Slow Cooker Corn Chowder
49 Comments Feb 05, 2022
Updated Oct 19, 2024
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Make restaurant-quality corn chowder with your handy dandy slow cooker! This recipe uses fire-roasted corn, bacon, and heavy cream; what can be better?
Sometimes you need something heartier than soup for dinner; that’s why we love a good chowder! Try my Slow Cooker Clam Chowder or my Slow Cooker Leftover Turkey Chowder next!
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
Making corn chowder doesn’t need to be complicated! Just add a few ingredients to your slow cooker for the BEST and EASIEST corn chowder you will ever have. The slow cooker will soften the vegetables, and while it simmers all day, the flavors meld together.
Recipe Ingredients
- Corn – To make this recipe special, use canned fire-roasted corn! You can find this at most supermarkets.
- Other vegetables – Peeled russet potatoes, onion, shallots and cayenne peppers. If you can’t find the cayenne peppers, use 1/4 cup poblano peppers or one red bell pepper.
- Vegetable Broth – This is the liquid for the soup, you can use water if desired.
- Seasonings – I use salt, black pepper and paprika. The paprika not only adds flavor it makes the soup a pretty color.
- Heavy Cream – This will make the soup creamy and decadent, wait to add the cream until the end of the cooking time.
- Bacon – Bacon goes wonderful with corn and cream, so naturally you’ll see bacon in corn chowder recipes.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Add the vegetables. , seasonings, HALF of the cooked bacon, to the slow cooker.
Step Two – Add the chicken broth, Stir. WAIT TO ADD THE CREAM. Cook on LOW for 7 hours or HIGH for 4 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time, for that will let out heat and slow the cooking process.
Step Three – After the cooking time is done, add the heavy cream and cook for 30 more minutes on LOW.
Step Four – Serve with the remaining bacon, you can put it on top of each bowl or stir into the finished soup.
Variations
- Less Spicy – Instead of adding hot chile peppers, use 1 sweet red bell pepper.
- Creamed Corn – Use one can of creamed corn in place of the whole kernel corn for a big punch of corn flavor.
- Mexican Style – Add a can of black beans and a can of rotel tomoates for Mexican corn chowder.
How to serve
- Serve with saltine crackers.
- Top with cheese and freshly ground black pepper
- Cornbread is a wonderful side for chowder.
Recipe FAQs
You can but will have a thinner soup. We prefer a heavy cream so the soup has some texture.
To flavor your soup, you can use diced ham, cooked turkey bacon, or cooked and crumbled sausage (such as Jimmy Dean).
Yes, add just one pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts to this recipe at the beginning of cooking. Shred right before serving.
Place in freezer containers or freezer ziplock bags and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge for about 24 hours before needing it. Warm in the microwave or stovetop.
Yes! You can use 3 cups of freshly cut corn instead of canned to make your corn chowder.
Add two tablespoons of cold water with two tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir into the finished soup and let cook for an additional 15 minutes.
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Slow Cooker Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 32 oz. vegetable broth, or chicken broth
- 30 oz. fire-roasted corn, drained
- 4 cups diced and peeled russet potatoes, (about 1 pound)
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 1-2 cayenne chiles , sliced (can use a 1/4 cup poblano pepper or a red bell pepper instead)
- 16 oz. bacon, sliced, cooked and drained – DIVIDED
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
WAIT TO ADD
- 1 cup cream, ADD AT THE END
Instructions
- Add the vegetable broth, vegetables, seasonings, and HALF of the bacon to the slow cooker. WAIT TO ADD THE CREAM
- Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7 hours.
- When the cooking time is done, stir in the cream. Cook for an additional 30 minutes to heat through.
- Serve with the remaining bacon, you can stir it in, or serve on top of each bowl.
Sarah’s Notes
- Ham
- Turkey bacon
- Ground sausage
- Yes, place in freezer containers or in freezer ziplock bags.
- Freeze for up to three months.
- Thaw in the fridge for about 24 hours before needing it.
- Warm in the microwave or stovetop.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Other soup recipes to make in your crockpot:
- Slow Cooker Steak and Potato Soup
- Slow Cooker Bloody Mary Soup
- Slow Cooker Cauliflower Cheese Soup
- Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup – Recipe by Eating on a Dime
- Slow Cooker Ham and Green Bean Chowder
- Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana
- Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup
- Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup – Recipe by Diethood
This is a delicious chowder! I’ve made it twice now and the leftovers. taste wonderful too.
Do I drain the can of whole kernel corn? Recipe doesn’t say this, but the photo looks like it.
Yes, drain it. I will add that to the recipe.
Hi Sarah, this chowder comes out thin for me, is there any way to thicken it up just a little? Thanks!!
The potatoes won’t turn to mush being in the crockpot for 8 hours?
Not at all. They are just getting done getting tender at 8 hours.
We can’t get creamed corn in Denmark – how can I substitute it?
Hi Maria, could you blend up a can of corn slightly? With a splash of the liquid from the can. That would work fine.
Yes I could easily do that!
If I don’t have 8 hours to cook it can i do it on high for less time and it still be good??
Yes it would be fine! I’d do 5 hours on high.
Oh no! This looks SO DELICIOUS and I want to make it right away, but I’m stuck with no way to pick up cream or half & half. Is there some kind of milk/butter combo I could use that would work?
If you have finicky girls, use imitation bacon bits. You’ll have a pretty pink soup. I made an oops & used jarred imitation bacon bits instead of real bacon (cook in nursing home at the time) and the pickiest eater had 2 bowls and wanted more! Btw, this corn chowder looks tasty! It’s almost exact to my mom’s, and she was raised in Maine.
Haha, that’s funny, at least it still turned out!
I made this overnight for the morning. I forgot to buy bell pepper so maybe that’s why, but this doesn’t have much flavor so I had my own seasonings.
You know I love chowder 🙂 Love your new theme too!