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This chicken and corn chowder recipe is cozy, flavorful, and easy to make. Bacon makes this recipe extra delicious!
You may also like my Ham and Corn Chowder, which was inspired by this one.
Why you’ll love it
Corn chowder is already comforting, but pairing it with juicy chicken and crispy bacon takes it over the top in this simple recipe that’s made all in one pot. It’s one of my go-to meals in late summer especially, but I find myself craving it year-round.
Corn is good any time of year if you buy it frozen, but there’s something special about enjoying corn when it’s in season in late summer through fall. Corn chowder always hits the spot as the weather starts to turn a little crisp. I also love using it in my Creamy Corn Chowder and this Salmon Chowder!
What exactly is chowder?
- Ok, so we’ve all heard the word “chowder” and know that it’s a soup, but why are some soups called chowders while others aren’t? So, according to the internet, chowders are soups that are often thickened by way of a roux. That’s pretty much what we’re doing here since we’ve got the flour as our main thickening agent. Other methods include broken crackers.
- They typically contain fish, clams, or corn with potatoes and onions. I don’t know about you, but it seems like a weird definition. Like why group fish and clams with potatoes, corn, and onions and decide to classify it as “chowder” rather than “soup”? If anyone wants to do more in-depth research than I’ve conducted or knows why, please let me know. 😛
Ingredients for it
- Bacon – I find it’s easiest to cut up bacon with kitchen shears
- Chicken – we’re using chicken breasts in this recipe
- Onion, garlic, and celery – for the tasty base of the soup
- Flour – a thickening agent
- Chicken broth – a 32 oz carton of broth equals 4 cups. Just pour the entire thing in for this recipe. If you’re sensitive to salt, I suggest using low-sodium chicken broth. Chicken stock works too!
- Corn – feel free to use fresh corn (just cut if off the cob with a knife) if you have some. Canned corn isn’t quite as good, so I’d choose frozen over canned.
- Heavy cream – for added richness and thickness
- Potatoes – we prefer Russet in this recipe
- Italian seasoning – it’s a blend of dried herbs in a single convenient jar
- Cayenne – a pinch of cayenne pepper is optional but adds a little warmth
How to make chicken and corn chowder
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook your bacon in a large pot until crispy, then take it out of the pot and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Leave the grease in the pot. This adds so much flavor to the soup! Sauté the onion and celery in it.
Stir in the flour, and cook it for about a minute to cook out that “flour” taste. Add the garlic to the pot, and deglaze with the chicken broth.
Put in the remaining ingredients, saving some of the bacon for topping it later, and simmer until the potatoes are done and the soup has thickened as desired. Season with salt & pepper and garnish with chopped scallions if you like.
Pro tip
- I’ve had a few people ask me in the comments if the chicken should be added in raw. Yes! There’s no need to pre-cook it because it has plenty of time to cook in the soup. Over-cooking chicken makes it dry and rubbery.
Substitutions and variations
- I have tested this chicken chowder recipe with other potatoes besides Russets. I made this with 1.5 pounds of yellow little potatoes (baby Yukon golds) cut into halves/quarters and it turned out fine, but I prefer Russets.
- We don’t recommend substituting the heavy cream for something with a lower fat content. We’re not using a ton of it here, and it makes the chowder that much tastier!
- This is a fairly thick soup. If you like a thinner consistency better, just add a little more broth or water as necessary.
What to serve with it
- It’s one of those meals that’s perfect on its own with a big slice of crusty bread.
- If you do want to pair it with a salad, try this Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad.
Leftovers and storage
- This chowder will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Simply reheat in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through.
- You could try to freeze it, but sometimes dairy doesn’t hold up after thawing, so the texture may change. It should still taste fine, though. If you plan to have a lot of leftovers, you can leave the cream out before freezing and add it in later!
Will you give this chicken and corn chowder a try? Questions? Ask me in the comments. 🙂
Easy Chicken and Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon cut into small pieces
- 2 large uncooked chicken breasts cut into small bite-size pieces
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 sticks celery chopped
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 2 cups frozen or fresh corn
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 3 medium-to-large Russet potatoes peeled & diced
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Pinch cayenne pepper optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Scallions chopped, optional for serving
Instructions
- Prep your bacon (I find kitchen shears the easiest thing to cut it up with) and add it to a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook until crispy (about 10 minutes).
