A creamy potato chowder that’s good on its own and easy to change. Add ham and corn, crumble in some bacon, or finish your bowl with cheddar.

Yield: Approximately 6–7 pint-size servings, estimated.

Ingredients

  • 1½ pounds potatoes, diced
  • 6 cups chicken stock, divided
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3–4 carrots, diced
  • About 2–3 celery stalks, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1½–2 cups half-and-half
  • Salt, black pepper and dried thyme, to taste

Directions

  1. Put the diced potatoes in a saucepan and add enough of the measured chicken stock to cover them. Bring to a simmer and cook until they’re about halfway done: the outside is starting to soften but the centers are still firm. Set the potatoes and their cooking stock aside.
  2. While the potatoes cook, melt the butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme, add the garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
  3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir it in. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, to get rid of the raw-flour taste.
  4. Gradually pour in the half-and-half, stirring as you go. Let the mixture heat and thicken.
  5. Gradually stir in the remaining stock, letting the mixture thicken as you go. Add the potatoes and the stock they cooked in. The stock used for the potatoes is part of the 6 cups total.
  6. Simmer gently for about 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Flour sprinkled over cooked onion, carrots and celery
Flour goes into the softened vegetables before the half-and-half.

Make It Yours

Ham and corn: Add about 2 cups diced cooked ham near the end and give it time to warm through. Add frozen corn near the end as well. Top each bowl with shredded cheddar if you like.

Bacon: Cook diced bacon separately and crumble it into the chowder or over the bowls. You can also cook it in the soup pot first, set it aside, and use the drippings to cook the vegetables. That adds flavor, although it can make the chowder darker. If using the drippings, adjust the butter as needed rather than automatically adding the full stick.

Notes From My Kitchen

Which potatoes? Use what you have. Russets tend to soften and break down more, which can help thicken the chowder. Yellow and white potatoes generally hold their shape a little better. I usually have russets for baking or yellow potatoes for mashed, so I use whichever is in the pantry.

Why parboil them? Cooking the potatoes partway in stock means they don’t have to spend as long cooking in the creamy base, where I have to pay more attention to keeping the pot from scorching.

How thick? I prefer a thicker, heartier chowder, and 6 cups of stock is a good starting point for these amounts. This time I added 2 extra cups because I had them left over. The soup was thinner than I usually like, but it was still good. Add more stock if you prefer yours thinner.

Seasoning: I sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme over the vegetables until it looks right. My fingers and eyes know how much, but they don’t do math very well. Start with a little and taste the finished chowder, especially if your stock or ham is salty.