Delicious and creamy Vegan Corn Chowder Recipe that's super easy to make and naturally gluten-free. Thickened with potatoes and natural corn starch and made creamy with coconut milk, this Dairy Free Corn Chowder is as tasty as it is healthy. Go ahead and spice it up a lot or a little depending on how you like it!
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Up there with blackberry pies, time with my family, and chilling by the ocean, fresh, sweet corn is hands down one of my favourite things about summer. There's nothing quite like gnawing fresh kernels off a hot, buttered cob on a warm summer night.
My goal is always to eat as much fresh, local corn as possible while it's in season. Other than just eating it straight from the cob, I love making this Vegetarian Frittata with Corn and Tomatoes, and of course, I love making this delicious Vegan Corn Chowder!
But let's talk about making a delicious Vegan Corn Chowder! Or is it vegan corn soup? What makes a chowder a chowder?
According to Wikipedia, In Merriam-Webster's dictionary chowder is defined as "a thick soup or stew made of seafood or corn with potatoes and onions and milk or tomatoes."
Did you see what I did there? I quoted Wikipedia quoting the dictionary. Super reliable information, I'm sure, but if we go by that definition it seems like this vegan corn soup is, in fact, a chowder. Ha!
What's in this vegan corn chowder?
- Corn, B*tches! --> We're using the corn kernels, but are also making good use of the cobs for a super corny broth.
- Celery, onions, and garlic --> Also known as your aromatics.
- Potatoes --> To get this chowdah nice and thick, but still be gluten-free.
- Red pepper --> Makes the soup pretty and tastes good.
- Spices! --> We're going in with smoked paprika, cumin, and oregano.
- Coconut milk! --> To replace the cream and make this a dairy free corn chowder.
How do you make vegan corn chowder?
Super simple, my friends. I'll talk you through it step by step!
Step 1: Start by cutting the corn kernels off of your cobs. Here's a super important kernel-removing hack that's going to save you from having corn parts splattered all over your kitchen:
Stand your corn cob up in a deep bowl, and use a small sharp knife to slice the kernels off and into the bowl. If you ignore this advice and do this on a cutting board instead, you'll end up with corn EVERYWHERE. Consider yourself warned.
Step 2: Get out a big old soup pot. I like to use my heavy-bottomed Dutch Oven for this kinda soup making.
We're going to heat some oil in the pot, and then we're going to throw in the onions and let them sweat it out. Once they're nice and translucent, we'll add in the garlic and celery and let things get steamy with a little aromatics party.
Step 3: (above) Add the potatoes and spices to the pot, and give it a good stir.
Step 4: (above) Then add the corn cobs (not the kernels, these go in later) and the broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the 'taters are tender.
Step 5: At this stage you'll want to remove the corn cobs (scrape the liquid off of them and into the pot for maximum corn flavour), then go in with the diced red pepper and most of the corn kernels. (below)
Note! Reserve some corn kernels for garnish if you're feeling fancy.
Step 6: Give this 10-ish minutes to simmer, and then you have a big decision to make: to blend or not to blend?
Personally I'm a fan of a chunkier corn chowder, so I like to blend a little bit to get the the soup base to thicken, but not so much that I'm left with a puréed soup. I use an immersion blender and do a quick blend on just half of the pot, and that seems to do the trick.
Step 7: Now you can stir in your coconut milk, adjust the seasonings if necessary, and YOUR VEGAN CORN CHOWDER IS DONE!!!
Tips for making Vegan Corn Chowder:
- Fresh corn isn't in season, can I use something else? For sure. In lieu of fresh corn, use 3 cups of frozen corn kernels and you're good to go.
- Is this corn soup gluten-free? Yep! We're using potatoes and the natural starches from the corn kernels to thicken this chowder up!
- I prefer a thicker / thinner soup. You do you! Feel free to adjust the amount of broth accordingly.
- I don't like coconut. Fair enough. First of all, let me assure you that this soup does NOT taste super coconutty - there's too much other stuff going on. But if you'd prefer an alternative, I'd suggest the following for a dairy free corn chowder:
- A thick and creamy plant-based milk of your choosing.
- A bit of cashew cream stirred through at the end (I've made this with chipotle cashew cream and it was delish)
- Half and half if you're not vegan / avoiding dairy.
Can I freeze vegan corn chowder?
You sure can. I've got a bunch in my freezer as we speak.
Simply pour cooled soup into a freezer-friendly container, ensuring you save enough room for expansion in the freezer. Pop on a lid, pop into the freezer, and you're good to go.
Can I make this soup in advance?
Yesss. I always find that soups taste better the next day. It'll keep in your fridge for 3-5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Hey Nutrition Lady, what's the deal with corn?
Guess what, folks? CORN IS NOT A VEGETABLE!!!
Nope, it's a grass, and a sweet, delicious, tasty grass at that. Scientifically known as Zea mays which is a nod to its ancient moniker maize, this late summer grass has a lot to offer.
I love corn for the digestive lesson it gives us – what goes in must come out – and those tough little cellulose casings can’t be broken down by our digestive acids. So chew your food!
Recent research has shown that the fibrous portion of corn can support the growth of friendly bacteria in our large intestine and can also be transformed by these bacteria into short-chain fatty acids, which can supply energy to our intestinal cells and help lower our risk of colon cancer.
Additionally, corn is a phytonutrient rich food with a plethora of antioxidant benefits. Of course different colours of corn (yellow, blue, red, etc) will yield different phytonutrients, but the most common varietal of yellow corn is rich in carotenoids.
Let’s also note that corn is a good source of niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, folate and vitamins B-6, E and K, and minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium.
