. We simmer the shucked cobbs in this combination for a deeply delicious chowder base.
- Cayenne Pepper: This simple seasoning is all you need, plus salt and black pepper of course.
Can I use Frozen or Canned Corn?
Fresh corn on the cob and especially local produce will give this chowder the best flavor. For winter corn chowder or when fresh corn is not available, try these instead:
- Frozen Corn: frozen is usually produced at the peak of freshness so it will work and will save you some time. Since you won’t have the cobs for making corn stock, add a 15 oz can of creamed corn for a tastier broth.
- Canned Corn: Use (1) 15 oz can corn and (1) 15 oz can creamed corn. Add the liquid ingredients at step 3 without pre-cooking them. The liquid from the canned corn will add a boost of corn flavor.
How to Make Corn Stock
Using the whole cob of corn will give you the best-flavored corn stock. Allowing the stripped cobs to simmer for 20 minutes with the broth, cream, and milk draws out every bit of rich and sweet flavor from the corn. After discarding the cobs, you are left with really delicious corn stock.
- Make the Corn Stock – Cut the kernels from the cobs and set kernels aside for making chowder.* Place the bare cobs in a stockpot.
- Add broth, milk, and cream, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes while making the chowder. Use tongs to remove and discard cobs before using corn stock.
How to Cut Corn off the Cobs
Cutting corn from the cob can get messy with kernels landing all over your kitchen. You can avoid making a big mess with this simple trick:
Set a small bowl upside down inside of a larger bowl. Place your corn vertically on top of the smaller bowl, hold the top, and cut the kernels off by running your knife straight down against the cob. The kernels will fall into the larger bowl, just be careful not to hit the bowl with your knife. You can also do this over a bundt pan.
How to Make Corn Chowder
- Sautee bacon in a Dutch oven until crisps and renders fat. Remove bacon to a plate, reserving 2-3 Tbsp of bacon grease in the pot.
- Sautee veggies (onion, celery, and carrot) in the bacon grease until softened.
- Add potatoes and corn kernels and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- Add corn stock into the pot and simmer until potatoes are tender.
- Serve in warm bowls garnished with bacon and chives.
How to Remove Corn Silk
After the corn is shucked, it’s important to remove the silk threads for the smoothest consistency. The easiest way to remove corn silk is to brush the corn with a bristled brush or even a clean toothbrush. The bristles catch the silk and it comes off quickly and easily.
Storing Corn Chowder
- To Refrigerate: Cool the soup completely to room temperature before storing, then transfer it to airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: I would not recommend freezing corn chowder since the dairy in the recipe can separate, and potatoes can get grainy and mushy.
- To Reheat: Add soup to a saucepan and reheat over low heat, stirring frequently to bring back the creamy texture. You can also reheat in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until heated through.
Topped with bacon and chives, this Corn Chowder becomes such a comforting bowl of soup. It’s a family favorite, right up there with Zuppa Toscana!
More Corn Recipes
If you love sweet summer corn, these corn recipes are the best way to enjoy corn while it’s at the peak of freshness and flavor.
- Boiled Corn on the Cob
- Avocado Corn Salad
- Grilled Corn in Foil
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
- Mexican Street Corn
- Shrimp Boil
- Corn Guacamole
Corn Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
For the Corn Stock:
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
For the Corn Chowder:
- 4 cups corn kernels (from 4-5 ears corn), reserve cobs for stock*
- 4 oz (4 slices) bacon, chopped
- 1 large onion, finely diced (1 1/2 cup)
- 1 large carrot, cut into 1/4″ dice (1 cup)
- 3 stalks celery, finely diced (1 cup)
- 1 lb Yukon potatoes, 3 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4″ thick pieces
- 2-3 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 Tbsp Chives, chopped, to garnish
Instructions
How to Make Corn Stock:
- Cut the kernels from the cobs and set kernels aside for making chowder.* Place the bare cobs in a stockpot.
- Add 4 cups broth, 1 1/2 cups milk, and 1 cup cream to pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer un-covered 20 minutes while making the chowder. Use tongs to remove and discard cobs before using corn stock in step 3.
How to Make Corn Chowder:
- Place a 5 Qt dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add chopped bacon and cook stirring occasionally until browned. Remove bacon bits with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- In the same pot, add chopped onion, celery and carrot to the bacon fat and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft (7-8 min).
- Add sliced potatoes, 4 cups corn kernels, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Pour corn stock into the pot, bring to a light boil then simmer uncovered 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste**. Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved bacon and chopped chives.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Family-Favorite Soup Recipes
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Split Pea Soup – My Mother’s recipe
- Beef Stew
- Tomato Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- French Onion Soup (Natasha’s Fave)
Pretty darn good! I doubled the recipe I followed it but added aome things on my own too. I threw a bay leaf in, a heaping teaspoon of jarred/crushed garlic, and some freshly grate nutmeg. After I tasted it, I realized it was crying out for some sort of acid so I juiced one lime and added that to the pot. This recipe is a keeper with my additions noted on it for next time!
