I have yet to visit New England, but I sure do love their corn and clam chowders. Such a great dinner option when the weather starts to cool down. This recipe for New England corn chowder uses either fresh, canned or frozen corn, fresh cream, and potatoes to make a hearty meal.

When the weather starts to cool down, we end up eating a lot of soup. Usually they are broth based. But for a special, hearty meal in a bowl, this New England corn chowder is just the right thing.

Try out Corn Stock to make the corn flavor more intense

If you have ever made your own vegetable stock, you know how easy it can be. Making your own corn stock is just as easy if you have corn on the cob to do it. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how to make corn stock.

Using corn stock instead of regular vegetable stock will make the flavor of this chowder more intense and sweet.

Plus its a great way to save money on the ingredients.

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Ingredients for Corn Chowder

1 yellow or sweet yellow onion diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
4 cups vegetable stock (or corn stock)
2-3 medium sized potatoes diced
4 cups corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cornstarch, optional

Note: You can do all cream instead of 1 cup cream and 3 cups milk, or half cream/half milk, or any variation making 4 cups. We prefer to do as the recipe states above as it is a little less rich and a lot less expensive than all cream.

Step by Step Instructions for New England Corn Chowder

Heat a dutch oven (This is my favorite dutch oven that I use every day) or large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add in the butter and let melt.
Add onion and cook in butter until softened. Add in the garlic for the last minute of cooking the onions.
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and garlic and stir, cooking for a minute or two.
Stir in heavy cream/milk and vegetable stock, making sure to incorporate the flour well so there are no clumps.
Add in potatoes and corn and let simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.
Season with salt and pepper.
At this point the chowder is usually too thin for us, so we thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch and water. You can decide how thick you want it and do that too or not.
Once you get the chowder to the thickness you like, serve it up and enjoy your warm bowl!

Variations or Special Add-Ins

This soup would also be great with the addition of chopped up ham pieces mixed in or some crumbled bacon on top.

A small pinch of shredded cheese could also be added to the top before serving.

Green onions are another topping option.

Serve in a Bread bowl for extra special nights

The first time I made this chowder, I decided to pick up some sourdough bread bowls at the store.

Then I decided to make my own French bread style bowls as shown in the pictures. They were really good, but I can’t wait for my sourdough starter to get a bit stronger to make them with sourdough.

Next time I will make my own with the sourdough. Something about that flavor that can’t be beat. These look amazing and easy to make.

It was so fun to see my kid’s reactions when I served their chowder in a bread bowl. They had only had that at Disneyland before. And for me it brought back special memories of having clam chowder at the wharf in San Francisco.

Why not do something extra like that to make it special?

New England Clam Chowder

This New England corn chowder a great dinner option when the weather starts to cool down. It makes a hearty meal with corn, potoates, and fresh cream.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 yellow or sweet yellow onion diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups whole milk
4 cups vegetable stock or corn stock
2-3 medium sized potatoes diced
4 cups corn fresh, frozen, or canned
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cornstarch optional

Instructions

Heat a dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add in the butter and let melt.
Next, add onion and cook in butter until softened.
Then, add in the garlic for the last minute of cooking the onions.
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and garlic and stir, cooking for a minute or two.
Stir in heavy cream/milk and vegetable stock, making sure to incorporate the flour well so there are no clumps.
Add in potatoes and corn and let simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.
Season with salt and pepper.
At this point the chowder is usually too thin for us, so we thicken it with a slurry of cornstarch and water. You can decide how thick you want it and do that too or not.
Once you get the chowder to the thickness you like, serve it up and enjoy your warm bowl!