This light turkey or chicken corn chowder recipe is my family's favorite leftovers recipe. It's hearty, satisfying and healthy. 223 calories and 3 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
Whether you have leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast or an extra rotisserie chicken lying around, this light corn chowder is a hearty meal without all of the extra calories. It's creamy and thick without adding cream, and the flavors of the turkey and corn shine through, alongside a kick from green chiles and cayenne pepper. If you have leftover chicken, that will work, too.
When I'm cooking with chicken breasts or thighs during the week, I try to cook extras so that I can have extras to whip up an easy meal like this. It also works well in some of my other meals that star leftovers.
And what did my family think of this soup? Well, each and every one of them went back for seconds. This is going to be a regular meal in our house!
Here are some of my favorite leftovers recipes that we'll be making this weekend.
Now, let's get to this light corn chowder recipe.
The turkey (or chicken) corn recipe:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat.
Add the onion, celery, red pepper and garlic and cook until the vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the green chiles and cook for 1 minute.
Pour in the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the corn and simmer for 3 minutes.
Place the flour in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth.
Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the soup, along with the salt and pepper. Cook, whisking frequently, until the soup is thickened, about 15 minutes.
Stir in the turkey (or chicken), Cheddar cheese and cayenne pepper. Stir until the cheese is melted.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with green onions and serve.
Other Thanksgiving leftovers recipes:
Leftover Turkey (or Chicken) Lasagna Rolls with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Spinach (Low Fat) {Cookin' Canuck}
Turkey, Brie, Pear & Cherry Chipotle Panini {Cookin' Canuck}
Baked Tortellini with Turkey, Butternut Squash & Chard {Cookin' Canuck}
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Light Turkey (or Chicken) & Corn Chowder Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups frozen corn kernels
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups skim milk
- 2 ½ cups shredded cooked turkey or chicken
- ¾ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- green onion thinly sliced (for garnish)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, red pepper and garlic and cook until the vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the green chiles and cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the corn and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Place the flour in a medium bowl and slowly whisk in the milk until the mixture is smooth.
- Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the soup, along with the salt and pepper. Cook, whisking frequently, until the soup is thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the turkey (or chicken), Cheddar cheese and cayenne pepper. Stir until the cheese is melted.
- Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with green onions and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Patty
Delish!
I did make this in the crockpot without cooking all the veggies first. I used ground turkey because that is what I had (it was already cooked from a previous days recipe and just made extra knowing I would need it for something!) Here's what I did:
Made the chicken broth from bouillon and put in crockpot on high. Chopped all the listed veggies and dumped in along with the spices, can of chilies and a mix of frozen and canned corn (because that is what I had). After a couple of hours when it was good and hot I mixed the flour/milk and whisked in. At that time I added the cooked ground turkey. About 30 minutes before it was done I added 3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (because it was pepper jack I did not add the cayenne pepper nor did it need the green onion garnish). The spice was perfect and the taste was a hit with all. Served with sourdough bread.
SallyBR
I know this is an old post of yours, but wanted to say thank you for inspiring me...
I just blogged on a version I made a couple of weeks ago.
Maret
I discovered this recipe last year....and we enjoyed it so much that it was the first soup I made with the batch of broth made from the turkey carcass this year. Thank you for an easy and healthy chowder...it goes together so quickly which is a real treat after all the Thanksgiving cooking! I added a carrot this time and halved the salt and it is still delicious!
Patty
I made "this recipe" and it was delicious! I say, "this recipe" because I started to follow it but made it the lazy man's way. (using cream of chicken soup instead of flour, etc.) First of all, I threw it all in the crockpot, raw chicken and all. I did not cook any of the veggies ahead of time. I substituted and deleted items based on what I had in my fridge/cabinet. I pretty much did not measure anything. Here is what I did:
Threw all this in the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours (to cook chicken) then lowered until ready to serve a couple hours later) Chopped up 2 chicken breasts, red and orange bell pepper, yellow onion, asparagus, a clump (literally it was clumped together and at least 1 1/4 cup) of frozen corn, 1 can ortega chiles, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, filled 1 can with water, filled 1 can 2 times with almond milk, 2 tsp granulated chicken broth, 2 pinches cayenne pepper, 1 tsp ground pepper.
Served with sourdough baguette. It was so good and family loved it. Enjoy!
Susie
looks delicious! However, I would rather use heavy cream instead of flour to thicken. Flour turns directly into sugars in the body where as cream has proteins and fats that are healthier for the body and causes fat burning instead of quick insulin release.
Mellissa Spencer
Thanks for a great recipe Dara! I used my left over roasted chicken from costco. This recipe was so easy, quick to make, FULL OF FLAVOR and everyone in my family loves it! The absence of cream for this rich chowder is not missed at all. Next going to try the spaghetti squash recipe followed by the cauliflower recipe. My goal, get my growing 11 year old son to eat more veggies. Hawaii loves your recipe, MAHALO!
Dara
I'm so glad to hear that, Melissa! I hope you enjoy the spaghetti squash and cauliflower recipes just as much.
Annie F
We had a huge plate of turkey after Thanksgiving and used some of it for this chowder. This was one of the best leftover turkey soups I've ever made! We loved the hint of spice from the green chiles. I will try it with chicken another time.
V Plew
Can fresh corn kernels be used?
Maureen
Dara,
My first review EVER. Outstanding recipe - didn't have skim so used 1% but imagine it would be as delicious with skim.
Maureen
Lisa
Hi, made this today and wanted to know if we can store leftovers in the fridge & reheat in the microwave (because of the cheese).
It's delicious but we always save for lunches during the cold days.
Thanks!!
Dara
Hi Lisa, this is exactly what we usually do with our leftovers. It's great to have the leftovers on hand for lunches!
Anne
This was SERIOUSLY delicious. Made some homemade turkey stock w/ the leftover carcas and followed recipe as written - except doubled it. So glad I did! Thanks! This one is a keeper.