This creamy chicken corn chowder Crock Pot recipe is hearty, comforting, and loaded with bacon, potatoes, and sweet corn for an easy family meal. It comes together with simple ingredients and creates the kind of cozy, stick-to-your-ribs dinner that everyone loves. Serve it with flaky biscuits, Jiffy Mexican cornbread, or a loaf of crusty bread for the ultimate comfort food meal.
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Slow Cooker Chicken Corn Chowder is Easy Comfort Food
There’s nothing quite like a bowl of creamy chicken corn chowder Crock Pot style on a cool evening. With tender chicken, sweet corn, smoky bacon, and hearty potatoes, this easy slow cooker recipe is a family favorite. Use fresh corn if it’s in season, or frozen corn the rest of the year. This convenient, satisfying supper makes everyone at the table happy!
If you love easy slow cooker soup recipes, don’t miss this taco soup, this Crock Pot vegetable soup, a pot of bean soup, and this crockpot broccoli cheese soup with ham, too!
This was very delicious and not that difficult to make. Love this recipe.
– Nancy T.
Ingredients Notes and Tips
- This recipe calls for a combination of fresh or frozen corn kernels for texture, along with a can of cream-style corn. The canned cream-style corn helps to thicken the chowder and also adds a good amount of flavor and sweetness. It’s a quick and easy alternative to the messier, more time-consuming extra step of squeezing the starchy milk from fresh corn cobs or pureeing fresh corn kernels to achieve that same thick, creamy, sweet texture.
- Chicken thighs stay tender and juicy in the Crock Pot, but chicken breast will also work if you prefer the white meat.
- Let the cream come to room temperature before stirring it into the soup. The room temp cream is less likely to curdle.
- Use heavy cream rather than milk for the best texture and mouthfeel. The cream is also less likely to curdle or separate when added to the hot soup.
- Taste and season as you go. The total amount of salt necessary will vary depending on the saltiness of your broth and on personal preference. Feel free to increase the other herbs and seasonings as well. Start with low sodium chicken broth if you’re sensitive to sodium, since many store-bought options can be quite salty.
How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Corn Chowder
- Fry the bacon in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Remove to a plate to use as a garnish later, reserving the drippings in the pan.
- Brown the chicken in the bacon drippings. You don’t need it to cook through at this point; just give it some nice color and flavor.
- Place the onions, corn, celery, carrots, potato, and thyme in a slow cooker.
- Add the browned chicken on top, and pour in the chicken broth.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board.
- Puree about half of the soup with an immersion blender, a regular blender, or a food processor. This step makes the soup thick and creamy. You can puree as much or as little soup as you like to reach the desired consistency. I like to leave some good chunks in there for texture, so I typically puree about half of the soup. This only takes about 4 or 5 minutes of your time, and the pureed corn, potatoes, and other vegetables add a velvety texture to the soup — which means that you only need a small amount of heavy cream at the end.
- Shred chicken with two forks, and then return it to the pot.
- Stir in heavy cream, cream-style corn, and salt. Cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Ladle the chowder into serving bowls and garnish with crispy bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and/or chopped fresh parsley or fresh thyme.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Crock Pot Chicken Corn Chowder
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 3 hours 30 minutes
Total: 3 hours 45 minutes
A creamy chicken corn chowder Crock Pot recipe with smoky bacon, sweet corn, and hearty potatoes for a cozy family dinner.
Equipment
- 6 quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ cup peeled and diced carrots
- 1 russet potato (about 6 ounces), peeled and cubed
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (or ½ dried thyme)
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
- Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley or chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
- Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside to use later as a garnish. Reserve bacon drippings in the skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken to the bacon drippings in the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, just until browned on both sides (about 3 minutes per side). The chicken does not need to be completely cooked through – it just needs to be browned on each side for flavor, since it will continue cooking in the slow cooker.
- Meanwhile, place the onions, corn, celery, carrots, potato, and thyme in a slow cooker. Add the browned chicken to the slow cooker. Pour the chicken broth over top, cover, and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 4-6 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker; place it on a cutting board. Using a handheld stick blender, puree about half of the soup in the slow cooker. If you don’t have a stick blender, you can carefully transfer about half of the soup to a regular blender or food processor and blend until it reaches desired consistency (then stir it back into the slow cooker). You might have to do this in batches, depending on how large your blender is. Once the soup is pureed, chop or shred the chicken and stir the meat back into the soup. Stir in heavy cream, cream-style corn, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Continue cooking for about 5 more minutes, or until heated through. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Divide the chowder among individual bowls. Garnish with the reserved cooked bacon and chopped fresh parsley.
Notes
Take a shortcut! If you don’t want to spend the time browning your chicken or frying your bacon first, you can place the raw chicken directly in the bottom of the slow cooker at the beginning (with the other ingredients called for). Proceed with the recipe as instructed. Garnish with chopped crispy bacon at the end.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 248.9kcalCarbohydrates: 21.3gProtein: 24gFat: 8.1gSaturated Fat: 4.1gCholesterol: 73.6mgSodium: 603.6mgFiber: 2.2gSugar: 4.4g
Serving Suggestions
Pair the slow cooker chicken corn chowder with a house salad with candied pecans, Aunt Bee’s 3-ingredient biscuit recipe, pumpkin muffins, cranberry muffins, Jiffy cornbread with creamed corn, or a French baguette (just like you get with your soup at Panera).
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: For quicker weeknight dinners, you can prepare a batch of chicken corn chowder on the weekend and keep it in jars in your fridge to reheat when you need them.
- How to Store: Properly stored in an airtight container, leftovers will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I do not recommend freezing this corn chowder recipe, as the milk or cream will “break” or separate when thawed.
