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This creamy sourdough ham and corn chowder is exactly the kind of soup I want when I need something warm, hearty and easy to get on the table. It’s packed with tender potatoes, sweet corn and savory ham, with sourdough discard used to thicken the broth and give the chowder a rich, silky texture (just like this sourdough chicken pot pie soup).
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ready in Under an Hour – made entirely on the stovetop, this soup is perfect for an easy weeknight dinner.
- A Useful Way to Use Sourdough Discard – the discard actually serves a purpose by thickening the chowder.
- Perfect for Leftover Ham – particularly useful after Christmas, Easter or any occasion where you have ham to use up.
- Creamy Without a Flour Roux – the potatoes and sourdough discard create body without needing to make a separate roux.
Ingredients
- Ham and Bacon – This is a great recipe to use leftover baked ham, ham steak or thick-cut deli ham. Avoid wafer-thin ham as it will get lost in the thick chowder. Streaky bacon works best for the bacon. I do recommend cooking the bacon yourself, rather than using shelf stable bacon pieces as you really want the bacon to be crispy.
- Corn – fresh, frozen or canned all work. I’ve used drained, canned corn in the photos you’ll see here.
- Onion, Celery, Garlic
- Potatoes – I’ve used white potatoes. No need to peel them, just wash and dice. I like a smaller dice, but you can make them more chunky if you pefer.
- Sourdough discard – As always, you can use discard or active starter. You don’t want to use old, sour discard here though as it will give your soup an unpleasant flavor.
- Heavy Cream – I’ve used heavy cream to create the creamy, velvety chowder. You can use half and half if you want to, but it won’t give you the same level of creaminess.
- Chicken Stock – I’ve used chicken stock powder dissolved into water for this recipe. If you’re concerned about sodium or saltiness, I recommend using a low sodium stock to balance the saltiness of the ham. You can of course use homemade stock or store-bought liquid stock if you prefer.
- Ground Black Pepper
- Fresh Chives – These are optional, I’ve used them to garnish the chowder and add a pop of color. Green onions are also suitable.
How To Make Ham and Corn Chowder with Sourdough Discard
The first thing you’ll need to do is fry the bacon until it’s crispy. This is added back into the chowder later, so set this aside for now. Make sure you leave all the bacon grease in the bottom of the pan though because this is where we are going to build the flavor from.
While the vegetables are cooking, combine the sourdough discard, butter and a little bit of the cream and stock in a small bowl, forming a smooth paste. This is whisked through the soft vegetables before slowly adding the rest of the cream, whisking it all together to form the chowder base.
Now it’s time to add the stock to thin out the chowder base and then add the potatoes. During this time, it’s a good idea to stir the chowder every 4-5 minutes, to just to ensure the bottom doesn’t catch. No one wants burnt soup!
Once the potatoes are tender, add the drained corn kernals, diced ham and half the crispy bacon. Stir through and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the ham and corn are heated through.
I like to portion the sourdough ham and corn chowder into bowls and then garnish with extra crispy bacon, corn and green onions or chives, as well as a big slice of crusty sourdough bread. The perfect dinner make with sourdough!
Recipe Testing Notes
I tested this recipe so many times to get it just right. Thickening the soup with sourdough discard sounds easy enough, but I didn’t want the chowder to be too thick (like a sourdough Béchamel sauce) because then it becomes overpowering and unpleasant to eat. It was a also a challenge to balance out the seasonings. The first time I made it, it was way too salty (which is unusual for me to say because I absolutely love salt).
So after making 4 different versions, the first was too salty, the second had too many vegetables and the ham got a bit lost. We finally settled on this one, which has the perfect balance of creaminess, haminess and all the good things! None of the versions were bad, they just needed adjustments, which is why I put so much effort into testing my recipes.
Something else I discovered during testing was that I preferred making stock from powdered stock, rather than using a liquid stock. I used Massel Chicken Stock Powder in this recipe. I recommend using reduced salt stock if you aren’t a fan of salty foods.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving this delicious sourdough ham and corn chowder along with some of my other sourdough recipes. Some of my family favorites are:
- Sourdough Jalapeño Cheddar Loaf
- Sourdough Butter Swim Biscuits
- Sourdough Drop Biscuits (recipe from my book Easy Sourdough On Any Schedule).
- Sourdough Cornbread Muffins
How To Store + Freeze
This soup can be made and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, stored in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing this sourdough ham and corn chowder because the texture can be compromised while frozen. It’s a soup I like to make fresh when we need it.
Sourdough Ham and Corn Chowder
IngredientsÂ
- 200 g Bacon, (diced)
- 150 g Onion, (larg onion, diced)
- 100 g Celery, (3 celery ribs, diced)
- 20 g Minced Garlic, (1 tbsp)
- 100 g Sourdough Discard
- 50 g Butter, (softened)
- 473 mls Cream, (1 pint heavy cream)
- 1000 mls Chicken Stock, (see notes)
- 300 g Ham, (diced)
- 500 g Potatoes, (peeled and diced)
- 430 g Canned Corn, (1 can, approx. 15 oz, drained)
- 3 g Black Pepper, (1 tsp or to taste)
- 1 tbsp Chives, (to serve – optional)
InstructionsÂ
- In a heavy base pot, fry the diced bacon until crispy. Once done, remove from the pot and set aside. Leave the bacon grease in the bottom of the pan.
- Add the onions, celery and garlic to the pan and saute on a medium heat until they are soft and lifting all the bacon bits off the bottom of the pot.
- While these are cooking, add the sourdough discard together with the butter and just a little of the cream and stock in a small bowl. Whisk them together until smooth. It will be thick but should be well combined.
- Once the vegetables have softened, turn the heat down to low and add the discard mixture to the pan, whisking it into the vegetables. Slowly add the rest of the cream to the pan while continuing to whisk the chowder base forming. Once you have a fairly smooth mixture, slowly add the chicken stock and continue to whisk to ensure everything is well combined.
- Once the stock is added, turn the heat back up to medium and bring it up to a simmer, whisking every few minutes to ensure the chowder stays smooth.
- Once the chowder has come to a simmer, add the diced potatoes and simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring every 4-5 minutes to ensure the bottom of the soup doesn't catch.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add the drained corn kernals, diced ham and half the crispy bacon. Stir through and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the ham and corn are heated through.
- When you're ready to serve, ladle the chowder into bowls and top with the rest of the crispy bacon and chopped chives.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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