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Not to brag but I have the best creamy corn chowder recipe to share with you today. This is truly the ultimate comfort food. But hey, it’s that time of year! The time when the leaves are changing color and the air is crisp. Living in a rural area really can make these colder months feel extra cozy. And you can often find me whipping something up in the kitchen. One of my favorites things to make in the colder months are soups, and creamy anything! My husband loves anything thick and cheesy. For me, I am a potato gal. So really this recipe is the perfect combination for both of us.

If you are a fan of potatoes, bacon, and cheesy, creamy goodness, this is the meal for you. Keep in mind that the prepping and overall cook time can take a while. This entire thing from start to finish took me a couple hours. But I am also a pretty slow cook so maybe it will go faster for you!

Ingredients

• 6 strips of uncooked bacon cut into small pieces
• 8 ears of fresh, sweet, corn (or cans work too!)
• 3 Tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped (about 1.5 cups)
• 3 garlic cloves minced (or measure with your heart)
• ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ lbs gold potatoes peeled and diced into 1″ pieces or smaller (approximately 6 larger potatoes)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups milk
• ⅔ cup heavy cream (could also make half & half work if necessary)
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon of ground pepper
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ⅔ cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp honey
• Shredded cheddar cheese, chives, and additional sour cream / bacon for topping optional

Instructions

*slice and dice all ingredients for the meal prep*

1. Slice bacon into small pieces and place in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot over medium heat. Cook until the bacon is crisp and browned.
2. Remove bacon pieces and set them aside in a bowl or on a plate. Make sure to leave the bacon grease in the pot as this is great flavor for the soup!
3. Add butter and chopped onions. Cook over medium heat until the onions are tender. This should take about 4 minutes.
4. Add garlic to the pot and cook for about 30-45 seconds
5. Add the flour into the pot and mix with the other ingredients until it is smooth.
6. Add in the diced potatoes to the pot, following with the chicken broth, milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Mix it all well.
7. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add corn kernels, Thyme, and the bay leaf.
8. cook until the potatoes are tender. (check by sticking a fork or toothpick into one of the potatoes). This will take approximately 15 minutes or so.
9. Reduce heat to a simmer and remove the bay leaf. Transfer about half of the soup into a blender. Blend until smooth.
10. Add the pureed soup back into the pot and add sour cream, honey and the bacon pieces that were set to the side. Mix everything together.
11. Allow soup to simmer for another 15 minutes, then serve.
12. Serve with additional sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, or chives to your liking.

Tips for making the creamy corn chowder

• Cut your potatoes into smaller sized pieces and make sure they are all similar in size so they can cook evenly at the same time
• If you like your soup to be more creamy than chunky, try pureeing half of the mix and then add it back with the rest of the pot.
• Add the bacon to the pot after you puree the soup so that you don’t blend the bacon bits!
• We love spice in this household so we like to add lots of pepper and chili powder to this soup. But I recommend adding a little at a time based on your preferences!
• Personally I like to double this recipe because this soup is just THAT good and I want it to last a while. But try it for yourself and let me know what you think!