Potato Corn Chowder
Golden corn, tender potatoes, vegetables, herbs and spices make a wonderful end-of-summer chowder. Make it dairy-free with canned coconut milk, and it's naturally gluten-free. Make it ahead on the weekend for a busy week ahead. Chowder will hold 4 days in the refrigerator. If you are not vegan and enjoy crisp bacon, it's the perfect garnish.
Servings: 4 to 6
Calories: 541kcal
Equipment
- Large soup pot or dutch oven
Ingredients
- 5 ears corn on the cob or 4-4 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 ribs celery ¾ cup, chopped small
- 2 carrots ¾ cup, chopped small
- 1 small leek ¾ cup, chopped thin
- 2 garlic cloves chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
- ½ teaspoon fennel pollen or ground fennel optional but delicious
- 1 bay leafs
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 ounces gold potato chopped into small pieces
- 3 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 2 cups half and half or 1 15-ounce can coconut milk
Optional Garnish
- 8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled about ½ pound
Instructions
- Husk corn cobs and scrub off the silk. Chop the cobs in half crosswise. Stand each cob on a flat end and with a sharp knife, slice off the kernels. Alternatively when corn is out of season, use frozen corn.
- Pour olive oil into a medium pot over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add celery, carrots and leek. Turn heat to medium low and cook the vegetables until soft, about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook another minute, then add thyme, fennel, salt and pepper.
- Add potato, broth and corn kernels and cook stirring occasionally until the potatoes and corn are tender when you bite them. Keep the heat at a low simmer, just barley bubbling so that the potatoes don't disintegrate. When vegetables are tender, add the coconut milk and heat through.
- Optional garnish - while soup is finishing, fry bacon strips until crisp, drain and crumble to top the soup.
Notes
This chowder gets very thick when refrigerated. You will need a little extra broth to thin it down. Or to feed extra hungry mouths, use more broth and make it more of a soup, which will stretch the quantity of servings.
Nutrition
Calories: 541kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 737mg | Potassium: 986mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 5878IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 3mg