A rich, homemade chicken corn broth with tender chicken, spicy jalapeño, and lots of sweet summer corn flavor.
Rich, lightly sweet, very savory, and a perfect summer-to-fall soup.
I can’t believe how quickly summer is coming to a close! Fortunately, fresh corn is available all through the rest of September, meaning you have a few weeks to savor the last of summer’s prized produce. Adding the bare corn cobs to the chicken broth as it simmers adds a rich, sweet corn flavor. You can use frozen corn and omit the cobs, but I really recommend corn on the cob for this recipe.
What you need
- Chicken broth: You’ll use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs along with bare corn cobs (reserve the cut corn for the soup), onion, celery, garlic, and a bay leaf.
- Soup: The usual soup suspects: onion, celery, and potatoes, but with the addition of jalapeño and the corn cut from the cobs. I also mash the garlic that cooked in the broth into a paste and add it to the soup. I thicken the soup with a little cornmeal to give it a little extra body and additional corn flavor.
- Finishing touches: I finish the soup with lime juice and scallions to give each bite a nice herbaceous, bright finish.
How to make it
Step 1: Make the broth.
Gather the broth ingredients with water in a large pot and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and the head of garlic and continue simmering the broth until it reduces further. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, wipe out the pot, and return it to the stove. Discard the solids. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, pick the meat from the bones and shred or chop it. Pop the garlic from its paper and mash into a paste.
Step 2: Make the soup.
Heat a little oil in the pot and add diced onion, jalapeño, celery, corn, and cubed potatoes. Add the garlic paste and then cover with the prepared chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and add the shredded chicken. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Step 3: Finish the soup.
Return the soup to a boil and make a slurry with the cornmeal and water. Continue simmering until thickened and the potatoes are done. Finish the soup with lime juice.
Step 4: Serve it up.
Ladle the soup into bowls and finish with minced scallions.
Chicken Corn Soup with Jalapeño
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken broth:
- 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 12 cups water
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 yellow onion (peeled and quartered)
- 2 ribs celery (cut into thirds)
- 1 head garlic (top cut off)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 ears corn (corn cut from the cob and cobs reserved)
Soup:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion (peeled and diced)
- 1 jalapeño (trimmed and diced)
- 2 ribs celery (with leaves; trimmed and diced, leaves minced)
- 1 pound gold potatoes (peeled and diced into bite-sized cubes)
- 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 scallions (trimmed and minced, for serving)
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Make the chicken broth:
- Place the chicken thighs in a large soup pot with 12 cups water, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and the bare corn cobs. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer rapidly, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and continue simmering for 20 minutes or until the broth reduces to about 6 to 7 cups. It’s okay to have a little more or a little less. Turn off the heat.
- Carefully remove the head of garlic and set aside. Strain the broth into a large bowl through a fine mesh sieve and wipe out the pot. Return it to the stove and discard the solids.
Prep the chicken and garlic:
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, pick the meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Shred or dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- Pop the garlic from its skins and mash the cloves into a paste.
Prepare the soup:
- Heat 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in the soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeño, celery with the minced leaves, reserved corn, and the diced potatoes. Season lightly with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Sauté for 6 to 7 minutes or until the onion and celery soften. Add the garlic paste and stir to combine.
Simmer the soup:
- Pour the prepared broth into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the shredded chicken. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are nearly fork-tender.
Thicken the soup:
- Return the soup to a boil. Combine the cornmeal with ¼ cup water and whisk until a slurry forms. Pour the mixture into the pot and reduce the heat to low. Continue simmering for 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender and the soup has thickened. Taste and add salt and pepper to your preference.
Finish the soup:
- Add the lime juice to the soup and turn off the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.
To serve:
- Spoon the soup into bowls and serve with minced scallions on top. Enjoy!
