Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder
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Such a hearty, comforting and CREAMY soup, made right in the crockpot. Let it do all the work for you! EASY!
It was about 80 degrees today in Los Angeles. This is after a huge dip from our heat wave over the weekend where it was seriously over 100 degrees F.
So with this “cooler” weather, it was time to bust out the crockpot and make soup.
With corn, chicken and bacon. Obviously. But it’s all made in the slow cooker so you don’t have to lift a finger.
Okay, well maybe just two fingers for the bacon. It’ll be worth it. I promise.
And this makes enough to feed an army so you can have this creamy pot of heavenly goodness day and night. Just keep a secret stash of bacon somewhere.
It’s what puts this chowder over the top. Duh.
Slow Cooker Chicken and Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 12 ounces red potato, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 cups corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
- 4 cups chicken broth 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup half and half
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Place chicken, potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and corn into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth, garlic, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk together half and half and cornstarch. Stir in half and half mixture and butter during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve soup immediately, topped with bacon and garnished with chives, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Do you put the chicken in raw or cooked?
Not as thick as I was expecting. Not sure why as I followed the recipe to the letter. It was very tasty.
This is amazing and now part of our family’s monthly rotation! Awesome deliciousness!!
Second time I have attempted this recipe, the first time I fouled some things up, tasted ok, but potatoes were a bit soggy. I had used a combo of high and low levels. This time, I stuck to low for 8 hours. However, broth is too thin, used four cups of broth exactly, maybe 3/4 cup of 1/2 and 1/2, and two tbsps of cornstarch, mixed in a small bowl and stirred into the broth. Chicken cubes, 1 inch, are too dry. Potatoes don’t taste “raw” but they are still hard. I long for a nice creamy chowder like the photo! Regards
Wow. Just, wow. This soup is SO ONO! Will be using this delish recipe often!
I just wanted to say this randomly, but this recipe started a tradition I now have running for about 15 months or so as writing. Lunch after church is funny, particularly with being SDA and having it on Saturday – you will be coming home hungry and not knowing what to do. Snacking can only get you so far and won’t fill you up in the long run.
Then, I was unemployed and trying to start up more effective meal planning. The bright idea I had was to use the slow cooker, prepare it all night beforehand and click it on before I go to bed. Like with any of the first runs, there was a roughness to it; I have learned cornmeal and cornstarch may be the same thing (or at least similar enough), but the arepa mix won’t be a good substitute. Learning to cook is a process.
This recipe was out of my usual sort of schtick – soups were not my thing just yet. But like I said, cooking is a process, and I have only just added to my backlog since then. If there is one way of cooking that would do soups well, it would be via the crockpot.
Nowadays (at least while I write), by irony, I’ve learnt better how to utilise my money while having a decent paying job. I also have the proper cup and spoon measures, which are a must to all aspiring cooks – even if they don’t leave their own kitchen, those measures make a lightyear of difference. The tradition of using a slow cooker meal on Sabbath is still running, and there are more recipes to step up to the plate.
Getting to this recipe, I remember it being fairly nice. It was a dense soup with all the vegetables, and almost overfilled the slow cooker. And we are not talking about a small one either. There were portions for days, if I recall. A couple of variations from the recipe, I used sweet potato instead of normal potato (I prefer the flavour overall), plus I used milk instead of half-and-half (that is not readily available down in Australia). Now that I know what to do next time, when that wheel spins and lands on this option, I will know well what to do.
Tried a lot of your recipes and this is another damn delicious home run 🙂 I omitted celery and used rotisserie chicken just for preference and otherwise followed the recipe as is. Served w garlic bread to sop it up. Everyone loved. Will make again:)
I am wondering how to sub out the heavy cream since my daughter is lactose intolerant. Would you recommend just swapping out the 1/2 cup heavy cream for a 1/2 cup of lactose free milk? Or do you think 1/2 cup of coconut milk would work better?
I can’t wait to give this a try this weekend, the pictures had my stomach growling!
Thank you 🙂
Made this with oat milk and and an olive oil spread as I can’t do dairy and it was absolutely delicious. Will definitely be making it again!
Silk makes a wonderful plant based heavy cream. Good luck!
Love this recipe. It’s the 2nd day of Fall and cool out, so this was perfect. I took the lid off about 35 minutes after adding the cornstarch/cream slurry and it didn’t look as thick as I’d hoped. I planned to thicken up by adding sour cream, but was interrupted and walked away for about 20 minutes. When I came back, it had naturally thickened. Delish! Served with crusty rolls.
I have made this recipe lots of times in my slow cooker. Love love love it! Thank you for sharing.
Today I had left over chicken so I cut up some carrot, onion and celery. Fried a little in a pan. Added canned potatoes (I was in a hurry) Put it all in a pot on my stove with chicken broth. Kept it warm on low for an hour or so and then just before supper, added the cream, cornstarch and butter! AND served with fried butcher cut bacon for the win!
This is my go to recipe, it’s so good! It’s actually in my crockpot right now. This time I added some ham chunks and bacon pieces to it, but I usually follow the recipe to a T. So much flavor! I cook the chicken ahead of time ( I’m weird about putting raw meat in) I do usually double the spices but that is my family’s preference. This is such a perfect soup to eat on a snowy day like today, I’m going to serve it with some crusty bread. Yum! Winner in my book! ❤️
You got me with the crusty bread, so I made that ,too! Thanks for the idea!
