In late summer, we’re eating fresh corn all the time. Soup is a frequent destination for the bumper crops. This vegan corn white bean chowder is a version that I turn to often, freezing big batches for future cold days. To me, Ontario summer corn exists on a higher flavor plane. It’s so sweet and creamy that it basically does all the work for you in a vegan soup. Serve it with my no-knead whole wheat bread so sop up every bit of that silky corn broth.
Practically everything in this chowder is local to me this time of year. The potatoes, hot peppers, onions, garlic, herbs, and corn! A solid pour of beer goes in to de-glaze the aromatic base built in the pot. I love the little bit of tang and balancing bitterness it brings to the finished chowder. Any lighter beer that you enjoy the taste of will work here. If you’d rather skip the alcohol, just use additional vegetable stock and squeeze in a touch more lime at the end.
If I know I’m making corn chowder, I like to simmer a good homemade vegetable stock with the scraped corn cobs beforehand. Even 20 minutes with boxed stock and the cobs makes a difference. It pushes the corn flavor into the base before anything else goes in. Something I learned from working in restaurants, and it’s worth doing if you have the time.
The half-blend technique is what gives this its chowder texture rather than a straight soup. Half the pot goes into the blender until creamy and smooth, then gets stirred back in with the chunky half. If you want it even creamier, throw a handful of soaked and drained raw cashews into the blender too.
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Creamy Corn White Bean Chowder with Beer
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves minced
- 1 lb potatoes, diced into 1-inch pieces
- 1 ¾ cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed
- salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 hot pepper/chili of choice, minced (see notes)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup beer (I used Muskoka Brewery Harvest Ale)
- 5 cups vegetable stock (See notes!)
- 5 cups corn kernels, scraped from about 5-6 cobs of corn
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- ½ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Equipment
- Blender
Notes
- I blend half of this chowder to give it a creamy texture, but if you’d like yours to be SUPER creamy, throw a handful of soaked cashews into the blender as well.
- I used a freakishly hot banana pepper from my garden here. A jalapeño would be amazing too.
- Gluten-free? A GF beer works fine here — just use one you actually like the taste of. White wine is also a good substitute.
- If you avoid alcohol, just use more vegetable stock. You may want a bit more lime squeezed in at the end.
- Corn and potatoes are starchy and need lots of salt and acidity to come alive. Season liberally!
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the paprika and thyme and stir. Add the potatoes and stir to coat in the spices. Add the white beans, season everything with lots of salt and pepper, and stir.
- Add the chili and garlic to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the beer. Let it froth up and then gently stir. Bring the beer and vegetables to a boil. Then, add the vegetable stock to the pot and give it another stir.
- Cover the pot and bring the chowder to a boil. Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and let the soup cook, covered, until the potatoes are completely tender, about 15-17 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add the corn and continue to simmer the chowder until the kernels are cooked and slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Then carefully ladle half of the hot chowder into an upright, vented blender. Turn the blender on and slowly bring the speed up to high. Blend the harvest corn chowder until creamy and smooth, about 40 seconds.
- Return the blended portion of the chowder to the pot and stir to combine. Stir in the lime juice as well. Check for seasoning at this point and adjust if necessary. Serve the harvest corn chowder hot with chopped cilantro on top and extra black pepper.
**This post was created in partnership with Muskoka Brewery. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting!
Made this for a soup swap and everyone loved it!
Make this every summer and it’s so delicious! Finally had leftovers that I’ve put in the freezer and looking forward to enjoying this winter :)
It’s my fourth summer making this. So lovely. Thank you Laura! x
I dont drink so can I sub the beer for something else
You could just use additional vegetable stock! It will be just as tasty.
-L
I made this soup for dinner tonight, halving the quantities in case my bf doesn’t like it (he’s not much into soups) but it was a huge success and we almost gulped the whole pot in one meal ! I used oregano instead of thyme and scallions instead of cilantro, and added a spoonful of vegan yogurt on top when serving. It was really flavorful and beautiful balanced, creamy, spicy, and tangy to perfection. I’ll definitely make it again because Inlive soup and I’m so glad I found a recipe that my bf likes !
This recipe is great! Made it at the end of last summer and froze the leftovers which held up fantastic. But after we ate it I was sad I hadn’t made more. I’m making a huge batch this weekend to freeze for fall when the corn is all gone!
Wow! So easy and filling! I had some frozen corn from harvest that I wanted to use, and this is the perfect recipe. I think I used a bit much paprika, as mine is darker than your photos, but it is still delicious and has so much flavor. Really glad I stumbled upon your site, so many recipes I can’t wait to try!
Thank you for this comment, Lauren! So happy that you enjoyed the chowder :D
-L
The soup was awesome. Made exactly as directed (except with a West Coast beer), and it was perfect. Nice and light with a great blend of spicy, sweet, and tart. Brava!
This is marvelous! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I used jalapeños and a local beer (Karbach Hoppadillo, if there are any Houstonians reading). A definite do over.
Made this tonight and subbed out fresh baby lima beans for the white beans as they are in season here in Virginia. This was amazingly good. I’ll be making a double batch to freeze. Thanks for the great recipe.
Oh this would be perfect with lima beans! So glad that you enjoyed it.
-L
I love that you are so honest that you don’t make ahead and freeze meals. I don’t prefer this either! But thinking about eating this chowder in the dead of winter definitely sounds just perfect. I may need to follow suit.
Thanks for sharing another delicious recipe and your pictures look beautiful! This post makes me nostalgic for summer produce in Ontario…My husband is from Toronto and it’s always my favorite time to visit his family who is spread out across Ontario.
Would a gluten free beer work? I don’t drink beer at all so I don’t know the difference between a GF beer and regular beer LOL, but the recipe looks delicious so I’d like to try it.
A GF beer would definitely work! Just make sure that it’s a GF beer that you actually LIKE the taste of. We’re just using the beer to sort of deglaze the vegetables and add a little flavour complexity to the soup. If you can’t find a GF beer that you like the taste of, you could go with more vegetable stock or even a hearty splash of white wine. Hope this is helpful!
-L
So I hate the texture of beans… I know- ridiculous. BUT can you suggest a hack? Can I blend them? Leave them out? What do I do about the beans??? Cuz the rest looks delicious!!!
Hi Angie! It’s not ridiculous at all. We’ve all got our things! I would suggest leaving the beans out entirely, reducing the amount of stock by about 1/2 a cup, and definitely check out my tip for blending soaked cashews into the chowder to make it creamy. The beans kind of help “cream it up” so you’ll need a little extra help in that department. Let me know how it all works out if you try it with these tips!
-L
Add this recipe to the list of reasons I cannot wait fir the temps to cool down! I’ve tried to wing a recipe like this before, but I know it will be better coming from you. Your recipes never let me down and always surprise me with their little extra somethin’. Thank you for the work you do!
Hope that you give it a try and love it! Also patiently waiting for the humidity to go down over here :)
-L
I love that when you do sponsored work, it is always so clearly something you genuinely support – like local beer!! The chowder looks so good, will have to try with one of my local pnw brews and a jalapeno from our garden :) cheers!
Thanks Lacey! You guys have sooo many great beers to choose from out there. Enjoy! :)
-L