Vegan Potato Corn Chowder is delicious any time of year, but it really shines during the summer when fresh corn is in season. Unlike the classic recipe which is thickened with a roux and heavy cream, our version is entirely plant-powered! It’s still every bit as creamy and comforting as the original. Whip this hearty soup up any day of the week for an easy and nourishing dinner. Serve with some crusty bread for the ultimate comfort meal!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Vegan Potato Corn Chowder
- Corn. I recommend fresh corn if it’s in season for you! The sweet flavor and crisp texture of fresh corn is unbeatable.
- Potatoes. Yukon Gold potatoes work best in this recipe. They’re slightly waxy which keeps them from turning to mush in the soup.
- Mirepoix. Onion, garlic, celery and carrot.
- Vegetable broth. I use chicken-style veggie bouillon for many soup recipes, but for this one I actually prefer regular vegetable broth. It really allows the fresh corn flavor to shine.
- Cashew cream. To help make this a thick and creamy vegan potato corn chowder. If you don’t prefer to cook with cashews, check out the Substitutions & Variations section for plenty of suitable alternatives.
- Lemon juice. A little acidity helps to balance out the sweetness of the corn.
- Scallions or chives. In my book, these are a must for topping any kind of chowder. The bite helps balance out the creaminess of the soup.
How to Make Potato Corn Chowder
Step 1 — Prep the Corn. Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Slice the corn kernels off the cob. Take the corn stalk, hold it over a bowl, and use the back of the knife or a spoon to scrape the pulp and juice out. This contains lots of flavor, so save it for your soup!
Step 2 — Sauté the aromatics and add the corn and potatoes.
Step 3 — Add the broth and herbs, and simmer until potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes.)
Step 4 — Make the cashew cream and add it to the soup.
Step 5 — Blend a portion of the soup. (You can use a blender or an immersion blender.)
Step 6 — Add the purée back into the soup and simmer to thicken.
👩🍳 Sarah’s Recipe Notes 📝
- Safely blending hot liquids. Please use great caution when blending your soup! Never fill the pitcher up too high, as the steam can cause pressure to build up. Always start blending on low speed and gradually increase the speed until the soup is smooth. If the lid of your blender has a vent, open it slightly and cover with a clean dish towel to allow steam and pressure to escape as you blend.
- Get every last bit of flavor out of the corn. Don’t toss the corn cobs after you cut off the kernels! Use the back of your knife (or a spoon) to scrape the cobs over a bowl. Not only will you scrape out leftover bits of the corn kernels, but you’ll also extract some of the “milk” from the cobs, which carries plenty of extra flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cashew cream is my favorite because it makes soups thick and creamy without imparting much flavor. If you prefer not to use it, here are a few options.
Full-fat canned coconut milk. Only use if you don’t mind the flavor of coconut. I actually think the flavor is quite complementary to the other ingredients.
Tahini. Whisk 1/3 cup tahini with 1/2 cup of water until it’s a fluffy, pourable consistency. This is a trick I use in my Lemon Chickpea and Orzo Soup to thicken it and add a more luscious mouthfeel.
Store-bought nondairy cream. Country Crock, Silk, and Califia Farms make a few options. Personally I haven’t found one that I really love, and I much prefer homemade alternatives. But I think this will come down to personal preference!
Sunflower seed cream. Raw sunflower seeds, soaked for about 30 minutes, can be substituted in for the raw cashews in the cashew cream recipe. This works to thicken the soup just like cashew cream, but it has a slightly less neutral flavor.
Frozen corn is a great option if you’re making this vegan potato corn chowder during the winter, though it will be slightly less flavorful. You’ll need about 4 cups of frozen corn.
Canned corn isn’t my favorite option, but you can use it in a pinch. Use two 15 oz cans whole kernel sweet corn, drained.
Bacon is a common ingredients in corn chowder recipes. If you find you’re missing that smoky flavor, you can always top your bowl with some vegan bacon crumbles! Chop and crisp up a store-bought variety (Hooray makes my favorite, if you can find it, but Benevolent Bacon (edit: as of Dec. 2023, this has been discontinued 😭) and Lightlife also have great options), or whip up your own batch of vegan bacon bits.
A sprinkle of vegan cheddar-style shreds is also a welcome addition. My personal favorite brand of plant-based cheese is Violife.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Store leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. This recipe tastes great as leftovers!
Freezer: Soup can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, but generally the flavor is best within the first month. Make sure to use a freezer-safe container, and allow the soup to cool first before freezing. Defrost the soup overnight in the fridge. Freezing alters the texture of this soup slightly; the potatoes may break down a little, but it will still be delicious.
Reheating: Reheat in the microwave, or on the stove over medium heat. The soup has a tendency to thicken in the fridge, so you may wish to add an extra splash of water when reheating to thin the consistency to your preference.
More Vegan Soup Recipes
- Pickle Soup – Don’t be scared! This soup is pickle-flavored but it’s not weird at all. You just have to trust me on this one!
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup – A classic soup inspired by the famous Panera Bread variety that comes in a bread bowl. So creamy and delicious.
- Lemon Chicken Soup – Inspired by the Greek avgolemono, this soup is zesty, herby, and just overall delightful.
