Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

Sweet potato corn and kale chowder with crusty bread on the side to dip.

5 from 5 votes

This easy one-pot Sweet Potato Corn Chowder is a creamy, hearty, and "loaded with good stuff" soup! Bacon, kale, red bell pepper, and corn combine with tender sweet potatoes for a healthy and colorful twist on potato soup!

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Dinner, Soup

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 380kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Equipment

soup pot or Dutch oven
potato masher

Ingredients

3 to 5 slices bacon chopped
1 onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 grinds fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups kale chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tablespoons flour
1½ cups corn fresh cut off the cob or frozen
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups half & half
¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped

Instructions

Wash and chop the vegetables. Peel sweet potatoes, cut them into half inch rounds. Then stack up a few of the rounds and cut into strips, then into cubes.
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp. Stir occasionally, about 7 to 9 minutes. Remove bacon to a bowl. Depending on the bacon, you may want to discard some of the drippings to a glass bowl. Leave at least 1 Tablespoon in the pot to saute the veggies. I used 3 slices of bacon and didn't remove any of the drippings.
Saute the onion, red pepper and sweet potatoes in the remaining bacon drippings. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Stir occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Add the kale, garlic, and flour and cook a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the corn and chicken stock, COVER, and simmer over medium to low heat until the sweet potatoes are softened, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir occasionally as it simmers. Adjust the heat so it lightly bubbles but doesn't rapidly boil. Use a potato masher to lightly break up the potatoes, leaving them a bit chunky.
Add the half & half. You can save some or all of the bacon and cilantro to garnish each bowl, or mix it in with the soup. Simmer 5 more minutes until thickened.

Notes

If using fresh sweet corn on the cob, cut the kernels off of 2 ears and add them in to saute just a bit as the veggies are finishing up.
If you soup is too thin, just continue simmering over a low burner while whisking to allow steam to escape. Mashing the soup with a potato masher will also thicken it. If it gets too thick, which can often happen after it has been refrigerated and reheated, just add a bit of water, stock, milk or half & half to thin it back out.

Nutrition