Tomato Corn Cob Chowder

Tomato Corn Cob Chowder — really?! Y-E-S!! Here’s the thing – being both a foodie and a gardener compels me to find ways to use every bit of my garden in the kitchen. Gardening is HARD work with little reward and my greatest reward is finding new ways to use the unlikely bits of my garden.

If you’ve been here for a while then you know — I use it all — peels and skins and seeds and stems and blossoms! Corn cob stock is actually a really smart (and frugal) culinary hack – yielding a sweet, mild liquid that boosts the flavor of everything. For this Tomato Corn Chowder Recipe, corn cob stock is the first step.

What’s Corn Cob Stock??

To make Corn Cob Stock ::

• combine
  • either water or stock (in this case I used chicken stock) and
  • corn cobs (with kernels removed)
• simmer for 20-30 minutes in order to allow the corn flavors to be imparted into the cooking liquid

Once the stock is made, you can either use to continue making soup or freeze for a later use. The moral of the story?? Don’t throw away corn cobs!

For this recipe, I combined the cobs, stock and crushed tomatoes.

Tomato Corn Cob Chowder Ingredients

To make this chowder you’ll need ::

• corn cob stock
• boiled potatoes
• crushed tomatoes
• corn
• tomatoes
• peppers
• cream
• cheese
• bacon

BTW — The thickener for this chowder is a slurry of cooking liquid and cornstarch.

Check out my TikTok of this recipe to watch the assembly!

Once all of the ingredients are added and the chowder thickens to the desired consistency, serve and garnish with cheese, tomatoes, bacon and basil.

This Tomato Corn Cob Chowder gives the perfect opportunity to utilize a typically discarded ingredient. And the result of this frugal hack?! A rich-flavored corn chowder with garden tomatoes, potatoes and peppers (all grown in my garden — including the purple potatoes!). I LOVE the combination of tomatoes and corn in this classic potato chowder, so comforting and flavorful and summery!

Tomato Corn Cob Chowder

• 1 lb Yukon-type potatoes*, (boiled, peeled & cut into 1″ pieces)
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 14 oz crushed tomatoes
• 4 cobs of sweet corn, corn kernels & cobs (approximately 2 c of corn kernels)
• 2 c cherry tomatoes, quartered (extra tomatoes sliced for garnish)
• 2 medium sweet red peppers, diced
• 1 T cornstarch (+/- 1 t depending on desired consistency)
• 2 c heavy whipping cream or half & half
• 8 oz jack cheese, grated (additional cheese for topping)
• salt + pepper to taste
• 4 slices bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled (garnish)
• fresh basil leaves (garnish)

Remove corn kernels from cob and set aside the kernels (or sub 2 c frozen corn kernels and skip the next steps).

In a 4-5 qt heavy soup pot, bring to a simmer chicken broth, crushed tomatoes and corn cobs (kernels removed). Continue simmering (with the lid offset) for 20 minutes. Add corn kernels, diced tomatoes and peppers and return to simmer.

Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 c soup broth + cornstarch**, whisking to remove lumps.

Add potatoes + cream and continue simmering as soup thickens. While stirring the soup, drizzle the cornstarch slurry into the soup**. Reduce the heat, add cheese, stirring until melted and creamy.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve :: garnish with bacon, cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes and a fresh basil leaf.

Serves 6

*the purple potatoes pictured are a Yukon-type and traditional potato-flavored.

**depending on the liquid from the veggies and simmering time you may need to add or subtract an additional teaspoon of cornstarch. Add the cornstarch slurry slowly over several minutes to reach the perfect desired consistency.