This hearty and delicious corn and chicken soup is gathered in the slow cooker for an easy dinner recipe that warms you from the inside out! With potatoes, corn, tender chicken, fresh herbs, and crispy, smoked bacon, the thick, rich soup is a delicious blend of sweet, creamy, and savory ingredients. Serve each bowl with a loaf of crusty bread, flaky whey cookies, a pan of honey cornbread or a simple green salad!
Chicken and corn soup
It’s January in Virginia, which means we’ve been through the excitement of the holidays and are hanging around in that intervening period. Spring is not yet on the horizon, so we are huddled indoors, as close as possible to wood stoves, staying comfortable with a bowl of hot soup. I can’t think of a better meal to come home at the end of a cold, gray day than a steaming pot of corn soup with chicken. Oh my God, it’s tasty!
There’s nothing fancy about this pot of fish soup, just homemade and farm cooking at its finest! In fact, in the United States, the old-fashioned dish dates back to at least 1884, when Mary Lincoln published a recipe for corn soup in her Boston Cook Book.
In its most basic form, corn soup is a soup prepared with corn, onion, celery, milk or cream, and butter. These days, you will commonly find additional ingredients in fish soup, such as bacon, potatoes, herbs, seafood, or chicken.
What makes a soup
a fish soup
?
Why not call it chicken and corn soup? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a soup is “a thick soup or stew made of seafood or corn with potatoes and onions and milk or tomatoes.” That’s exactly what we have here with corn and potatoes! The cooking process, ingredients, and flavor of corn soup are very similar to the taste and texture of creamy New England clam chowder; However, corn takes the place of clams. As a result, a chicken corn soup with bacon has a slightly sweet corn flavor that is beautifully balanced by the savory, smoky flavor of bacon. You’ll love the rich, creamy texture, as well as the bite of corn and vegetables in every spoonful!
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for Crock Pot Chicken Corn Chowder. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the publication.
- Bacon: Adds a great smoky flavor; serves as a crispy garnish at the end
- Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs stay tender and juicy in the slow-cooker, but chicken breast also works well if you prefer white meat
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper: to enhance the other flavors in fish soup.
- onion, Celery and carrots: aromatics that add a great tasty flavor to the soup.
- Corn – a key ingredient in this corn soup! You can use fresh corn kernels when they are in season, or substitute them with frozen corn the rest of the year.
- Potato: A reddish potato peeled and diced increases the volume of the abundant soup, while starches help thicken the broth.
- Thyme: Fresh herbs are always best when available, but you can substitute them with dried thyme as needed.
- Chicken broth: Start with low-sodium broth so you can control the salinity of your fish soup.
- Heavy cream: A small amount added at the end gives the soup a rich, creamy texture and mouthfeel.
- Canned cream style corn: helps thicken the soup and adds a good amount of flavor and sweetness.
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Why use cream-style corn? This recipe calls for a combination of fresh or frozen corn kernels for texture, along with a can of
cream-style
corn. Cream-style canned corn helps thicken the soup and also adds a good amount of flavor and sweetness. It’s a quick and easy alternative to the messier, slower extra step of squeezing starchy milk from fresh corn cobs or mashing fresh corn kernels to achieve that same thick, creamy, sweet texture.
How to Make
Corn Soup with Chicken
This creamy corn soup recipe is loaded with classic chicken soup ingredients like chicken, carrots, celery, and onions, plus bacon and, of course, lots of corn!
- Fry Bacon in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Remove to a plate to use as a garnish later, reserving the drops in the pan.
- Brown the chicken in the bacon drops. You don’t need it to cook at this point; Just give it a nice color.
- Place onions, corn, celery, carrots, potato, and thyme in a slow cooker.
- Add the golden chicken on top and pour the chicken broth.
- Cover and cook in LOW for 4-6 hours, or in HIGH for 2-3 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is well cooked.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board.
- Puree about half of the soup with an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor.
- Shred or chop the chicken and then return it to the pot.
- Add the heavy cream, cream-style corn and salt. Cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Place the soup in serving bowls and garnish with crispy bacon and chopped fresh parsley.