Other tasty soup recipes you might enjoy:
Spicy Carrot Soup with Tahini and Garlicky Greens
Tomato Fennel Quinoa Soup
Vegan Carrot Ginger Soup with Red Lentils
Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Healthy Cauliflower Soup with Peas and Mint
Vegan Chickpea Noodle Soup
Vegan Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 2 medium yukon gold potatoes diced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 3 large cobs of corn kernels removed and cobs reserved
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 medium red pepper diced
- 14 oz can coconut milk
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the onions, and sauté, stirring frequently. When they are just translucent, add the garlic and celery. Sauté for 3-5 minutes until the celery has softened.
- Add the cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and salt, and add the potatoes. Stir to combine.
- Add the shorn corn cobs (not the kernels!) and pour the vegetable broth over the top.
- Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer until the potatoes are tender - approximately 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the corn cobs from the pot, and add the corn kernels and red pepper in. Stir, and cover the pot to simmer for 10 minutes more.
- Remove from the heat and purée half of the soup if desired.
- Add the coconut milk, and stir to combine.
- Serve garnished with corn kernels and cilantro, if desired.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- Fresh corn isn't in season, can I use something else? For sure. In lieu of fresh corn, use 3 cups of frozen corn kernels and you're good to go.
- Is this corn soup gluten-free? Yep! We're using potatoes and the natural starches from the corn kernels to thicken this chowder up!
- I prefer a thicker / thinner soup. You do you! Feel free to adjust the amount of broth accordingly.
- I don't like coconut. Fair enough. First of all, let me assure you that this corn chowder does NOT taste super coconutty - there's too much other stuff going on. But if you'd prefer an alternative, I'd suggest the following:
- A thick and creamy plant-based milk of your choosing.
- A bit of cashew cream stirred through at the end (I've made this with chipotle cashew cream and it was delish)
- Half and half if you're not vegan / avoiding dairy.
- Can I freeze this vegan corn chowder? You sure can. I've got a bunch in my freezer as we speak.
- Can I make this soup in advance? Yesss. I always find that soups taste better the next day. It'll keep in your fridge for 3-5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published August 28, 2018. It was re-tested, edited, and updated August 6, 2020.
Claire
Yum yum yum! I made some extra to give to friends who just had a baby. He does not like onion, so I left that out and added carrots instead. I used half the amount of coconut milk called for, and it was delicious. It does not taste like coconut. It's just perfectly delicious chowdah!
Heather
Just finished making this chowder with some of that delicious local corn. It’s superb. Not sure there’ll be any left for our vegetarian visitor this weekend!
Katie Trant
Mmmmmm, that local corn is so good!
Stephanie
I recently started eating mainly vegan/vegetarian for health reasons and I've been searching for alternatives to some of my favorite foods. I'm eating this as we speak and it is PERFECT! I used shallots instead of yellow onions (just my preference) but that's the only change I made. It made my apartment smelled delicious and I'm definitely saving this recipe to use and toy with in the future. Thanks so much!
Katie Trant
Yes! I'm so glad you enjoyed this soup as much as I do!
Emelie
Loved this one! Boiling the cobs was something I had never heard of before! I admit that I bastardized it by using chicken stock and dairy, but it was a huge hit. The husband was skeptical at first but after the first bite, was totally hooked. I had planned to save some for future lunches, but there were no leftovers whatsoever 🙂
Katie Trant
No leftovers is the ultimate sign of a truly delicious meal! Glad it was enjoyed by all, and good to know the recipe still works well with dairy instead of coconut milk.
Lindsay
Made this on the weekend and made a double batch! I just knew it would be good. Everything on here is good. I froze some for future dinners because I had delicious chilliwack corn. Reheated some tonight and it was just like I’d just made it. So so so good. It probably won’t last the month.
I made it without onion or garlic to keep it fodmap friendly and it was still addictively tasty!
Katie Trant
Yes! Good to know the recipe still works well without garlic and onions. Some people with FODMAP sensitivity can't eat corn or red peppers, so I didn't tag this recipe as FODMAP friendly at all, but I'm happy it works for you!
Jen
OK - I think I may know the answer to this but this recipe looks amazing and I have everything at home to make it tonight (YAY) BUT I'm missing I think the key ingredient.....the potatoes. I have sweet potatoes but not the Yukon and I know how amazing and buttery those yukon potatoes are but I just have to ask...could I use sweet potatoes by chance??
Katie Trant
Hey Jen, you definitely could use sweet potatoes in place of yukon gold. It will change the flavour profile of the soup, but I think it'll still be totally delicious!
Michelle
Your mother did WHAT?!? I too would hold that grudge for a good long time.... We are lucky here to still have about a month of sweet corn left. Now is when I start stalking the farmers market to freeze enough to get me through the fall/winter/spring. (LOL, it's not possible to buy THAT much!) If I had my way I'd buy an extra freezer JUST to store corn. Store bought frozen corn doesn't even come close so when I run out, no corn for me! I've been living for corn chowder, just made a pot yesterday. Haven't tried with coconut milk so I'll give it a go next week. Can't wait to try a new one! I'm breaking my rule and rating this recipe w/o yet trying it...my corn chowder expertise knows it'll be spectacular!
Katie Trant
I know, right?! To be fair, these neighbours are the most wonderful giving people probably in the whole world, so at least the corn went to a worthy home, but sheesh! Having your own corn freezer does sound pretty special, I gotta admit. Get all that corn while it's in season!
Jules
And it's a Yes from me! Rustled it up this afternoon, forgot the red capsicum, but it tastes great anyway.