Hi Angela! Thank you for sharing that with us. I’m glad you loved the recipe!
I have little to no idea what I’m doing in the kitchen but when I retired I told my wife that I wanted to take over making a meal from time to time… after all, she has been cooking for us for fifty something years.
I have no natural cooking abilities and so I don’t have an intuitive response if things go wrong. I can, however, follow a recipe with good directions… and that’s what I did with your chowder recipe.
My wife has always been supportive of me, and then some, but she knows that she must be truthful when it comes to my cooking or I will remember her false praise and do it again (and again) the same dreadful way.
She said that this was some of the best chowder that she’s ever had. She liked the mild heat of the cayenne pepper, (which I wouldn’t normally use), and that the bacon added another element which was most welcome. I made Bisquick Cheese Biscuits to go with the chowder.
Thank you very much for making this recipe available! I have it printed out and saved in my “Revisit Often” folder.
Hi John! Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I’m glad you loved the recipe and have found a new one to add to your favorites.
This soup is true comfort food . Of course I have to tweak every recipe so I added a tsp of chicken base for more flavor. I did use my blender to thicken the broth (about 2 cups).at the end I put a Pat of butter. Delicious!!! Will definitely make again.
So glad you loved it, Vicki!
Delicious! I made this with canned corn/creamed corn, and threw all the bacon in at the end. I didn’t have any milk, so I left that out altogether and it was still delicious & super easy to make!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Bobbi!
Loved this soup!!! Will absolutely make it again! Simple instructions and easy to follow recipe. Big hit for everyone (5) that had it!!!
That’s wonderful, Nancy! I’m glad it was enjoyed by all!
Easy to follow, great results. A keeper. Only made one addition. I simmered the bald cobs in the broth so as to get every bit of taste.
What do cooks do with the chopped bacon?
It was cooked and set aside but no mention of adding it or using as garnish?
We use the cooked bacon to garnish the soup.
Excellent recipe…just a little zingy, which I like! I used an immersion blender instead of radular blender to make soup a little thicker – turned out great!
Great to hear, Mari!
This is the best soup! Really cozy and comforting. And it’s so quick… 15 minutes of hands on time. Yum.
I’m so glad you loved it, Victoria!
We made this a couple of weeks ago. Followed the recipe as written. Everyone loved it!
That’s wonderful! So glad it was enjoyed.
I used your recipe yesterday because I was expecting a favourite cousin for lunch. I used frozen corn and added lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon. I could detect a slight lemon flavour so I’ll cut back a bit next time. I served the corn chowder with homemade cheese tea biscuits. Very good recipe! Thank you. 🍁🧡🍁
That sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing.
Yummy! I used creole seasoning instead of cayenne and find that it’s more flavorful this way and adds a little heat. Will be making again!
That’s great, Alex! Thank you for sharing.
How is this with frozen corn kernels? Sadly fresh corn season is over, and I think frozen corn on the cob is terrible. Altho in a soup it could work
Hi Susan, I have added this in the recipe “Frozen Corn: frozen is usually produced at the peak of freshness so it will work and will save you some time. Since you won’t have the cobs for making corn stock, add a 15 oz can of creamed corn for a tastier broth.” Hope that helps!
This recipe was excellent! I am a vegetarian so I substituted bacon/bacon grease with half a stick of butter and used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and it turned out excellent.
That’s great, Samantha!
I made this tonight, me and my 5 year old devoured it! I used leeks instead of onion and I had no celery so i used extra carrots. I also substituted milk for unsweetened almond milk and used the 1 cup of heavy cream as directed.
This recipe is a new favorite! so easy and delicious, even my picky eater children loved this soup.
It’s always nice to hear that kids enjoy our recipes too! Thanks a lot for this review and for sharing that with us, Amelia.
I made this for my Life Group and it was delicious! Everyone loved it, including my husband who doesn’t like soup!
Can you tell me what is considered a “serving”?
That’s wonderful, Mary Ann. At the top of the recipe card, you’ll see that the recipe makes 8 servings (cups). The nutrition facts are per serving.
Absolutely delicious! I made it with plant cream and lactose free milk. Turned out wonderful!!!
I’m so happy to hear that the substitution worked well, Ruth! Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Great recipe……however I had frozen clams and mussels which I needed to use up. Added them and some Old bay. Also wanted mine a little thicker, so added 4-5 Tbsps of flour after the veggies were sautéed and before the corn broth was added. My husband really loved it and this recipe will be repeated!
Hi Margaret! That’s wonderful. Thank you for sharing that with us.
So delicious! Great idea using the cob in the stick. Thanks for this recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Rick!
This soup is wonderful! I made it for dinner today and we loved it. Only changes I made (and I know it would be great even without them) was I added shredded chicken and cheddar cheese. I will definitely make this again. Thanks
That’s so great, Brenda! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.