Tender chicken and sweet corn are combined in a creamy chicken corn soup with just enough heat to warm your mouth without setting it on fire.
Chicken corn soup
My whole family loves this soup, even my middle son who doesn’t like spices. According to him, it is a warm mouth to feel not a hot screaming need to sip hot ice water. That description and the immediate visual of him flapping and grabbing water makes me chuckle.
Combine how delicious it is with the fact that this soup takes barely 20 minutes to put together, and you’ll understand why it’s a frequent meal in our house! Quick soups are on our meal plan often during the fall and winter.
I am often amazed at how a few simple ingredients with the right combination of spices can create such amazing flavors. It almost feels like magic. Tomatoes, green chilies, corn, and chicken serve as the base for this soup.
When I first made this soup, I used our homemade corn stock. (If you haven’t made corn stock before, put it on your list to do this summer. You just boil the corn on the cob after the corn is gone. That’s it.)
Chicken and corn soup
My initial plan to keep it in the freezer didn’t happen. I just kept using this corn syrup until it was gone. If you’re like me but don’t have any corn stock saved right now, chicken stock works great in this soup too.
I’m counting down the days until sweet corn season so I can fill up on all our favorite corn recipes again.
Rotisserie chicken makes this recipe as easy as possible, but you can use any leftover chicken you like. You can also quickly cook up some last minute chicken for soup. (Side note – I love this chicken so much!)
Cumin, smoked paprika, black pepper, cayenne and oregano build such a warmth that softens with the heavy cream. There is a secret to adding cream to soups. Don’t add it just when the soup is boiling. The key is low heat.
You don’t want to boil or cook on high after adding the heavy cream. If you accidentally boil the cream, the fat in the cream can separate, resulting in lump-like pieces.
Recipe for chicken corn soup
These are the ingredients you will need to make this soup:
- butter
- garlic
- Chicken stock or corn stock
- Diced tomatoes with green chilies
- Chopped green chili
- Corn or fresh corn
- oregano
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- Freshly ground black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- Boiled chicken
- sweet cream
- kosher salt
If you’re lucky enough to have plenty of corn on hand, here are some more great recipes we make every year. I loved the different flavors of Zucchini and raw corn. With a very light lime vinaigrette, this was a very tasty salad.
Fresh sweet corn sauteed with Mexican spices and then tossed with lime was a great idea. I used just enough chili to provide flavor without heat. If you want some heat, just increase the amount of chili powder.
Soft sweet corn is cooked in a rich cream sauce to make creamed corn. This is an unforgettable side dish that no other creamed corn has.
(Originally published 09/20/13 – comments and photos updated 2/23/23)
