This creamy, Vegan Corn Chowder with Basil and Pine Nuts is a hearty and flavorful soup that can be served warm or cold. It's a perfect summer recipe when fresh corn is in season.
This corn soup is thickened with potatoes and silken tofu (please don't run the other way, you won't even taste it!). Tofu makes this corn chowder creamy and thick while adding filling protein and without adding any dairy. It's an absolute divine soup that's also gluten-free.
This just might be the most versatile sweet corn chowder you’ll ever make! It can be served hot or cold, and you can make it with fresh corn or frozen (although we think fresh tastes best, especially in the summer!). One of our secrets? Cooking the soup with the cobs! You’ll pull them out before blending, but they add so much delicious fresh corn flavor. Give it a try today! We also leave some of the corn kernels out and stir them in after blending for excellent texture. It makes for soup heaven!
Ingredients in Corn Soup
Prepare to be impressed by this whole, nutritious, and flavorful ingredient list! These simple ingredients combine to make the most flavorful soup there is. It’s a vegan, gluten-free recipe that gets rave reviews every time!
- Leeks. Save time, instead of cleaning your fresh leeks, buy frozen leeks. We find ours in Trader Joes (not sponsored).
- Fresh corn. Fesh corn works best for this recipe, but since it's not always available you may use sweet frozen corn.
- Potatoes. Just a few potatoes add richness to the soup/
- Vegetable broth for added flavor.
- Silken tofu. Adds amazing creaminess with fewer calories than cream and as a bonus, we get some extra protein.
- Raw pine nuts, fresh basil, and olive oil. We saute the basil and pine nuts in fruity extra virgin olive oil and we use it to top the soup for extra texture and flavor.
Vegan Creamy Soup
Instead of heavy cream, we made this our corn soup recipe with silken tofu, which adds protein and creaminess while being low in calories. If you’re apprehensive about tofu, we urge you to give it a try in this recipe! It totally absorbs the other flavors in the soup and only adds an amazing, creamy texture. No funny tastes!
Is this recipe a soup a chowder or a bisque?
What is the Difference Between Soup and Chowder? Soup traditionally has a more liquid base, while chowder is thick and creamy. It originated in the chilly, nautical northeast with the classic clam chowder! While bisques are also creamy, they’re smooth. Chowders are chunkier, with large, flavorful bites, and soups have more broth. Let's say that this soup recipe is between a bisque and a chowder because it's smooth but we added corn kernels for added texture.
How to Make Delicious Corn Soup
Making this soup is a totally straightforward process that’s so easy it can be done on a weeknight or for a delicious, healthy lunch. Let’s get cooking, chef!
- Start by carefully cutting the corn off of the cobs. Save the cobs! Pro tip: we’ll be cooking the soup with the cobs in for extra flavor, removing them before blending.
- Grab a large pot and combine the corn kernels (leaving 2 cups out and set aside!), corn cobs, leeks, potatoes, broth, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. You want tender potatoes! Finally, add the silken tofu and let everything cool for 15-20 minutes.
- While the soup is cooling, saute the pine nuts and basil in a little olive oil until the pine nuts begin to brown. Scoop them out of the oil.
- Remove the cobs from the soup pot, discard them, and pour the soup into a blender. Process until it’s totally smooth and creamy! You could also use an immersion blender at this point to leave everything in the pot.
- Pour the soup back into the pot, add the reserved corn kernels in, and cook at medium heat for 15 minutes to bring everything back to temperature before serving. Garnish bowls of soup with toasted pine nuts and basil!
Other Toppings for Corn Soup
For added flavor and texture, we toasted pine nuts and basil to place on top like a pistou. It’s absolutely delicious! A few other toppings options:
- Tempeh Bacon bits
- Cheese, vegan or regular
- Schug
- Sriracha
- Chives
- A dollop of sour cream vegan or regular
- Avocado pearls
- Cooked Mushrooms
More Corn Recipes
- Corn Salad
- Vegan Creamy Corn Soup
- Vegan Blueberry Corn Muffins
- Corn Soup with Basil and Pine Nuts
- Jalapeño Cornbread
Did you like our Corn Soup Recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, it would help us tremendously if you left us a star rating in the comments below or on the recipe card. Do you have any questions about the recipe? Do you need a swap for any of the ingredients? We are here to help, just leave us a question in the comments below.
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Creamy Corn Soup with Basil and Pine Nuts
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 12 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy, vegan Corn Soup with Basil and Pine Nuts is a hearty and flavorful soup served warm or cold. It’s thickened with potatoes and tofu for a dairy- and gluten-free soup that’s absolutely divine!
Ingredients
- 2 cups leeks, thoroughly cleaned and sliced ( we actually used frozen, cuts the prep time in half!). See Note 1
- 8 ears of corn or 8 cups of frozen corn kernels
- 4 small potatoes, diced
- 6 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1-1lb package organic silken tofu
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
For the Basil and Pine Nut Topping
- 4 tbs raw pine nuts
- 2 cups chopped fresh basil
- 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Carefully cut the corn kernels off the cob. Reserve the kernels from 2 ears of corn
- In a large pot combine, corn kernels (except reserved), corn cobs, leeks, diced potatoes, water or broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and cook, covered, on a low boil for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
- Turn the heat off remove the cobs, and add silken tofu. Let everything cool for 15-20 minutes, it's not safe to blend a hot soup.
