This comforting corn chowder is a long time family favorite and perfect for company and cold days. Before we begin, I’d like to give a special thanks to all of my readers with a sense of humor for bringing your smiles and laughing along with me!
This post is for my reader, Joe, who really needs to see a tree today :).
I’ve been in such a soup and stew mood lately and its all due to our recent delivery of cold weather. You see, it just now got a little bit cold in the south. Now I say a little bit but anyone else around here would tell you its downright frigid. Normally I would be in agreement with them but after having visited Canada several years back in January, I am now privy to cold on a whole new level, one that is almost unfathomable to a lifelong southerner.
If you have time to visit a spell, keep on reading for conversation and step by step photos of making this.
If you are in a bit of a rush and need to jump to the recipe, please click here.
You see, here in the south, we’re complete pansies when it comes to winter. We wait and hope, keeping our winter clothes on standby, often suffering through short sleeves and perspiration as late as Halloween…and then one day it hits. A frost! GRAB THE TURTLENECK!! IT’S SIXTY DEGREES!!! We get all excited about pulling out that part of our wardrobe which we get to wear maybe two or three months out of the year – four if we’re really lucky.
Meanwhile folks of the northern persuasion come down to visit during the month of December and look at us all bundled up like Eskimos on a 50 degree evening and go home with more tales of “those crazy people down south.”
Then by the time January rolls around, the novelty has worn off. The skies are overcast and we’ve got a doozy of a case of cabin fever. We were not engineered to handle this. How do others do it? How on earth do you manage a cold season that lasts more than three months? My birthday is in February and that’s about as much as I can take. I can wait til then and maintain my sanity. Come February (most years), daffodils are in bloom and spring is going for her first spin around the block.
Bet you ninety to nothing that we’re complaining about winter not lasting long enough by the time July rolls around though.
This is my only chowder recipe. Chowder has never seemed a southern dish to me, but I sure to enjoy this one. It’s the name that makes it seem non-southern I guess. I picture folks coming in from lobster fishing (or catching…or whatever it is you do to get lobsters) wearing thick sweaters and speaking like the Kennedy’s.
Other than this one, I’ve only had one other type of chowder – clam. My mother is going to die when she reads that I actually ate an entire bowl clam chowder. She does NOT do seafood in any way, shape, or form. Truth be told, I don’t either. However, I was invited to a friend’s house on Christmas Eve (which is, of course, an honor) and they were all excited about their traditional Christmas Eve meal. Now, if there is one thing a properly raised Southerner understands its pride in the dishes you grew up on! The last thing a polite person would do is anything at all that might seem to insult it.
My friend who had invited me did not help matters though. I whispered to her “what does it taste like?” and she replied “Oh its good, but the clams are just like eating old pieces of chewing gum”. ~gulp~
We all sat at the table, the mother said grace and then served us this very pretty looking chowder she had been working on the better part of the day. I am not sure if I actually tasted the chowder because I can’t remember the flavor, I think I blocked it out. But, I do remember eating an entire bowl and gushing every other bite about how delicious it was and how thrilled I was to finally get to taste a real chowder! Now nobody go gettin’ all offended by me not liking clam chowder, or clams…or oysters..or lobsters..or anything else. There are better things to get offended about and I’m not wasting any time catering to anyone who doesn’t have the sense to realize that. ~smiles angelically~
Other than pond raised catfish (which I have now given up as well), I’ve managed to avoid everything that lives in the water since then!
This corn chowder is a great meal for vegetarians. Simply substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth and you’re off to the races! It is hearty, filling, oh so warm, and has just the right blend of flavors. I adore it. Special thanks to my sister in law, Tina Jordan, for passing this recipe on to me many years back.
You’ll need: Onion, red potatoes, jalapeno peppers, paprika, frozen corn, milk, green pepper, chicken broth, flour, salt, butter, crushed pepper flakes, and green onions.
The original recipe also calls for a bit of Dijon mustard. I do recommend using this but I didn’t have any and y’all know how I hate to go all the way to the store just for one little ingredient when I can very well do without it.
