Instant Pot

Two-Corn Chowder with Green Chili and Scallions

4-6 Servings

FAST: 1 hour
Slow: 3 to 3½ hours 30 minutes active

This light, bright take on a classic summer chowder uses corn in two forms: fresh kernels and canned hominy (dried kernels treated with alkali, then cooked until tender) to double the corn flavor. Peak-season fresh corn is ideal—after cutting away the kernels, we use the stripped cobs to infuse the broth with even more flavor. But if fresh corn is out of season, the chowder is still delicious made with a 12-ounce bag of frozen corn kernels and without the addition of the cobs (no need to thaw the frozen corn before use). Yellow corn, as opposed to white, gives the chowder the best color.

4-6

Servings

Tip

Don’t forget to reserve the scallion whites and greens separately, as they are used at different times. Also, don’t use half-and-half or milk, which lack richness and body and will break when cooked.

FAST: 1 hour
Slow: 3 to 3½ hours

30 minutes active

Ingredients

3

ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
4

tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter

Directions

01

Using a chef's knife, cut the kernels from the ears of corn; you should have about 3 cups. One at a time, stand each cob in a wide bowl, then use the back of the knife to scrape from top to bottom all around it, allowing the liquid to drip into the bowl. Add the kernels to the bowl, then cut each cob in half and reserve separately. On a 6-quart Instant Pot, select More/High Sauté. Add the butter and let melt. Add the scallion whites, garlic, chili, and corn kernels and liquid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chili is softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the hominy, potatoes, broth, 1½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, then distribute in an even layer. Add the corn cobs to the pot.

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Reviews

LAKE P.

June 18, 2022

Delicious Quick Spring Soup

I appreciated the simplicity and the complexity. Hominy recipes are rare. This is on repeat.

Diana L.

February 12, 2024

Delicious

It’s a delicious soup with great flavor. I ended up using only 2 and a half cups of water (you can always add more but not take away). I cooked it on the stove top for 2 hours. Additionally, at the end, I removed 2 cups of solid food, then emulsified the remaining ingredients in the pot. After that, I added extra salt and pepper. It turned out wonderfully, and my family loved it. Thanks to Milk Street for the recipe!

Felix P.

Why are you using an instapot?? Is there a conventional cooking method?

Janelle C.

Hi Felix,

We’re so glad you're exploring our recipes. When we developed the recipes for our Instant Pot book, Fast and Slow, we offered pressure cooker and slow cooker instructions for every recipe that worked well cooked either way. Recipes that have only one set of instructions did not produce good results when prepared with the alternative method. And unfortunately, it’s not possible for us to reverse engineer Instant Pot recipes for stovetop cooking. But the good news is that many of them were inspired by recipes we’d already prepared for conventional cooking methods. If you check our website, you might find what you are looking for.

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Lona H.

Thank you for your comment! Your comment is currently under moderation and will appear shortly.

Lona H.

I made this conventionally and it was wonderful. Just follow the instapot directions but cook on the stove top until the potatoes are tender.

Patricia M.

Are the nutrition details available?

Janelle C.

At this time we don't provide nutritional information.

Best,
The Milk Street Team

Beverly G.

I did not use instapot - followed steps on stove top. Simmered for 20-30 minutes. Removed cobs and added cream and scallion greens. It was delish.

Nicole M.

I don't have an instapot either. I used dried pozole and cooked it instead of canned hominy, and used the cooking water in the recipe along with the broth. This really brought out the corn flavor in a wonderful way. Substituted the scallion whites for Walla Walla sweet onions too...it was delicious.

Joshua H.

Hi, I got this to work using an old fashioned stove top pressure cooker from the 70s. Make sure it’s big enough that all the chowder ingredients only take up about 2/3s of the pot itself. Sauté at medium high heat on stovetop and then after you’ve added the chicken broth and corncobs seal it up. When the relief valve starts chattering pressure cook for five minutes, remove from heat and let the pressure go down naturally. Then finish according to the recipe directions. Hope this helps!

Liz S.

Made this tonight in my Instant Pot after receiving the “Fast and Slow” book in the mail. Followed all directions, except I substituted Hatch green chilies, which are in season right now, for the poblano pepper. It was outstanding! Highly recommend!

Kayti B.

This is a lovely soup! There are just two of us so there was enough for a couple of dinners and a few days of lunch and it was enjoyed every time. Never cooked with hominy before and it is a lovely addition to soup!

Joni R.

Is there a way to add pork to this recipe?

Dustin D.

I added some chopped up bacon while I was sautéing the chilies and garlic. My family loved it.

Mary S.

Since I got all the ingredients in my farm share, so I decided it was the perfect inaugural recipe for my brand new instapot, and the flavor was tremendous using the fast cook method. That said, I'm sure it would have been lovely on the stove too. My only complaint is on the technique suggested for removing the kernels. Shaving with the back of the knife was effective but MESSY. It felt counter productive to a fast and easy one pot meal. Half way through I remembered the technique from the corn pasta recipe - grate it on the big holes of a box grater - MUCH BETTER - faster and less mess/waste.

Dustin D.

Made this soup tonight. I have a pressure cooker with a sauté function, so I planned on using that, but after I doubled the recipe, it was too large to use the pressure cooker function so I dumped everything into a pot and ended up finishing the cooking on the stove. It turned out great!
I did add some bacon at the end of the sauté with the chilies and garlic, which I think gave it a little extra taste. I will agree that the corn cobs made a huge mess, so maybe next time I’ll try the box grater method as stated above. Will save and make again.

John M.

This chowder was very delicious, and so easy to prepare! I substituted 12 oz. Green Giant Steam Fresh frozen corn because it's still early Spring with no fresh corn in sight, but otherwise made it as written. A note to anyone interested; I made this using my 3 qt. Instant Pot Mini. I probably should have reduced the ingredients by 1/4, as the combination went over the 2/3 fill line. However, it cooked the chowder perfectly anyway! Thanks once again for another great recipe, Milk Street team.

Two-Corn Chowder with Green Chili and Scallions

4-6

FAST: 1 hour
Slow: 3 to 3½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

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Simple, Bold Recipes

Two-Corn Chowder with Green Chili and Scallions

4-6

FAST: 1 hour Slow: 3 to 3½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Pardon the interruption

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FAST: 1 hour
Slow: 3 to 3½ hours

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