Sweet Corn and Bacon Chowder

Name: Sweet Corn and Bacon Chowder
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 slices bacon, diced; 1 yellow onion, diced; 2 stalks celery, diced; 2 tbsp butter; 2 tbsp flour; 3 cups chicken stock; 4 cups corn kernels, cobs reserved; 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, diced; 1 cup heavy cream; To taste salt and pepper; To finish chives, sliced

A cream-thickened pot built on corn cobs simmered into the stock, chunky with potato and finished with the bacon that started it.

Serves: 4
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 35 min
Written: July 30, 2026

Method

Render the bacon in a heavy pot over medium heat until crisp, then lift it out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the onion and celery to the bacon fat and cook until softened, about 6 minutes.
Stir in the butter and flour and cook until the raw flour smell is gone, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in the stock, scraping up any browned bits, then drop in the reserved corn cobs and the potatoes.
Simmer until the potatoes are just tender when pierced, about 12 minutes, then fish out the cobs and discard them.
Stir in the corn kernels and cream and simmer until the corn is bright and the chowder has thickened slightly, about 8 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls, and top with the reserved bacon and chives.

Notes

The scraped cobs are doing the real work here — simmered in the stock before the kernels ever go in, they give up a corn flavor that kernels alone can’t. Don’t skip them, even if it means a mesh strainer for stray silk. Frozen corn works in the off-season; you’ll just be simmering plain stock a little longer to make up for the missing cobs.

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