Thick. Creamy. Smokey. Sweet. And Zingy. This is our Vegan Sweetcorn Chowder! A quick hearty recipe for a warming lunch for two, whenever you need a hug from your bowl of soup! Beautifully vegan, filling, full of flavour and different textures, this Sweetcorn Chowder will be an instant hit with your family and friends!
I never liked sweetcorn. Not sure if it’s because of the texture or the unusual sweetness in what’s supposed to be a savoury vegetable. Seb is quite the opposite and can eat a tin of sweetcorn with a spoon! The interesting fact is that I LOVE this Sweetcorn Chowder as much as Seb does. With the addition of smoked paprika, creamy coconut and zingy lime, sweetcorn flavour somehow transforms for the better!
We first made this 3 years ago, when we did our first Veganuary. It was one of the most interesting food-related experiences for me. Not only I felt great eating all-plant foods, but I’ve discovered so many new recipes, exciting ingredients and innovative ways to cook food that I’d previously deemed boring and tasteless. As a result, we regularly cook various vegan recipes and very often we prefer the vegan/vegetarian dinners over meat or fish!
So if you think that vegan food is tasteless or boring, we dare you to try and make this Sweetcorn Chowder!
How to Make a Vegan Sweetcorn Chowder?
Start by finely chopping your onions and slicing your red pepper.
In a large pan with a lid, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add onions, peppers and chilli flakes and cook for 3 minutes, until just starting to soften.
Add creamed coconut and stir (don’t worry if it stays in lumps). This recipe requires creamed coconut. Don’t confuse it with coconut cream or coconut milk though – they have completely different textures. We tried it with coconut milk, and it was far too greasy and sweet. Creamed coconut normally comes compressed into a block shape or small (50g) sachets. We typically find this in the international food isles in the Thai or Chinese sections. Alternatively, you can get a range of them on Amazon. Here are the ones we tried and tested:
Add frozen sweetcorn. Crumble in a stock cube. Add 400 ml of boiling water, a tsp of smoked paprika and stir well. Bring to a simmer. Then cover with a lid and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
Once cooked, transfer half of the soup into a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Add back into the pan. It will give your soup thickness. The rest of the vegetables will provide a nice texture to the chowder. Stir the soup and reheat if needed.
Take the chowder off of the heat. Squeeze in half a lime and stir. Then divide into two bowls, top with spring onion, a sprinkle of smoked paprika and a lime wedge.
For other vegan recipes, have a look at our:
- Vegan Pineapple Stir Fry with Curried Coconut Sauce
- Autumnal Red Lentil & Butternut Squash Dahl
- Crispy Tofu Kung Pao
- Salty & Sweet Miso-Glazed Aubergine
Vegan Sweetcorn Chowder
Equipment
- Liquidised or Stick Blender
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 1 red pepper thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- 50 g creamed coconut from a block (see details in the text above), roughly chopped
- 300 g frozen sweetcorn
- 1 vegetable stock cube + 400ml of boiling water
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 spring onion sliced diagonally
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a large pan with a lid, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add onions, peppers and chilli flakes and cook for 3 minutes, until just starting to soften.
- Add creamed coconut and stir (don't worry if it stays in lumps). Add frozen sweetcorn. Crumble in a stock cube. Add 400 ml of boiling water, a tsp of smoked paprika and stir well. Bring to a simmer. Then cover with a lid and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
- Once cooked, transfer half of the soup into a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Add back into the soup. It will give your soup thickness. Stir the chowder and reheat if needed.
- Take the chowder off of the heat. Squeeze in half a lime and stir. Divide into two bowls, top with spring onion, a sprinkle of smoked paprika and a lime wedge.
This is my favourite soup ever ! Love the sweet spicy smokey tangy-ness.
Ours too!!! However, we have made an amazing Cauliflower Soup yesterday that may be a close contender.
My husband doesn’t really like any vegetables (except for some cucumber and tomatoes nor does he like any unusual spices., but I coulnt believe my eyes when he ate it all and was asking for seconds. Great recipe! I added even more lime to mine.
That’s great to hear! 🙂