This is my go-to cold weather soup! I don’t add the carrots or celery, we just don’t care for it, but I can’t believe the people saying it has no flavor. I add about 1.5 tsp salt (and a tiny bit more when I serve), 1 tsp pepper, the rest I stay to the recipe. I added two frozen chicken breasts (yes, frozen!), and just shredded/cut them up towards the end and added them back in. I did 1 cup heavy cream mixed with 3 tbs corn starch to make it thicker, and I cut my potatoes very small since so many said they weren’t done. I don’t care for huge chunks of anything in my soup, so they cooked just fine. I added a whole small bag of frozen corn, and topped it with as much bacon as my husband wanted and some shredded cheddar. It’s a HIT in this house! I really can’t imagine it going wrong! Next time I will make time to make it with your Mile High Biscuits!
A friend of mine made this and I loved it. I’m going to make it this week.
I have a question……….how are you cutting up the chicken thighs? I can see you wedged the potatoes and sliced up all else, but I’m not sure how I should cut up the thighs. Please advise…………I can’t wait to make this!
All I do with my chicken is season it, cook it, nd pull it apart haphazardly with a fork/hands! Cubed or “shredded” , it still tastes them same!
Made this today. Used lots of golden potatoes skin on about 30 ounces, added yellow and red pepper, loaded on the pepper, more carrots, yummy and creamy
Made this tonight! It was really good and super tasty, but I did have to spruce it up a bit after adding the cornstarch and the butter. I used salted butter, but I still felt it needed more salt. I added probably around 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of salt at the end along with some other generic spices like paprika, crushed red, onion powder, etc. . I stirred in a little sour cream as well to add thickness. I boiled my potatoes prior to putting them into the crockpot based on previous comments and they came out perfectly. The other veggies were perfectly tender as well. I cooked mine on high for 4 because I was short on time and it came out great!
Thanks for the recipe!
I cooked 4 hours on high- Really tasty soup! I made a southwest/chipotle marinade for my chicken the night before, and it came out pretty good!
I cut my potatoes pretty small, and they still needed an extra hour or 2, so the longer time and low setting may be a better bet? Or partially boil potatoes before throwing them in? I’d also use more half and half, but that just may be personal preference.
This looks great! I plan on making it this week. Do you think I could put the bacon in with everything in the crockpot and cook it that way? Or is it better to do it separately?
Personally, I would not put the bacon in the crockpot with the other ingredients because I think it would make the soup greasy and your bacon would not be crispy.
Made this yesterday and the flavor was spot on! I served it with homemade biscuits. Husband approved! Kids aren’t fans of soup but I suspect they’ll like it when they’re a little older. I left out the potatoes because we didn’t have any, so if anyone else is thinking of leaving those out, too, don’t expect it to thicken properly even with extra cornstarch because the starch from the potatoes really helps. Even though it was a little thin because I left out an ingredient, it was still delicious! Definitely will be making again.
Do you cook the chicken or put it in raw?
My boyfriend and I loved this! I did cook the potatoes for 10 mins before adding to the crock pot. I cooked on high for 2 hours then low for 5 hours. I added a little more than half a teaspoon of each spice. I also added a cup of 1/2 and half and 5 and a half tbs corn starch. This was perfect and chowdery!! Will for sure make again.
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! I added a can of tomatoes and jalapeños to add some kick. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Can I substitute the bacon for beef bacon or turkey bacon?
Delish!!! I have to admit, I was a wee bit skeptical that 1/2 cup half and half was going to be enough to add a creamy factor to this, but it was perfect. I did not add the butter because I actually forgot, but it was so good without it I don’t think I would bother to add it in the future either. This was a hit with my son and hubby and will definitely be on the repeat list! Thanks for another great recipe!
How can you make this to be able to rewarm it in the microwave I want to take some for my lunches at work
Super delicious and made the house smell so good! I made it with only one cup of stock and when I mixed the cornstarch, I used chicken stock instead of half and half to keep it dairy free. It was a win for everyone in the family!
The Chicken Tortilla Soup is AMAZING!!!
Love it
We loved this recipe! There are a few things I will tweak next time based on my mom’s own recipe. First, I will use breasts and boil them before hand to create a shredded chicken. I love the shredded chicken texture in my mom’s own recipe. The other adjustment I made had to do with creating a thicker broth. Instead of using cornstarch, I created a roux with flour and half & half. Roux/flour is a much better option for creating that thicker broth a lot of other reviewers were looking for. Otherwise, we loved this recipe!
Don’t listen to all those other fools who couldn’t follow your recipe. This was AMAZING. I did boil russet potatoes for 15 minutes before throwing them in the crockpot due to a suggestion in your comments, and it came out DELICIOUS. Thanks for a great recipe. Will save it forever.
Fantastic! My boyfriend and I both enjoyed it! Followed the recipe exactly and it was excellent.
Just wondering if I can freeze the leftovers?
Unfortunately, soups that contain milk or cream, like chowders and bisques, do not hold up well in the freezer as they tend to take on a grainy texture and separate when defrosted and rewarmed. 🙁
I am in the processing of making this now. Am I misunderstanding something…bacon is for garnish, right? Why did I have to cook it 4-8 hours before? Or are you supposed to add some and reserve some? Thanks!
Hi Audrey! The bacon does not have to be cooked for 6-8 hours. It is used as a topping for the soup. You can make it ahead of time or right before serving. Hope that helps! 🙂
Sooooo tasty and easy!
This is the 3rd time I made it. This time I made it on the stove top.
Thank you for a dependable recipe!
