Make ahead | Slow cooker | Soup | Stew | Weeknight dinner

Slow cooker Potato Chowder

Name: Slow cooker Potato Chowder
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 10 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 8 ounces (1/2 pound) bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled; 2 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes (approximately 5 medium sized potatoes), NOT peeled, diced in 1/4 inch cubes; 3 1/2 cups frozen or canned corn; 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped; 2 stalks chopped celery; 1 Tablespoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt; 1/2 teaspoon table salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/2 teaspoon ground Thyme (or your choice of herb); 5 cups chicken stock; 1 cup half and half; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese plus more for garnish; salt and pepper

January 9, 2016June 6, 2020

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Living in New Mexico there’s not much to complain about as far as it comes to the weather. We usually have quite mild winters, and hot summers. However, lately it’s been snowing almost every day for a week! It’s been flurries mostly, it’s just too warm here for any serious accumulations. People here have no idea how to drive in snowy weather and even the smallest snowstorm can completely shut down the whole city. What do New Mexicans do when this happens? Playing in the snow all day isn’t an option because they just don’t sell that kind of gear here. Plus there’s not really enough snow to do much in. No building snowmen. No snowmobiles either. Most stay inside and try to warm up with a hot bowl of posole or a plate full of red chile pork tamales smothered in cheese. After spending many years living in climates where snow sticks around on the ground for three months out of the year, I miss it. I love being able to go out and build snow men and ride an inner tube down a fluffy white bank of snow. I love the way that snow falling seems to bring a quiet calm to everything. I hope one day to live again in a place that gets a good winter snow, but that’s for another post…

So what does all this have to do with Slow Cooker Potato chowder? As much as I love posole and tamales, I have a pantry full of potatoes that need to be eaten. Any warm bowl of yummy goodness will do on a chilly winter evening. Potato Chowder would be the perfect addition to our dinner table, along with the falling snow out my window and the fire roaring in the wood stove. So I threw together a recipe that turned out quite delicious, and I wanted to share it with my readers. Hopefully you can have a lovely evening like mine while you enjoy this chowder.

I used Russet potatoes in this chowder which held up alright because I left the skins on. Just make sure to scrub them before adding them to the slow cooker. Russet potatoes will turn to mush when cooked too long. Other potatoes like Yukon Gold or Reds will hold their shape better. You could probably use any potato in this recipe; if it’s anything other than Russets I would peel them first.

Then I added a minced yellow onion, lots of frozen corn, seasoned salt, about 3/4’s a package of bacon cooked and crumbled, and 5 cups of chicken stock. I also added a bit of ground Thyme and black pepper, but you could add any herbs you like. I would try Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano or any combo of these. Maybe stay away from adding a bay leaf, I added one and I think it would have been better without it. My whole family loved it anyway, so maybe I’m just being picky about that. I set the cooker for high, and four hours later, I pureed about half the contents in a blender. Adding that back in makes the soup creamy. I also poured in some half an half, and added about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. I stirred it up and let it warm for another 10 minutes with the lid on. When ready to serve I stirred it again and made sure it had enough salt and pepper and it was ready to go!