Corn chowder in minutes with this easy recipe! Easy weeknight dinner served with bread and salad.
Ingredients
½lbbacon, chopped
1diced red pepper, optional
4-5cupsdiced potatoes about 2.5 lbs before peeled
1medium onion about 1 ½ cup chopped (white, yellow or sweet)
2teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonground pepper
4cupscold water
1tablespoonplus 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon chicken flavor
3tablespoonsbutter
3tablespoonsall purpose flour
2 ½cupsmilk (whole or skim)
Additional salt, pepper and chicken flavoring if needed
2 ½cupsfrozen yellow or white corn or one small package OR 6-8 ears fresh corn, cut off cob
1tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Cook bacon until crisp in a 6-8 quart dutch oven or similar size pan. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel. Drain grease from the pan, but do not clean the pan, leaving any small bits of bacon.
Add diced red pepper to the pan and cook on medium heat just until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and place on a plate with bacon. Set aside.
Add the potatoes, onion, salt, pepper and cold water to the pan. Heat until boiling, then reduce to simmer for about 5-8 minutes or until the potatoes are barely tender but not falling apart.
Add chicken flavoring to the pan and stir into water until dissolved. Turn off heat while making the roux (below).
In a separate saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of flour to the butter. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, whisking until smooth. The mixture should start to puff up a bit when the flour is cooked properly. Slowly add milk to the roux, whisk until smooth. The mixture will thicken as it is heated. At this point, you may add salt and pepper. Be careful to not add too much salt since you will be adding chicken flavoring which also contains sodium. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Pour into the pan with the potatoes and broth.
Add the frozen corn, simmer for 2-3 minutes. Taste the soup and add salt, pepper and chicken flavoring as needed. Add bacon and red pepper to the soup, along with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir and serve immediately.
Notes
I chop the bacon before pan frying and use thick cut bacon.
“Better than Bouillon” is found in most grocery stores and also at Costco.
The red pepper may be substituted with a cup of other chopped veggies or left out all together.
Save a bit of the bacon for garnish before serving.
This soup does not freeze well, but can be made up to 3 days before serving.