December was filled with weeks of holiday cooking. After gathering food to refill the fridge and pantry there were marathon sessions of mixing, stirring, slicing, dicing, creaming and blending. It’s time to make meals that are simple to prepare, have a limited number of ingredients and are even better the second time around. Chowder is one way to do that.
Chowder is any of a variety of soups, made with milk, often enriched with salt pork and thickened with flour. It has been around since the sixteenth century when it was considered “poor man’s fare”. The word chowder may come from the French chaudiere, a pot used by fishermen in France to make a hearty fish stew by cooking fish with milk and vegetables or it may come from jowter the Old English term for a person who sells fish.
Made with bacon, potatoes, corn and milk, the soup I made was chowder without fish because the fish closest to my kitchen was a twenty minute drive through the snow and eliminating trips to the market is part of my new resolve. Here’s how I made it: 
Corn Chowder from a Vermont Kitchen
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A hearty and creamy soup made with corn and potatoes, flavored with a bit of bacon.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb (225 g) bacon, cut in 1/2 inch strips
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (480 ml) water
- 1 lb (450 g) boiling potatoes, diced
- 1 lb (450 g) frozen sweet corn
- 3 cups (700ml) whole milk
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook bacon in large stockpot over medium heat until the fat has rendered, about ten minutes. Add onions to the pot and saute until they are translucent, stir in one heaping tbsp of flour.
- After the flour has cooked for 2 minutes, stir in water and yellow potatoes. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover pot and simmer until potatoes are tender, add corn kernels and bouillon cube. Heat the soup, without boiling, and simmer for 5 minutes to cook corn.
- Top each serving with parsley and black pepper.
Notes
- To make a vegetarian version use 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter instead of bacon, to make a gluten free version – omit the flour and serve saltines that may be crumbled into the soup to thicken it.
- Corn chowder is transformed into fish chowder by adding, after the potatoes are tender, three quarters of a pound of mild white fish, cod or haddock, cut into one inch chunks.
- Simmer the soup until the fish is cooked, about five minutes.
- To make clam chowder – replace corn with two 8 ounce tins of clams and the replace the water with clam juice.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 280
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
- Irish Potato and Corned Beef Chowder
- Creamy Potato and Pea Chowder
- Creamy Green Asparagus Soup with Crispy Bacon
- Warm Asparagus Salad with Bacon, Egg, and Hazelnuts
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make a vegetarian version of this chowder?
Yes — the notes specifically say to replace the 1/2 lb of bacon with 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter. The butter provides fat for sautéing the onions the same way, and the vegetable bouillon cube is already part of the base recipe, so you won’t lose depth of flavor.
How do I turn this corn chowder into a fish or clam chowder?
The notes give two clear paths: for fish chowder, add 3/4 lb of mild white fish (cod or haddock) cut into 1-inch chunks after the potatoes are tender and simmer until cooked, about 5 minutes. For clam chowder, replace the corn with two 8 oz tins of clams and replace the water with clam juice — keep everything else the same.
Can I make this chowder gluten-free?
Yes — the notes say to omit the 1 tablespoon of flour and instead crumble saltines into the soup at the table to thicken it. The flour in this recipe is used only as a thickener, so the saltine method is a direct functional substitute that keeps the chowder gluten-free.
You forgot to say when to add in the 3 c of milk. I would add it the same time as the corn and boullion cube.