This light and fresh Summer Corn Chowder is perfect for a late Summer meal. With corn, bell pepper, green onion, jalapeno, mini potatoes, all in a lightly creamy, smoked paprika flavoured broth.
When you’ve had your fill of corn of the cob, use some of that corn for this easy and delicious Summer Corn Chowder. You’ll love that it’s lightly creamy (uses only milk and no cream) and the rich variety of vegetables. I love the smoked paprika flavoured broth, which complements the vegetables perfectly.
Ingredient Notes
Milk – you don’t need cream here, but I do recommend at least a 2% milk or preferably, whole milk (3-3.5%), for the nicest flavour and consistency. That said, you can use half and half cream here in place of the milk, if you like (which would also give you a slightly thicker soup).
Broth – use either chicken or vegetable broth, as you like.
Potatoes – I’ve used mini red potatoes here, that I quartered. You could also dice them into smaller pieces, if you like. For a thicker soup, try diced russet potatoes, which tend to thicken the broth naturally.
Corn – I had a couple of cobs of corn left, so I just cut the kernels off the cobs. You can also use frozen corn or even cooked, left-over corn here.
Vegetables – I cleaned out the fridge by adding red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper and green onion, in addition to the corn and potatoes. You can really add any vegetable you like here.
Paprika – I’ve used mainly smoked paprika (sweet), with a bit of regular paprika, as well. You can use all smoked paprika or all regular paprika, if you like.
Recipe Video
Cook’s Notes
- As mentioned above, you can add any vegetable to this soup. Some greens, such as spinach, would be a nice addition. I also think some canned black beans would fit right into this soup.
- Instead of using the chopped fresh tomato as a garnish, try stirring it in during the last minute of cooking. It’s also nice! Then just garnish with some chopped basil.
- Puree the soup as much or as little as you like. The more you puree, the thicker the soup.
- Even though we’re adding some salt, do taste at the end of cooking and add a bit more if you think it needs it. A few grinds of freshly ground pepper is a nice addition at the end of cooking, as well.
Get the Recipe: Simple Summer Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup milk, preferably 2% or whole milk, though you can use half and half cream, if you like.
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1/3 cup jalapeno pepper, diced
- 1/3 cup green onion, diced, green part only
- 8-10 mini red potatoes, quartered
- 3 1/2 cups corn kernels, fresh from 2-3 cobs or frozen
- 1 1/2 tsp salt Kosher salt, less if using fine salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, plus more to taste (or use regular paprika)
- 1/4 tsp paprika
Garnish:
- Diced fresh tomatoes, or stir into soup during the last minute of cooking, if you like.
- Basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the broth and milk and stir to combine. Add the bell pepper, jalapeno, green onion, potatoes and corn and stir to combine. Add the salt and paprika. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer soup gently for about 25-30 minutes, or until the potatoes and corn are tender.
- For a thicker soup, use an immersion blender to pulse the soup 4 or 5 times (or more, if you like). Taste soup and add additional salt, if needed.
- Serve garnished with chopped fresh tomatoes and chopped fresh basil.
This was so so delicious – doubled the recipe and made it verbatim. Thanks for another great recipe Jennifer :-)
So glad you enjoyed it, Nick :) Thanks so much!
Can’t beat a fresh summer corn chowder Jennifer! We have so much beautiful Jersey corn right now too. It’s been so deliciously sweet! I love the chopped tomato garnish on top too!
Thanks so much, Mary Ann :) I always try to get my fill when it is at its best!