Corn chowder is a classic fall dish; it's simple, hearty and delicious. This creamy soup is made with a large chunks of potato, corn, and of course bacon!

Though corn chowder is simple to make there are endless variations possible. This is a recipe that should be made more than once, each time modifying the ingredients to suit your tastes and make the dish your own, eventually you'll have your own signature chowder. Feel free to modify the recipe here and share your own variations in the comments below.

Also, this recipe can easily be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon and the dairy. Try substituting your own ingredients and see what you come up with!

Enough talk, let's make some corn chowder!

Step 1: Ingredients + Equipment

ingredients:

6 rashers of bacon
2 large potatoes
1 medium onion
2 cups water
3 cups corn
salt + pepper
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
cornmeal (optional)

equipment:

sharp knife
cutting board
large pot
ladle
blender
stove

.

Step 2: Peel, Chop, Combine

Bacon:

Heat large pot on stove and add bacon.
Cook bacon until crispy (about 5 minutes).
Remove bacon and crumble into a separate bowl.
Keep bacon drippings for cooking onions.

Onion + potato:

Peel onion and potatoes.
dice onion and cook in bacon drippings for about a minute.
Cut potatoes into uniform cubes and add to pot with onion.

Combine:

In pot with onion and potato add water, corn, spices and bacon bits.
Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes

Step 3: Blend!

After simmering for a while the potatoes should be cooked through.
Carefully scoop a few ladles of the chowder into a blender, make sure you get a good mix of broth and chunky-bits.

Blend on high until smooth, then add blended chowder back into pot and mix.

Step 4: Add Dairy, Let Simmer

The chowder could be served now, but to really take it over the top dairy is added for that extra-smooth and amazing taste.

Slowly stir cream into the blended mixture, this will lighten the colour of your chowder and give it a very creamy consistency. Then add grated cheese, I used an aged cheddar. Let chowder simmer on low for about 10 minutes. Keep that temperature on low, otherwise you risk burning the dairy.

The picture here shows the marked difference between the stages of the chowder:

chunky stock > blended stock > blended stock with cream

Step 5: Serve!

After a few minutes of the cream and cheese getting to know the rest of the ingredients it's time to serve. Scoop heaping portions into a bowl, then top with more bacon bits and cheese.

A nice hot bowl of corn chowder for those chilly fall days, perfect!

Did you make your own corn chowder? Post a picture of your results in the comments below.

Happy making :)