Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon [Instant Pot]

This creamy, silky Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe uses chicken bone broth as the base, making for an extra flavorful and nutritious soup (more on that below)!

Made faster in the Instant Pot, you can have this delicious chowder on the table in forty minutes or less.

This recipe is the perfect way to use up some of your sweet summer corn. You’re going to love it! 🌽

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Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon Recipe

The sweetness from the corn, the creaminess of the half and half and potatoes, the smokiness of the bacon and smoked paprika….this Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe is so good and flavorful! It’s also simple to prepare, which makes it even better.

The Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon Ingredients Going in the Pressure Cooker

• Bone Broth – Homemade Bone Broth or store-bought
• Russet Potatoes
• Fresh Sweet Corn
• Bacon (always humanely raised)
• Mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion, garlic)
• Unsalted Butter
• Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Oregano

How to Make Potato Corn Chowder in the Instant Pot

1. Sauté the bacon and mirepoix + seasonings

First, you’re going to set the Instant Pot to the sauté setting. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can also use a different pressure cooker, a slow cooker, or cook it in a pot on the stove. The instructions are the same, but you will of course need to adjust the cooking time!

Once the Instant Pot is hot, sauté your diced bacon. Stir the bacon often. It will take several minutes to get crispy, so be patient! Once it’s cooked, you can save a spoonful for garnish (if you wish).

Or, you can keep all of the bacon in the pot. Either way, you’ll still have tons of bacon flavor in the potato corn chowder because the next step is to sauté your mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion, and garlic) in the rest of the bacon, the bacon fat, and unsalted butter. We’re going for flavor here

Sauté the vegetables for about five minutes, then add oregano, smoked paprika, one teaspoon of salt, and pepper, and sauté for another minute.

2. Add the potatoes, corn, and chicken bone broth

Normally, I’m a skin-on kinda girl because there are benefits of eating potato skins, but for this Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe, I like to peel the russet potatoes as their skin tends to be chewy when cooked.

I’m looking for a creamy, silky-textured potato corn chowder, so I peel the potatoes and set them aside.

For the corn, remove the husk, and then with a brand-new toothbrush (I don’t think I needed to emphasize that so much – at least I hope not 😂) or a vegetable scrub brush, remove any remaining corn silk (the long, thread-like strands).

Cut the corn kernels from the cob and add them along with the potatoes and the chicken bone broth to the instant pot. Don’t discard the corn cobs! We’re going to use them in a moment.

Bone Broth and Its Benefits

Bone Broth is the base of the soup, so it has to be flavorful!

You may be wondering what the difference is between regular chicken broth and chicken bone broth. Not only does bone broth have more of a full-bodied flavor, but it also has more nutritional benefits than regular broth, such as electrolytes, protein, vitamins, and minerals.

The long-simmering time creates naturally occurring collagen protein as well.

I have a complete Homemade Bone Broth guide with the full recipe, tips, bone broth health benefits, etc.! Please check it out below. ⬇️

Homemade Bone Broth [Chicken or Beef]

3. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook and Then Quick Release

Select the pressure cooker option on your Instant Pot and set it for ten minutes. Instant Pot explains how to do so here. Once the chowder is done cooking, quick release the pressure.

Be sure to take the proper safety precautions when releasing pressure from your pressure cooker. More details on all of this can be found here.

4. Simmer Half and Half Milk with Corn Cobs and Fresh Thyme Sprigs

While the other ingredients are pressure cooking in the Instant Pot, in a separate pan on medium heat, steep the corn cobs and a handful of thyme in the half-and-half milk. Heat the milk until hot but not boiling. Stir it often.

Once the pressure cooker has released all its steam, open the lid. From the half and half, remove the corn cobs and discard the thyme stems. With the back of a knife, remove the corn milk from the cobs (See video on YouTube: How to Remove Milk from Corn).

The corn milk holds so much flavor, therefore we are going to add it to the chowder along with the half-and-half! Give it a stir.

At this point, I like to blend a lot of the chowder with a hand blender. I reserved a couple of cups of potato chunks and corn, blended the rest of the chowder, then added the chunks back. It will be so smooth and creamy with little surprise corn jewels. 🌽💎

If the chowder isn’t thick enough for your liking, you can mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water to make a slurry and stir it into the Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe!

Check for salt and add another half or full teaspoon, depending on your tastebuds. I think with this much chowder, two teaspoons of salt is just right.

Gather Toppings and Serve

Slice the chives and/or scallions, and shred the cheddar cheese (if using – I do if I have some in the fridge). Sprinkle some on top of each bowl along with the crispy bacon (if you decided to reserve some).

Now, it’s mandatory to have a crispy dipping element when eating chowder and soup. I like to slice a baguette about an inch thick and crisp it in a grill pan with some salted butter!

What two ingredients must be present for the soup to be called a chowder?

To be considered a chowder, a soup typically contains two main ingredients: seafood (such as clams, fish, or shrimp) and potatoes.

Traditionally, chowder does include seafood, but some variations omit seafood and focus on other ingredients like corn, potatoes, and vegetables (like this potato corn chowder with bacon recipe).

While purists might argue that seafood is essential for a true chowder, culinary creativity allows for variations that can still be considered chowder-like, even without seafood!

How do I thicken my corn chowder?

You can thicken your corn chowder by using techniques such as adding a roux (a mixture of flour and fat), incorporating a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with water), or pureeing some of the soup and then adding it back in. Additionally, simmering the chowder for longer periods can help reduce and thicken it naturally.

I’d love to hear about your experience with this Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe!

Please leave a question or comment below, get in touch via email, and follow me on social media for even more recipes and cooking tips (linked below).

Watch the step-by-step process of how to make my Potato Corn Chowder on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest! Please kindly save the video while you’re there. 🙏🏽😊

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More Soup Inspiration:

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