Sweet Corn, Peppered Bacon and Shrimp Chowder is everything you could dream up in a soup and then some. Today was one of those chilly fall evenings that required a hearty, soul warming soup. This has been a pretty standard recipe when we’re craving some comfort.
Sweet yellow corn is the best in the fall, seasonally, it’s available August-October but now you can pretty much find it packaged in your local grocery store year around. There is nothing quite like local fresh sweet corn though. This is a great recipe for a few reasons; it’s a one pot meal, it’s dairy free and gluten free, and it’s ridiculously delicious.
I served this with some honey butter brushed ciabatta bread and a big glass of your favorite wine or cold brew.
Sweet Corn, Peppered Bacon and Shrimp Chowder
For the basic prep; have everything chopped and ready to go right into the pot so everything is quick and easy. Make 'mise en place' a part of your every day cooking and you'll find that cooking will be a lot more fun and easier.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling
- 4 whole Sweet Corn Cobs, husked
- 4 whole Medium Gold Potatoes, peeled and diced
- 6 slices Bacon, I used deli thick cut smoked and peppered bacon
- 1 pound Large Raw Shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 whole Sweet Onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper, or a pinch for less heat
- 3 cloves Garlic, grated or minced
- 1 cup Ale or Wheat Beer
- 3 cups Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock
- Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to season
- Green Onion, chopped for garnish
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Step 2 On a sheet pan drizzle the corn with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper, roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until corn looks golden and juicy. Remove and let cool until ready to handle.
- Step 3 Cut corn off the cob and reserve until needed. Place a small bowl inverted inside of a bigger bowl and use as a platform to cut the kernels off of the cob.
- Step 4 Meanwhile, cook your diced potatoes in a medium pot of salted water, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
- Step 5 Remove from heat and drain water. Place potatoes in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If you prefer slightly chunky, then by all means make it chunky.
- Step 6 Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat.
- Step 7 Add the bacon and cook rendering the fat. Cook until you get crisp gorgeous bacon bits. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Step 8 Drain some of the fat until about 2 tablespoons are left in the pot. Add shrimp to the pot and season with salt and pepper, cook for 2 minutes in the bacon fat. Stir to cook shrimp evenly. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Step 9 Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and the onions to the pot and increase the heat slightly. Sweat out the onions until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved roasted sweet corn kernels to the pot.
- Step 10 Stir in and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, and cayenne.
- Step 11 Deglaze pot with the beer of your choice. Scrape up any browned bits and simmer until liquid is reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in potato puree. Taste and season with salt.
- Step 12 While stirring start adding the stock. Stir well. Make sure the stock is completely stirred into the mixture. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, to taste. Before serving, add reserved shrimp and bacon. Garnish with chopped green onion and serve. Enjoy!
So for the basic prep; have everything chopped and ready to go right into the pot so everything is quick and easy.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
On a sheet pan drizzle the corn with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until corn looks golden and juicy. Remove and let cool until ready to handle.
Cut corn off the cob and reserve until needed.
Place a small bowl inverted inside of a bigger bowl and use as a platform to cut the kernels off of the cob.
Meanwhile, cook your diced potatoes in a medium pot of salted water, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and drain water. Place potatoes in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If you prefer slightly chunky, then by all means make it chunky.
The idea here is to use the potatoes as a thickener for the soup so they can be smooth and creamy or chunky. Reserve the potatoes until needed.
Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed dutch oven or pot over medium heat.
Add the bacon and cook rendering the fat. Cook until you get crisp gorgeous bacon bits. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.
Drain some of the fat until about 2 tablespoons are left in the pot. Add shrimp to the pot and season with salt and pepper, cook for 2 minutes in the bacon fat. Stir to cook shrimp evenly. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and set aside. You don’t want the shrimp to overcook and become tough so I wait until I’m just ready to serve to add the shrimp back into the soup. Same goes for the bacon, there is nothing worse than rubbery bacon. Think of it like a garnish.
Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and the onions to the pot and increase the heat slightly. Sweat out the onions until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved roasted sweet corn kernels to the pot.
