It’s January and the sparkle of the holiday season has faded away leaving us to face long winter days. Fortunately, it’s also time for the perfect comfort food, soup. A bowl of soup feels like a warm hug on a cold day. Most often associated with New England, the chowder was a shipboard soup for sailors and fishermen. It combined the bounty of the sea with a thick flavorful broth that sticks to your ribs.
This chowder recipe for crab and corn chowder comes from the Simply Recipes blog. The recipe comes together in forty minutes from prep to cook time. We adapted the recipe by adding shrimp. Crabmeat can be expensive, so feel free to substitute imitation crabmeat.
This filling soup comes together in forty minutes. It’s gluten-free and low-sodium.
Crab and Corn Chowder
PREP TIME: 15 mins
COOK TIME: 25 mins
TOTAL TIME: 40 mins
SERVINGS: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
4 slices thick-cut bacon (4 ounces), cut into thin strips (Vegan Bacon such as Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon, Lightlife Smart Bacon the vegan bacon of your choice)
1 large leek, trimmed and halved lengthwise, cut into thin, half-moon slices
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 russet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium or unsalted chicken stock (Unsalted or low-sodium vegetable stock)
3 cups corn kernels (about 3 ears of fresh corn)
1 pound fresh or frozen crab meat (You can use jackfruit if you can find it. Otherwise, omit)
1 pound or 16 ounces of fresh or frozen medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tail off
3/4 cup heavy cream, or more to taste (dairy: whole milk, or low-fat milk,* add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened mixed with 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour) (
Juice of 1/2 lemon (2 tablespoons, or more to taste)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Cook the bacon, leek, and celery:
In a large soup pot over medium heat, cook and stir the bacon until it renders its fat and begins to crisp about three minutes. Add the leek, celery, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until softened, another three minutes.
Add the wine and stir, bringing it to a simmer. Add the diced potatoes and chicken stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Add the corn to the pot and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the crabmeat, shrimp, and cream and simmer for about 3 minutes more, or until the chowder is hot all the way through.
Finish cooking the chowder:
Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and lemon juice if needed. Serve.
Store cooled leftover soup in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Vegan or Vegetarian Version:
Ingredients
4 strips (4 ounces), of vegan bacon, cut into thin strips (Such as Sweet Earth Benevolent Bacon, Lightlife Smart Bacon, or the vegan bacon of your choice)
1 large leek, trimmed and halved lengthwise, cut into thin, half-moon slices
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 russet potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups low-sodium or unsalted vegetable stock
4 cups corn kernels (about 4 ears of fresh corn)
16 ounces of jackfruit if you can find it. Otherwise, you can leave it out of the recipe
3/4 cup non-dairy: unsweetened rice, soy, or coconut milk
Juice of 1/2 lemon (2 tablespoons, or more to taste)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon unsalted vegan butter, softened plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, mixed together
In a large soup pot over medium heat, cook and stir the vegan bacon with 2 tablespoons of Canola oil, for about three minutes Cook until the vegan bacon begins to get crisp. Add the leek, celery, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often until the vegetables are softened, about three minutes.
Add the wine and stir, bringing it to a simmer. Add the diced potatoes, beurre manié of flour and unsoftened vegan butter, and the vegetable stock.
to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Add the corn to the pot and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the non-dairy milk of your choice and simmer for about 3 minutes more, or until the chowder is hot all the way through.
Finish cooking the chowder:
Stir in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste and add more salt, pepper, and lemon juice if needed. Serve.
Store cooled leftover soup in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Though Simply Recipes recommended the cream that the recipe called for, you can use milk instead of cream. However, you will need to stir some beurre manié (softened unsalted butter mixed one-to-one with flour) into the broth to prevent curdling.
