Chicken corn chowder
Sweet corn, tender potatoes and chunks of chicken in a thick, creamy chowder with crispy bacon crumbled over every bowl.
- 50 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.42 a serving
- 540 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups frozen corn
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 green onions, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 540 calories, 39 g protein, 56 g carbs and 19 g fat, and costs about $3.42 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No Yukon Gold potatoes? Russet potatoes or red potatoes work.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No frozen corn? Canned corn works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the bacon, the onion, celery and potatoes, and the garlic. Cut the chicken into ½-inch pieces on a separate board.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat, stirring, until , about 6 minutes. Lift it out onto a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pot.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Food safety: Cook bacon until it’s crisp and no longer translucent.
Add the onion and celery to the bacon fat and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and flour for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Slowly in the broth, then add the potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper and over high heat.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, cover and for 10 minutes, until the potatoes are almost tender.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 10 min
Add the chicken and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes more, until the pieces are white all the way through.
Low heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Stir in the corn and milk and heat until steaming, about 5 minutes. Don’t let it .
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Press a few potato pieces against the side of the pot to it, taste for salt, and serve topped with the bacon and green onions.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Dolly’s tip: Mashing a little potato into the broth is the easiest way to make chowder thicker.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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