Lightened Up Slow Cooker Chicken Corn Soup
Considering we lightened up our ingredients, this soup is so deliciously creamy!
When it comes to dinnertime, you know we love to have delicious and easy meals on hand that have us looking forward to mealtime and let us savor our time with family after a long day. When we were thinking of what to make this past week, we were thinking about our deep, deep love of chowder and decided to lighten things up a bit and get cooking. Instead of going to our fallback, clam chowder, we were thinking about putting a twist on corn chowder and making a lighter corn and chicken soup that’s flavorful and filling without all the calories.
This was such a good family dinner, we can’t recommend it enough. Filled with lots of corn – we used canned, but using fresh in the summertime is absolutely the way to go – and chicken and bacon, this soup makes the best lunch or dinner! We packed this with tons of veggies, so there’s no need to cook any side dishes, but you know, we can’t help but think a healthy portion of cornbread would be a lovely way to serve this up. As we mentioned, this is a lightened up soup, inspired by chowder, but without using heavy cream or a roux-based sauce. Feel free to throw in a splash of heavy cream or a bit more cornstarch if you’d like to thicken your soup, but it really doesn’t need it – it’s perfect just as is!
Slow Cooker Chicken Corn Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 (14 oz.) cans corn, rinsed and drained
- 1 (14 oz.) can cream corn, juices reserved
- 6 strips bacon
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, plus extra if needed
- 3/4 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preparation
- In a large pan or skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crispy, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Crumble bacon once cooled.
- Add carrot, celery and onion to skillet (along with remaining bacon grease) and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until softened.
- Add garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Place diced chicken, potatoes and corn in slow cooker, then top with sautéed vegetables and 1/2 crumbled bacon.
- Pour in chicken broth, along with rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano and basil. Season generously with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, if using.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-8, until chicken is cooked through.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together half-and-half and cornstarch, then pour slurry mixture into slow cooker. Stir everything together, then cover slow cooker again and cook for another 20-30 minutes, or until chowder has thickened.
- Ladle soup into serving bowls, top with remaining bacon and serve hot.
Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction