This Instant Pot Chicken and Corn Chowder recipe makes a hearty soup in minutes in your Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker. It uses no flour and no heavy cream, but is rich, creamy, and comforting.

Soups are the champions of one pot meals. And even better if made in the Instant Pot where you can turn it on, walk away, and come back to a hearty soup ready to go. Creamy with tender bites of potato and topped with crispy bacon, few bowls offer as much cozy comfort as chowder. This version is fairly classic, but has two bonus features. First, it includes crunchy sweet corn and tender chicken for more flavor. Second, it gets a creamy base without the use of flour or heavy cream. The result is hearty and flavorful without being heavy. 

Blending a small amount of the soup is the simple trick for making a cream-free soup that is creamy. Simply use an immersion blender to blend some of the soup right in the bowl or remove some of the soup and transfer it to a standing blender to blend until smooth. This also makes this soup work well in the Instant Pot. Adding flour to a soup cooked in the Instant Pot could cause the burn notice, but there’s no fear of that here!

I often use this trick to add creamy texture to other soups as well, like Moroccan Lentil Soup and Three Bean Taco Soup.

How to Make Instant Pot Chowder

1. Saute bacon – Start by cooking bacon using the saute function in the instant pot. (Chop the bacon first so that it easily fits.) Transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. 
2. Saute aromatics – In the remaining bacon fat, cook onions, carrots, and celery with dried spices like chili powder, garlic powder, and ground thyme. 
3. Add liquids and potatoes – Add stock and potatoes. Be sure to scrape up browned bits on the bottom of the Instant Pot bowl to avoid the burn notice. 
4. Cook – Close, lock, and seal the lid. Cook on manual / high pressure for 5 minutes. When the time is up, quick release the pressure. 
5. Blend – After the soup is done, blend some of the liquids and potatoes until very smooth. You can do this using an immersion blender right in the bowl of the Instant Pot and just blend until it’s as smooth as you’d like, or by transferring about 2 cups of the soup to a standing blender. Stir the blended portion back into the soup.
6. Add corn and chicken – Stir in the milk, corn, and chicken until warm. 
7. Add toppings and enjoy!

Creamy Soup without Cream

As I’ve mentioned, the real magic of this soup is that you can blend some of the potatoes and stock together to create a creamy base. You can adjust the amount you blend to make it more or less creamy. You can even blend the entire base of the soup so that it’s completely creamy with no chunks of potato.

Ingredient Notes

• Russet Potatoes – Russets have extra starch and help to thicken the soup, but Yukon Gold potatoes, red potatoes, or any variety of baby potatoes will also work. Keep in mind that if you use red potatoes or baby potatoes with the peels on, the peels will darken the base of the soup when you blend them.
• Dried Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Thyme – When my recipe testers made this recipe, many suggested adding something to give it “kick”, and I completely agreed! A few dried spices just help to bring out the flavor of the finished soup. Chili powder will give it a hint of spice. 
• Chopped Onions, Carrots, and Celery – The foundation for the flavors of the soup. Keep an eye out for a pre-chopped mixture of these (called mirepoix) which saves tons of time. I buy pre-chopped mirepoix at Trader Joe’s.
• Bacon – Classic for topping chowder, but saute the vegetables in the bacon fat to build flavor.
• Chicken or Vegetable Stock – Either will work.
• Milk – This gives the soup a small amount of creamy flavor, but most of the creamy texture comes from blending part of the soup, so feel free to use a substitute. Dairy-free milks work well, but you can also just use an extra cup of stock in its place.
• Corn Kernels – If corn is in season, fresh corn will give this the most flavor. There’s no need to cook it first. Frozen works well any time of year, but defrost it before adding it. If you’re a big corn fan, be sure to check out my Corn Fritters recipe too.
• Shredded Chicken – This is a great way to use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from another meal. 

Toppings for Chowder

Let’s be honest, while chowder is great on its own, the toppings are really where it’s at. Here are a few favorites.

• Bacon
• Sour Cream
• Cheddar Cheese
• Chopped Chives or Green Onions
• Jalapenos
• Crushed Tortilla Chips
• Pumpkin seeds / Pepitas
• Hot Sauce

Variations

• Make it dairy-free – Use extra stock or your favorite non-dairy milk in place of regular milk in the soup and use your favorite non-dairy yogurt on top. You can skip the cheese and it will still be delicious!
• Add vegetables – Have some zucchini or bell peppers that need to be used up? They are great additions to this chowder either in addition to or in place of the potatoes.
• Use sweet potatoes – For a unique twist on a classic chowder, try it with sweet potatoes instead of Russet or Yukon Gold. 
• Make it spicy – Want to add some kick? Saute chopped jalapenos with the onion, carrots, and celery. Or try adding a pinch of red pepper flakes with the dried herbs. 

I can’t wait to hear what you think of this Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder! 

More Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot Garlic-Herb Chicken Thighs
• Instant Pot Tex Mex Chicken and Brown Rice Stew
• Instant Pot Pasta e Fagioli
• Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
• Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup

Favorite Tools

• Immersion Blender
• 6-Quart Instant Pot Duo