May 31

May 31 Corn Chowder

Dairy Free, Dinner, Gluten Free, Healthy Kids, Soups, Vegan

I know soup in Summer sounds a little weird to some people but we love a random soup night. Especially when someone has a summer cold or it is a rainy day. To make it more of a warm weather dinner, I use the fresh produce of the summer, when it is tasting the absolute best. The sweetest corn, crisp peppers, abundant zucchini, and put it together. Chowders are a year around favorite here, and because we have dairy sensitivities, we use some of the fantastic brands for vegan options. I made this with almond milk and dairy free cream and it was delicious. We can get away with some shredded cheese but a creamy base would not be fun. If you use some plant-based “bacon” or leave it out completely, this is vegan and naturally gluten free. This soup is not for the whole30-ers or the low carb crowd but I guarantee, everyone will love it. We always serve our soups with a bread, I like some soft rolls with this one but grab whatever your crew loves. I just love the colors, textures, and it is actually filling, which is always a concern around here with a vegetable soup.

Corn Chowder

6 slices bacon, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups milk
1 cup cream
8 cups corn, divided (2 bags of frozen corn)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
2-3 cups potatoes, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1 1/2 cup broth
2 zucchini, quartered and sliced
Toppings - green onions, cheese, bacon bits, grilled corn, chives, yogurt

- In a pot, add the bacon and cook on medium-high heat until it is crispy, remove to a towel-lined plate to drain and cool. Drop in the onions to the bacon grease and season with salt and pepper, cook until caramelized and brown.

- To the pot, add in the milk, cream, and 4 cups of corn along with salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer. Once it has simmered for a while, either transfer to a blender or puree with a immersion blender.

- While the corn mixture is simmering, cut your vegetables. After you have blended the soup base, add in the potatoes, peppers, broth and remaining corn. Increase the heat to medium-high and let the soup boil to cook the potatoes.

- When the potatoes are tender, add in the zucchini and adjust seasoning. When the zucchini is slightly tender, you are ready to serve. Top with the cooked bacon or stir in.

You are going to start with the creamy corn base in the pot before adding in all these other ingredients.

In here is just some cream, milk, corn, salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning along with the caramelized onions. I forgot to take a picture of the bacon and onions cooking. Make sure to start with the bacon because it gives it great flavor.

Here is the corn soup base that has had time to simmer and is ready to puree. This is a great base because it is bursting with corn flavor. This is easily made dairy free and vegan with all the great products on the market now.

Here it is all blended, I like it a little chunkier but make it as smooth as you like.

While the corn soup was simmering, I got my chopping on and here we have potatoes, zucchini, peppers, and the rest of that corn along with the cooked and drained bacon.