This creamy corn chowder might be the ultimate comfort food, and it’s so easy to make! It involves a simple roux, a little milk and broth, a couple potatoes and some onion and garlic to round out flavors. You can add lots of toppings, or keep it simple with a sprinkle of cheese. Either way it’s a simple and delicious weeknight meal. This recipe has been a long-time favorite and is also in one of our cook books. At the risk of shaking things up a little, I recently updated the instructions just a bit. If this is a favorite of yours already, no fear- the original instructions can be found in the notes section of the recipe card!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Water
- Milk
- Chicken base – like Better than Bouillon but feel free to sub ready made broth.
- Bacon – The bacon is optional, making it potentially vegetarian. If you decide to leave the bacon out, I’d recommend adding about 1 tsp. of smoked paprika to get that yummy, smokey flavor in the soup.
- Onion
- Red potatoes
- Fresh garlic
- Frozen corn
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot sauce – such as Tabasco.
- Smoked paprika – Optional. This will change the color of the soup, so don’t feel like you have to add it, but if you’re leaving out the bacon (or even if you’re not) it can be a yummy addition that adds a little bit of smokiness.
- Cheddar cheese – For serving
- Green Onion – For serving, optional.
How to Make Creamy Corn Chowder
This is simply an overview of instructions, for full printable recipe, keep scrolling! Also, this recipe has recently been updated with some new and improved instructions. If you’ve been making this for years and prefer the original, you’ll find it in the notes of the printable recipe.
- If you’re using bacon, fry 6-8 ounces of it until crisp (or use this oven method, which is my all-time favorite way to make bacon!).
- While the bacon is cooking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and saute chopped onions until tender. Add garlic and a little more butter and stir in flour.
- Add water and chicken base and whisk to smooth out flour. Then add milk.
- Add potatoes and bring to a low simmer, stirring very frequently, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Add crumbled bacon and corn (and smoked paprika if you’re using) and heat through.
- Add a few drops of hot sauce and then salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with extra bacon and cheese – I also love a little green onion!
Note: Smoked paprika is an optional ingredient here. I absolutely love the smoky flavor it adds to soups, especially if you’re leaving out the bacon. Just be aware it adds a peachy orange color to the soup- which I don’t mind, but if you want your soup to stay creamy white then you’ll want to leave it out. The photo above does not include the smoked paprika, and the photos below do, just for reference!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3-4 days for best results.
- Freeze individual portions for a quick meal on busy days. After freezing it might have a very slight textural change, but it’s not very noticeable.
Frequently Asked Questions
This soup comes together pretty quickly, but if you’re strapped on time you can definitely make it ahead and store the cooled soup in the fridge until ready to heat and serve. After serving, you might need to add a little extra broth if it’s thickened too much.
Yes! Feel free to use fresh corn. You can saute it fresh off the cob with the onions, or add it at the end you like it more crunchy.
Creamy Corn Chowder
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- 2 ½ cups milk
- 2 teaspoons chicken base *plus some extra broth if desired, see step 5 in instructions.
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt more to taste before serving
- 8 ounces bacon
- 1 cup onion minced
- 2 small-medium potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces, about 2 cups or 10-12 oz
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn
- black pepper
- a few dashes of hot sauce like Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika optional
- grated cheddar cheese for serving, optional
- green onions for serving, optional
Instructions
- Fry bacon until crisp or lay it flat on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until crisp.
- In the meantime, melt 2 tablespoons butter (or you could totally use bacon drippings here!) over low heat in a soup pot. When melted, add diced onion and saute for 5-7 minutes until tender. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and garlic and stir until butter is melted.
- Add flour and stir to combine to coat the onions. Add water very slowly while whisking until completely combined and there are no lumps.
- Add milk and chicken base along with 1/2 teaspoon salt (and smoked paprika if you're using) and bring to a low simmer -NOT a high rolling boil. Add potatoes and simmer, stirring very frequently so it doesn't stick and burn on the bottom of your pan, for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Note: While simmering- This is a very thick soup at this point. If you like it this thick, continue with recipe! If you'd like to stretch the recipe and still have it creamy, but not quite so thick, add up to 3 additional cups chicken broth (ready-made broth or broth+chicken base). I personally always add 2-3 cups additional broth but I want to include options based on your preference since many people love it extra thick!
- Add crumbled bacon and corn and heat through. Add a few drops of hot sauce and then a few cracks of black pepper and additional salt to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with extra bacon and cheese, plus green onions if you like.
Questions & Reviews
Yep! Another fabulous recipe. I love this on a rainy day. So yummy for leftovers too.
Great soup- the whole fam enjoyed! I used center-cut bacon which made it even better. My fam (3 kids, ages 9-5, and 2 adults) polished off the whole pot for dinner with some small rolls on the side. I’ll make this again! I was thinking of adding smoked paprika too, but didn’t, and didn’t even realize you had mentioned that in the post!
My fiance loves this soup!!! I have made it all winter long and if I have any leftovers he take it to work with him! I love your site thanks so much
We made this tonight – not for the first time – and added 3 small cans of clams and a few dashes of Old Bay. It made a very nice, mild clam chowder. I love the versatility of this recipe!
This worked for me! Never made soup from scratch. My house smells so good, all I need it the potatoes to get soft and then I can eat it! I plan to use the base to make clam chowder sometime in the next few weeks.
Just made it and ate it for dinner. Very simple taste, which is VERY refreshing for a corn chowder; like you said too many people make them sweet or add lots of extras that turns it into something other than a corn chowder.
However, following this recipe, mine seemed to be lucky to serve 4 with moderate bowl servings. I am not sure if lots of the liquid evaporated off or it thickened up more than it was suppose to. It was still very tastey, just didn’t go very far 🙂
Angie–It makes about 6-8 servings. I've never tried it with evaporated milk and honestly, I probably wouldn't if I could avoid it just because it has such a distinct taste. But if you really need to, I'd probably reconstitute it with water first.
How many servings does this make? Have you ever made it with evaporated milk? That's what I have on hand so I'm going to use it just wondering if I need to make any other changes because of it. Thanks!
I just found your blog and am loving the recipes I am reading. You cook the way I do! Just curious if you are classically trained? You know many details about cooking that I am learning in school (I am studying at Le Cordon Bleu). Anyway, I am trying the corn chowder tonight! Looks wonderful! YUMM! 🙂
Hi, Teresa! Sorry I'm just getting back to you–recovering from our trip has been kind of crazy! 🙂 Anyway, if you freeze it, it will taste fine, but the texture and appearance will be off (kind of curdly). If that doesn't bother you, go for it! 🙂