- How to Freeze Cream-Based Soups: If you’d like to prepare this chowder in advance to store in the freezer, just follow the recipe, but leave out the dairy. Cool in freezer-safe containers, leaving an inch of headspace. When ready to thaw, place the soup in a pot over low heat. When liquefied and gently simmering, stir in the cream, being careful not to let it boil.
- To Reheat: Place the chowder in a pot and warm over a low flame, just until heated through. Be careful not to let the soup boil. You can also reheat individual servings in the microwave for about 1 minute, just until warm.
Possible Variations
- For a lighter chowder, use half-and-half in lieu of the heavy cream.
- Instead of russet potatoes, you can use 6-8 ounces of quartered Yukon gold potatoes. There’s no need to peel the small potatoes.
- Spicy kick: add a pinch of cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or diced jalapeños.
- Bulk up the chowder with a can of drained and rinsed black beans (after you puree the soup) or with a can of diced green chiles.
- Make a fresh corn chowder by using 1 cup of fresh corn kernels cut straight off the cob when corn is in season.
- Add a diced red bell pepper (or other color bell peppers), zucchini, or spinach to the pot. A couple cloves of garlic would also be a nice addition.
- Cheesy: stir in 1 cup of shredded cheddar before serving.
FAQs
- Can I use shredded rotisserie chicken instead of raw chicken? Yes! Just stir in the cooked, shredded rotisserie chicken towards the end (when you add the cream) so that it can heat through.
- What’s the difference between cooking this chowder on HIGH vs. LOW in the slow cooker? Cooking on LOW gives the flavors more time to meld together, while HIGH is a quicker option if you’re short on time.
- How can I thicken the chowder without flour? Try mashing some of the potatoes in the pot, or stir in a cornstarch slurry during the final hour for a naturally gluten-free thickener.
More Crock Pot Soup Recipes
Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup
5 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
3 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Crock Pot Black Bean Soup Recipe
4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Originally published in January, 2018, this post was updated in August, 2025.
Now this is my kind of January meal! I know what you mean about the after-holiday excitement, but not yet ready for the warmer weather. It’s the in between, grey period, and all I want is comfort food! This looks perfect to make in the slow cooker, Blair!
Thank you, Gayle! This is definitely comfort food! 🙂
We do not eat pork, so the bacon is an issue. I don’t think that most turkey bacon’s hold up well in soups either. Do you have any other suggestions?
Hey, Meg! That’s not a problem. The bacon is basically just used as a garnish on the top of the soup when serving. I use the bacon drippings in the skillet to brown the chicken (because it offers some good flavor), but you can easily just substitute some butter or oil in the skillet for browning the chicken instead! And obviously skip the bacon garnish at the end (or use turkey bacon on the top if you still want that crispy flavor). There’s no bacon actually in the soup, so you won’t need to change anything else. Enjoy!
Hi, Karli! I prefer the thicker, smoother, creamier texture that the heavy cream provides, and it’s such a small amount in the larger pot of soup, that I would encourage you to use it.
That said, I do think that you could go with a whole milk or a fat-free half-and-half with good luck, too. I wouldn’t use something like skim milk, because I worry that would make it too watery and the texture just wouldn’t be the same. Hope that helps!
This looks delicious! But I’m also here to find out where you got those bowls?!
Hi, Whitney! Thank you! The bowls are from Anthropologie! 🙂
I used your recipe as a guide, but tweaked it and took it to our church Senior Adult luncheon and it was a HUGE hit. I doubled the recipe, and added almost 3/4 of a block of Velveeta cheese. I also cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces BEFORE I browned it in the skillet and I didn’t puree it at all. I cut the thyme down to 1 tsp. for the doubled recipe. I’ve been asked by multiple people for the recipe. THANK YOU!!
Sounds perfect, Lisa! I’m so glad that you made it your own. Sounds like it was a great success! 🙂
Velveta or shredded cheese (any flavor) will add salt and thickening. I like my really thick so I add potato flakes toward the end. .I use a potato masher to puree half the ingredients. Do this before adding the flakes
Great tips, Rae!
Hi Blair,
I’m so excited to make this recipe tomorrow for my family – it sounds so good! Is 1.5 cups of chicken broth correct? It seems like a small quantity for a soup. Thought I’d double check before I attempt it. I love reading your blog every Sunday morning – it’s part of my weekend ritual. A lot of your recipes have become family favorites, such as the stuffed shells and the chicken fajitas. Thanks for the inspiration!
– Krista
Hi, Krista! Thank you so much for your kind note!
That’s the correct amount of broth. I’m very careful not to “water down” slow cooker recipes, because so much condensation drops back down into the pot during the cooking process. One of the worst problems (in my opinion) with so many Crock Pot recipes is that they turn out watery and flavorless. I would start with the 1 1/2 cups of broth, and then see how you like it at the end. It yields a fairly thick soup (almost a stew texture), so you can certainly feel free to thin with additional broth if you like. Just wait until the end and adjust to suit your personal preferences. Hope you enjoy the meal! 🙂
This is my second time making it. I just love this soup!
Tonight I am going for the mexican twist to it
Garnish will be limes and tortilla with some cheddar cheese
and avocado
Thank you, Celia! The Mexican version will be delicious, too! 🙂
This was very delicious and not that difficult to make. Love this recipe
This is a fantastic recipe. I didn’t use bacon and used breast meat and it was incredibly flavorful and was driving us crazy as it was cooking lol our grocery pickup got messed up so I had to use evaporated milk instead of cream so I can only imagine how much better it would be with full cream. Even if you never added the dairy or blended it this would be a really solid just chicken soup, this is going to become one of our regulars
Thank you, Keira! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
This was very easy and very good. Would make again for sure!
Thank you, Carol! We’re so glad you enjoyed it.