Charred Poblano Corn Chowder

5 from 4 votes

This poblano corn chowder is ultra creamy, hearty, and rich, with a subtle smokiness from the charred poblano peppers.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: corn chowder recipe, homemade soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 638kcal

Turn the broiler on to HIGH and move oven rack so it’s about 7-8 inches from the top of the oven.
Line a baking sheet with foil, then place poblano peppers on it.
Add baking sheet to oven and broil for 7-10 minutes, until blackened and/or blistered. Use tongs to turn over the peppers and broil another 5 minutes, or until the other side of the peppers is blackened and/or blistered.
Remove from the oven and cover loosely with additional foil, and let sit for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, use your gloved hands, or the back of a spoon to peel off the blackened skin. Remove the stem end and as much of the seeds as you’d like, then dice and set aside.

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot over MED heat. Once hot, add sliced bacon pieces and cook until crispy and brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate, reserving the drippings in the pot.

To the drippings, add butter, then add the onion, red bell pepper, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-8 minutes, until softened and slightly golden.
Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.

Sprinkle in the flour, and stir well to combine. Cook for a minute or two, stirring often.
Add the diced potatoes, chicken broth, and bay leaf, stirring well to combine. Increase the heat to MED HIGH and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to MED/MED LOW to reduce the soup to a heavy simmer.
Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 15-17 minutes.
Remove bay leaf, then stir in the kosher salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, black pepper, Mexican oregano, chili power, and cayenne pepper. Stir in heavy whipping cream, diced and roasted poblano peppers, drained corn, and shredded cheese.
Simmer for a few minutes, until the cheese is melted, and everything is warmed through, then stir in about half of the reserved cooked bacon (the other half of the bacon is used as a garnish).
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

I've estimated this recipe serves about 6, but please feel free to divide it into as many servings as you'd like.
If you don't have Mexican oregano, or can't find it, regular dried oregano will also work well.

Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, potatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper, Mexican oregano, chili powder, and cayenne pepper to the insert of a slow cooker.
Stir well, then cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
While the chowder is cooking, char poblano peppers as directed in the recipe above.
Cook bacon as directed in the recipe above, except discard the bacon drippings.
Omit the all purpose flour, and replace it with 3 Tbsp cornstarch.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the heavy cream and cornstarch, whisking until smooth.
Remove the bay leaf and discard.
Switch the slow cooker to HIGH, and stir in the heavy cream mixture.
Add half of the cooked bacon (reserving the rest for a garnish), the corn, the diced poblano peppers, and shredded cheese, then stir to combine and melt.
Cook on HIGH, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until thickened to your liking.
- If you'd like it to thicken faster, or better, you can transfer the contents of the slow cooker to a large dutch oven or stockpot and do this part on the stovetop instead.
Serve hot, with desired garnishes.