Creamy Corn Soup

This Creamy Corn Soup recipe is made in the French velouté style. It’s a velvety smooth soup that’s easy to make with a handful of simple ingredients that let the sweet corn flavors shine.

It isn’t summer without at least one bowl of corn chowder, many, many servings of corn on the cob, and cornbread, too. For fellow corn lovers, here is a new soup to add to your summer menu!

How is this Corn Soup Recipe Different?

This soup is made in the velouté style, which originated in France and produces a light, smooth, and velvety texture. Much like a béchamel sauce, it is thickened with a roux, equal parts flour and butter, and then pureed into a creamy corn soup.

Corn Soup Ingredients

Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious corn soup.

• Corn: Fresh, frozen, or drained canned corn all work well.
• For the roux: butter, salted or unsalted, and all-purpose flour.
• Milk: whole milk is best for texture, but use your favorite.
• Shallot
• Leek: White and light green parts
• Garlic
• Fresh thyme sprigs
• Cream for thickening and texture
• Fresh chives for garnish

How to Make Corn Soup

Step-by-step instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, but here is a quick overview:

Step 1: Make a roux

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the flour and mix. Cook for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat to cool.

Step 2: Cook the soup

Combine the milk, corn, shallot, leek, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, ensuring it doesn’t boil. Remove from the heat and strain half of the milk into the cooled roux. Whisk until the roux is smooth, and then gradually whisk it back into the soup.

Bring the soup to a light boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Step 3: Puree and strain the soup

Using an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender, puree the soup until very smooth. This will take several minutes. Pour the soup through a coarse strainer, a fine-mesh strainer with a ladle, or through a food mill.

Transfer the soup back into the soup pot and add the cream, adjusting the amount to create your desired consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with fresh chives

Kitchen Tools

You need two pots: a small pot to cook the roux and a larger soup pot for cooking the soup. Other tools you’ll need include:

• Immersion blender or traditional blender
• Coarse sieve, fine mesh sieve, or a food mill for straining the soup

Tips on straining soup

When making a velouté soup, the velvety texture is achieved by first pureeing the soup well and then running it through a sieve. Here are some tips:

Don’t rush pureeing the soup. Plan on spending several minutes with an immersion blender to finely blend all of the solids.

Straining the soup: While a coarse sieve works easiest, you may only have a fine mesh sieve on hand. Leftover solids will build up in the sieve, but with experimentation, I’ve found that when I take a ladle and stir the soup inside the sieve, touching the mesh on all sides, it helps push the liquid and smooth solids through better than using a spatula. A food mill also works wonders!