Potato Corn Chowder

This delicious potato corn chowder includes white beans, making it heartier than most! Serve this healthy chowder with muffins and a green salad.

I have this recurring nightmare where I’m performing a piano recital, but I realize that I don’t know the music. So I’m on stage, with everyone watching, and I have to make it up as I go along, literally making up the music on the spot. It might not sound like a nightmare to you, but as a classically trained musician who practiced hours and hours for each performance, it’s truly horrible. The feeling of “faking it” in front of a live audience gives me a pit in my stomach even thinking about it. 

This is also how I felt in our early days of learning to cook. When dinner guests would show up and I was still trying to finish the meal, I’d feel like I was faking my way through the cooking process. Years later, I realize I was so uncomfortable because I had no experience under my belt. In some ways I was making it up as I went along. But after years and year of practice in the kitchen, today I can mix up a soup like this potato corn chowder and chat with my dinner guests without breaking into a sweat. Keep reading for the recipe!

How to make potato corn chowder

This healthy potato corn chowder was inspired by a $1 bag of end-of-season corn from the farmer’s market. We wanted to create our own vegetarian potato corn chowder recipe that was healthy, full of vegetables, and filling. Since many times vegetarian chowders are less filling than we’d like, we decided to add white beans to our potato corn chowder. The white beans blend in with the other vegetables, at the same time adding some plant based protein and making the soup more filling.

The main secret to this potato corn chowder is boiling the corn cobs in the broth while the soup cooks. This adds a fantastic richness and complexity of flavor. If you don’t have in season corn, you can still make this chowder with frozen corn and omitting the corn cobs. Just make sure to try it during corn season to experience the full effect! In our potato corn chowder, we’ve used milk instead of cream to keep it on the lighter side. The end result is a healthy chowder that’s bursting with flavor and not too heavy.

Looking for more healthy dinner ideas?

This healthy potato corn chowder is one of our favorite healthy dinner ideas! Our some of our other top healthy dinner ideas on A Couple Cooks:

• Veggie Burrito Bowl with Cauliflower Rice
• Veggie Packed Quinoa Fried Rice
• Feta and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
• Hearty Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
• Chickpea Couscous Bowls with Tahini Sauce
• Raw Falafel Buddha Bowls
• Chipotle Black Bean Tortilla Soup
• Moroccan Cauliflower Soup
• Coconut Lentil Curry with Greens
• Thai Sweet Potatoes with Peanut Drizzle
• Baked Falafel Salad Bowl
• Best Gluten Free Dinner Recipes
• Best Corn Recipes
• Red Potato Recipes

This potato corn chowder recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

Potato Corn Chowder

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★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

• Author: a Couple Cooks
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

This delicious potato corn chowder includes white beans, making it heartier than most! Serve this healthy chowder with muffins and a green salad.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 yellow onion
• ½ red bell pepper
• 3 carrots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound red skinned potatoes
• 6 ears corn
• 15-ounce can white beans
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 cups milk
• ¼ cup cornmeal or masa
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper

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Instructions

1. Dice the yellow onion and red pepper. Peel and dice the carrots. Mince the garlic. Dice the potatoes. Cut corn off of 6 cobs (if possible, use a bundt pan: place the corn cob in the center ring and cut the corn down into the pan). Reserve the cobs. Drain and rinse the white beans; set aside. Remove the leaves of thyme and set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Saute the onion and bay leaf 4 minutes, until soft. Add the carrots, red pepper, and garlic, and saute for 4 minutes. Add corn kernels, corn cobs, potatoes, and milk. Bring to a boil. Then simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove the corn cobs and bay leaf. In a small bowl, mix the cornmeal or masa with ¼ cup water, then add to pot. Add the kosher salt, white beans, and fresh thyme. Heat through for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the soup is thickened a bit (mash down lumps of cornmeal if any occur). Serve warm.

• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: Potato Corn Chowder, Healthy Corn Chowder, Vegetarian Chowder, Healthy Dinner Ideas, Dinner Ideas, Vegetarian Recipe