Corn Chowder with Bacon (Printable Version)

Hearty chowder blending sweet corn, potatoes, smoky bacon, and creamy broth for cozy dining moments.

# What You Need:

→ Meats

01 - 6 slices bacon, chopped

→ Vegetables

02 - 2 cups sweet corn kernels (fresh, frozen, or canned and drained)
03 - 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
04 - 1 medium yellow onion, diced
05 - 1 celery stalk, diced
06 - 2 cloves garlic, minced

→ Liquids

07 - 3 cups chicken stock (gluten-free if needed)
08 - 1 cup heavy cream
09 - 1 cup whole milk

→ Spices & Seasonings

10 - 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
11 - 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
12 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

→ Garnish

13 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or green onions

# Steps:

01 - In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crispy; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving approximately 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pot.
02 - Add diced onion and celery to the pot and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes until softened.
03 - Stir in minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
04 - Add diced potatoes, sweet corn kernels, smoked paprika, and dried thyme; stir to evenly coat the vegetables with seasonings.
05 - Pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
06 - Stir in heavy cream and whole milk; gently simmer for an additional 5 minutes without boiling.
07 - Use an immersion blender to partially puree the soup directly in the pot until reaching desired consistency; alternatively, transfer 2 cups of soup to a blender, purée, and return to the pot.
08 - Stir in half of the cooked bacon; season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
09 - Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and chopped fresh chives or green onions.

# Expert Pointers:

01 -
  • The bacon fat does most of the heavy lifting, so you don't need to add butter or oil—it's built in and tastes incredible.
  • Corn chowder gets better the next day, which means leftovers actually taste like you made it on purpose.
  • It comes together in under an hour but tastes like you've been simmering it all afternoon.
02 -
  • Don't skip rendering the bacon at the start—that fat is literally irreplaceable and is what separates this from tasting like cream soup that happened to have bacon in it.
  • If your potatoes aren't completely tender before you add the cream, they won't finish cooking because cream makes heat distribute differently—this is a lesson I learned the hard way with a spoon stuck in a potato.
  • Partially blending is more interesting than fully blending—you want texture and surprise in each spoonful, not baby food.
03 -
  • Save the last handful of bacon for garnish instead of mixing it all in—the contrast between creamy soup and crispy texture is what keeps people coming back for more bites.
  • If your stock isn't great quality, don't be shy about tasting it before you commit—you can always stretch a mediocre stock with more vegetables or a little miso paste to add depth.
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