This gluten-free Chicken Corn Chowder recipe is my lower-calorie and gluten-free variation of a classic chowder. With fall-apart tender chicken and earthy sweet flavors from the corn and vegetables, this chowder is creamy, hearty and pure deliciousness in a bowl.
Prep: Chop all vegetables and keep aside. Slice spring onions and separate the white roots from the green stem. The white roots will be sautéed with other vegetables and reserve the green stems for garnish.
Make Creamed Corn: Blend 1.5 cups of corn kernels with 1 cup half and half, it should be blended well.
Saute: Turn instant pot on SAUTE mode (high). Wait till it displays "hot'. Melt butter and add potatoes and mushrooms. Saute for 30 seconds. Add remaining chopped vegetables, including the white roots of spring onions, and saute for a minute.
Pressure Cook: Add creamed corn to the pot. Then add chicken stock and all spices. Add chicken and remaining corn kernels. Stir well. Close the lid. Hit cancel and set Pressure cook or Manual for 6-8 minutes at high pressure. Set the pressure valve to sealing.
NPR 5 mins: After cooking time is over, wait 5 minutes for natural pressure release (NPR). After that manually release the remaining pressure. You can do that by turning the sealing vent to 'Venting' position in an Instant pot DUO, or, by pushing down the pressure release in ULTRA model.
Saute: Open lid. Turn on SAUTE and remove chicken for shredding. If at this point, the soup looks curdled, don't worry. It hasn't curdled, the blended corn pieces have just risen to the top. When you simmer it on SAUTE mode, it blends back in. Add the shredded chicken and the remaining Half & Half and stir.
Thicken Chowder: This is an optional step. Using a hand blender, blend the chowder for few seconds. That mashes up a few potatoes and vegetables and thickens the soup naturally. Alternatively, you can make a cornstarch slurry and add it slowly to the chowder while stirring. This thickens the chowder almost instantly. In this recipe, I skipped both and I prefer a thinner chowder.
Heavy Cream: In this recipe, I have used a total of 2 cups of half & half, you can use 1 cup of heavy cream instead to make a creamier and richer chowder.
To further reduce calories, use full-fat milk instead of half & half. The result won't be as thick as this one, but the taste will still be amazing.
After pressure cooking, if the soup looks curdled, don’t worry. It hasn’t curdled, the blended corn pieces have just risen to the top. When you simmer it on SAUTE mode, it blends back in.
To thicken the chowder as per your taste, you can either use a hand blender, and blend the chowder for few seconds. That mashes up a few potatoes and vegetables and thickens the soup naturally. Alternatively, you can make a cornstarch slurry and add it slowly to the chowder while stirring. This thickens the chowder almost instantly.
This chowder can be frozen in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks. If freezing, don't thicken it or add cornflour slurry to it. Whenever you want to eat it, thaw it, re-heat it and then thicken the soup following your preferred way.
For a vegetarian corn chowder, simply skip the chicken, and use vegetable broth, and reduce the pressure cooking time to 4 mins, followed by a manual pressure release.
Note: The nutrition facts below are my estimates. If you are following any diet plan, I recommend cross-checking with your preferred nutrition calculator.