Hands down the absolute best corn chowder recipe out there!
This is delicious! I thought the broth would be a little thicker, but other than that it is perfect! I used shredded roasted chicken, heavy cream, and added a couple handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese. Husband is loving it and so am I. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was AMAZING! I am mystified why some people’s soup didn’t turn out. I did saute my onions in olive oil before I added them to the soup but that was the only thing I did that was different than the directions,although I did add sour cream along with the half and half/corn starch mixture. It thickened up beautifully. I live in a house FULL of boys and the LOVED it! We used cheddar cheese and some chopped chives as garnish. We forgot to add bacon and we didn’t miss it at all. This is a KEEPER!! Thank you!
Thank you, Anne!
It was very good. I added 16 ounces of cheddar cheese.
How much half and half do I use? It isn’t listed in the ingredients – just mentioned in the notes and directions..
It’s listed in the list of ingredients, it’s 1/2 a cup.
Its so delicious and lovable soup, being a chef I love this recipe because any chowder soup is my favourite dish. Thanks for the sharing your post.
I made this last night and it was decidedly “meh.” It wasn’t thick or creamy enough to be considered a chowder, and it definitely needed more flavor. I doubt I’ll try it again but if I did, I’d spring for the roasted corn at the very least.
Agree 100%. The flavor wasn’t there and it was very thin/watery. Disappointed.
Ditto. Very watery and not much flavor 🙁
I made this vegan for my son. I added diced tomatoes and rice. I also used vegetable broth instead of chicken. Turned out wonderful
Very disappointed in the recipe – not sure where it went wrong but lacking in flavor and not creamy 🙁
I followed the recipe. This came out VERY watery (brothy?) and not at all like a creamy chowder. It was also a bit bland. My search for an awesome chicken corn chowder goes on.
I made this! It really is soo delicious! I added the cream at the end and didn’t curdle for me though the butter or something did make it have a skin like layer on the top. Just stirred it back it and it was fine. My only suggestion is to go on at the beginning and add A LOT of salt and pepper. This recipe really needs to have a base amount of salt and pepper suggested instead of only “to taste.” I kept tasting and adding and tasting and adding and tasting and adding… Plus with potatoes you really need to add enough salt at the beginning of cooking instead of waiting til the end.
This recipe does not come out good. Wasted a lot of time preparing the ingredients and money on the ingredients. Pick a different slow cooker recipe, there are plenty out there and don’t be fooled by the pics from this one as I was. A lot of wasted time and really really disappointed.
My family — from kids to grandparents — loved this. I haven’t read through all the comments, so I might duplicate things said elsewhere. Here goes:
#1, the chowder came out great. I have never had much luck with slow cooker recipes, and have often felt the need to pre-cook some ingredients. But I took a leap of faith and dumped everything in the pot as instructed and there were absolutely no problems. The potatoes and onions were cooked, the thighs were tender, no grizzle or other gnarly things to deal with. The seasoning was just right to please conservative palates without being boring. I personally like a bit of kick to everything I eat, but given that I’m usually in the minority at family gatherings I’ve gotten used to keeping an arsenal of sauces and condiments on hand. (One of my favorites for soups is Busha Brown’s Hot Pepper Sherry. It doesn’t have a tomato base, and is great with creamy concoctions including bechamels. PS – This is not a plug for the product. I’m just a fan.)
#2, since I don’t care for thickened chowders, the consistency of this recipe was ideal. The starch from the potatoes provided enough of a creamy texture to be satisfying without being gloppy. In fact, I didn’t even use the cornstarch. I added the half and half after the end of the cooking time and let it heat through on the slow cooker’s “warm” setting.
#3, my only concern was that the liquid ingredients called for (4 cups chicken stock, 1/2 cup half and half) didn’t seem like it would make enough to serve 8 people. So I increased the stock to 5 cups. At the end of the cooking time, I did notice that some of the liquid had evaporated or been absorbed by the potatoes. So after adding the half-and-half, I just eyeballed it and added another 1/2 cup H&H and more chicken stock (I didn’t measure, but it was definitely not more than a cup). I’m glad I did this, because this yielded enough for 8 serving: 5 adults and 3 kids. If I hadn’t increased the liquids called for, my hunch is that the finished recipe would have been adequate for 5-6 servings (although I guess it depends on whether you’re serving it for lunch or dinner).
These minor tweaks were certainly not deal breakers. I am thrilled to have a slow cooker recipe which wasn’t made from a canned, creamed soup. And I’m thrilled to have a base recipe which I can tweak when I’m with my spice-loving friends.
I will definitely make this again
I made this today on the stove (because I was already starving when I started cooking and didn’t want to wait 4 hours!) and it is so delicious! Perfect winter soup. I like that it is creamy, but not SO creamy that you can only have a bite or two. I love it 🙂 Also, it was so easy!
Can I ask how long it took on the stove? Hoping to try it that way today as well since I waited too long to decide what I’m making for supper.
Hi !
This looks delicious!
You say to serve immediately but I’m wondering if this can be made a day ahead and reheated?
Thanks!
Judy
Yes, of course!
Hi there
I’ve just started cooking this in my slow cooker about half an hour ago and my slow cooker has decided to die right now…boo! Wondering if it is possible just to stick everything I’ve done into a saucepan to cook it? Would I just do it on a low heat? For how long would it need to be cooked? Any help you could give me would be great! Thanks 🙂
Yes, that should work! Hope it turned out okay. 🙂
After reading previous comments I went ahead and waited until the stew was cooked (took about 7.5 hours), turned off my crockpot and then added the half/half mixture while it sat and cooled.
