Corn and Shrimp Chowder
This chowder appears regularly on our meal plan year-round. It’s cozy without being heavy, and it’s full of veggies! The recipe is adapted from Little Broken’s Summer Zucchini Corn Chowder, and her genius move is blending the soup to give it a creamy texture rather than relying on flour and heavy cream. She does it in a food processor, but I much prefer using an immersion blender.
The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. There is something magical about a pile of chopped vegetables and broth turning into something so delicious with just a few seasonings and some half and half. You can skip the shrimp if you’d like, but I highly recommend it. I buy the shrimp peeled/deveined/tail off and add it to the pot still frozen. Pro-tip: the best place to buy shrimp is Target! Aldi occasionally has shrimp for slightly cheaper, but it’s not nearly as good; in my local grocery stores, shrimp is almost twice as expensive.
I’ve heard reports that even my niece and nephew (four- and two-years-old) really like this chowder. (I can’t help but wish that I lived close enough to conduct a taste-test of all my recipes with the two of them.) I hope you’ll like it, too!
Corn and Shrimp Chowder
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp thyme
2 medium russet potatoes, diced into ½” cubes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cans of corn, slightly drained (or 4 ears fresh)
2 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup half & half
salt and pepper to taste (start with ½ tsp each)
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined without tails
½ tsp cayenne pepper
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme; cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add potatoes and stock. Raise the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat back to medium and simmer until the potatoes are halfway cooked, about 10 minutes.
Add zucchini and corn. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to lightly blend the mixture, focusing on the potatoes. Don’t overdo it, or you’ll lose the texture of the chowder.
Add half & half and shrimp. Cook just until shrimp are cooked through. Add cayenne. Taste for salt and pepper.
NOTES:
Frozen corn works for this recipe. Like the shrimp, there’s no need to thaw. Just add to the soup and take a little more time for the vegetables to cook in that step.