Chop bell pepper, onion, green onion, jalapeno, and potatoes.
You can also use a jalapeno from a jar if you like, or leave it out entirely – but the little bit heat it lends adds great body and flavor to this.
Melt your margarine in a stock pot over medium heat so you can saute all of this goodness in it. Saute white onion and bell pepper until tender.
For those of y’all just now joining the Southern Plate Family, I wanna say two things. First of all, WELCOME! We’re so glad you’re here. Secondly, Yes, you can use wither real butter or margarine if you like. I fully understand that budget is a necessary component in ingredient choice. No judgement here.
Saute onions and peppers until they are tender. This will just take a few minutes on medium high heat.
Add potatoes to stock pot. Pour in Chicken Broth.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, cooking for about fifteen minutes.
Add chopped jalapeno, salt, crushed red pepper, and paprika.
Add in frozen corn.
You can use canned corn if you like, I just prefer frozen.
Here is a little grocery tip: If you are ever out and about and need to pick up something cold but don’t have a cold bag with you for your car, just pick up a bag or two of frozen corn. This acts as a wonderful ice pack, usually costs about a dollar per bag, and is always handy to have in your freezer.
Add 1.5 cups of milk. Bring this just to a boil and cook for about fifteen minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add in the chopped green onions.
Green onions and the sweet juicy corn are my favorite parts of this chowder. Just in case that question was burning in your mind. “Christy, what are your favorite ingredients in this chowder?”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Add flour and remaining milk together and give this a good stir to blend until it’s smooth.
Stirry, Stirry, Stirry!
After the fifteen minutes of gently boiling your chowder, pour milk/flour mixture in and stir again. Cook this for about two minutes, or until thick and bubbly.
And you’re done! Doesn’t that look YUMMY?
My sister in law likes to add bacon and cheese when she makes this.
Printable recipe below!
- 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 Med onion, Chopped
- 1 med green bell pepper, chopped
- 14.5 oz can chicken broth
- 2 large red potatoes, cubed (I had smaller ones so I used four)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 cups frozen corn
- 3 cups milk, divided
- 4 green onions, chopped
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- In medium sized stock pot over medium high heat, melt butter and then saute' onion and bell pepper until tender. Add broth and cubed potatoes.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for fifteen minutes.
- Stir in jalapeno, salt, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Add corn 1.5 cups milk. Bring just to a boil, stirring from time to time. Add green onions.
- Combine flour and remaining milk and mix well. Gradually add this to the chowder. Boil while stirring constantly, for two minutes or until thick and bubbly. Serve hot. Top with bacon and cheese, if desired.
WHEW isn’t that ingredient list long? Y’all know I wouldn’t have a recipe with THAT many ingredients if it wasn’t good!! Still, no weird stuff that you wouldn’t be able to use again in another recipe!!
Today is a GREAT day waiting to happen! Get out there and enjoy it!!
Gratefully,
Christy
It’s better to aim for the Stars and miss,
than to aim for the ditch and hit it.
Submitted by Donna. Submit your quote or read more by clicking here.
Yum 
42* here in Ky and have a big ole pot of this simmering on the stove!!! The last time and only time I have ever ate corn chowder was in Gatlingurg,TN. I cant wait to try this and bring back the good memories!!!!
It is -54 degree fahrenheit here, in Saskatchewan Canada! 🙂
It’s 54 degrees here on Long Island….feeling very Autumnal. Sounds like a great way to get the chill out at dinner time. Yummy…I will be trying this one.
I love seafood as much as you hate it. lol….balances out the seafood world I guess. I have never had chitlins…don’t even know what they are but maybe one day I will have to try it.
Kisses to Katy Rose for her Birthday!! LYB
Oh no, please don’t try Chitlins….they are gross….do you know what they are? They are small intestines from a hog….eaten in parts of the South….so they say…, I tried to take a bite once and could not….they say they are made from beef small intestines too….but this is definitely not for me…..
I was flipping through your cookbook last night & decided to make this for a party tonight. I guess great minds think alike.
