Creamy and comforting meets the savory heat of chipotle in this sweet and smoky chicken and pumpkin corn chowder!
Product links in this post are affiliate links. It does not cost you anything and helps maintain the free information on this site, as well as answer the questions of “what brand do you use?” Please know I never personally recommend any product I wouldn’t use on my own family.
Apple picking, hayrides, fall color hikes, pumpkin carving, and costumes, oh my!
October has become such a busy month since having older kids in the house! I am such a summer girl, but over the last couple years, I have really grown to love all of the fun fall activities that October brings…as well as all of the warm meals that go along with it!
Daily bone broth is one of my simple, daily goals for keeping my crew of kids healthy all season, and sometimes we need a little soup change up!
Even though I am sure this will most certainly become an adult favorite in the home, I really wanted to bring up trying this soup with the kids too. I think you will be surprised at how little ones will like the smoky flavor of chipotle. It has a milder, more flavorful heat that tastes so good. Two of my babies really took to heat as little ones and never really skipped a beat.
So what about those littles that aren’t keen on spicy food?!
I have one of those! When she was really little I simply used less spicy heat, and then would add more heat to the plates my husband and I were eating from. It’s simple enough, and still trains the taste palate of your little one for a new meal. When it comes to something like soup or chili, I tend to season with the heat we like, and then “cool” her bowl down by stirring in sour cream or coconut milk/cream – it works SO good!
Creamy and comforting without the dairy! But what about that corn?!
If you can’t eat corn (remember corn is a grain – so if you are grain free listen up!), I have a couple of swaps for you! I think the best swap is using either chopped or “riced” cauliflower. You can cook it right alongside the potatoes if they are chopped, and if it is “riced”, simply add it in when you put the garlic in since it doesn’t need a long cook time. I also have tried diced sweet potato and think that works well (add this right in with the potatoes).
That secret step of blending up half the soup before putting in the chicken is what gives the soup it’s creamy texture! No dairy or flour needed!
Take advantage of those sweet little pie pumpkins over the next couple months and make that broth super creamy and sweet!
Flavorful soups are the a fun way to make nourishing bone broth a part of everyday. Mineral rich seasonal veggies not only bump up the mineral profile but can also bring amazing flavor and make a daily bowl of soup more interesting and fun!
Smoky and Sweet Chicken and Pumpkin Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 1 pie pumpkin
- 1/4 cup friendly fat to cook in such as butter avocado oil, lard, or coconut oil (I happen to love this soup with a good TB of the friendly fat coming from bacon grease - it gives it a really great flavor!)
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 medium/large yellow potatoes small cube or diced (smaller is best if serving to kids but if you like bigger chunks go for it!)
- 1 large carrot diced
- 3 large cloves of garlic minced
- 1 1/2 quarts bone broth if you want a much thicker broth you could use just 1 quart
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
this leaves a mild, kid friendly smoky heat - if you prefer it spicier (like I do! you can add a full teaspoon or just add more to the serving in your bowl. Sour cream or coconut milk can tame the heat for little ones if you want to go that route too!)
- 2 cups cooked chicken cubed (use leftovers from roasting a whole chicken, doing a slow cooker whole chicken, or Instant Pottting a whole chicken!)
- 2 cups frozen organic corn I get mine at Costco
- 1-2 cups baby spinach chopped
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place your whole pumpkin in a baking dish, and roast at 425 degrees for 50 minutes. Slice the pumpkin in half to cool, scoop out the seeds, and puree in a food processor or blender. (You could skip this step entirely and use a can of pumpkin if you are stretched for time! Keep in mind canned pumpkin is typically other squash so it is darker orange in color and will just give the soup a different color - it will still be pretty and so delicious though!)
- While you are waiting for your pumpkin to cool, start your soup. Melt your friendly fat in a large soup pot and add the onion, potatoes, and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt and stir to combine. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 7-10 minutes until the onions are translucent and the potatoes are fork tender.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add the broth, pumpkin puree, and chipotle powder, and stir to combine. Bring to a low simmer and then turn the heat off or down to low. Scoop out about half of the soup to a medium mixing bowl and blend with an immersion blender (or scoop the soup into a blender to blend) until smooth.
- Return the blended portion of the soup back to the soup pot, add the chicken and corn, and bring to a low simmer for a 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the spinach to wilt in, and then sea salt and pepper the soup to your taste.
- Again, for the little ones in the house, you can add sour cream or coconut milk to their bowl to tame any heat. You can also puree the soup entirely for little ones that are funny about "chunks" in their soup.
Beautiful! Pinned and shared:)
Thank you Linda!
Oh my goodness, Renee~ this looks amazing. That corn looks so fresh! Love the chipotle!
Me too! Thank you Megan!
Oh this looks beautiful!!! SO pretty and lovely recipe. And look at those hats and coats, I take it you’re already feeling the chilly weather. Stay warm! xo
Thank you Emily!
Popped over to your blog for some soup inspiration yesterday. This was at the top of the main feed and I looked no further. It was so good! I used the lesser amount of broth and called it “stew” so my hubs would accept it as a viable dinner option (“soup” doesn’t qualify for him, lol). I added a bit of smoked paprika too and it was a hit! Thanks for another great one 🙂
I’m so glad your family enjoyed this Jordan!
It’s pretty unusual for me to hop onto a blog and decide to print three recipes in 10 minutes! (I’m old-school, so thanks for the print option 🙂 I appreciate the “normal ingredients, budget-friendly” approach so much! Lots of little mouths to feed around here. Bless you!
Hi Nicole! Awesome! That is fantastic! I like to print too!
This sounds so comforting and delicious! I love the chili in there, too.
Oh yum! This sounds so comforting especially when you add bone broth in this. Healthy nutrious!
Hi Renne, we love your recipes, thanks for sharing this one. What size of pumpkin did you use? Thanks 🙂
Could canned pumpkin be used?
Hi Amber! Yes that works just fine!