This vegan corn chowder with potatoes is super creamy and so comforting! It’s the perfect soup for spring and summer! Besides, it makes such a great and healthy vegan dinner! And it’s very budget-friendly!
What Is Corn Chowder?
As its name suggests, corn chowder is a thick soup that is primarily made of corn. Other common ingredients are onions, celery, and milk or cream. Some recipes also call for potatoes, carrots, and sometimes even for fish, chicken, or seafood. Corn chowder is a very popular soup in the United States. It has been around for more than a century. It first appeared in the Boston Cook Book by Mary Lincoln in 1884. Nowadays, corn chowder is a mass-produced food in the U.S. that is available in cans, for example by the Campbell Soup Company. Homemade corn chowder is of course so much better than store-bought!
Corn chowder is similar to the popular New England clam chowder. However, for corn chowder corn is used instead of clams, which makes it vegetarian. It can also be made vegan by using coconut milk or almond milk instead of cow’s milk or cream. For a vegetarian or vegan version, just use vegetable broth instead of the chicken stock many recipes call for.
What You Need For This Vegan Corn Chowder
The recipe for this vegan corn chowder with coconut milk couldn’t be easier. You don’t need a lot of ingredients and all ingredients are easy to find in any regular grocery store.
You need:
- three medium-sized potatoes
- one red bell pepper
- frozen corn
- celery
- bay leaves
- one onion
- smoked paprika powder
- Cajun seasoning (optional)
- carrots
- vegetable broth
- canned coconut milk
- unsweetened almond milk
- green onions and fresh parsley
- salt and pepper
As always, you can find the full ingredient list and the recipe instructions in a separate, printable recipe box at the end of this post.
How To Make Vegan Corn Chowder
Making vegan corn chowder with potatoes and coconut milk is very easy. First, cut all the vegetables in bite-sized chunks or slices. I used potatoes, red bell pepper, and carrots for my vegan corn chowder. In a large pot, sauté the onion in some oil until it becomes translucent. Then, add the remaining ingredients including the vegetable broth and the spices. I blended some of the corn with the coconut milk and some almond milk to make the corn chowder creamy. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. That’s it! You got a delicious and comforting vegan corn chowder. I like my corn chowder best with some warm whole wheat baguette that comes fresh out of the oven. Yummy!
Corn Chowder with Frozen Corn
Of course corn chowder with fresh corn is the best. But for busy days using frozen corn works just as well. I’ve made both, corn chowder with fresh corn and corn chowder with frozen corn. While corn chowder with fresh corn is of course a bit better, I don’t think the difference is that big. Corn chowder with frozen corn is still incredibly delicious! And sometimes it even makes a difference what brand of frozen corn you buy. Corn chowder with frozen corn is still soooo much better than canned corn chowder. Especially if all the other vegetables you use are fresh! Then it doesn’t make a big difference but saves you a lot of time.
How To Thicken Corn Chowder
My favorite way to thicken corn chowder is using pureed corn. I usually use about five cups of corn of which I puree two cups with canned coconut milk and some almond milk. I then add the puree to the soup, which makes it super creamy. Besides, I also add potatoes to the corn chowder. Their starch provides thickness as well. If you want the corn chowder to become even thicker and creamier, you could also add corn starch or potato starch.
Another way to thicken up corn chowder is by starting off with a flour roux. This is mostly used for thick sauces, like bechamel or also for gumbo. Cream usually doesn’t help to thicken up soup. They just make it richer. You could also save some of the corn chowder and then puree the rest with an immersion blender. Then just add the remaining soup for some texture. I love using my immersion blender instead of my vitamix for foods that are easy to blend like soup. It’s super practical and there are so many different ways on how to use an immersion blender.
I hope you like this vegan corn chowder with coconut milk as much as we do around here! If you’re looking for more vegan soup recipes, you could also check out my quinoa soup with kale or my Italian garbanzo bean soup. They’re both super healthy and filling and we’ve made them sooo many times. And if you still looking for more, I also got a giant roundup of 30 hearty vegan soup recipes.