Vegan Potato Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 medium white or yellow onion diced
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes about 4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 3-4 ears fresh sweet corn
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup cashew cream recipe follows; see notes for substitutions
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Cashew Cream
- 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked 4+ hours or overnight
- 2/3 cup water
Garnish
- fresh scallions or chives chopped
- crumbled tofu or tempeh bacon
- smoked paprika
Instructions
Prepare the Corn
- Remove the husks and silk from the corn. Slice the corn kernels off the cob. Use a spoon or the back of your knife to thoroughly scrape all the extra pulp and juice out. This contains lots of flavor, so save it for your soup!
Start Cooking the Soup
- Melt the vegan butter in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Add in the garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add in the potatoes and fresh corn, along with any extra pulp and juice from the corn cobs. Pour in the vegetable broth and add fresh or dried thyme and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to low/medium-low to establish a gentle simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Make the Cashew Cream
- As the soup simmers, it's a good time to prepare your cashew cream. Simply drain your soaked cashews and add to a blender along with fresh water. Blend until completely smooth. (See the notes for alternatives if you prefer not to use cashew cream.)
Blend the Soup
- After about 15-20 minutes of simmering, or whenever the potatoes are fork-tender, it's time to add the cashew cream and blend a portion of the soup. This step is important to achieve that thick and creamy chowder consistency.You can use a high-speed blender or an immersion blender for this step. A high-speed blender will give you a bit of a smoother and more velvety texture, so that is my personal preference, but the immersion blender is a bit easier.
- High-speed blender: Ladle about 3 cups of the soup into your blender along with the cashew cream. Make sure you're scooping in a good amount of the potatoes and corn, since blending these is what's going to add a lot of richness and body to the soup.Start blending on the lowest speed. Gradually increase the speed and blend until this mixture is as smooth as possible — this usually takes me at least a few minutes. Pour this mixture back into the pot of soup and stir to combine.Important: Please exercise extreme caution when blending hot liquids! Steam can cause the pressure in the blender to rapidly expand and blow the lid off. If your blender lid has a vent, I recommend leaving that open and then covering with a clean kitchen towel, so pressure can escape as you blend.If you are working with a smaller blender pitcher, you may wish to blend in smaller batches, as you don't want the pitcher full when blending hot liquids.
- Immersion blender: Add the prepared cashew cream into the soup. Then use your immersion blender to blend the soup partially. As you blend, the soup will become thicker thanks to the potatoes and cashew cream. I like to leave the soup fairly chunky, but feel free to blend to your preferred level of texture.
- Bring the soup back up to a gentle simmer over low/medium-low heat. Simmer for another 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
- Taste and adjust salt and black pepper to preference. You'll need more or less salt based on the kind of vegetable broth you used. Typically I use regular vegetable broth from a carton, and I add about 1 teaspoon fine sea salt. If using a chicken-style veggie bouillon, you'll generally need to add less.
- To brighten everything up a bit and balance out the sweetness of the corn, stir in fresh lemon juice just before serving. Serve soup topped with fresh sliced chives or scallions. Tofu or tempeh bacon crumbles are a great addition too.
Storage & Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- Freezer: Soup can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, but generally the flavor is best within the first month. Make sure to use a freezer-safe container, and allow the soup to cool first before freezing. Freezing alters the texture of this soup slightly; the potatoes may break down a little, but it will still be delicious.
- Reheating: Reheat in the microwave, or on the stove over medium heat. The soup has a tendency to thicken in the fridge, so you may wish to add an extra splash of water when reheating to thin the consistency to your preference.
Notes
- Full-fat canned coconut milk. If you don’t mind the flavor of coconut, this can work. I actually think the flavor is quite complementary to the other ingredients but it will not be quite as savory.
- Tahini. Whisk 1/3 cup tahini with 1/2 cup of water until it’s a fluffy, pourable consistency. This is a trick I use in my Lemon Chickpea and Orzo soup to thicken it and add a more luscious mouthfeel.
- Store-bought nondairy cream. Country Crock, Silk, and Califia Farms make a few options. I personally have not tested these in the recipe. If you have success with one of them, let me know!
- Sunflower seed cream. An equivalent volume of raw sunflower seeds can be substituted in for the raw cashews in the cashew cream recipe. Sunflower seeds only need to soak for about 30 minutes prior to blending.
Absolutely delicious. I used fresh corn which really made it. The base flavor with cashew cream was outstanding and I think this would be good even with frozen or canned corn. So good!
Delicious and simple! I didn’t make any modifications to the recipe. I used fresh sweet corn as suggested. The soup was creamy, sweet, and satisfying. This will be added the regular rotation. Love your videos and recipes.
So fresh and delicious! Creamy, hearty. Yum. This is the third recipe of yours I’ve made and none have disappointed. You’ve got the gift of food love!! I will definitely make this again.
Turned out great!
How much frozen corn would be substituted? I don’t see it in the notes. Also how many servings does this make? Thanks!
The only mod I made to the recipe was to use a pre-packaged plant-based cream (don’t always think ahead about making cashew cream). So tasty! On permanent rotation for family meals. Thank you for this delicious, vegan, comforting recipe.
This was soooo yummy! I didn’t have fresh corn, so I subbed frozen. And I also left out the lemon juice. I followed the recipe exactly. I couldn’t stop eating it XD
Thanks for sharing!