Description
Creamy, silky potato corn chowder with bacon. Made faster in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 8 slices bacon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic (approximately 2 tablespoons), minced
- 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 ears corn (approximately 2 cups), corn kernels removed - don't discard the cobs
- 1-pound russet potatoes (approximately 2 cups), peeled and diced
- 4 cups chicken bone broth (see: homemade bone broth recipe)
- 2 cups (1 pint) half & half
- a .66-ounce container (or a handful of) fresh thyme sprigs
OPTIONAL (BUT RECOMMENDED) TOPPINGS AND ADDITIONS:
- Chopped chives and/or scallions, for topping
- Shredded sharp cheddar cheese, for topping
- Baguette, sliced, buttered, and toasted (I use a grill pan for those pretty grill marks)
Instructions
- SAUTE THE BACON AND MIREPOIX + SEASONINGS. Turn on the Instant Pot and set it to sauté. Sauté the bacon until crispy, remove, and set it aside (we’ll use it later for topping). Melt the butter in the Instant Pot, then add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the seasonings (just one teaspoon of salt) and sauté for another minute.
- ADD POTATOES, CORN, AND CHICKEN BONE BROTH. Peel and dice the potatoes and set them aside. Remove corn husks, then with a new toothbrush or a vegetable scrubber brush, remove the stringy corn silk. Save the corn cobs. Add the potatoes and corn to the Instant Pot along with the chicken bone broth.
- SET THE PRESSURE COOKER, THEN QUICK RELEASE WHEN DONE. Select the pressure cooker option on your Instant Pot and set it for 10 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.
Turmeric concentrate poured into a glass bowl for organic cooking and health wellness. - STEEP CORN COBS AND FRESH THYME SPRIGS WITH HALF AND HALF. 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.
- ADD HALF AND HALF TO PRESSURE COOKER. 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). Add it to the pressure cooker along with the half and half.
- BLEND SOME OF THE POTATO CORN CHOWDER (OPTIONAL). I like a smooth and creamy chowder with some chunks; therefore, I blend it almost fully with a hand blender. You can also use a blender and blend it as much as you’d like, or none at all! Either way, it will be delicious. Check for salt and add another half or full teaspoon, depending on your taste buds.
- PREPARE TOPPINGS AND SERVE. If you’re using them: slice the chives and/or scallions and shred the cheddar cheese. Don’t forget about the bacon! Crack a little black pepper overtop and enjoy.
Notes
- 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.
- You just need a buttery, crispy dipping element when eating chowder and soup. I like to simply slice a baguette about an inch thick and crisp it in a grill pan with some salted butter!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Instant Pot Recipes, Main Dishes, Soups
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