I’m also planning to make the pumpkin dip for a gathering tomorrow. Is there a difference between pumping pie filling and plain ole pumpkin?
Yes the pie filling already has spices and sweetener added like cinnamon, nutmeg and pie spice. I always use just pumpkin and season to MY taste. I highly recommend the Pumpkin Pie recipe by Eagle Brand Milk. Best I’ve ever had or made.
Amen to the Eagle Brand pumpkin pie recipe! It’s the only one I’ve used is 20 years! I didn’t like pumpkin pie until I found this and tried it. All other recipes went in the trash.
I just LOVE the way you post your recipes – with all of your explanations & your EXCELLENT photos – so very helpful & encourage this ‘not very good’ cook to try your recipes!!! ♥
My first and only attempt at eating seafood was in 4th grade when we were studying mussels. Talked Mama into buying a can of oysters and frying them, just like my teacher said. Mama knew me well enough that one taste was gonna be it, and she was right! Our redbone hound dog Penny got the second best treat of her life that night. Her best was my 8th birthday cake she got into on the kitchen table where Mama put it to cool so she could frost it! But this chowder I will probably try. I was rereading my Southern Plate cookbook last night and being taken back to my childhood.
I make my own version of this.. and I will tell ya its a hit no matter when I cook it. I am kinda partial to cooking it in the fall and winter and I know its getting close to that time when my 14 year old son says “aint it bout time for some of your tator soup” That makes me :)!
This was the first corn chowder recipe I ever attempted. It is tasty and a nice change from the many tomato based soups and stews that we love. Thanks for another hit Christy!
This looks YUMMY.
“I am having the darndest time spelling jalapeno today for some reason.” Maybe your fingers knew those weren’t jalapenos? But I don’t know if Trappey’s Hot Peppers are hotter than jalapenos or not, since I don’t know what kind they use in those jars (tabasco peppers maybe?). But they’re smaller than jalapenos, by at least half (living in “Little Mexico”, we have some honkin’ huge jalapenos, so I might not even use even one entire jalapeno LOL).
The few times Houston has shut down schools due to a rare ice storm, notherners laugh and laugh. But would you want your children on big city roads with a bunch of folks that’ve driven on ice and snow maybe 3-4 times in their lives?
My store had a sale on tilapia, so I asked a young man that was nearby what he thought of tiliapia. He said he liked it MUCH better than catfish, which tasted swampy to him (hahaha!) So I bought the tilapia and fried it just like I do with catfish, served with my homemade tarter sauce. Me and hubby thought that tilapia was the blandest fish we ever tried! I guess we like swampy ROFL!
Delicious!! I just made this for dinner, adding some smoked sausage to it, and it was a hit. Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes.
Cant wait to try this!
I made this and threw in a lb. of hot sausage , cooked and drained. Dee-lish!
You are so right about southerners being pansies. My oldest daughter lives in Chicago. When I went to visit 2+ years ago in early February to see her in a performance, they were in the midst of a freeze alert. OMG! The wind chill factored to -40 (temp was 4 degrees) I have never felt cold like that IN MY LIFE! The day I left, (4 days later) temps finally got up to double digits. When I got off the plane in Huntsville, it was 42 and balmy by comparison…I thought “Lawd, I could run butt nekkid in this fine weather!” Love Southern Plate…your recipes are rivaled only by your commentary! Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season!
This sounds yummy for a cold day. Will have to add this to my grocery list.
Christy, I’ll have you know that the world champion clam chowder for 3 years running, comes from…
wait for it…
Florida!
Yep, a little restaurant in Cedar Key has won for the last 3 years, beating those up-north chowder snobs at their own game.