- In the meantime, in a large skillet saute pine nuts and basil in olive oil until the pine nuts start to brown about 3-5 minutes. Scoop basil and pine nuts off the oil. Set aside (Tip: save any extra cooking oil that is left on the pan and use it on salads or on top of your favorite pizza!)
- Pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Make sure to place a kitchen towel on the lid, in case the warm soup splashes. Taste the soup and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Return soup to the pot, add reserved corn kernels and cook at medium-low heat for an additional 15 minutes
- Serve hot or cold. Garnish with pine nut and basil topping
- ENJOY! From May I have that recipe
Notes
- If you don't have leeks you can use a large sweet onion
- Make sure you add the corn cobs to the soup for extra soup flavor.
- If you are using frozen corn, use 1 cup of frozen corn kernels per ear of corn
- Depending on how sweet the corn is this can be quite sweet, you can balance the sweetness with a squeeze of lemon or lime, chili-lime seasoning or some other soup topping such as:
- Tempeh Bacon bits
- Cheese, vegan or regular
- Schug
- Sriracha
- Chives
- A dollop of sour cream vegan or regular
- Avocado pearls
- Cooked Mushrooms
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup with basil pine nut topping
- Calories: 163
- Sugar: 8
- Sodium: 395
- Fat: 5.1
- Saturated Fat: .7
- Unsaturated Fat: 4
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 27.2
- Fiber: 3.2
- Protein: 6.1
- Cholesterol: 0
erinmotz
Dislike shopping?! Insane! Maybe you just don't go to the right malls? 😉 I can actually understand... I prefer online shopping when I need/want stuff. Avoiding ridiculous crowds, dirty dressing rooms, and trying stuff on. In other news, you make a super awesome soup! This looks sooo satisfying!
mayihavethatrecipe
Ha! I can definitely handle online shopping!! The only problem is, I usually end up returning 75% of the stuff I get!! Oh well... I'll have to rely on yoga and meditation to get me though this one 😉
Glad you liked the soup!!!
mayihavethatrecipe
My dear sister, I will shop for you and then return the items when you don't like them or I can drag you to the mall with me against your will. Your choice. I Love you even in sweat pants. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Your sister,
Vicky
Ellie
hahha I used to be the saaaaaaame way!! But somehow, everything changed and I don't mind it so much anymore. It's not my favorite activity, but when I do shop I have some fun. But if a store gets busy or I shop 2 hours or more, I start to go crazy. 😛 And this looks like suchhhh a delish and beautiful recipe~I pinned it and I'm hoping I'll make it soon!!! And the Tempeh dish below looks so good and creative. <3
mayihavethatrecipe
Haha!! I wonder if that will ever change for me. My guess is... probably not! But it's ok, I can always hire my sister to be my personal shopper. I guess that's why we make a great team! 🙂
Glad you liked the corn soup recipe. And the tempeh is sooooo good! Thanks for sharing 🙂
foodcreate
You're Recipe Looks delicious can't wait to try 🙂
mayihavethatrecipe
Hope you enjoy it!! 🙂
Dawn M
Perhaps I've missed it, but I don't see the step to add the corn kernels (other than the reserved kernels at the end). Do they go in right up front with the leeks and potatoes? Or later? Thanks!
mayihavethatrecipe
Yes! You're absolutely right! They go with the leeks and potatoes. You can see them in the picture, but we missed them while writing down the steps! So sorry about that.... Fixed now!
The reserved kernels do go at the end without blending to add some texture.
Thank you so much for pointing it out!!
Debs @ The Spanish Wok
I'm with you on the shopping and comfy clothes. We must be related, oh perhaps there is a connection as I live in Spain!!!
This soup looks delicious.
You are welcome to join in my monthly food blogger event THE SOUP KITCHEN, here for entry details and current theme offering a new theme each month. All bloggers are welcome, hope to see you participate soon.
mayihavethatrecipe
Hola!! Y muchas gracias! That sounds like a great idea. We'll definitely check it out and we'd love to participate.
Sarah
This is an incredible summer soup!!! It's cold, refreshing and I love how the pieces of corn give it an extra crunch! How could you not like shopping?? I understand the process is a little tiring but at least when you get home you have a bunch of pretty clothes 😉
leah
do you put all 8 empty ears of corn in the soup and what do you do with the reserved corn . it does not say in the recipe thank
Vicky & Ruth
Hi Leah, sorry about that. We will correct the recipe. Yes, you put all 8 empty ears of corn in the soup. Once the soup is blended, you should return it to the pot, add the reserved corn and cook the soup for an additional 15 minutes.
Leah Goldman
and i never worked with tofu before . do you cool the soup then put in the cube of tofu or just put the tofu in the hot soup and let it cool. also do you cover the pot when cooking thanks
Vicky & Ruth
Hi Leah, we updated the instructions on the recipe. Add the tofu once the potatoes are tender and you have turned off the heat. Yes, cover the pot when cooking. Also, remove the corn cobs before adding the tofu. The reason we are letting the soup cool is because it's not safe to blend the very hot soup. Once the soup has cooled a for 15 minutes, we recommend that you place a kitchen towel on the blender lid in case some hot soup or steam escapes. Let us know if you have any other questions and how the soup turned out for you.