Sina – xx
Vegan Corn Chowder with Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized russet potatoes, cut into cubes
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into medium-sized chunks
- 5 cups corn kernels either fresh or frozen
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (optional) Omit if you don't want the corn chowder to be a bit spicy!
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 green onion, cut into rings
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Cut all the vegetables in bite-sized chunks or slices. Put 2 cups of the corn in a blender together with the coconut milk and the almond milk. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large pot, sauté the onion in some oil until it becomes translucent. Then, add the vegetables, the spices, the bay leaves, the vegetable broth, and the pureed corn. Bring to boil and cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the green onion and the fresh parsley. I like this corn chowder best with warm whole wheat baguette.
This chowder was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have bay leaves or coconut milk so I added a little extra nut milk. I added about 1/4 cup of potato flakes to the corn and milk when I blended them. Sooo delicious and so creamy.
I added some baby limas to half of the pot and topped the bowl with sauerkraut to get in beans and cruciferous veggies. Still yummy.
Thank you so much for this great recipe.
This is absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing! I added cumin and garlic powder, one more carrot and one more stalk of celery. My only regret is not doubling the recipe so I could share it with everyone I love. Everyone needs to taste this! It’s a cozy little hug, in a bowl. Perfect for today’s chilly weather. Thanks again!
The flavor is on point! So easy and delicious. I left out the Cajun seasoning because I didn’t think my kid would care for that. Otherwise followed the instructions. I added 2 small yellow summer squash to use them up. This makes a lot of soup!. It took me longer than 10 min to chop everything and it took longer than 15 min to cook, but it’s still quick enough for a weeknight meal if you use frozen corn. Thanks for a great recipe. Will make this again!
I have made this several time now with both frozen or fresh corn. I roast the frozen or pan fry the frozen a bit. It’s delicious. My family and friends ask me to make it often. It’s great as a make ahead hearty meal for my camper. Thanks for this great recipe.
Loved this, I used some cumin and garlic powder instead of the cajun seasoning. Will make this again and again.
Made this for dinner tonight, wonderful!! Super easy to prep, then relax while it simmers. We served it with a warm french loaf, yum. Perfect meal for a chilly night.
Love this recipe 2nd time. Love it. Can you believe I didn’t have paprika? I used seasoned salt instead. Still very delicious! I love coconut milk in recipes. It’s so good for you. This will now make it on the regular rotation, as I can make it after work.
I’ve never had chowder before and never thought of veganising it as I’ve only ever heard of clam chowder (who could veganise seafood back in the early 2000, right?) That was until I came across this recipe on Pinterest. It both vegan and gluten-free and super delicious. Admittedly, I tweaked it here and there, but it still tasted fantastic. I can’t have any bulbous onions, so I fried up the white parts of the spring onions used for the garnish with the celery and the cubed potatoes. I also added chopped celery leaves, subbed the bay leaf for some local spices and used an entire can of coconut milk. The frozen corn and carrots were added about two minutes before the end of cooking time to keep them tender. The spring onion garnish just pushed this over the top! My family loved it.
Thanks for sharing this wonderfully yummy recipe.
This is so delicious! My whole family loved it! And this is my first time making a vegan soup. My little boys don’t like veggies that much so I added a little bacon bits and cheese on theirs and they enjoyed it. Me and my husband ate as it is, with some cayene as I omitted cajun seasoning and red peppers from the recipe. I will make this again and will be one of my to go quick prep soup! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for the recipe! I threw in the potatoes a few minutes before the other veggies and then finished by giving half the soup a blitz; mostly because I love a partially pureed soup :)
Awesome recipes with nutrition facts. You will definitely be one of my top go to sites. Thankyou, Sandy
Thanks for this recipe, my family likes smooth and creamy soups so I cooked it for 10 minutes longer and blended with emmersion blender and it worked out well.
It turned out so creamy. Totally loved it. Thanks for sharing!