The "Secret Weapon" I Add to Fall Soups (It's Cheap and Delicious)

I love this time of year in the Midwest, when summer and fall seem to play a game of ping-pong every day. Some days, it's 80 degrees and sunny. Then, without warning, the temperatures dip into the 60s with a crisp chill in the air. Even the foods that I crave right now seem to go back and forth. On one hand, I'm ready for soup season, but at the same time, I want to roast ears of farmers market sweet corn.

Right now, the dish I turn to for the best of both worlds is my mom’s award-winning recipe for Corn & Sausage Chowder. It's simple, hearty, and happens to be the recipe that introduced me to one of my most-used culinary tricks. It's a rich soup that isn’t thickened with a roux or a ton of cream.

Instead, this soup uses a can of creamed corn to make it decadent without being heavy.

How To Add Creamed Corn to Soup

I always keep a few cans of creamed corn on hand in my pantry. Sometimes it's my secret weapon when a recipe isn’t exactly what I expected, and it needs a boost of flavor and texture.

There are lots of ways to thicken soups, such as puréeing the vegetables or mashing some of the ingredients. I find adding a can of creamed corn is an effortless shortcut that achieves similar results to those techniques. And a little texture is an easy way to make any soup better, in my opinion.

Adding a can of creamed corn works well in a chicken tortilla soup or a summer minestrone, if you want to enhance the consistency of the broth. You could also try using some in a rich seafood chowder to replace a portion of the heavy cream, though I haven't experimented with that myself.

The only soups where I avoid using this trick are recipes where the sweet flavor of the corn, the texture of the kernels, or the color would impact the intended style of the recipe. For example, a velvety smooth tomato bisque, a delicate avgolemono, or a classic borscht. Otherwise, I say go for it—these kernels add some character.