Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder Recipe
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This hearty chicken and corn chowder comes together easily and cooks for a comforting corn chowder you’ll love.
Corn chowder makes a comforting cool weather recipe. Amp it up a bit by adding chicken to the classic corn chowder recipe and you have a meal that everyone will love.
As the weather starts to get cooler in the evenings and the sun sets a bit earlier, I start craving hearty meals of soups and stews and casseroles. In other words, I turn to comfort foods, my favorite always being those from treasured family recipes.
It reminds me of a time when Little Buddy was REALLY a wee Little Buddy. It was late in the Fall and I’d been in the kitchen cooking supper as he came over and asked me what we were having. I told him, “Tonight we’re having Grandmother Verdie’s Chicken and Dumplings.”
“Grandmother Verdie’s coming? Then, why are you cooking?”
“No honey, I’m making her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. It’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”
As we were finishing our Chicken and Dumplings, Little Buddy peeped over the rim of his spoon at me and said, “These pillows taste like a big hug.”
I should have just changed the official name of Chicken and Dumplings right then and there to Chicken and Pillows it was so precious. But his point pretty much sums up how I feel about family recipes, too.
Family recipes are just like big hugs passed from generations before us where loved ones share bits and pieces of themselves in each recipe. Each time we make one of their recipes, it’s as if they are right there at the table beside us.
While this recipe isn’t about Chicken and Dumplings (you can find that in an earlier post), I do want to share with you a family favorite recipe for Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder.
This recipe has a few ingredients in it like jalapeno, thyme, and vegetables that give it a truly hearty flavor.
And here comes a little secret. I like to add in a couple of packages of frozen creamed corn. Of course if you have creamed corn in your freezer that you put up from your garden, that would be the very best corn to include! But in a pinch, and for those of you whose corn was gobbled up by the deer on your property like mine was, this creamed corn works just fine!
You’ll want this corn to have thawed considerably before adding it to your chowder. Don’t worry if there are still bits of frozen corn as you add it. As it cooks, it will be perfect!
Here’s how I make it.
Here’s my Chicken and Corn Chowder Recipe. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does.
Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pieces bacon, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 (20-ounce) packages frozen creamed corn, , thawed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat bacon and olive oil in a Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, jalapeño, and the chicken to the Dutch oven. Stirring frequently, cook until the chicken is lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine milk and flour in a small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is lightly browned. Stir into the chowder along with the creamed corn, thyme, salt and pepper. Add enough water to slightly cover all ingredients. Cover pot with lid and cook for about 20 minutes until chicken is done and all of the vegetables are tender.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Made this for dinner tonight, pretty good, but lacking in flavor. Had to add salt! Was better w/a bit of salt. We also added a tsp of cajun seasoning. Now it’s great!
Yum, I bet the cajun seasoning was delicious. I always think it’s great to make a recipe your own for the amount of seasoning and flavor your family enjoys.
I love this recipe and blog…I posted it on my community foodie blog. Hope you can come check it out http://www.facebook.com/thefrenchiefoodie
Also, feel free to post you’re recipes or you’re favourite foodie tips on it whenever you like!
Hi Robyn,
I, too, discovered your site through Pinterest. I just made this chowder and I am in LOVE!!! Not only does it have the house smelling amazing, the chowder itself is wonderful. [Perfect for our gloomy, rainy, COLD Chicago Sunday. :-]
I must confess, I love adding a little bit of smoked paprika to everything, so I did. ::blush::
This is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Hey Tamra,
Welcome to the Add a Pinch community! I’m so glad you found our site and enjoyed the chowder. It is a definite favorite around here, too!
Smoked paprika sounds like a great addition that I’ll have to give a try next time we make it!
i just finished making your chowder, it was good (i added adobo and lots of salt & pepper, some crushed red pepper flakes too, felt it needed a touch more flavor) but it does not look like your picture at all. how did you get yours so brown? also, what is the red chunk in your bowl? looks like a piece of lobster or something – ??
Hi Michele,
I bet the addition of the adobo and the red pepper flakes really did kick it up a notch! Mine is always the same color when I prepare it, maybe take a look at cooking your vegetables just a bit longer if you thought you needed more flavor and color. That may have been part of it. There are a couple of big pieces showing in my photograph – chicken as well as some carrot with what looks like a bit of cooked onion. I bet you are seeing the carrot and onion that looks like lobster. No lobster in that chowder, but what a great idea to sub instead of the chicken!
Thanks so much for your comment!
Robyn
I just stumbled crossed this and ooooh yeah to I need a bowl. This soup looks and sounds like its in my near future!
Just got done making this, my family does not like celery so we left that out as well as the carrots so I am a little shy on the veggies. We opted for asparagus as a side dish. I had to use 2 cans of cream corn and it still looks and smells delish! My oldest daughter (13= PICKY) came down stairs and says OMG Mom the whole house smells so good. Will follow up on how the family rates it, but so far I give it 5 stars! *****
There are no leftovers, success! my hubby added the asparagus to the chowder and said it was delicious that way, so I did too and he was right.
Oh MY! I just found your site through a pin on Pinterest! I love it! This recipe is fabulous! What do you recommend using in place of onion? Little girl hates then–can this recipe work without?
Thank you for sharing your talents!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment! I think you can easily omit the onion if you choose. That’s the great thing about this chowder, you can add to it or take away to your personal tastes.
I can’t wait to hear how you like it!
~Robyn
Thank you! I will try it this
weekend and tell you how it turned out without the onion 🙂
I feel same way about family recipes. They are the most precious thing. Lovely recipe as always Robyn!
This sounds YUM! My friend pinned this on Pinterest. I am wondering about the “frozen creamed corn”? I do not believe I have ever seen that in the frozen section. Could canned creamed corn be subbed?
If you can’t find frozen creamed corn, but can find canned I would use the canned. I can’t wait to hear how you like the chowder!
Green Giant makes a frozen creamed corn (white or yellow corn) that comes in a plastic wrapped tube. Winn Dixie, Publix and Piggly Wiggly carries it along with another brand too. It’s usually on the bottom self in frozen vegetable section. 🙂
So, the grocery I went to (Fry’s), had Green Giant Frozen Corn with Butter that came in both yellow and white corn, but I didn’t see any frozen creamed corn in a tube, so I bought the canned creamed corn. My soup is supposed to be almost done and it looks nothing like yours! It’s pretty much white, and it’s very thin. I added all of the ingredients. What’s going on?
Hi Audrey,
I’ve made this soup with canned creamed corn and it just didn’t work the same as the one in the frozen section. I would thicken the soup with a roux that has been browned a bit for more color and flavor.
Did you add black pepper? The photo shows something black. Didn’t notice anything black in your ingredience list. Curious if you had just tossed some pepper on top for presntation or if I missed a step. I love black pepper. This sounds great!
I did add black pepper for presentation. I love it too can be a bit heavy-handed with it, so I usually add to taste at the end of recipes like these.