This creamy and flavorful Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder is the best cozy soup. This one-pot meal is loaded with tender shredded chicken, creamed and sweet corn, cheese, and more. It’s seasoned with cumin and hot pepper sauce, made creamy with half-and-half, and has the perfect kick of spice thanks to diced green chiles.
Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder – The EASY Way!
It’s soup season. And it’s time for a flavor twist on a classic: corn chowder!
Corn chowder is good, right? But what if you added green chiles and a little bit of spice? Enter this Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder. This is seriously one of the best Chicken Corn Chowder Recipes. It’s a classic comforting soup spiced up with cumin, hot pepper sauce, and diced green chiles.
This one-pot meal takes just 30 minutes to come together and is a dinner the whole family will love.
Why I LOVE this recipe!
- Tons of Flavor – This soup is an explosion of flavor thanks to onion and garlic, cumin, green chiles. Each ingredient in this recipe is so simple, but comes together to make the perfect combination of flavors.
- Made in One Pot – Who doesn’t love having fewer dishes to wash?! A one-pot meal means the easiest cleanup ever!
- Ready in 30 Minutes – Just 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes on the stove before your soup is ready to go. Just try not to take too many bites out of the pot before it’s finished cooking!
- Serves a Crowd – Depending on portion sizes, this recipe make enough soup to serve eight people. So, whether you’re cooking for a big family or having a few friends over for dinner, you don’t need to worry about running out or even doubling the recipe.
- Makes Great Leftovers – Like so many other soups, Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder gets even better as it sits and all those fantastic flavors really meld together. Since this recipe makes a ton, it’s perfect for leftovers. Make a big pot and enjoy it all week long.
What to Serve with Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder
Since this dish has a couple classic Southwestern flavors, it will pair well with many of your favorite Southwest or Mexican side dishes. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.
Side Dish Ideas
- Mexican Cornbread – With both corn and green chiles, this cornbread recipe is the perfect pairing for Chicken Corn Chowder Soup. It’s thick, soft, perfectly moist, and requires a quick 5 minutes to prep.
- Green Salad with Jalapeño Ranch Dressing – Keep it light with a pile of mixed greens drizzled with this creamy, spicy dressing. Feel free to add other salad toppings to bulk it up.
- Easy Mexican Rice – Round your meal out in 25 minutes with a helping of this flavor-packed Mexican rice. It’s soft, fluffy, and seasoned perfectly with cumin, chicken broth, serrano peppers, and more.
- Mexican Roasted Vegetables – Make your meal as colorful as can be with a side of these Mexican Roasted Veggies. All the best veggies spiced up with taco seasoning!
- Mexican Corn Salad– This simple salad makes a great light and wholesome pairing
- Black Bean and Corn Salsa with Chips
You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner.
Recipe Notes
This Chicken Corn Chowder recipe is as simple as promised! Just 30 minutes and one pot for a family friendly meal.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Butter – I like to use butter to sauté the aromatics, but a neutral-flavored oil such as canola, olive, or grapeseed would work too.
- Garlic & Onion – Sautéed onion and minced garlic create the perfect flavor base. Use freshly minced garlic and fresh white onion for the best flavor- but in a pinch, jarred garlic and most any variety of onion will do- try yellow, sweet, red or vidalia onions.
- Cumin – Cumin is often used in Mexican food, so it ties in the flavor of the green chiles perfectly.
- Corn – we’re using a combination of cream-style corn and sweet corn.
- Diced Green Chiles – You’ll need two 4 ounce cans of diced green chiles. No need to drain them. They go into the soup as-is and add so much delicious flavor.
- Monterey Jack Cheese – If you are able, grab a block of Monterey jack cheese to shred yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses don’t melt as well.
- Hot Pepper Sauce – Just use your favorite variety of hot sauce.
- Half-and-Half – Half-and-half keeps the soup lighter but creates such a rich flavor and creamy texture. Feel free to make it even richer with heavy cream or lighten it up even more with whole milk if preferred. The higher the fat content, the thicker and creamier the soup.
- Chicken Broth – Chicken stock will work as well or keep it meat-free by using vegetable broth instead of chicken
- Chicken – Any shredded chicken will work for this recipe. You can cook and shred chicken specifically for this soup or if you have leftover chicken that’s mildly seasoned that will work too. If you want to save time, just grab a rotisserie chicken at the store!
