It’s official: I’m on a soup kick. I’ve made six kinds (including hot and sour and green curry lentil) in less than six weeks. While they were all delicious, this butternut squash and corn chowder ranks among the best.
Butternut squash and corn chowder is at once sweet, savory and smoky and fit to eat any time of the day. For example, why turn to toast for breakfast or salad for lunch when you can down a bowl of steaming soup? If it’s cold out, is it even a question?
A few unexpected ingredients take the creation over the top: bacon, chipotle peppers in adobo and fresh sage (which adds a hint of mint). In fact, butternut squash and corn chowder is so good that Bacon Fatte’s Michele Phillips considers it a “signature” dish.
Do you have a favorite soup recipe? Let me know in a comment below!
Recipe adapted from BaconFatte.com.
- 4 strips bacon, cut into lardons
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
- 7 cups diced butternut squash
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2½ cups frozen roasted corn
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- In a large pot, cook bacon on medium heat until fat renders and bacon crisps, about 6 minutes. Remove bacon from pot and set aside on paper towels to drain.
- Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add chipotle pepper, butternut squash and chicken broth; stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
- Add corn and sage and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove about 3 cups of vegetables and liquid from pot and purée; return to pot. Stir in heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve immediately with bacon.
