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This Corn Chowder isn’t your average corn chowder. Instead, it’s absolutely packed with veggies and so creamy and tangy, not from cream, but Greek yogurt! You can absolutely use fresh corn (I do when it’s in season), but frozen corn works great too. That makes it a year-round corn chowder, which is something I can certainly get behind.
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This corn chowder starts the way many of the best recipes—in my opinion—do: by sauteeing a whole bunch of veggies. The chowder has not just corn, but also celery, red bell pepper, and potatoes in it. It’s hearty and filling without being heavy!
Besides chopping the veggies, this creamy corn chowder is very simple and mostly involves waiting around while the soup thickens. I like to blend half of it so it’s creamy without needing to rely on ingredients like cream or milk! That and the Greek yogurt get you one comforting bowl of chowder.
Recipe At a Glance
Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop
Dietary Info: Vegetarian
Key Flavor: Corn
Skill Level: Easy
Why This is So Good
- Make-ahead: This corn chowder will last in the fridge for 5 days! Honestly, I think soups like this get better with a little time once the flavors meld.
- One pot: This comes together in one pot! Fewer dishes to do? I’ll take it.
- Healthy comfort food: Chowder is kind of synonymous with comfort. It’s warm and silky and perfect with fresh crusty bread.
Ingredients to Make Corn Chowder
- Olive oil: Just a little is all you need to cook the vegetables.
- Onion, red bell pepper, celery, and potatoes: Dice all of these so they cook quickly and are pleasant to eat!
- Garlic: Minced garlic will mix in easily with the rest of the veggies!
- Salted butter: This adds flavor!
- Flour: When cooked, this will help to thicken the corn chowder.
- Vegetable broth: This adds more flavor than using water! You could substitute vegetable stock.
- Corn: Fresh or frozen will work!
- Dried thyme, bay leaf, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper: These seasonings are simple, but will add so much flavor. I prefer smoked or sweet paprika in chowder!
- Greek yogurt: Use full-fat Greek yogurt for the best flavor.
- Green onions: These are very mild onions.
Popular Substitutions & Additions
- Use any kind of potato. Yukon, red, russet, or even sweet potatoes would work.
- Stir in greens. After the corn chowder is blended, you can stir in chopped spinach or kale.
- Make it vegan. I have a vegan corn chowder recipe that’s equally easy and uses coconut milk!
- Use water instead of broth. You might need to add more salt, but the chowder will still be delicious.
How to Make Corn Chowder
This corn chowder will put your vegetable dicing and mincing skills to work! Otherwise, it’s super simple to make.
Tips for Making the Best Vegetarian Corn Chowder Recipe
- Cut fresh corn into a bundt pan. You can stand the cob in the center of the bundt pan (on the hole) and then cut the kernels off using a sharp chef’s knife. The pan will catch the corn!
- Exercise caution when blending. Blending hot soup can cause the top of a blender to pop off (it’s because of the steam!). I like to cover and hold down the lid with a kitchen towel while blending to avoid this. You could also use an immersion blender.
- Use room-temperature yogurt. This will ensure it blends smoothly into the soup!
- Use canned or frozen corn. The fresh corn will have more of a crunch or bite to it, which I love! If you use canned or frozen corn, the texture will be softer, but all of them will taste delicious.
What to Serve With Corn Chowder Soup
Frequently Asked Questions
Let the soup cool, then transfer it to an airtight container and put it in the fridge. The soup will keep for up to 5 days! To reheat it, you can do so in a saucepan or in the microwave until warmed through.
Yes, you can freeze it! Transfer it to an airtight container or zipperlock freezer bag, then place it in the freezer. It’ll keep for a few months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating!
If the corn chowder is too liquidy, blend some more of the soup. The blended soup will act as a thickener!
This Corn Chowder is like summer meets soup season. I love it for that reason. It’s veggie-packed, but comforting and light but still filling. Since making it for the first time, I’ve happily eaten it for lunch multiple times a week.
More Vegetarian Soup Recipes:
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
- Potato Leek Soup
- Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Wild Rice Mushroom Soup
- Red Curry Noodle Soup
- Vegan Corn Chowder
- Cucumber Gazpacho
If you try this feel good Corn Chowder recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 pound potatoes diced
- 4 cups corn kernels about 4 large corn on the cobs
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cups Greek yogurt room temperature
- green onions chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottom pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables soften. Add garlic and butter and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Add flour and stir to coat the vegetables until no longer visible. Add the broth, potatoes, corn, thyme, bay leaf, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender and broth has thickened, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the bay leaf and transfer about 3 cups of the soup and the Greek yogurt to a high-speed blender and process until smooth. Take care when blending hot liquids as they will expand as they mix. You can also use an immersion blender.
- Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir to combine. Serve the chowder with green onions and an extra spoonful of Greek yogurt, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
As you say, “soo good!” I used canned corn (2 15oz. cans drained) and regular paprika because that’s what I had and it was still quite delicious. Maybe one day I’ll be ambitious enough to use fresh corn! The Bundt pan hack sounds amazing!
Yay, so glad you liked it! Thanks so much!!
This was good. I did a couple minor subs 1) I used frozen corn. I am sure it is better with fresh (most things are) but frozen was also good! 2) I used unsmoked paprika as we don’t like the taste of smoked. Despite these alterations it was still quite tasty. We served it with cornbread as we fancied a corn themed dinner.
Those swaps are great, Anne! Cornbread sounds delicious, what an awesome pairing. So happy you liked the recipe!!
Great recipe but I sure do wish there was an option to print it. I don’t save recipes sometimes because of the work putting it into a word document and making it look decent as far as formatting. If I could print it, that would save work and I would be content with however the formatting came out. Just my thoughts.
Hi Jimmy, you actually can print my recipes! If you scroll to recipe card at the bottom of the post (above the comments section), there is a print button on the photo of the corn chowder. Click that to get a printable version of the recipe. Hope that helps!
Well . . . my apologies. I looked but I obviously didn’t look carefully enough. I guess it’s time to think about some glasses. Thanks for setting me straight. I did save this one in a document though. It’s a good recipe and worth saving.