Corn Chowder

February 23, 2026

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!

Summary

  • Prep Time: 15 min
  • Cook Time: 30 min
  • Other:
  • Total Time: 45 min
  • Servings: 8
  • Yield:

Ingredients

  • Corn Stock
    • 4 cups chicken broth
    • 1 1/2 cups milk
    • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 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

Directions

Corn Stock
  1. Cut the kernels from the cobs and set kernels aside for making chowder. Place the bare cobs in a stockpot.  
  2. 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.
Corn Chowder
  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.

Adjustments

  • Fresh Corn Substitutes
    • Frozen Corn: frozen is usually produced at the peak of freshness so it will work and will save you some time. Use 3 cups and 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.

History

  • 2026-02-23 – No corn on the cob available yet so used frozen corn. I added both frozen and creamed corn directly into the chowder vs. putting creamed into corn stock based on recipe comments. It came out thinner than I’d like so added 1 tbsp corn starch slurry. That did the trick but next time I may try putting 1/4 of the chowder into the blender and then back into the pot if needed next time.

References