How to Make Hearty Corn Chowder

Hearty corn chowder is a welcome treat on a cold winter day and can be made from a few staple ingredients found in the prepper’s pantry. Image courtesy Lynn Smythe at the The Creative Cottage.

Here is the first recipe in the Oma’s Prepper’s Pantry series. Today I’m posting how to make a quick, easy, hearty corn chowder from ingredients you probably already have on hand.

I had half a can of tinned potatoes leftover in the refrigerator so decided to throw those into the pot but you can use an entire can or even fresh potatoes is that’s what’s in your pantry.

Soup pot and individual serving of hearty corn chowder. Image courtesy Lynn Smythe of The Creative Cottage.

Corn Chowder Ingredients

The great thing about all the Oma’s Prepper’s Pantry recipes is to use what you have on hand. If you are missing something on the list, either leave it out or try substituting something else.

You can go grocery shopping for any missing ingredients, but the original goal of this recipe series is to rotate through your stockpile of food so everything stays fresh and you use it up before its expiration date.

For instance, when I was making Salad Nicoise I didn’t have any tuna so I substituted some cooked chicken breast and it still came out delicious!

2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion – peeled and chopped fine
3 to 4 stalks celery – chopped
3 to 4 large carrots – peeled and chopped
2 cloves – minced garlic
1 can corn – drained
1/2 to 1 can of potatoes – drain off water and roughly chop
1 can – cream of celery soup
3 cups – low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup – shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon – chopped chives

Canned corn is a great staple ingredient for the prepper’s pantry. Image courtesy Buenosia Carol from Pexels.

Corn Chowder Directions

Add the olive oil and butter to a large pot and place over low heat.
Add the chopped onion, celery and carrots to the pan and stir occasionally while cooking over low heat.
Once the veggies start to soften, stir in the garlic, potatoes and corn and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Whisk in the veggie broth and cream of celery soup.
Turn the heat up to medium and let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Turn the heat back down to low and stir in the cheddar cheese until melted.
At this point, if the chowder is thicker than you like, stir in a bit more vegetable broth or water.
Serve the corn chowder in individual serving bowls and garnish with some of the chopped chives.
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 to 4 days.

FYI: Here is the link to the original Oma’s Prepper’s Pantry post with links to all the recipes in this series.

If you have any leftover chicken on hand you can chop it up and add it to your corn chowder. In fact, you would end up with something very similar to Pregresso’s Rich & Hearty Chicken Corn Chowder. But since you are able to control the exact ingredients used in your corn chowder, it should have a lot less sodium than a commercially available soup.

Do you have any great ideas for keeping your stash of perishable and non-perishable food supplies fresh and using up what you have on hand in various recipes and dishes?

Leave a comment at the end of this post – I’d love to hear your ideas!