Corn Soup

A fresh and vibrant Corn Soup with sweet corn and fresh basil requires minimal ingredients and a quick prep time. You’ll be amazed how much flavor can come from so few ingredients! This soup is a naturally dairy–free and gluten–free meal.

Try some of our other favorite corn soups next like this Corn Chowder, Potato Corn Chowder (a creamy corn soup), or this Mexican Street Corn inspired Chicken Corn Chowder!

Easy Corn Soup Recipe

A lot of soup recipes start with a homemade broth or stock–chicken, veggie, or beef. For most of the recipes shared on this site, we use a good-quality store-bought stock or broth instead of homemade to save time, effort, and ingredients.

But for this recipe, we create a quick homemade corn stock to add loads of flavor with no extra ingredients and no extra effort (back-to-school lifesaver style!).

So, how do we do this? We add the bare corn cobs to the pot as the liquid simmers. Instead of chucking out the corn cobs once you’ve cut the corn off, throw them in the soup. The cobs add so much flavor to the soup and of course, we remove them before serving.   This adds so much flavor with no extra effort on your end!

(Thanks Saveur for introducing us to this idea — a method we first used with our favorite creamy Corn Chowder.)

Fresh Sweet Corn

With so few ingredients, this corn soup relies on fresh sweet corn.

When you get fresh-picked corn, cook it as soon as possible. As soon as corn is picked, the corn starts to convert the sugars to starches almost immediately–and that reduces the corn’s sweetness. If you aren’t able to cook it right away, store the corn in the fridge to slow down this process.

While it doesn’t really matter how yellow the corn used is, the more vibrant colored the corn, the more vibrant colored your soup will be.

What Is Corn Soup Made Of?

This soup only requires six ingredients (plus salt and pepper!) With so few ingredients, the ingredients used really matter to make the flavors shine. Fresh sweet corn is the most essential ingredient (discussed above), and here are the other five ingredients in this soup:

1. Chicken stock. A high-quality, flavorful stock adds loads of flavor and allows us to cut down on spices or other additions. We highly recommend Swanson’s® chicken stock. (Use vegetable stock to make this a vegetarian recipe.)
2. Minced garlic. Choose refrigerated minced garlic or frozen garlic cubes (like Dorot®) for the quickest possible prep.
3. Shallots. These deliver a delicate, sweet flavor with a hint of sharpness. We slightly caramelize them in oil which delivers an incredible flavor and depth to the soup.
4. Coconut oil. We love coconut oil because it imbues a subtle sweetness and keeps the soup dairy-free. While we can’t detect a coconut flavor in the final product, you can also use butter or ghee instead.
5. Fresh basil. This herb is a beautiful complimentary flavor that adds a vibrance and freshness to the soup. If you don’t have basil on hand, replace it with flat-leaf Italian parsley or some fresh thyme.

Is Corn Soup Good For You?

This particular healthy corn soup is made with real, whole ingredients. We don’t add any dairy, flour, or butter to keep the focus on the flavor of sweet corn. Every 100 grams of corn contains 3.4 grams of protein, 2.4 grams of fiber, and a good amount of vitamins and minerals.

More Easy Soup Recipes:

• Curry Noodle Soup with ramen noodles
• White Bean Soup with basil-pesto
• Pumpkin Soup using canned pumpkin (so quick!)
• Salsa Verde Chicken Soup made in the slow cooker
• Vegetable Noodle Soup with orzo pasta

The recipe for this Corn Soup has been adapted from Once Upon A Chef

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5 from 1 vote

Corn Soup

By Chelsea Lords

This fresh, vibrant Corn Soup packs big flavor with minimal ingredients and quick prep. Sweet corn and basil shine in this naturally dairy-free, gluten-free dish!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Equipment

• Large pot
• Blender high-powered

Ingredients

1x2x3x

USMetric

• ▢ 1/4 cup coconut oil
• ▢ 1-1/4 cups thinly sliced shallots
• ▢ 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• ▢ 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, see note 1
• ▢ 6 ears fresh sweet corn see note 2
• ▢ Salt and pepper
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh basil finely chopped
• ▢ Red pepper flakes optional, if you’d like some heat

Instructions 

• Remove the husks and silk from each cob of corn. Cut the corn kernels off all the cobs except for one corn cob. Keep the bare cobs; we’ll be using them! Thinly slice the shallots.
• Grab a large pot (big enough to hold the bare corn cobs). Place over medium heat and add coconut oil. Once oil is melted, add in shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until they’ve softened and have started to slightly caramelize, about 10 minutes. (Don’t rush this; we’re adding loads of flavor). Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add in corn that you cut off the cobs and salt and pepper to taste (I add 1-1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper). Add the bare corn cobs and the entire corn cob you set aside earlier. Cover the cobs with the chicken stock. Bring soup to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer (uncovered) for 10 minutes. At this point, remove the whole ear of corn and set it aside to cool.
• Cook the soup for 10 more minutes, then remove the bare cobs and discard. Remove soup and let cool for a bit (if it’s too hot, it will explode out of the blender!). Add the soup (in batches—don’t overfill the blender or it will explode) to a powerful blender (see note 3). Blend until very smooth—this takes a few minutes to get it super smooth (and even longer in a less powerful blender). (If you can’t get it smooth to your liking, you can pass the soup through a strainer back into the pot.)
• Meanwhile, cut the corn from the reserved corn cob. Return the soup back to the pot along with the cut corn and fresh basil. Stir through and taste. Adjust by adding more salt/pepper to taste. (If needed, you can add a dash of sugar to emphasize the corn sweetness or a pinch of red pepper flakes if you’d like some kick). If soup is too thick or too thin, see note 4. Serve soup in bowls and garnish with additional basil if desired.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: A high-quality, flavorful stock adds loads of flavor and allows us to cut down on spices or other additions. I recommend Swanson’s® chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make this vegetarian).

Note 2: Cook fresh-picked corn as soon as possible—its sugars turn to starch fast! If you can’t, store it in the fridge to keep it sweet longer.

How to pick the best corn at the store: Look for corn husks that are tightly wrapped around the corn and have a bright green color with a slight dampness—these are the freshest ears of corn. Avoid husks that are starting to feel dry or look yellow.

Note 3: I blend this soup in 2–3 batches. Heat expands, so increase the speed slowly and watch carefully to avoid soup exploding. Remove the lid carefully, as it will likely release a burst of steam. If your blender doesn’t have a hot/soup setting, you can replace the blender lid with a folded towel and hold it in place with your hands. This will help reduce steam pressure. (If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you may want to press the soup through a sieve to remove and discard large pieces after blending).

Note 4: Troubleshooting: Soup should have a creamy consistency. If it’s too thick, add a touch more chicken stock. Too thin? Cook over medium heat until thickened up a bit more.

Storage: Store leftover Corn Soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for 3 months. Reheat over medium heat, thinning with stock if needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 13.7g | Fat: 19.3g | Cholesterol: 10.8mg | Sodium: 536mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 15.7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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