I thought the flavor of this soup was dynamite. I’m trying to eat less sodium so I used low sodium chicken broth and didn’t add any salt, just the other spices listed. This soup is filling, tasty, and I believe could easiy be made dairy free by using almond milk instead of half and half (wouldn’t be as thick but still tasty). Will for sure make this again!!
(P.S. I roasted corn on the cob before cutting and adding it into the soup so there was not canned veggies, all fresh and so delicious!)
I see your complaints and I raise you reason.
No online recipe is going to suit your taste completely. Get past it. I have done this recipe multiple times and here is my insight.
1. If you follow precisely, the potatoes will not be done. I’ve tried it multiple ways and they weren’t done in any of them. I recommend putting them at a hard boil for about 10 minutes before adding them.
2. If you think it’s bland, I recommend adding a chopped, seedless, Jalapeno. It adds tons of flavor and is quite common in this recipe.
3. If you think it’s too thin, replace a portion of milk with heavy cream. That should go without saying.
This being said, I don’t do the bacon and I add more corn than is recommended. Otherwise it’s a good recipe and great starting point.
I don’t understand these negative reviews! This is a soup, not stew people. Perfectly creamy and full of flavor. Trader Joe’s frozen roasted corn is a must, in my opinion. Great use of all those chicken thighs from Costco. I had the bone on and skin on ones, so just removed them. Everything else was exactly as listed. Not curdling at all. My soup looked just like the photo. Served with a salad and bread for a complete fulfilling meal.
This is the most boring, flavorless, slithery dish of mushy slop to have ever come out of my slow cooker. Hospitals wouldn’t serve this. Ugh!
Chicken corn chowder is my absolute favorite soup, so when I found this recipe, I had to try it! It came out GREAT and I was so proud of myself! Even better than the canned version I always stock up on. Feels good to know I can make it myself! I have only a 1 quart crockpot, so I adjusted the ingredients and cook time and this came out perfect, looked just like the picture! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!! Thank you!
Followed recipe exactly and LOVED this! (As did my kids and husband.). My *only* complaint, is WHY is step #1 to cook the bacon when it’s not needed until eight-plus hours later? I ended up not including the bacon, but there were so many other tastes going on, I didn’t miss it. DEFINITE keeper! Thanks so much!
I agree. It didn’t even need the bacon. We loved it too.
I made this and it was good but it had a little more watered down consistency than what I would consider a chowder? Any recommendations on how to make it creamier with a truer chowder consistency? Flavor was good.
If it was too watery on your end, more cornstarch can be added, as needed, to suit your preferences a little better. It’s an easy fix – promise!
I’m trying this yummy recipe tonight!! Do you think you could throw the thighs in whole and partly shred with a fork near the end or do they have to be cut up? Anybody try it like that? Thanks!!
Made this exactly as instructed and it was wonderful! Thank you for creating this recipe!
Added some smoked paprika and used chipotle crushed pepper instead of cayenne. PERFECTION. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
I made this for dinner today and it was very good, but I did notice like other comments said, it was a bit thinner than expected. I originally made this exactly per the recipe and expected it to be a bit creamier, but I had no issues with curdling even coming on high. I did wait until the last 30 minutes to add the half and half though, and it seems like some people may have cooked it in there the whole time? I added another 1/4 cup of half and half with another 1-1.5 tbsp of cornstarch whisked in, but it still wasn’t creamy or as thick as pictured here. I also added a tad bit more seasoning, but only because I like heavily seasoned dishes. Even though it wasn’t as thick as I originally imagined, this was delicious, and I believe the called for amount of seasonings would be plenty for the average person.
Can you sub russet potatoes for the red potatoes?
Yes, absolutely.
If you’re drawn to this recipe based on the picture shown, turn back now. Followed recipe step by step and cooked on lowest setting since the broth is milk based. Soup was a total fail at dinner table. Waste of groceries and time.
I want to make this tomorrow. I also want to make it as healthy as possible. A few questions…
Can I use Arroot Flour instead of cornstarch?
Can I use coconut milk in stead of half and half?
Would it taste good with sweet potatoes versus red potatoes?
Thank you. I look forward to your response.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I made this on the stove and I’m glad I doubled the recipe. It was simple but had lots of flavour. I am freezing a couple of servings to see how well the cream and potato stand up to freezing, thawing and reheating. Thanks for the inspiration.
I am super bummed about this one too. The soup was very watery, even with adding extra cornstarch and half and half.
This recipe is exquisite and everything worked out very well. My only changes were using chicken breasts instead of thighs (because I prefer white meat) and using heavy cream instead of half & half. It freezes very well (made portions for my husband’s lunches) and I don’t understand why some commenters had problems with this recipe. I threw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, went to bed and when I got up in the morning, it was ready for the cream. One of the easiest recipes I’ve made!
Just made this recipe and tweaked it after reading all of the comments. First, I added garlic salt to the recipe as well as some of the bacon grease. Cooked it on high for three hours then turned it to low for 30 minutes. Finally, I took the lid off for 20 min to let it cool a bit because I was worried about curdling when I added the half-n-half/flour. I tripled that combination. Turned out spectacular! Thank you for this wonderful soup and all the helpful comments/feedback!
