Thai Corn Chowder

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Thai corn chowder is made with a creamy coconut red curry base, sweet summer corn, peppers and potatoes! A delicious soup that’s vegan, gluten-free, and hearty enough to make a meal of!

This is the summer soup. I see a lot of corn chowder recipes circulating during the summer, and even have a bunch of my own, including my classic vegan corn chowder, southwest corn chowder and red lentil corn chowder.

I love fresh summer corn, but I always think of corn chowder as being wintry. It is soup after all, and it’s thick and rich and creamy. This Thai corn chowder is perfect for summer though. It gets just a bit of richness from coconut milk, which is beautifully complimented by fresh garden herbs and the flavor of some flaming hot Thai red curry paste.

If you’re like me and enjoy a good bowl of soup year round, I highly encourage you to give this one a try while it’s warm out and fresh produce items like corn and peppers are at their peak!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Vegetable oil. Use any neutral high heat oil that you like to cook with. Melted coconut oil, avocado oil, corn oil and canola oil will all work!
• Shallot. Red onion can be substituted if that’s what you have on hand.
• Red bell pepper.
• Red curry paste. Check the ingredients when you buy this, as many brands aren’t vegan. Thai Kitchen and Maesri are the two vegan brands I see in supermarkets most often. Thai Kitchen is super mild, whereas Maesri is quite spicy. I sometimes like to use a mix of the two for moderate heat.
• Vegetable broth.
• Coconut milk. The recipe calls for full-fat coconut milk, for maximum creaminess and depth of flavor. You can swap it out for light coconut milk if you’re concerned with the fat content.
• Corn. Ideally you’ll want to use fresh, sweet summer corn for this recipe. If that’s not available, you can use frozen corn.
• Potato. The recipe calls for a russet potato, but a couple of red or golden potatoes will work just fine if that’s what you’ve got.
• Lime juice. You absolutely want to use freshly squeezed juice here. Bottled juice just doesn’t have the same flavor.
• Salt.
• Fresh cilantro.
• Fresh basil. Use Thai basil or holy basil if either is available. If not, stick with good old trusty Italian basil.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

First, cut your corn from the cob. Hold a corn cob upright in a large bowl, then run a chef’s knife down the cob to cut the kernels from it. Be careful so as not to slip!

Heat the oil in a large pot, then add diced shallot and bell pepper. Sweat the vegetables for a few minutes, until they start to soften.

Stir in the curry paste and cook it briefly with the shallot and pepper. Keep stirring the whole time to prevent it from burning.

Tip: Use less curry paste for milder flavor, or more for more intense flavor and heat. Not sure how much to go with? Start with less. You can add more after adding the coconut milk and broth, then giving the soup a taste-test.

Stir in the coconut milk, broth, corn and diced potato. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.

Lower the heat and let the soup simmer until the potato is tender. It should be easily pierced with a fork when it’s done.

Tip: If you’re using frozen corn, wait until the soup is almost done simmering to add it. Frozen corn is partially cooked.

Take the pot off of heat. Stir in some lime juice, salt, chopped fresh cilantro and basil.

Your Thai corn chowder is ready to enjoy. Ladle it into bowls and dig in!

Meal Prep Tips

• The bell pepper and shallot can be diced in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 to 2 days.
• The corn can be cut from the cob and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days.
• The potato can be cut in advance, but in order to prevent it from turning brown it will need to be stored submerged in water in an airtight container. Keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before making the soup.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover red curry corn chowder can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove, adding a splash of water if it has thickened up too much.