One-Pot Shrimp Corn Chowder with Bacon
This Shrimp Corn Chowder is a creamy one-pot dinner made with sweet summer corn, Yukon gold potatoes, tender shrimp, and crispy bacon, and there is not a drop of heavy cream in the whole pot. It makes 8 servings in about an hour, and you get to decide how thick it turns out.
Shrimp Corn Chowder Recipe at a Glance
- 😋 Flavor & Texture:
- 🕒 Ready to Eat:
- 🧾 Main Ingredients:
- 📖 Dietary Info:
- 👩🍳 Best For:
- 🧊 Make Ahead Friendly?:
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Summarize & Save This Content On
People give me a funny look when I say I make soup in August. But here is my reasoning, and I stand by it. Soup makes a lot. It stretches expensive ingredients across a whole week. It is a full dinner in one bowl with the protein, the vegetables, and the starch already handled. And when sweet corn is piled up at the farm stand for a couple of dollars an ear, this is the recipe I want to spend it on.
I made this one the first summer I got serious about meal prep. Sunday afternoon, a pot of this on the stove, and I had lunch handled through Wednesday without thinking about it once. The Parmesan was almost an accident. I had a wedge in the fridge and stirred some in at the end, and it turned out to be the thing that makes this taste rich without any cream at all. Salty, a little nutty, and it melts into the milk so smoothly you would never guess it was in there.
Y'all, this one earns its spot in the rotation. If you have sweet corn to use up, my zucchini and corn chowder and Mexican-style corn soup are two more good ones.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- It all happens in one pot. Sauté, simmer, blend, & done. At the end, just one pot to wash.
- You control how creamy it gets. Blend more of the soup for a thick chowder, blend less for a chunkier one.
- No heavy cream. Whole milk, a proper roux, and blended potatoes give the soup all the creaminess it needs.
- It feeds 8 and reheats beautifully. One pound of shrimp, eight bowls, lunches for days.
- It works year-round. Fresh corn in August is a treat, but frozen corn and frozen shrimp make this a January dinner too. For more warm weather ideas in my summer soup recipes collection.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Shrimp: Small or medium shrimp that are peeled and deveined, with the tails removed. Frozen is completely fine, and you can cook them straight from frozen adding just a couple extra minutes in the pan. Do not use precooked shrimp. They get rubbery when they hit the hot soup a second time.
- Fresh corn kernels: Two to three ears make the 2 ½ cups you need. Fresh corn brings a sweetness that really matters in this soup since there is no cream carrying the flavor. Frozen corn works great, and well-drained canned corn will do in a pinch.
- Yukon gold potatoes: These are the right potato for the job. They hold their shape in the chunky part of the chowder and blend into something silky in the blended part. Russets tend to fall apart and can turn grainy once blended.
- Whole milk: This is what keeps the chowder creamy without heavy cream. Use half-and-half if you want it richer, or 2% if you want it lighter.
- Parmesan cheese: Grate it off a block. Pre-shredded Parmesan is coated to keep it from clumping, and that coating keeps it from melting smoothly into the soup.
- Bacon: Four slices chopped into small pieces season the whole pot. Cook a bit extra if you want to sprinkle some on top. For all my bacon lovers, you've got to try this bean soup with bacon too!
- Cayenne pepper: Totally optional, but a pinch gives a gentle warmth at the back of the bite. Leave it out entirely if you are feeding kids.
Check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and quantities of each one.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Seafood chowder: Add lump crab meat, bay scallops, or chunks of a firm white fish like cod along with the shrimp at the end. About a half pound of anything extra is plenty.
- No bacon: Skip it and cook the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of butter instead. Add ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika so you still get that smoky note.
- Dairy-free: Use full-fat canned coconut milk or an unsweetened oat milk in place of the whole milk, and leave out the Parmesan. Blend an extra cup of soup to make up for the missing richness.
- Extra corn flavor: Stir in a 15-ounce can of creamed corn along with the milk for a sweeter, thicker chowder.
- Gluten-free: Skip the flour. After the potatoes are tender, whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into ¼ cup cold water and stir it in, then simmer 2 minutes.
- Spicier: Bump the cayenne up to ¼ teaspoon, or set a bottle of hot sauce on the table and let everybody add more if they want it.
How to Make Shrimp Corn Chowder
Step 1: Cook the shrimp first. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat and add the shrimp. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just until they turn light pink and start to curl.
Step 2: Remove and set aside. Pull the shrimp out with a slotted spoon and set them aside. They are going back in at the very end, so a little underdone is exactly right. Take the pot off the heat and wipe it out with a paper towel or damp dish towel. This takes ten seconds, and it keeps the bits left behind from the shrimp from scorching under the bacon.
Step 3: Brown the bacon. Cook the chopped bacon over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until it is browned and has rendered its fat. That fat is the base of your whole soup.
Step 4: Soften the vegetables. Add the onion, celery, and ¼ cup of the green onions. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until the onions turn translucent.
Step 5: Add spices. Stir in the garlic, thyme, paprika, and cayenne and cook another minute or two until you can smell them.
Step 6: Cook the flour. Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly for a full 3 minutes, scraping the browned bits up off the bottom as you go. The flour should turn golden and smell nutty. Do not rush this part. Undercooked flour is the number one reason a chowder tastes pasty.
Step 7: Simmer the potatoes. Add the broth, potatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring it up to a simmer, then drop the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes.
