Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 6 slices bacon, chopped
  • 1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breast
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • ½ cup peeled and diced carrots
  • 1 russet potato (about 6 ounces), peeled and cubed
  • 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or ½ dried thyme)
  • 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 (14.75 oz) can cream-style corn
  • Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley

Instruction

  • Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside to use later as a garnish. Reserve bacon drippings in the skillet.
  • Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
  • Add chicken breasts to the bacon drippings in the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, just until browned on both sides (about 3 minutes per side). The chicken does not need to be completely cooked through – it just needs to be browned on each side for flavor, since it will continue cooking in the slow cooker.
  • Meanwhile, place onions, corn, celery, carrots, potato, and thyme in a slow cooker. Add browned chicken to the slow cooker. Pour chicken broth over top, cover, and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4-6 hours.
  • Remove chicken from slow cooker and place on a cutting board.
  • Using a handheld stick blender, puree about half of the soup in the slow cooker. If you don’t have a stick blender, you can carefully transfer about half of the soup to a regular blender or food processor and blend until it reaches desired consistency. You might have to do this in batches, depending on how large your blender is.
  • Once the soup is pureed, chop or shred the chicken and stir the meat back into the soup in the slow cooker.
  • Stir in heavy cream, cream-style corn, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Continue cooking for about 5 more minutes, or until heated through. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.
  • Divide chowder among individual bowls and garnish with reserved cooked bacon and chopped fresh parsley.