HA!! That is cool! lol
Wow, great recipe! I used vegetable stock (to make a vegetarian version), skipped the green onions, used cayenne pepper instead of jalapeño, and orange bell pepper and it came out great! I followed your lead and used what I had available. I want to try your original, vegetarian-version, sometime but the substitutions still provided a great chowder. Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
I’m thinkin’ I may cook this for supper if the hubby is in the mood for chowder. My sweet dearest hubby went crawfishin’ for me yesterday and boiled ’em with some corn and tators so I may cook this with the left over corn, tators, and onions! 😀
Christy, take those green onion stubs and put them in soil or peat. I have a pot on my kitchen window that I just put those bulbs in. Waalaa…..more green onions!
Christy-Honey- Baby-Sweet Pea, I love you and your recipes, you are from the South, but you are not from Far Enough South! I am from Grand Bay, Alabama and my grandmother cooked with shrimp, crab,oysters and everything else from the sea and she was as Southern as you could get! However, like you said, it is YOUR kitchen and everything you cook is correct! ( Just step out side the box and try some oyster dressing with giblet dressing at Thanksgiving and you will be a convert!)
I made this for supper last night per your directions and it tastes really, really good; however, hubby said it was to thick for him (he did go back for that second bowl though). If I leave out flour and milk addition at the end will it change up the taste at all or would I just need to cut back on amount of flour I add? Thanks for all your great recipes! I will make this again for sure!
Hey Chris! I would just cut the flour in half, but you can leave it out and it will taste the same too 🙂
Thank ou so much for your help! Will try cutting it in half. We are having left overs today!
I made this recipe 2 weeks ago and my family loved it! I substituted boullion for broth and russets for reds as well as omitting the jalapeño. I added a green bell pepper. Basically made due with what I had. Very good recipe and I’m definitely making it again.
This looks absolutely delicious! I am giggling about the fact that Southerners are pansies! I grew up in Colorado and braved the cold all winter long. Now I live in Florida and I’m freeeezing down here! It’s 71 here, near Tampa, and I’m in a sweater and long pants! Soup is on the menu!
I just appreciate you bringing your sense of humor – and everyone else who travels with it daily!! 🙂 It is amazing how our bodies adapt to where we are and just don’t seem to want to budge from what we are used to, lol. I’m freezing today, by the way!
I love the new photos and updated post. This is a great recipe and we have enjoyed it many times.
I’ve been making this for years from your first cookbook:) It’s a family favorite–and that’s a rare thing to please all five of us! I use the vegetable broth, as I have a vegetarian in house, and I add extra potatoes to make it go a little farther! We clean the pot! Love it with some cheesy Mexican cornbread!!
This chowder looks delicious!! How many does the recipe serve? Friends and I have a luncheon at my home for widows in our community every other month and this would be wonderful in February. Thank you for you speedy reply…will discussing this with my friends next week.
Hey,somebody tell me how many this recipe serves, please!!
Hi Christy, this is Judi from Australia, we are heading into spring here but it is almost winter cool, in fact we had snow out in the mountains yesterday so a yummy chowder sounds pretty good to me and this one is just spiced up a bit from what I normally do, I can’t wait to try it! Loved the Quotables have not seen them for awhile they always lift my heart thank you.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon Judi!!
can’t wait to try, I love a good hearty soup when it’s cold
I hope you get the chance to try it soon Heather!!
Sounds delicious. Can you please tell me approximately how many it serves? I want to make it for a soup and bread luncheon at Church and might need to double or triple the recipe but it would sure help to know the number of servings.
Aunt Tina and I must have the same cookbooks! I’ve had this recipe but haven’t made it for a long time. Into the pot last night! I threw in some ham and a small can of mild chiles for a bit of kick. I was a bit short on milk, so I buzzed it with the immersion blender to thicken it up. It could be made dairy free if that is a problem for some folks. Thanks, Christy for the reminder! Thanks, Aunt Tina for the recipe.
Made your corn chowder for supper tonight. It was excellent! The only change I made was instead of 3 cups of milk, I used 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup of 1/2 & 1/2.
I think adding sausage sounds good as in some other reviews. Also, a little less flour as it was quite thick. I fixed grilled ham n cheese sandwiches to go with it.
Great recipe for the cooler days like today in Northwest Florida – we started out in the 40’s and went into the 60’s. I’m a native so always ready for summer!