This was seriously incredible! And very easy to make. I used half a bag (about 1 1/2 cups) of a chopped celery and green pepper blend to sub for the celery since my grocery store didn’t have any fresh at the moment and frozen was easy. I also tripled the half and half and corn starch mixture because my crock pot is larger than 6q. I also added more spice than recommended because I like spice, and put the left over bacon grease from cooking the bacon in the chowder as well.. DELICIOUS!!!! The flavors go very well together. Thank you for making this recipe! Will become a staple in my home as everyone loved it.
Omg just made this today, smells awesome and tastes even better , no curdling and flavour is great very pleased!!
Just found this recipe a few days ago and tried it yesterday and all I can say is AMAZING! This recipe will definitely be going into my regular rotation!
Delish! Turned out wonderful. Used chicken breast cutlets instead of thighs, but kept everything else. Used my instant pot on the crock pot setting, added the last 3 ingredients 30 min before serving. Added shredded cheese along with bacon to garnish. Even my picky 4 year old, who looked at it and said yuck, devoured a bowl!
I love this recipe and my house smells wonderful! I did a few things different for more depth of flavor. It took a bit longer but was well worth it. I cooked the bacon first, then cooked bone in chicken thighs in the bacon grease and shredded them before adding to crockpot. I also sautéed the celery, onions, and carrots in bacon grease before adding them. Then added the bacon to the soup instead of garnishing with it. Like I said it was more of a process but well worth it! Thanks for the recipe!
I used a different recipe originally by themagicalslowcooker and it wasn’t very flavorful so I found this one, I added garlic powder and onion powder and butter and now it tastes AMAZING! Also, I don’t feel as if the soup is thick enough, the original recipe I used didn’t call for flour so could I add it now or should I not? Is there any way I can make this thicker? Maybe puree some of it? Thank you so much for the delicious recipe. 🙂
Yes, you can use an immersion blender!
Can you substitute the red potatoes with sweet potatoe?
Yes – that sounds amazing!
This recipe is truly devine as it is! A quick poll of us at Almost Paradise finds a common belief that bacon is a main food group. We eliminate the risk of milk curdling by withholding the heavy cream until 20 minutes prior to serving. Creamy chicken and corn bisque with bacon. Serve with fresh sourdough and melted butter. OMG.
How soon can I put this soup in the fridge? Is it ok to keep milk-based soup in the fridge for 2-3 days?
Thanks
Unfortunately, as I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot answer with certainty. Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
If you wanted a richer, thicker consistency would it be ok to substitute heavy cream for the half & half or do you think that would be way too heavy? Is adding additional cornstarch a better way to go?
Heavy cream and/or cornstarch would work!
I’m going to try this recipe and I was wondering how can I save some of this delicious soup for later? Can I wait until it cools and put it in the fridge? Will it be safe? Any suggestions on how a single guy could keep eating this soup for 2-3 days?
As I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot really answer with certainty. Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
This is delicious! I halved the recipe for my small crockpot. I added only enough chicken stock to just cover the veggies. I used the dark meat if a rotisserie chicken, added in the last hour of cooking. I added in the half-and-half and cornstarch mixture at the end, and then turned the crockpot off with the cover on. Then I just left it alone for about 30 min. The result was a very creamy full-bodied soup, no curdling. The only thing I added was a small handful of pepper jack. Gave the soup a bit of zip. I would definitely make this again. Great recipe!
I don’t like chicken thighs. Would it be OK to replace them with the chicken breast?
Yes, absolutely.
Just tried this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! However, I would like the sauce to be a little thicker. Was more like chicken and corn stew then chowder. Suggestions?
Additional cornstarch can be added until the desired consistency is reached.
I wonder if you could use evaporated condensed skim milk instead of half-and-half, as I do with many other cream-based soups, to get the creaminess without the extra calories?
Yes, absolutely.
Hello,
What would you recommend to spice this up? We love heat in any dish! I wasn’t sure if dicing up a jalapeno would do the trick or if you had a better idea? Thanks!
Jalapeno is perfect!
Another very simple homemade soup that is similar to this, although not made in slow cooker….takes about 2 hours including prep time. You can tailor it to your liking…..it is impossible to spoil recipe.
Homemade Potato Soup – Extra Hearty!!
Cut up enough red potatoes (skin on/skin off….your choice) to fill whatever pot you want to use (proportioned to your appetite, or those you are feeding).
– for a large pot (8-10 servings) – cut up (dice) 2 large yellow onions (proportion small onion for about 5 med potatoes) and add onions to potatoes in pot.
– cut up carrots, mushrooms, corn (I use off the cobb – and again, these proportioned to serving size, and how many veggies you like) but do not add to potatoes and onions.
– mince 4-6 cloves of garlic (more if large batch, and depends on how much you like the flavour)
– have 2-3 Tbsp. of butter/margarine and olive oil on hand
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
-Fill pot of potatoes with water until roughly 1 inch of top of potatoes are left showing.
-Bring to boil, and hold at a rolling boil until potatoes are cooked (about 1/4 of the water should have evaporated, that is fine, that is what you want!)
-While potatoes are heating, get frying pan to 3/4 heat, once to heat, add margarine and some olive oil (so margarine/butter does not burn).
– Add carrots and garlic 1st to frying pan, let cook for 5-8 mins, then add corn and mushrooms to pan, and cook for another 5-8 mins, stirring often so garlic does not burn (as it will become bitter). Take off burner once finished saute, I like my veggies el dente, so 10 mins overall is good.
Now that potatoes/onions are cooked (knife or fork will pierce easily), leave water in, mash until desired consistency ( I like mine chunky, so minimal mashing).
