Cozy and warming, cook up this easy corn chowder without cream for a delicious fall lunch or light dinner! Made with lots of fresh veggies, potato and herbs, but without bacon, it's a dairy-free corn chowder that comes together so easily on the stovetop.
Love a hearty soup? Do have a peek at my vegetarian gnocchi soup for another time!
Chowder is one of my favorite soups to make come the colder weather as it feels so cozy and almost like a stew as it's so hearty. This corn potato chowder without cream joins my cauliflower and corn chowder which is a little lighter, and sweet potato corn chowder which has a sumptuous cozy feeling to it.
Making this vegan corn chowder is very simple and uses basic ingredients from the fridge and pantry. It uses coconut milk rather than cream to get a creamy taste and texture, and a little pinch of spice for extra flavor.
Do check out my other favorite soups here for the fall and winter months, including my celery leek soup, broccoli and zucchini soup and carrot parsnip ginger soup. All so warming and easy to make!
This recipe was updated on 19 October 2023 with slight amendments to the recipe, new tips and photos.
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
All the veggies! We combine corn, bell pepper, carrot and celery for a hearty corn soup packed with flavor.
Creamy but made without cream. We swap out heavy cream for coconut milk and give the chowder a blend to get a thick, creamy and very hearty comfort food lunch or dinner!
Vegan, gluten free and low histamine. We don't use dairy or gluten in this recipe, and the ingredients follow the SIGHI list to make it a low histamine diet recipe.
🌽 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Corn - you can either use fresh corn or frozen corn, depending upon which is more suitable and available to you.
- Red bell pepper - adds a little sweetness and color. Use fresh, unbruised produce.
- Potatoes - I suggest to use either Yukon Gold potatoes or russet potatoes. Personally I tend to peel mine, but have tried with skins on, and it works equally well.
- Coconut milk - I suggest to use full fat coconut milk for its creamy taste.
📖 Swaps and variations
Swap out vegetables. Other than the corn, that we of course need to make it a corn chowder, you can be fairly flexible with the other vegetables. Leeks, broccoli or zucchini would also work well.
Swap turmeric for sweet paprika. For a tiny hint of spice, sweet paprika works so well.
Swap coconut milk for non-dairy milk. As pouring milk is thinner in consistency, you may wish to add a little more corn and potato to thicken if using oat milk or almond milk. If using oat milk, make sure it is certified gluten free if you have that dietary requirement.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this creamy corn chowder without cream is very simple, with basic ingredients and all easy steps.
The full instructions are in the recipe card below, but these photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Cook the veggies
Drizzle olive oil into a large soup pot and cook the onion and celery on a low to medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until softened. Add the corn, diced red bell pepper, carrot, potato, dried thyme and turmeric (image 1).
Step 2: Add the vegetable broth
Pour in the vegetable broth and bring the soup to a boil (image 2).
Step 3: Add coconut milk
Reduce the heat to a very light simmer and pour in the coconut milk (image 3). Cook the corn chowder for 15-20 minutes on a low to medium heat or until the potato is fork tender.
Step 4: Blend!
Use an immersion blender to blend the chowder (image 4). Personally I like to blend it fairly quickly so it keeps a slightly 'chunky' texture, but you can blend smooth if you like. Add more vegetable stock to thin, if desired.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- You can use either fresh or frozen corn to make the chowder.
- Be sure to cook the chowder so that the potatoes are fork tender.
- If you prefer, you can dice the vegetables to a fairly even size and blend half the soup, then return it to the pot and stir it through. This gives you a chunky thick chowder!
- This recipe makes a fairly thick corn chowder, so add another half cup of vegetable stock if you prefer a thinner consistency.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Yes, we use coconut milk rather than dairy and no bacon or flour, so it's a vegan and gluten free soup. Just make sure that your vegetable stock is gluten free if using a store-bought one.
Yes, it's easy to use either fresh corn or frozen corn, or corn from a can if that works for you.
Yes, it's very easy to freeze this vegan corn chowder! Simply allow the soup to cool, then ladle into freezer-safe tupperware or bags. When reheating, you may need to add a little extra vegetable stock to thin.
🍽 How to serve
Soups and chowder recipes can be a meal in themselves, or served with some sides to make them even more hearty. Some ideas:
- Pair with thick slices of bread or perhaps my chia seed crackers for a gluten free option.
- Feeling hungry? My turkey cranberry cream cheese sandwich is perfect for the holiday season (but does contain dairy).
- Serve with a side-salad for even more veggies. My cucumber beet salad and butternut beetroot salad have fall vibes, while my apple and cucumber salad is perfect for the summer months.
🥣 More tasty soups
You'll find so many tasty soup recipes here, including my light zucchini cabbage soup and my cozy fall butternut squash apple soup. Some recent recipes to enjoy:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Corn Chowder without Cream
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ white onion diced
- 1 stick celery diced
- 1 cup corn fresh or frozen
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 1 medium potato peeled and diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- ½ cup coconut milk
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
For the garnish (optional)
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon corn
- herb of choice diced
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot on a low heat, and cook the onion and celery for 4-5 minutes until softened.
- Add the corn, potato, red bell pepper, carrot, turmeric and thyme to the pot and cook for a further five minutes. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and pour in the coconut milk and stir well. Cook on a very light simmer for a further 15-20 minutes or until the potato has softened and is fork tender.
- Optional: while the soup is cooking, lightly dry fry your pumpkin seeds on one side of a pan, and the sweet corn in a touch of oil on the other side.
- Either use an immersion blender or transfer the chowder to a food processor. Blend briefly until creamy but still a little chunky. If needed, add a touch more vegetable stock to thin, to preference. Add the salt and black pepper, if using, and stir well.
Notes
- Both fresh and frozen corn work well in this chowder.
- I suggest to blend fairly briefly, so you have a thicker texture. You can also simply blend half the chowder and stir it back in with the vegetables in the pot.
- This recipe makes a fairly thick corn chowder, so add another half cup of vegetable stock if you prefer a thinner consistency.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be considered to be an estimate.
- black pepper scores a 2, although it states that small amounts are tolerated.
- vegetable stock will depend upon ingredients used.
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