Fresh Corn Chowder with Chorizo. Yes please!

I love making silky, creamy corn chowder towards the end of summer when local corn is still in season and the nights start getting a little colder. This recipe calls for chorizo but you can easily modify it to use salmon, shrimp, chicken, bacon, a different sausage of your choice, or omit the meat for a delicious and hearty vegetarian soup.

The Secret to Making Corn Chowder…..

Or any corn soup for that matter, is to use fresh whole ears of corn. The corn kernels are first cut off the cob and set aside until the last 5 minutes of cooking. The de-kernelled ears get thrown into the pot and boiled with the soup. After 10-20 minutes of boiling, scrape the corn ears with the back-side of a knife. This extracts more corn flavor and releases starches that help thicken the soup.

Key Ingredients and Variations

As with any soup, there is so much room for variations. That is what I love about making soup. Here are some ideas and suggestions:

Corn – fresh is best. Can you make corn chowder using frozen corn, yes but you will loose some of the fresh corn flavor.

Potato – This recipe calls for one yukon gold potato. You can omit the potato and add an extra cup of corn kernals. Either fresh or frozen. Red potatoes also work well and do not need to be peeled. I generally don’t use russet potatoes in soups unless it is a pureed soup because they break down. If you do use russets, its best to peel them.

Chorizo – I used a Chorizo Verde that I made from scratch at The Farm Table. This is a sausage that is loaded with green peppers, spinach, and cilantro. It is hard to find in stores. Regular red chorizo makes a great corn chowder too, as does linguica, andouille, and bacon. You could also add or substitute the sausage for diced chicken breast, salmon, or shrimp. If you do, add those things raw with the corn kernels in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Butter – Butter is used to make the roux that thickens chowder. You can sub the butter for any other cooking fat, corn oil, lard, canola, etc, but why would you want to? This is already going to be a full-fat, full-dairy dish so I encourage you to indulge. That being said, if you are using bacon and you brown the bacon in the pot and have a lot of rendered bacon fat, that is a good replacement for the butter. Half bacon fat and half butter or oil works too.

Flour – In my mind, a good roux and cream are what make a chowder a chowder. Flour is the second half of roux, after butter (or bacon fat). If you want to make a gluten-free chowder and omit the flour, then you don’t need the butter either. You can thicken with a corn starch slurry but the texture will be a little different. Or you can make your broth ahead of time, cook a peeled russet potato in it, and blend it all together and use that for a thickened broth. The result will be different, it won’t really be a “chowder” but you can still make a mean corn soup.

Cream – I am partial to cream in chowders. Growing up in New England where chowder was a staple and everyone made there own version of it, I knew a lot of home cooks that tried to make “low calorie” chowders using milk or heaven forbid, non-fat half and half (what is that?). The results just weren’t as good. Chowders are a stick-to-your-bones kind of soups. We don’t eat them every day. When we do, let’s get the full experience. That being said, if you are lactose intolerant, coconut milk would be your best bet as a substitute for this chowder.

Peppers – There’s a lot of room for playing around here. Roasted or non-roasted sweet red bell peppers, roasted poblano or pasilla peppers, canned green chilis, green bell peppers, jalapenos. This is all up to your personal taste and mood.

Tips For Thickening the Chowder:

This method makes the roux in the pot while sauteing the vegetables. The upside of this method is everything can be done at the same time in the same pot. The downside is that it is easier to scorch the bottom and you need to be attentive to the heat (medium-low) and stirring (all the way to the bottom, every 5 minutes or so).

Another method that is more foolproof but requires prep ahead of time is to add a pre-made roux to the hot soup towards the end of cooking. You can make a big batch of roux ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Happy Cooking!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and would love to see your pictures and hear about your variations. Please feel free to share on Instagram or Facebook and in the comments section on this blog. Don’t forget to the rate this recipe!

Chorizo Corn Chowder Recipe

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• Author: Kara Taylor- Home Cooks Guide
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 2 1/2 quarts 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: Boiling
• Cuisine: American

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Description

This hearty corn chowder made with fresh corn is full of flavor!

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Ingredients

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1 lb chorizo

1 large onion

3 ribs of celery

1 large yukon gold potato, diced (skin on is ok)

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

5 ears of corn, de-kernelled, kernels set aside

4 cups seasoned homemade chicken or vegetable broth (or water with 1 1/2 T Better than Bouillon) 

1 cup cream

1 large pepper, roasted and peeled (for a kick and good flavor, use pasilla)

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

hot sauce (optional)

cilantro (optional)

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Instructions

Brown the chorizo in a pot that holds at least 4 quarts.  Unless the sausage is really lean, you don’t need to add oil yet.

When the sausage is browned, add the diced onion, celery, potato, and butter.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and sweat these vegetables until they are about halfway tender (10 minutes or so).

Add the flour and stir.  Cook for 1-2 minutes then add the cold broth, corn ears, bay, and thyme.  Bring this to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Using tongs and the back of a knife, lift the ears out of the pot one at a time and scrape the remaining starchy corn off the cob back into the pot.

Cooking and scraping the ears is the secret to a great corn chowder!

When all the ears have been scraped and removed, add the corn kernels, cream and diced peppers, and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed and serve with hot sauce and cilantro if desired.

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Notes

Once the flour is added, it’s really important to keep the heat on medium-low while stirring and scraping the bottom frequently.  It’s easy to scorch a chowder.