A hearty thick chowder packed with diced vegetables, shredded rotisserie chicken, melted cheese and topped with bacon crumbles. This chowder is my favorite Fall and Winter soup. It is extremely comforting and filling. If I make this early enough in the Fall I use fresh corn cut right off the cob. This recipe calls for four ears of corn. The fresh corn gets sauted with the other veggies but if you’re out of corn season just grab a 10-12 oz bag of frozen corn, which gets added toward the end of cooking. My absolute favorite frozen corn is Good & Gather white and yellow blend from Target. It truly is the next best option to fresh corn.
This chowder begins with 12 oz of bacon. The rendered fat is what the diced vegetables cook in. This gives incredible flavor to the soup. While I’ve made it with yellow onions, try and grab a big purple onion for this recipe. I think it tastes the best and adds even more color to the pot. The soup looks like confetti between the red, orange and yellow bell peppers. Plus the pop of green from the green onions. It’s truly a beautiful pot of chowder. To make chopping all those vegetables a breeze, grab this vegetable dicer. It’s been my number one amazon seller for year. It helps cut way back on time.
Flour is used to create a rue with the bacon fat once the vegetables are cooked down. This thickens the soup along with half and half. I don’t recommend heavy whipping cream for this as it’s too heavy. Half and half creates the perfect amount of creaminess without making it unbearably heavy. Each bowl gets topped with shredded cheese, green onion and cooked bacon. Each bite is a flavor explosion in your mouth, similar to my white chicken chili. Serve in bread bowls if you’re feeling fancy!
Chicken Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 12 oz bacon cooked and crumbled
- rendered bacon fat
- 1 purple onion diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 orange bell pepper diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- kernels cut from 4 ears of corn or 10 oz frozen corn
- 1/2 c green onions sliced
- 1/2 c flour
- 6 1/2 c chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon
- 2 c half & half
- 1 rotisserie chicken shredded
- Monterey Jack cheese shredded
Instructions
- Cook bacon and strain rendedered fat to remove burnt bits. Set bacon aside on paper towels.
- Place diced onion and peppers in rendered fat, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and cook just under medium heat for 15-20 minutes until deeply caramelized.
- If using fresh corn add to the pot and saute with the onions and peppers for 5 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and cook 2 minutes more.
- Add flour, stir until fully incorporated. Cook the flour taste out for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock and Better than Bouillon to the pot. Whisk and turn the heat to high. Continue whisking until the soup thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in half and half, salt and pepper, whisk. Simmer for a couple minutes.
- Add shredded chicken, 1/3 cup of the sliced green onions and frozen corn (if using). Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Ladle into bowls and top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese, remaining sliced green onions and cooked bacon crumbles.