Once mashed potatoes and onions together, add 2 parts milk and 1 part heavy cream to mixture, stirring continually until you get desired consistency. Even if you mix it till thin, it will thicken with simmering due to starches.
Once reached desired consistency, add veggie mixture, and simmer on low, stirring occasionally for about 20 mins, long enough for flavours to combine, add a dollop of butter/margarine for added richness while simmering!
Enjoy! I just spilled the beans on my mothers homemade potato soup!! Its killer!!
I miss Cali!! I will try this tomorrow
Awe my response to this is that I miss California so much!!! Ralph’s was my favourite place….Safeway just isn’t the same! I miss the ocean, I miss the kind people and I miss the palm trees!!
Made this last night. It was delicious!! Made the recipe as written and did find it to be a thinner chowder, but still very filling. In the Northeast, we have lots of kinds of chowder from thin and broth-y to super thick, so the fact that it wasn’t super thick was fine. Thank you for your recipes – they rock!! Much love…
Made this soup today. Used skim milk instead of cream and it turned out well!
Thanks for this easy recipe!
I’m noticing many talk about curdling milk and/or cream. Thank god I used to be a sous chef lol. Boil your chicken in 4 cups off water with a lid on, strain with a siv to omit the excess fat, boil potatoes seperate with 1/4 cup water in a small pot, agin leave lid on, until they’re mostly cooked. Give potatoes a quick mash (leave them clumpy as they’ll break up in the crock). Add to your pot of chicken stock and combine before adding to crock.
Add ALL ingredients to the crock while chicken and spuds are cooking. Then just add the combined chicken and spud mixture to the pot, quick toss and voila!
Crock on hi for 2 hours work perfectly, then set to low for another 2-3 hours. When you turn heat down that’s the BEST time to add cornstarch! Do not dump it in and put lid on, it will curdle. Stir your soup slowly and add mixture slowly, it will omit any curdling. When your ready to dive in to this masterpiece it’s absolutely divine! ☺
Oh! 1 more thing, don’t add your bacon to the crock, it will go soggy and has a weird texture when gooey lol. Sprinkle bacon on when serving (make sure it’s nice and crispy, not half cooked)
I forgot to mention be sure to use COLD water of cream with the cornstarch to omit curdling as well. It may take a few minutes of stirring before starting to thicken. I use 3 tbsp tp 1/3 cream for thickening in a 4 qt crock.
Hi Chungah! I just started this this morning! I have one question, the recipe lists butter as an ingredient but I don’t see where its added in the crock pot. Do you just throw some dollops in there?
Erin, the butter is actually listed in the second to last step:
In a small bowl, whisk together half and half and cornstarch. Stir in half and half mixture and butter during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
Oh yes, one more comment. I would save the bacon and add it towards the end. Even though it was very crispy when I tossed it in, and I’m sure the flavor blended in, the little pieces ended up being little flabby almost colorless nibblets of meat. I would add it either at the end and leave it fresh or add it in the last 30 minutes or so.
Thank you for your feedback, Madonna. The bacon is actually added at the very end when serving.
Mine has turned out wonderful!
I just used boneless skinless chicken breast, & a little more seasoning,
with salted butter instead,
Slowly adding the cream mixture
later on low, but use extra,
I have previously used sour cream when I didn’t have half & half,
& its amazing with Alfredo sauce from
a jar as substitute, creamy &
adds more flavour! Yum
But the recipe says bacon is just added
at the very end, on top like a garnish,
I do this for all of my chowders
Thank you for sharing Joanne!
I was sooo looking forward to this recipe. It wasn’t as creamy as I had hoped. Partly my fault though. It was a disaster for me. First of all, let me say that I must be the slowest chopper in the world because this was NOT a quick recipe. There is a lot to chop and a lot of ingredients. My goof was that even though I skimmed thru the instructions, I guess because of the way the items are listed, I tossed everything in together from the beginning. Just as others have said, the half and half curdled and separated. I did not choose to toss out all these ingredients though. There was too much money involved for me to take the loss. I took a lot of time to scoop out slotted spoonful at a time and literally rinsing all the curdled milk/corn starch blend from all the vegetables in a colander. That left the broth and curdled milk. I then strained everything through cheesecloth filtering everything out. I was left with about 99% of all the white mush in the cloth leaving me pretty confident I had removed all of the original cornstarch and half & half. Of course a bit of the spices and some of the smaller onion pieces were left too but not enough to worry about. The recipe had cooked about 2 hours when I checked it so the flavors had already blended through into the broth. I blended everything back together and tasted everything again. It was a bit low on salt so I added some and also added just a touch of thyme back in.
So, with that resolved, the problem I had with the whole recipe was that it just seemed extremely watery for a chowder. I think if I were to make this again, I might use a heavy cream but only at the end. Mine never did thicken up at all, even after properly adding the cornstarch again. That being said, my husband had 5 bowls! He loved it.
I was excited to make this recipe (hooray for slow cookers!), but this ended up being a watery mixture of overcooked veggies and undercooked potatoes. The sauce did not thicken at all (even after adding more corn starch). I noticed that several folks mentioned that they ended up using more half-and-half to make the soup creamier… Anyway, followed the recipe (no substitutions made) and it was a total mess.
Elizabeth, I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. If it was too watery on your end, more cornstarch can be added, as needed, to suit your preferences a little better. It’s an easy fix – promise! 🙂
Is it possible to use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead?
Yes, absolutely.
