Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder (with Coconut Milk)
I am well and truly into soup mode, with all this cold weather we’ve been having – and corn chowder has got to be one of the most hearty, most comforting soups there is. This thick and creamy soup is packed with fresh veggies, and the addition of coconut milk makes it extra tasty (and vegan too!).
The flavours in this soup are just delicious – the slight heat from the chilli and the touch of sweetness from the creamy coconut milk are such a wonderful combination. I might even try it with sweet potatoes next!
This vegan corn chowder is already super filling due to the potatoes and corn, but I do love a bit of buttered toast dipped in… it’s autumn in a bowl.
⭐️ What is Chowder?
Chowder is a thick kind of soup, usually made with milk or cream – but this vegan corn chowder uses coconut milk instead, which makes it even tastier.
It’s generally left chunky (unlike a smooth blended soup), which makes it feel much more hearty and filling than a thinner soup. I did partially blend my coconut corn chowder, because it helps to break down the potatoes and corn, making the soup extra thick and creamy – though I didn’t make it totally smooth.
(you can if you want to, though! I’m not the chowder police.)
Sign up to get recipes by email, and get a FREE e-cookbook!
(1-2 emails per week, no spam)
🥗 Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.
- sweetcorn – I used frozen corn, but you could use canned or fresh corn instead, if you prefer.
- unsweetened coconut milk – use the canned stuff, as it’s thicker and creamier than the kind that’s designed for drinking. I used light coconut milk, but regular would also be great (and would make an even creamier soup).
- onion
- celery
- carrot
- potatoes – you could even try using sweet potatoes (or a bit of both kinds) instead, if you want an extra hint of sweetness in your soup.
- vegetable stock – I used a crumbled stock cube plus some water, but liquid stock would also work well.
- red chilli – just use a small amount to begin with! You can always spice up your soup more later if it needs it, but adding too much chilli is a good way to quickly ruin a tasty soup.
- smoked paprika
- cumin
- garlic
Becca’s Top Tip
If you don’t want to buy a whole pack of red chillies to only use a small amount, a dollop of sweet chilli sauce will also work really well in this recipe.
📹 Recipe Video
🔪 Equipment
To make this vegan corn chowder, I used an immersion blender (hand blender) to partially blend the soup. It helped to break down the potatoes and corn, making the soup extra thick and creamy.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can choose to leave the soup unblended – but if you’d like to make soup regularly, a hand blender is definitely something worth buying, as they’re not expensive, and they’re a tool you’ll probably use regularly. I make soup about once a week, so my immersion blender is one of my most-used kitchen tools.
Here’s a great one on Amazon, with really positive reviews:
If you're in the UK or Australia, click 'Buy on Amazon' to view a local product.
🖨️ Printable Instructions
Vegan Corn Chowder (with Coconut Milk)
If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!
Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 450 g (~ 1 lb) potato (~ 3 medium)
- 1/2 large onion (or 1 small)
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 large celery stick (~ 80g / ~ 3 oz)
- 250 g (~ 9 oz) frozen sweetcorn
- 1/2 small mild red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 400 ml tin coconut milk (~ 1 1/2 cups) – I used light
- 1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled
- 500 ml (~ 2 cups) water
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice the potato, onion, carrot and celery stick fairly small (1cm or less). Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat, and add the chopped vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes or so, until fragrant.
- Add the frozen sweetcorn, chilli, garlic, smoked paprika and cumin. Mix well, and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Next, add the can of coconut milk and the vegetable stock – I used a stock cube and water, but you can use liquid stock if you prefer.
- Bring to a simmer, and cook for 25 minutes or so, until all the vegetables are very soft.
- Use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup, breaking down some of the potatoes and corn, and leaving some whole.
- Season to taste, and serve warm.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Yes! The leftovers are great reheated – just microwave until piping hot. This means you can also prepare the soup in advance if you need to, and reheat when you’re ready to serve.
Soup generally freezes very well – just allow it to cool and store it in an airtight tub in the freezer.
Because of the potatoes and corn, this is a hearty soup that doesn’t really need anything else alongside. However, I do love it with a slice of crusty, buttery toast for dipping.
About to make this for the third time since you posted it. Using up the last 3/4 of a fairly hot “mild” green chilli I have stashed in the freezer this time though. Because I like green chilli with sweetcorn, and prefer to emphasise the corn sweetness rather than add a lot of heat. We shall see…but yeah, I do like this one.
Thanks Claire, really glad you like it! :)
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! Thanks for sharing! :)
Yay thanks Emma! :)
Your soup looks GORGEOUS, Becca! The coconut milk makes it so different to the American corn soups I grew up with. I have a corn soup to post too but am waiting for better weather to take some piccies ;-)
You sing it, girl. You prance. I can practically smell this soup now. It sounds delicious!
Oooh, I love nothing more than a chowder, especially with this rainy weather we’ve been experiencing. With the added coconut it sounds totally lush!
It certainly looks like corn chowder to me, and an amazing one at that! Perfect for these colder evenings. Yum!
I believe what makes a chowder a chowder is 1. potato chunks and 2. a cream element of some kind. Unless you’re making the weirdo tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder, that is! Whether or not this is technically a chowder, it sounds excellent. Coconut and corn for the win!
Ah ok, maybe this isn’t technically a chowder then – never mind! It still hits the spot :)
mmmm i love corn chowder!!
The combo of corn and coconut is such a unique and delicious sounding combo! Thumbs up! : D
The weather is cooling off in my neck of the woods as well. This will be a nice addition to my dishes for next week. There’s only one thing though: I don’t like celery. What vegetable would you recommend as a substitute? I was thinking maybe leek but the texture isn’t the same.
I actually really don’t like celery either, but you can’t really taste it when it’s cooked down into the soup, so I’d leave it in if you can bear it ;) if not, I think you could just skip it without losing out on too much!