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 (Kettle & Fire Chicken Bone Broth or homemade [see more info below])
• 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 until crispy. I like my bacon crispy rather than rubbery, so instead of cooking it with chowder, I remove it from the Instant pot and set it aside for a topping once it’s done.

You’ll still have some bacon flavor in the potato corn chowder because the next step is to sauté your mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion, and garlic) in the bacon fat along with a little butter. Sauté the vegetables for about five minutes, then add your seasonings (just one teaspoon of salt) 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, therefore 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 this 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

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; it also has more nutritional benefits than regular broth, such as electrolytes, protein, and vitamins and minerals. The long simmering time creates naturally occurring collagen protein as well.

This is the base of the soup, so it must be flavorful! Lately I’ve been making my own homemade bone broth from leftover whole chicken carcasses (I cut and freeze a whole chicken for my dog Bentley’s dinner every few weeks). I also freeze the scraps from fresh veggies and fresh herbs (onions, celery, carrots, scallions, parsley, mushroom caps, etc.). It’s a fantastic way to avoid waste!

Just place everything in a big pot, then fill the pot with water until it’s covering the ingredients. Next, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook it for hours until the bones are broken down. Your house will smell AMAZING.

Freeze it in individual bags/containers and take some out when you need it!

There are several benefits of cooking with and/or drinking bone broth. My go-to brand (when I don’t have homemade available) is Kettle & Fire. They did a fantastic job of explaining those benefits in detail, but to give you an idea, bone broth may:

• Promote Gut & Digestive Health
• Support Joint Mobility
• Support Skin, Hair, and Nails
• Support Sleep
• Offer Enhanced Results on the Keto, Paleo, and Intermittent Fasting Diets

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 Springs

While the other ingredients are pressure cooking in the Instant Pot, in a separate pan on low heat; steep two of the corn cobs and a handful of thyme in the half and half milk. The milk should just be warmed up, not simmering, or boiling. You can freeze the remaining corn cobs for flavoring soup or making vegetable stock in the future!

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 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 corn starch 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

Regarding the) toppings, we’ve already got the bacon covered, so next you’ll want to 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.

Now, you just need a buttery, 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!

And that is how you make my simple Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder with Bacon recipe. I hope it becomes a part of your easy weeknight dinner rotation!

As always, I’d love to hear from you all! About your experience with this dish, any alterations you may have made and loved (or didn’t love), or just life and cooking in general. Please leave a review/comment/question below, reach out via email, and/or stay connected with me on social media, which I have linked below. Take care! – Jenna 🖤

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