Potato and Corn Milk Chowder
A comforting milk chowder with diced potatoes, canned corn and browned salt pork, adapted from an early Aunt Sammy radio recipe.
- Original yieldYield
- 4 servings4 servings
- PrepPrep time
- CookCook time
- TotalTotal time
Published Updated
Original recipe: 4 servings
The story behind the recipe
Crackers go into the bowl before the chowder. Hot milk broth follows, carrying potato cubes, sweet corn and browned pork. The crisp pieces soften as the soup reaches them, becoming part of the meal rather than a separate handful to eat alongside it.
A small instruction worth keeping
That serving order comes from Corn Chowder in the USDA's Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes. The soup itself uses familiar ingredients: potatoes, canned corn, water and milk, with pork and onion fried before they join the pot. It needs no separately prepared flour sauce. You'll find it with our other Depression-era recipes.
Read more about this recipe
A cookbook with a voice behind it
Aunt Sammy was the fictional character used in the USDA's Housekeepers' Chat, which began in 1926. Household advice and recipes reached listeners over the radio, and recipes were gathered into cookbooks. A July 1931 broadcast described the revised collection as containing 400 recipes and 90 menus.
A short chowder entry fits that practical setting. It gives a cook enough of a sequence to get dinner into a pot, then finishes with the instruction about crackers. The serving dish matters just as much as another line of simmering advice: it changes what the first spoonful contains.
Milk comes later
Potatoes begin in water, with the milk added near the end. That separates the potato cooking from the pale final broth. The fried pork, onion and their drippings supply a savory base; corn brings sweetness and small kernels among the larger potato pieces.
The source lists two tablespoons of diced salt pork and two cups of canned corn; for our four-serving adaptation, we choose 60 g pork and 300 g corn, including its liquid, rather than converting the historical measures. We also specify seasoning and use gentle final milk heating in place of the source's instruction to bring the chowder to boiling point. Thick-cut bacon is an alternative to salt pork, with its own smoky flavor.
Keep the canned corn's liquid. Its listed weight includes both kernels and packing liquid, so draining it would change what goes into this version. It is a useful detail when the ingredient seems so familiar that you might prepare it on habit alone.
A different texture in each spoonful
This isn't a smooth potato soup. The cubes remain part of its character, alongside corn and small browned pork pieces. The notes offer a way to give the broth more body by crushing a few potato pieces, while leaving the rest intact.
Soda or pilot crackers go beneath the soup in our four-serving version. They begin crisp, then absorb the hot broth; eating soon after ladling gives a different balance from leaving the bowl to stand. There is no need for an elaborate garnish to make the serving interesting.
Potatoes, corn and milk fill most of the bowl, with browned pork adding a savory edge.
Make it your wayOriginal: 4 servings
Original recipe: 4 servings
Ingredients
For 4 servings. Quantities are shown as written.
Source measurement convention: Metric. Explicit unit definitions take precedence; unconfirmed measures must be checked before conversion.
Original quantities for 4 servings.
- Russet potatoes (peeled and diced into 1.5 cm cubes)600 gAuthor measures: about 4 metric cups (250 ml per cup).
- Water500 mlAuthor measures: about 2 metric cups (250 ml per cup).
- Whole milk500 mlAuthor measures: about 2 metric cups (250 ml per cup).
- Canned sweet corn (total weight of kernels and packing liquid)300 g
- Salt pork (or thick-cut bacon, finely diced)60 g
- Yellow onion (approx. 1 medium, finely diced)100 g
- Fine salt (divided)1 metric tsp
- Freshly ground black pepper1/4 metric tsp
- Soda crackers (or pilot crackers, for serving)8
Measurement notes
- fine salt (divided), freshly ground black pepper: tsp: 1 = 5 ml.
Measurement notes
Original ingredients
- 600 g russet potatoes (peeled and diced into 1.5 cm cubes, approx. 4 cups)
- 500 ml water (approx. 2 cups)
- 500 ml whole milk (approx. 2 cups)
- 300 g canned sweet corn (total weight of kernels and packing liquid)
- 60 g salt pork (or thick-cut bacon, finely diced)
- 100 g yellow onion (approx. 1 medium, finely diced)
- 1 tsp fine salt (divided)tsp: 1 = 5 ml.
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black peppertsp: 1 = 5 ml.
- 8 soda crackers (or pilot crackers, for serving)
Equipment
Medium soup pot (3-quart)
Instructions
Simmer the potatoes
Place the diced russet potatoes into a medium soup pot with the water and half the fine salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Fry salt pork and onion
While the potatoes cook, place the diced salt pork into a skillet over medium heat. Fry for 4 minutes until lightly browned, then add the diced yellow onion and sauté for 3 minutes until soft.
Add pork, onions and corn
Transfer the fried salt pork, onions, and rendered drippings into the simmering potato pot. Add the canned sweet corn along with its liquid.
Simmer until potatoes are tender
Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes until the potato cubes are tender when pierced with a fork.
Add milk and remaining seasonings
Pour in the whole milk and season with the remaining fine salt and the freshly ground black pepper.
Heat gently without vigorous boiling
Bring the chowder back to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes until heated through. Do not let the soup boil vigorously.
Serve over soda crackers
Distribute the soda crackers among the warm soup bowls and ladle the hot chowder directly over them to serve.
Estimated calories 400 kcal
Nutrition portion: 1/4 of recipe · Original yield: 4 servings
Source & assumptions
Ingredient-based estimate using CoFID 2021, USDA SR Legacy (2018), representative labels for Kotányi ground black pepper. About 400 kcal per nutrition portion (1/4 of the recipe). Includes salt pork and all rendered drippings, corn with its packing liquid, whole milk and eight soda crackers. Actual ingredients and preparation affect the estimate.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Scale ingredients proportionally. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer after adding the milk; do not boil vigorously to prevent curdling.
Original recipe notes
These notes describe the original recipe. Quantities mentioned here do not change when you adjust servings.
The salt measurement is divided: half seasons the potato cooking water, and half seasons the chowder once the milk is incorporated. Adjust seasoning to taste before serving.
Canned corn should be added with its packing liquid, which provides natural sweetness and vegetable starch to the broth.
To give the chowder extra body without adding flour, lightly crush a few potato pieces against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon before adding the milk.
Read the scaling guide. Times, temperatures and equipment need their own consideration. Open the recipe tool to review and correct individual amounts.
Sources and attribution
Adapted from USDA Bureau of Home Economics, Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes, Corn Chowder, p. 57, undated early loose-leaf issue.
USDA Bureau of Home Economics, Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes, Corn Chowder, p. 57, undated early loose-leaf issue; exact printing unresolved. The July 1931 broadcast discussed above announces a later revised collection.