Hearty enough for a meal, yet light, dairy-free, gluten-free and Weight Watchers friendly at only 3 WW points on blue this Healthy Corn Chowder with turkey bacon, is a healthy and delicious way to enjoy your summer corn.
Considering that your typical corn chowder is 12 WW points for the same serving size, I'd say this is a pretty good deal!
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Fresh corn is only around for a short time so if you get your hands on some, then you are lucky! I love summer corn and I was one of the lucky ones, considering hail wiped out a lot of the crop in my area this year.
And this Summer Corn Chowder was the delicious result!
🥘 Ingredients
For this recipe you'll need:
- corn- fresh is best, but you can substitute canned or frozen corn
- turkey bacon
- olive oil
- onion
- garlic
- chicken bouillon
- potatoes
- thyme
- red pepper
- bay leaf
- salt and pepper
My daughter recently developed a pretty dramatic aversion to dairy so I'm trying to make recipes that are dairy-free, when I can. She's 13 now and pretty independent so will simply make her own adjustments and substitutions to meals but she also loves dairy, so sometimes she just takes the hit. However, she loved this dairy-free corn soup and couldn't believe it was dairy-free!
💭 Top tip
The trick to making rich and creamy soup without cream or milk is to use potatoes and puree them, like I did with this Potato Corn Chowder.
🥣Difference between chowder and soup
But there's a bit of a debate out there about the term "chowder." So what is chowder? And how is it different from soup? or stew? or bisque? If you've also been wondering about that, then read on....
I had a guy comment on my Award-Winning Creamy Carrot Chowder that "although it was really good", "it's not chowder, " he said. I beg to differ....Chowders are a type of soup that are characterized by a thick consistency with the addition of chunky seafood, potatoes or other vegetables. However some claim chowders are cream soups and other definitions state "creamy soups." A soup doesn't have to be a cream soup to be creamy, as you can see. You can read more about the difference between soup and chowder HERE. But because there's a bit of chunky consistency to this, I'm calling it a chowder, although it's more like a creamy soup (without the cream). Therefore, I feel most comfortable calling it Corn Chowder Soup! You can call it whatever you want, but I'm sure we can all agree to call it delicious!
🥗 What to Serve with Corn Chowder?
Since this is a super hearty soup, I like to eat it on its own or serve it with:
- Fresh bread - try my Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks , Bread Machine Onion & Olive Bread or my Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe- 0 WW points on the blue plan(shown below).
- Side garden salad or try it with my Strawberry Spinach Salad with Honey Lime Cilantro Dressing.
- Or pair smaller servings of this soup with a main dish like Marinated Grilled Maple Lemon Pork. I personally think corn and pork are a match made in heaven!
So, if you were fortunate like I was and got your hands on some fresh corn this season, then you're going to want to make this corn chowder!
Enjoy ~
And if you're looking for more Weight Watchers Corn recipes, then check out my Healthy & Light Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote) - WW friendly & Gluten-free
👪 Serving size
This recipe makes 12 cups but the serving size is 1.5 cups
🎥 Video
If you're not sure how to cut cooked corn off the cob, then check out the easy method (and avoid making a mess) in this video: How to cut cooked corn off the cob
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📋 Healthy Corn Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cobs corn cooked and removed from cob
- 8 slices turkey bacon, cooked cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 8 cups water
- 4 tablespoon chicken bouillon gluten-free
- 6 medium potatoes, peeled cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 whole red pepper, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon salt and pepper
Toppings (optional)
- chopped fresh chives
- shredded low- fat cheddar cheese
- additional turkey bacon
- additional red pepper
Instructions
- Cook corn and remove from cob. Place in boiling water for about 10 minutes or until fork goes easily into kernel (see video for directions on cutting the corn off the cob in NOTES).
- Cook turkey bacon and set aside.
- Add onion to large soup pot with a little oil and cook until it is caramelized, about 8 minutes. Add red pepper. Then add garlic, water and chicken bouillon.
- Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, then stir in corn kernels (setting aside 1 cup) and potatoes. Add in thyme and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- With a slotted spoon, remove as much of the potatoes and vegetables as you can and blend in food processor or blender until smooth. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Stir the mixture back into the pot .
- Add remaining corn and turkey bacon. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove bay leaf.
Toppings (optional)
- Top with green onion and/or additional sauteed red pepper, cheese and/or additional turkey bacon as desired.
Notes
- Fresh bread - try my Bread Machine Italian Breadsticks , Bread Machine Onion & Olive Bread or my Everything Bagel Cloud Bread Recipe- 0 WW points on the blue plan(shown below).
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