How tothicken
Towards the end of the cooking time, you will puree the soup with an immersion blender, or in batches in a normal blender, making it thick and creamy . You can puree as much or as little soup as you want to achieve the desired consistency. I like to leave some good chunks there for texture, so I usually puree about half of the soup.
This only takes about 4 or 5 minutes of your time, and mashed corn, potatoes, and other vegetables add a velvety texture to the soup, meaning you only need a small amount of heavy cream at the end.
What to serve with
slow cook chicken corn
soup
A hot bowl of this cozy old-fashioned soup goes well with either side:
- house salad with candied nuts, green salad with red wine vinaigrette, a classic Caesar salad or wedge
- Potato Biscuits, Cheese Biscuits or Drop Biscuits
- Fluffy Bakery-Style Corn Muffins, Sweet Cornbread Muffins with Brown Sugar, Skillet Cornbread, Corn Sticks, or Honey Cornbread
- 3-ingredient sour cream
- muffins
- cranberry muffins
- Cheddar Chive Beer bread (unleavened, unkneaded)
- Homemade crescent rolls or soft rolls
- A loaf of crispy Dutch baked bread or French baguette (like the one you get with your soup at Panera!)
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits salad, 3-Ingredient Biscuits, Sweet
Pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins
Orange cranberry bread or
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Make Ahead Warmy Chicken Corn Chowder
For quicker weekday dinners, you can make a batch of chicken corn soup on the weekend and keep it in jars in your refrigerator to reheat when you need them.
Storage Properly stored in an airtight container, the soup will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To reheat: Place the soup in a pot and heat over low heat, just until it warms up. Be careful not to let the soup boil.
Can you freeze corn soup with chicken?
I don’t recommend freezing this corn soup recipe, as the milk or cream will “break” or separate when thawed.
How to freeze cream-based soups
If you want to prepare this soup ahead of time to store in the freezer, just follow the recipe, but skip dairy. Cool in freezer-safe containers, leaving an inch of free space. When ready to thaw, place the soup in a simmering pot. When it is liquefied and simmering, add the cream, being careful not to let it boil.
Recipe variations
- For a lighter soup, use half and half instead of the heavy cream.
- reddish potatoes, you can use 6-8 ounces of new golden potatoes that are cut into quarters. There is no need to peel small potatoes.
- Make a fresh corn soup using 1 cup of fresh corn kernels cut directly from the cob when the corn is in season.
- Add a diced red pepper (or other colored peppers) to the pot, or make the soup spicy with a pinch of cayenne pepper. A couple of cloves of garlic would also be a nice addition.
- Take a shortcut! If you don’t want to spend time browning your chicken or frying your bacon first, you can place the raw chicken directly at the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the vegetables, thyme and broth to the clay pot (as directed in the recipe). Garnish individual bowls of soup with cooked and chopped bacon if desired.
Instead of
Tips for the best chicken and corn
soup recipe
- Chicken thighs stay tender and juicy in the clay pot, but chicken breast will also work if you prefer white meat.
- Let the cream reach room temperature before mixing it in the soup. The cream at room temperature will mix more evenly in the soup and is less likely to set.
- Use heavy cream instead of milk for the best texture and mouthfeel. The cream is also less likely to curdle or separate when added to hot soup.
- Test and season as you go. The total amount of salt needed will vary depending on the salinity of your broth and personal preferences. Add extra salt for more flavor, and feel free to increase the other herbs and seasonings as well. Start with low-sodium chicken broth if you’re sensitive to sodium, as many store-bought options can be quite salty.
- Garnish the soup with fresh parsley or fresh thyme at the end for a bright finishing touch.
More clay pot soup
recipes
to try
- bean soup {Slow pot + stove + instant pot}
- Crockpot potato
- Broccoli cheese soup with ham lime soup
- Clay pot Soup vegetables
- Beef barley
- Ham and Bean
- Split pea
- ground beef
- vegetable
- Crock Pot Vegetable soup with cabbage
- Slow cooker Italian wedding
soup
soup Chicken soup Tortilla
soup
soup with ham Slow-cooked beef vegetable soup Crock Pot Vegetable soup with
Summer
soup
soup
This recipe was originally published in January 2018. The photos were updated in January 2022.
