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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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.