Vegetarian corn chowder with butternut squash

This vegetarian corn chowder with butternut squash is deliciously creamy. It’s easy to make, wonderfully satisfying and perfect for a hearty midweek dinner.

Soup, until extremely recently, has never been a popular lunch choice with the two small people here. However, this seems to have changed for no particular reason (as so many things seem to with small children) with tomato soup featuring almost weekly on our lunch menu. As long as it’s served with cheese on toast it seems to go down well every time. So I decided that it was time to expand our soup repertoire and with a squash and some sweetcorn in the fridge I had the perfect opportunity.

I decided to make a chowder, a milk based soup, to offer the children something a bit different from a usual soup made with stock or water. I’m really glad I did as it went down well, in particular with four-year-old R, who is doing extremely well with trying new foods at the moment, helped along with a reward chart and some Avengers stickers. I blended the ingredients together, but you could keep half to one side and put it back in once you’ve blended it if you prefer.

What is chowder?

Chowder is a milk based soup. It’s usually made with milk or cream and is traditionally thickened with crackers. The most famous chowder is probably clam chowder, a milky seafood soup from New England in the United States. A chowder is often a chunky soup – as I’ve said above that won’t cut it with my kids so I’ve blended mine together.

The name chowder is said to originate from the type of pan that this soup was originally made in by French fishermen.

Vegetable based chowders are just as common as the seafood variety nowadays such as corn chowder. This vegetarian corn chowder can easily be adapted to be suitable for vegans by using plant based milk eg oat milk instead.

How to make vegetarian corn chowder

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Vegetarian corn chowder with butternut squash

This vegetarian corn chowder with butternut squash is deliciously creamy. It's easy to make, wonderfully satisfying and perfect for a hearty midweek dinner.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword vegetarian corn chowder

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4

Author Mandy Mazliah

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 280 g butternut squash peeled and diced
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 180 g sweetcorn
• 400 ml milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion, squash and mixed herbs and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until soft, taking care that the onion doesn't get too brown.

2. Add the sweetcorn, milk, and some salt and pepper to taste. I tend to go easy on the salt, or leave it out all together, and then let the grown ups add their own at the table. 

3. Heat until almost boiling, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes until the sweetcorn is soft. 
   

4. Transfer to a blender (keeping some aside if desired - see above) and blend thoroughly until smooth. You can also use a stick blender for this stage to save on washing up. Return to the saucepan and reheat.

5. Serve with bread, cheese on toast, or for a more authentic chowder, with crackers.

OTHER VEGETARIAN SOUP RECIPES

Pea and mint soup made with frozen peas

Roasted tomato pesto soup

Hearty root vegetable soup

Spinach, borlotti bean and vegetable soup

Vegetarian minestrone soup

Homemade vegan tomato and basil soup (on my vegan food blog Cook Veggielicious)

Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup (on my vegan food blog Cook Veggielicious)

Spiced butternut squash and sweet potato soup (on my vegan food blog Cook Veggielicious)