- Salt – Start with less and add more to taste so you don’t end up with overly salty soup.
- Garnishes – I love to top each bowl of soup off with freshly chopped cilantro, shredded Monterey jack cheese, and hot pepper sauce.
Recipe Tips
- Finely dice the onion – Chop it up as small as you can so you don’t end up with big chunks in your soup. A sharp knife will do the trick or, to make it even faster, use a food processor.
- Drain the sweet corn – That extra liquid will make the soup much too watery. You can of sweet corn does need to be drained before you add it to the soup.
- Don’t drain the creamed corn – Contrary to the sweet corn, the creamed corn does not need to be drained. It only adds to the creaminess of the soup.
- Salt to taste – Always, always start with less and add more to taste. Salting less will result in a sweeter soup while adding more will make it more savory. Add just a little at a time until it’s salted to your taste.
Recipe Short Cuts
If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this Easy Chicken Corn Chowder even faster!
- Buy pre-chopped onion– You can generally get this fresh in the produce section, or find them frozen in the freezer section.
- Use Rotisserie Chicken – Without having to cook chicken, this Southwest Chicken Corn Chowder could not be faster. Grabbing a rotisserie chicken at the store is a great way to save time on that step.
- Make It Ahead of Time – Soup reheats beautifully, so feel free to prep this chowder in advance, so you can quickly reheat it on the stove or in the microwave when you’re ready to serve it.
Recipe Variations
If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!
- Cheesy Chicken Corn Chowder – This Southwestern Chicken Corn Chowder is already cheesy, but feel free to add other varieties of cheese to give it more flavors. A great way to sharpen the cheesy flavor of the soup is to add a little bit of shredded cheddar in addition to the Monterey jack. You can also stir in some cream cheese if you like an extra rich soup!
- Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder – Mexican chicken and corn chowder is already a little kick because of the green chiles and the hot sauce, but feel free to kick the heat up with more hot sauce, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper or paprika, or diced jalapeños.
- Poblano Chicken Corn Chowder – Simply swap the green chiles out for diced up poblano peppers. Chop the poblano peppers and saute them with the onions, then continue with recipe as directed.
- Bacon Chicken Corn Chowder – Fry the bacon until crispy, then use the grease to cook the onion. Continue with the recipe as-is, but finish it off by topping it with the crumbled bacon. Be sure to add the bacon just before serving or as a garnish so it stays nice and crispy.
Freezer Meal Instructions
Making this Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder recipe into a freezer meal is simple! Follow the steps below and you can store this recipe in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Chop the onion and garlic and combine with cumin and salt in a freezer-safe bag.
- In a freezer-safe container, mix together shredded, cooked chicken, hot sauce, chicken broth, green chiles, and corn.
- Freeze for up to 6 months.
- When you’re ready to cook, thaw everything overnight in the fridge, then prepare the recipe as instructed.
Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder Leftovers
If you have leftovers after making this Chicken Corn Chowder Soup, then it is your lucky day! They save and reheat well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.
To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:
- in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
- in the freezer up to a month
More Chicken Soup Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my soup recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.
Green Chili Chicken Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cans cream-style corn, (14.75 ounce)
- 1 can sweet corn, drained, (14.75 ounce)
- 2 cans diced green chiles, (4 ounce)
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, (8 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 cup chicken broth, as needed
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Garnish (optional)
- Freshly chopped cilantro
- shredded montery jack cheese
- hot pepper sauce
Instructions
- In a large heavy bottomed pot, or dutch oven, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and cumin and cook stirring frequently until onion is translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the creamed corn, whole corn, green chiles, monterey jack cheese, and hot sauce and stir to combine. Then slowly stir in the half and half until incorporated. Add chicken broth a little at a time stirring it in completely between each addition until it reaches your preferred thickness for the soup.
- Stir in the shredded chicken and then season the soup with the salt to taste. Using less salt will result in a sweeter soup, adding more will make it more savory.
- Serve in bowls garnished with your choice of shredded monterey jack cheese, hot sauce, and chopped cilantro.
Leave a Reply