Hi, I’m in the process of slow cooking this soup. I doubled the recipe, do I still double the half and half and cornstarch mixture?
Yes, everything should be doubled.
Hi, I was wondering if the timing would vary if I am using a bigger crock pot? The one in your picture looks like a small crock pot, but then I noticed that you said 6 quart crock pot in your recipe. If I have a 8 quart one, do I have to adjust anything or should I be okay following the directions in all your crock pot recipes? Thank you :]
Yes, size does matter! If you are using a larger slow cooker than the one listed in the recipe, cooking time may have to be reduced as needed.
Thank you, are all your crock pot recipes 6 qt slow cookers?
They range in size depending on the recipe.
Yummeh! I made this today, the Monday before Thanksgiving. I’ll be cooking for the rest of the week until the big T-Day (duh!) and this is going to get us past dinnertimes until then. Good choice! It looks super scrumptious and I’m feeling like a big-time hero for having hearty homemade food around to eat. What a great recipe! My husband likes a little meat in his soup so he will be very happy too! Thanks for all the good food! Your recipes bail me out quite often!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I had to add more half and half to get it creamy though, I ended up using about a cup and a half. It was a big hit at my dinner table! Would love to see more slow cooker recipes!
Everything else from your website always turns out amazing, but this soup! The milk curdled 🙁 This is so frustrating! I’m in the process of trying to fix it as to not waste it all. I wouldn’t recommend this recipe in the slow cooker. I think you’d have more control in a stock pot.
Kim, if your slow cooker’s heat source is too high, curdling can happen. You can try adding in the milk during the last 30-60 minutes of cooking.
Kim…I had no trouble whatsoever with this recipe in the crock pot. I slowly stirred in the cream and cornstarch mix in and it turned out perfectly. I even froze several containers for my husband’s lunches and they thaw a nuke fine without curdling. Hoping you are able to resolve your dilemma.
Quick question. Your directions say to go ahead and whisk the half and half mixture at the beginning of the recipe, however. it doesn’t go in until the last 30 minutes. Does this need to sit all day or is it okay to do right before adding to the soup? Thank you!
Not at all – you can whisk the half and half and cornstarch right before.
Since I only have a 4qt, I’ll halve the recipe. Would the cooking time still be the same? Planning on using chicken breasts instead of thighs. That shouldn’t make too much of a difference, correct? I just want it to be scarf-and-soup weather here in LA. Should cool down right around the last week of December…
The cooking time should not vary too much but as always, please use your best judgment.
I’m in the process of making this delicious sounding soup! Put everything (minus the bacon and half/half) in this morning on low. Now I’ve been gone all day and I came home to find my soup a bit low on liquid. I added more chicken broth and milk so I hope that helps. But I have to say mine doesn’t look as pretty as yours. As the chicken thigh pieces have cooked little bits of fat have cooked out and left my soup full of fatty clumps. I’m hoping when I mix in the cornstarch/halfandhalf mixture the soup will get creamy. Has this ever happened to you?
Yes, the cornstarch mixture is the thickener! 🙂
I made this yesterday before I left for the afternoon and when I got home 3 hours later the house smelled so good… I couldn’t wait to try this. But when I looked in my crock pot, the milk had separated and curdled. The soup did not taste or look good at all. I had to throw the whole pot out as there was nothing I could do to save it and no one wanted to eat curdled soup. I am wondering if my crock pot is too hot for milky things, even on low heat? So disappointed…
Bummer! I’m not entirely sure what went wrong as there should be no sign of curdling. What type of slow cooker are you using?
I have I have this recipe in the crock pot now and the milk has totally curdled
Rusty, if your slow cooker’s heat source is too high, curdling can happen. You can try adding in the milk during the last 30-60 minutes of cooking.
I have it set to low. I will tray that next time. Should the soup still he okay to eat? It smells great
It’s really up to you. 🙂
I had my cream break as well like another poster mentioned. Cooked on high to speed things up, which I believe was the culprit. Cream based soups may do better on lower settings or in crockpots that don’t get too hot. I think my crock is slow to heat but gets too hot after a few hours. To remedy a broken (curdled) soup you can separate the base from the solids by straining and blend which will help a little. No need to toss as it still tastes good.
Try sautéing the onions first as most onions will curdle milk when used in the raw state, especially in a slow cooker. To test this out, just put some onions in a glass of milk and leave it on the counter for an hour or so. Same thing happens when making scalloped potatoes. Chef Bosse.
Excellent tip about the onions! Thank you!
I had the exact same problem. Complete waste of groceries and time! The picture shown in the recipe was obviously not taken by someone who followed this recipe. Save yourself the disappointment and skip this recipe!!
Borrowed a 6 qt slow cooker and made this yesterday. What a wonderful smell in the kitchen! I made it totally following the recipe. We thought it was nice. The only change I would make next time is adding more cooked bacon into the pot. I found it a teensy bit bland. Not sure why. I’ll let you know the results after I try this addition. Now I’m on a hunt for a new slow cooker!
Louise, you can try adding more seasonings, to taste, to suit your preferences a little better. And as always, you can never go wrong with more bacon! 🙂
I made a big pot of this, thinking it looked good, but it didn’t taste good, and I ended up throwing it all out after we each tried a bowl of it. I’m wondering if maybe I did something wrong, but I wouldn’t risk it again. It was sort of watery, not creamy, and there was a bad taste (maybe too heavy on the garlic?). Sorry. I tried to pull out some of the ingredients to salvage them, but I gave that idea up in a short time. As you suggest, Chungah, maybe people could change the spices.
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
So I must ask – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
I made this tonight, it was good but not very creamy, much more watery than I was expecting. I followed the recipe exactly.
Thank you for including the nutritional information. It really helps me plan when I want to splurge on the calories and cholesterol. Can’t wait!
I only have a 4 quart crock pot. Could you please give me measurements to use for this soup.
Many thanks,
Louise
Louise, it may be best to halve the recipe to suit your 4-qt slow cooker.
I am always look for good soup recipes this time of year and this totally sounds like a winner. I think I might try this this week 🙂
(You left out the heavy cream in the ingredients list). Sounds delicious – I’ll try it out tomorrow because I have all of the ingredients 😀
There is actually no heavy cream in this recipe 🙂
Oh – the recipe changed a bit after I typed my comment, lol – please disregard the bit about the heavy cream 😀
This looks delicious. Especially on a cold, rainy day like today! Thank you for posting. I might modify a bit a replace the bacon with a spicy smoked sausage that I’ve been craving 🙂
looks great!! a few things…do i need to pre-cook the chicken? can i substitute extra virgin olive oil for the butter? also, can i freeze leftovers? thanks so much for your time! can’t wait to try this one =)
1. The chicken does not have to be pre-cooked – that’s the beauty of the slow cooker! 🙂
2. I do not recommend substituting olive oil. If you do not have butter, it may be best to omit it in its entirety.
3. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
You can freeze but potatoes tend to be grainy and mushy when defrosted.
I found your web site by accident, and I am so glad I did. Dear, dear Chungah, not one of the recipes you have posted has failed to delight. Easy and delicious. What more can one ask for? Thank you!!!
My husband loves corn chowder but I don’t make it very often and I have never considered making it in a slow cooker, which sounds like a great idea. Our recipe doesn’t have chicken either, which is an interesting add in.
That is why, on a he 8th day, God invented Amazon.com
is that parsley or chives?
It’s chives – thank you for pointing that out! 🙂
This looks delicious! Silly question: do you cook the chicken before adding it to the crockpot?
Allison
Nope, the chicken does not have to be cooked. The slow cooker will do all the work for you! 🙂
Looks good, but what’s with the moldy-looking corn in the photo???
Mold tends to be blue in color, not black. The corn used here is roasted corn kernels from Trader Joe’s – it’s the best!
I thought that corn looked familiar! I love Trader Joe’s!
I just tried this and the potatoes never softened. I had to take the out, cook two more in the microwave, let them cool, and then put back in the pot.
Maybe they weren’t cut small enough. Maybe next time try a smaller size then they are more likely to cook through.
This was a great recipe. I added in green chili and some Velveta cheese. The cheese was a nice way to thicken the cream sauce, and the green chilis added a nice kick to the taste buds. It fed about eight people. I complimented this recipe with crossaints and a nice fruit salad. Happy hubby, happy kids, happy parents!
why you so mean? cook give good recipe an yoo mean.
Some people just can’t be bothered to read first.. the nasty comes first ! I love this recipe !
It’s roasted corn. It says it right in the ingredients
It’s Not mold, ffs.
This looks delicious! You cant buy crockpots where I live but I’ll bet this would be great on the stove too. I love soup season!
You can’t buy a Crockpot ?? Where do you live Alaska ? I am sure Amazon has them and you can order them for anywhere on earth
^^ 😀
I live in Alaska and I brought one at Walmart ☺️
Alaska has crockpots, I’m pretty sure even the north and south poles have crockpots! Maybe Amazon doesn’t deliver to the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, that’s the only scenario that I can imagine!
Anything you can make in a crockpot you can make in a roaster and bake in your oven. I do a lot of crockpot recipes in a dutch oven pot in my gas oven in the motorhome when we are out camping. And it doesn’t take as long to cook and is just as good.
I just use cast iron pot on very low heat. It works great for all crockpot recipe
Nice excuse, Tori but this is the 21ST CENTURY for crying out loud! LOL! If you have the ability to write your post, you have the ability to order a crockpot online. Bahahaha! Gotta love the “victim mentality”!
That was unnecessarily mean… “Victim mentality”, really? Unless you know someone’s personal issues, there is no need to make derogatory remarks!
What the hell is wrong with you?? Why would you make someone feel bad over a crock pot? It’s none of your business why she doesn’t have a crock pot. What are you 16 years old or something? Talk about internet bullying.
I live in the middle east, one of the sanctioned countries. you would be surprised at what you “cannot” find in some areas. While technology wise we have almost everything and I have a nicer kitchen than most of my family in the US, I can’t find some ingredients-for example bacon, marscapone cheese, cheddar cheese, half and half, some types of flour. I have learned to substitute and to revise my cooking style. Not everyone who reads these blogs is American or living in a Western country, hence has access to Amazon-I don’t. After moving abroad I am so aware of the “stupidity” of some of my fellow humans.
I’m sorry for the rudeness of these units educated individuals. Yes living in a repressed area must be extremely difficult at times but also in some ways free as well. While here in the USA we can buy what ever we want or desire a lot of people in this country are not happy and many yearn to simply their lives.
Seriously… could you be more rude? Sarcasm and insults don’t go too far, maybe you need to find a different platform to voice your unpleasant and bitchy responses…
Just a thought Tori :/
I’ve made this on the stove top several times now. Works fine and is done in an hour or two. Just depends on how long you need to simmer it so the carrots, potatoes, other veggies and chicken are cooked through.