Crab & Corn Chowder
Crab and corn chowder with sweet corn from the cob, lump crab meat, no flour, and a touch of cream. It’s luxurious, yet lighter and still full of flavor.
A perfect end of summer meal.
Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links, and, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Summer. Just saying the word makes me smile. Visions of sun, sand, and the freedom of jumping off the dock and splashing into the water. A bounty of farmer’s market corn, Old Bay, and picking barrels of crab. These are my favorite days. I hope yours has been filled with fun, sunshine, and time with friends and family. While the past two summers have certainly been a bit different, this one just feels like it has flown by, almost as if I didn’t even get to experience it because I barely spent any time at the beach. So I’m clinging onto these last few moments.
Oh boy, oh boy. Nothing gets me as excited as crab pickin’ season. Having parents who were raised in Maryland, I grew up learning how to speedily pick the juicy meat from steamed crabs. I had to be quick if I wanted any, otherwise my mother would devour them all! After digging our way through the bodies and larger claws, we often saved the smaller claws to either snack on later or make the tomato-based crab soup synonymous with Maryland.
A hot soup in summer? That might seem a little jarring, as we think we crave cold showers, iced coffees, and chilled gazpachos to cool us down on such hot days. Though totally counter-intuitive, eating a hot meal in warm weather actually helps keep your body in balance by regulating temperature better and staying aligned with the environment. Think about it — there’s a reason why in some of the hottest climates in the world the food is often served both temperature hot and spicy hot. The heat signals your brain to tell your internal temperature regulators to kick in, your circulation improves, and you sweat as you’re eating. The sweat, and the evaporation of sweat, is really just the body’s natural “cooling system” at play because the sweat cools you, taking heat away with it.
So all the more reason to let this crab soup find its way into your bowls. August is also prime time for deliciously ripe sweet corn. Since I’m not currently in Maryland and we have the sweetest Jersey corn available right now in Philly, why not make something highlighting those beauties.
While chowder is technically a thick type of soup or stew prepared with milk or cream and thickened with a roux or crackers or crumbs, I prefer a lighter, brothier soup, especially for summer. It’s lighter but still just as creamy, full of flavor, and very filling. The sweetness from the corn and fresh lump crab meat combined with the saltiness of the bacon create something truly magical. It’s also definitely worth the splurge to get good quality lump crabmeat and farm-fresh corn on the cob. The starch from the corn and potatoes, as well as a splash of cream, add richness and thickness to the broth without feeling heavy (feel free to omit or replace the cream if you are dairy-free). But if you do really want a thicker base, feel free to add a roux or try pureeing a part of the soup and adding it back in before adding the cream.
Serve it with crackers, bread, or a simple green salad to complete the meal. Now let’s eat soup. Happy slurping! If you try this recipe, or any other recipe on my website, please let me know in the comments below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I LOVE to see your photos!
RECIPE NOTES
You can use whatever stock you have for this soup. I always save my veggie scraps to make veggie scrap stock, so I used that and added some depth by adding the corn cobs while heating the stock before making the soup.
I began layering flavor by adding part of the crab to the rendered bacon fat.
You can omit the bacon if you don’t eat. Just start the base with olive or avocado oil instead of rendered bacon fat.
Heating the paprika and Old Bay in the oil releases flavor and color rather than just adding it to season the broth at the end.
The cream could cause the soup to separate if heated at a later time, so only add it when you make the recipe if you are serving it immediately. If you plan on serving the soup at a later time, add the cream later when you reheat.
For a dairy-free version, omit the butter and heavy cream and opt for an unsweetened non-dairy creamer or coconut milk.