Stir in and season with salt and pepper. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, and cayenne.
If you like a little more heat, then by all means add more cayenne. If not then I’d suggest maybe just a pinch. Your cooking is your preference.
Deglaze pot with the beer of your choice. Scrape up any browned bits and simmer until liquid is reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in potato puree. Taste and season with salt.
While stirring start adding the stock. Stir well. Make sure the stock is completely stirred into the mixture. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, to taste.
Before serving toss in parsley, reserved shrimp and bacon.
Savor and Enjoy!
Comfort in a bowl! I can’t wait to try this for myself!
Made this today I added a pound of shelled crawfish as well I think it came ot wonderful.
Crawfish would be a great addition to this soup!!! Glad you liked it ;)
Just finished making this. So super delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed Sarah!
this looks amazing…everything we love is in it…how many people do you think it would serve? I have a group of 8-10 coming over in two weeks..should I double it?
I’ve served this to 6 before with leftovers and people got 2nds! You can always double the recipe for a crowd :)
What a great dish for the winter. Everyone in my family loved it. Yummy and comforting!!
Umm
It’s a beautiful snowy day here, so I decided to make this, since it seems like the perfect winter dish. It was! So wonderful and hearty! There was no sweet corn at the market, so I got a bag of frozen sweet corn, that I steamed in the microwave. I know the roasted corn would make this better, but the frozen corn was still pretty good. I may choose a different beer next time, though. Mine was really strong. Regardless, I can’t wait for tomorrow, so we can eat the leftovers! Thank you so much for this recipe! I will be making this one again and again.
It truly is! Enjoy Kelli!
I loved this chowder!! Especially that it had no cream, but was rich and thick and oh so good! While cooking it my neighbor downstairs called to ask what I was cooking up here lol, so of course I had to share! Delish thanks for sharing! :)
I’m so happy you enjoyed! It’s my favorite recipe to share among friends and family! Good food brings people together ;)
Beer is not something we have around the house a lot, so can you suggest a suitable replacement? Looks delicious though!!!
Vicky, you can always just sub it out with chicken stock or even white wine would be nice here too if you have that handy?
Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a go !
I used sweet potatoes instead and it was incredible! Thank you!
Yum! That sounds amazing! I’ll have to try that. Thanks Aimee, glad you enjoyed!
Oh this look perfect! So comforting! Pinned!!
Thanks Liz :)
Hello I post your recipe on my facebook page
If your read carefully we put your information
At the end of the recipe. I translated because alot of people does not know english.
Thanks
Gave this a try and made a few adjustments. I had some fresh asparagus that I decided to grill along with the corn and shrimp just to give it a bit more flavor. Followed the rest of the recipe except for also adding more garlic and onion which I’m glad I did because it gave it a bit more flavor. All in all a great foundation recipe that I’ll use again and again!
Do you think I could use a hard cider instead of beer? I’m a glutenfree girl
Hi Penny, I don’t have much experience with cooking with hard cider but any gluten free beer will do as well. Or just sub out with extra stock. Let me know how it turns out if you do use hard cider! Cheers!
I found your recipe on Pinterest and OMG – my husband and I were just raving over how good this was. We could not stop eating it. Awesome recipe! Will be making again and again and again.
Thank you Mindee! So happy to hear you and your husband loved this! It’s one of my favorite recipes on the site. Cheers!
Winner! Winner! Shrimp Chowder Dinner!! Mmmh, mmmh yummy on a cold, snowy day in Jersey. Thank you for hitting the spot!
That’s awesome Darchelle! This is definitely a perfect dish for a snow day! Cheers!
This recipe looks amazing! Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to put together long recipes by reading off of my smart phone. I prefer printing them out, old-school style! For some reason this recipe has some viewing errors when trying to print. It has black text (looks like web coding or urls) over top of the beautiful pictures. Any way you might be able to fix this issue on your end for this & all future readers? Thanks!
Hi Kris, Are you using the “Print This” option on the top right hand corner of the recipe card? It should print the recipe with no interference from web codes or urls. Hope that helps! Cheers