Slow Cooker Summer Corn Chowder

I love how light and summer-y and easy this summer corn chowder is.  It's perfect this time of year because of all those fresh ears of corn that are ready and waiting to be eaten at the grocery store.  But even if you want to make this in the winter-time, it's still a great meal because frozen or even canned corn work great too!  It comes together so quickly in the slow cooker so with the busy school-year just around the corn I know this will be a dinner we rotate through regularly on our menu.

My kids (and I) love bacon so we don't hold back with the bacon on top.  I also like the texture it brings to the softer potatoes and corn.  And how we love those big chunks of potatoes.  Yummy.

Slow Cooker Summer Corn Chowder
Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 ears corn or about 4 cups corn kernels
4 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
16 ounces bacon (one package), cooked and chopped
Chives for garnish

Directions
Puree 1 cup (of the 4 cups) corn with 1 cup (out of the 3 cups) chicken broth.  Set aside.

Add all remaining vegetables and seasonings to the slow cooker, reserving the heavy cream, flour, bacon, and chives for later.

Pour pureed corn into the slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

After the 4 or 8 hours, whisk together the flour and heavy cream until smooth.  Pour into slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cover an cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Serve with bacon and chives.

*You can substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch in place of the flour to make this gluten free.


Recipe Source: adapted slightly from baked by rachel