Step 8: Add the corn. Stir in the corn and simmer 10 minutes more, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
How Creamy Do You Want It?
| How much to blend | In a countertop blender | With an immersion blender | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 cups | Ladle out 2 cups, vent the lid, blend until smooth, pour it back | Short bursts around the pot, roughly 10 to 15 seconds total | A chunkier, brothier chowder with distinct pieces of potato and corn in every bite |
| 3 cups | Ladle out 3 cups, blend until completely smooth, pour it back | Keep going, roughly 25 to 30 seconds, until the broth looks cloudy and thick | Thick and velvety, the kind that coats the back of a spoon. This is how I make it |
⭐️ Note: A countertop blender gives a silkier result because it fully purees what you pull out, while the immersion blender leaves more texture throughout. Neither is wrong, but if you want that smooth restaurant-style body, the countertop is worth the extra time and dish to wash.
Step 9: Blend some of it. Transfer 2 to 3 cups to a blender, vent the lid, and blend until smooth, then pour it back into the pot. An immersion blender works too if you would rather not dirty another dish.
Step 10: Add cheese. Turn the heat to low. Stir in the milk and Parmesan and let it warm through for a minute or two until the cheese melts. Keep it on low here. If the soup boils after the milk goes in, it will split.
Step 11: Add the shrimp back. Stir the shrimp in off the boil, just long enough to warm them through. Taste and add salt and pepper.
Step 12: Serve & enjoy. Serve the soup hot with the rest of the green onions and more Parmesan, or even some extra bacon bits on top. Even better, top with homemade croutons using cornbread. Corn on corn, and they stay crunchy longer than you would expect.
Lyn's Top Tips
- Salt in layers. Season when the broth goes in, then taste again at the end before you add more. A bland chowder is almost always an under-salted one.
- Pull the shrimp early. They keep cooking in the hot soup after you stir them back in. Just pink and barely curled is done.
- Watch for visual cues, not just the clock. Roux should be golden and smell nutty. Potatoes should slide off a fork. Shrimp should be opaque and curled into a loose C shape.
- Blender safety. Hot liquid expands fast. Fill the blender no more than halfway, vent the lid, and cover it with a folded towel while you blend.
- Storage: Cool it fully, then refrigerate in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. It thickens overnight, so loosen it with a splash of broth or milk when you reheat. To reheat, warm it low and slow on the stove, stirring often. Do not let it come to a hard boil or the milk will separate.
- Doubling: This doubles fine in a large stockpot for 16 servings. Blend 4 to 6 cups instead, and give the potatoes a few extra minutes.
Shrimp Corn Chowder Recipe FAQs
Frozen shrimp work great and you do not have to thaw them. Add them to the hot butter straight from the freezer and give them 2 to 3 extra minutes to cook. If you do thaw them, pat them dry first so they sear instead of steam.
I would not. Precooked shrimp turn tough and rubbery when they are cooked twice. If precooked is all you have, skip step 1 entirely and stir them in at the very end with the heat off, just to warm through.
Blend more of it. That is the whole trick. Three cups blended gives you a thick chowder, and you can go to 4 cups if you want it thicker still. If it is already finished and still thinner than you want, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 2 tablespoons of cold water, stir it in, and simmer gently for 2 minutes.
It got too hot after the milk went in. Milk proteins tighten up and squeeze out liquid when they boil, which is what gives you that grainy, split look. Keep the heat on low from step 8 forward and never let it get past a bare simmer. If it does split, blending a cup or two will usually smooth it back out.
You can, but the texture takes a hit. The milk separates and the potatoes turn a bit mealy after thawing. The better move is to freeze the soup base before you add the milk, Parmesan, and shrimp. It keeps for 3 months that way, and you finish it fresh in about 10 minutes.
Soup-er Toppings & Serving Suggestions
This is a full dinner on its own, but a basket of crusty dinner rolls on the table means nobody leaves a drop of it in the bowl. Warm cheddar biscuits turn this into the kind of dinner you make when people are coming over, while a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette cuts through the richness nicely.
Packing it for lunch? A half prosciutto sandwich or a brie grilled cheese on the side rounds it right out.
More ideas over in my soup toppings guide.
More Creamy Soup Recipes
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Creamy Shrimp Corn Chowder
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large pot
- Blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 lb small shrimp tails removed and deveined
- 4 pieces bacon chopped into small pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 4-5 green onions sliced and divided
- 2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper or more to taste
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 4 cups Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
- 2 ½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 2 cups whole milk
- ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shrimp and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until light pink and slightly curled. Be careful not to overcook. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a bowl and set aside.
- Remove the pot from the heat and carefully wipe it out with paper towels or a wet dish towel.
- Return the pot to medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Sauté for 4-5 minutes or until browned.
- Add the onion, celery stalks, and ¼ cup of the green onions. Sauté for 5-6 minutes or until the onions start to turn translucent.
- Stir in the garlic, thyme, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Sauté for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, or until golden and nutty-smelling, scarping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot as it cookes
- Add the broth, potatoes, salt, and pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the corn, return to a simmer, and cook another 10 minutes.
- Transfer 2-3 cups (depending on your preference - see the notes below) to a high-speed blender, vent the lid, and blend until smooth. Transfer the blended soup back to the pot. Alternatively, you can blend the soup partially with an immersion blender until you reach your desired consistency.
- Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the milk, and Parmesan cheese, and heat for 1-2 minutes until heated through and the cheese is melted.
- Stir in the sautéed shrimp and season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy topped hot with the remaining green onions and parmesan cheese.
Recipe Tips
- Blend to taste: 2 cups for a chunky chowder, 3 cups for thick and velvety.
- Cook the flour: A full 3 minutes, until golden and nutty. Rushing it leaves a pasty taste.
- Keep it low after the milk: A boil will split the soup.
- Pull the shrimp early: They finish cooking in the hot soup at the end.
- Frozen shrimp: Cook straight from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes. Skip precooked shrimp, they turn rubbery.