- Meanwhile, prep your onion, celery, chicken and potatoes.
- Once the bacon is crispy, take it out of the pot and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Leave the grease in the pot (it adds a ton of flavor).
- Add the onion and celery to the pot and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for about a minute, stirring nearly constantly.
- Add in the garlic, followed by the chicken broth. Give it a good stir to ensure the flour has dissolved and everything is scraped up from the bottom of the pot.
- Add in the chicken, corn, cream, potatoes, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, and 3/4 of the bacon (I save the rest for garnishing the bowls later on). Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to a rapid simmer so it's gently boiling. Cover the pot with the lid slightly open.
- Cook until the potatoes are done (about 15-20 minutes). Stir every so often. The soup will get thicker the longer you cook it.
- Season the soup with salt & pepper as needed. Garnish with the rest of the bacon and chopped scallions if desired.
Notes
- Serves 4-6 depending on portion size.
- Yes, the chicken will cook right in the soup. If you want to use already cooked/rotisserie chicken, add in during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking so it doesn’t dry out too much since it’s already cooked.
- Anywhere around the 1.5-2 pound ballpark will work for the potatoes if you want to weigh them.
- This is a fairly thick soup. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add a splash more broth or water as needed.
- If you’re sensitive to salt, use low-sodium chicken broth.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this and it came out great. Thank you for an easy recipe to follow. It was my first time making any sort of soup or chowder from scratch, and my family raved about it, with people going back for thirds. I used rotisserie chicken instead of raw chicken because we happened to have it and I added it as the last ingredient in so it wouldn’t over cook, and it tasted the way I would expect chicken in a chowder recipe to taste, not dry at all.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it and it worked out… that’s great!! 🙂
I haven’t made your recipe yet, but it is on the burner for tonight. So, the main item here is an answer to your question, why is this called a chowder. The basic simple answer is, originally chowders were made from a milk base rather than water.
Fast forward to modern era – cooking down milk to the desired thickness often robs the other ingredients of their flavor. (Milk used in days of yore was probably straight from the cow making it much creamier). Todays cooks favor using a broth and then adding cream.
Potato’s – For a little creamier chowder, use wax potatoes such as the redskins.
As for enhancing flavor, raw is fine but I prefer to do a quick searing. To me, searing the outer edges always enhances the flavor of almost everything including bread, tomatoes, and meats.
I am just an old retired USN electronics tech who likes to play in the kitchen.
Prior to this, I have made sausage, ham, and bacon corn chowders. Other chowders are on list to experiment with.
Well that’s interesting, thanks for the explanation, Dennis. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Delicious and easy to make! I added a bit more garlic and bacon. I had leftover chicken, so I just mixed it in about halfway through. Cayenne added a nice kick. Great recipe! Thank you!
I’m so happy that you liked it! You’re very welcome!
Can I use corn starch instead of flour for a GF option?
Yes! I’d probably start with a slurry that contains half as much and add more if needed.
I need to make a much bigger pot of soup. If I make with 10-12 cups of homemade chicken broth, would I also increase the amount of cream? Or what other ingredients would also have to be increased and by how much? Thank you in advance for your reply!
Hi! I would straight double or triple everything to keep the ratios the same.
Loved this recipe over another. Much easier and the flavors were awesome. But I did bake my seasoned boneless chicken breasts somewhat to finish cooking in the soup. My son and I love this. He was never into soups but now even takes it for lunch! Thank you, awesome recipe. It’ll be made several times this winter!
Wonderful!! I’m so glad you liked this one. 🙂
I used boneless skinless chicken thighs with fat instead of breasts. My soup never thickened up. Is that because of the chicken thighs or did I simmer it wrong?
Hi! It’s really hard for me to tell, unfortunately, since I wasn’t in the kitchen with you. I don’t think that should have impacted it too much.
I used my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving in this. Just added the meat when the potatoes were almost done. Yummy!
So glad you liked it! 🙂
This is always my go-to soup to make! My bf and all my friends love it when I make it and the effort is ALWAYS worth it. I grew up eating canned chicken corn chowder but since I found this recipe back in March, I haven’t bought a can since! Gets better every time so I’m making it again this week! 🙂
Aww I’m so happy to hear that!! 🙂
There’s no corn in your ingredients list. Huh?
Yes there is. 2 cups frozen corn.