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This one-pot Creamy Potato Chowder with Shrimp and Bacon is the ultimate comfort food on a chilly evening! Paleo-friendly, loaded with veggies, and dairy-free (if you use the cashew cream option) for a completely guilt-free chowder option!
Creamy Potato Chowder with Shrimp and Bacon
Here in New England, Chowder’s are our go-to bowl of comfort during chilly Summer and early Fall evenings! I wanted to create a chowder that was rich, creamy, guilt-free and great for any time of year, and am so excited to share this soup with you! If you love bacon as much as I do, this soup is a must-make! Creamy potatoes, perfectly cooked shrimp, and bits of bacon in every bite… soup perfection.
Potato Chowder Ingredients
- Potatoes
- Bacon
- Shrimp
- Onion
- Garlic
- Celery
- Carrots
- Paprika
- Thyme
- Chicken stock
- Corn
- Heavy cream or Cashew cream
- Fresh Herbs
How to Make Potato Chowder
How to Make Potato ChowderI wanted to make this soup as easy as possible, to make this a perfect weeknight dinner option on this chilly fall days when you need to be warmed up a bit! To make it simple:
- Cook bacon and then drain the fat, and set aside. Next cook the shrimp, then set that aside, too.
- Cook the onion, garlic, potato celery and carrots until starting to soften.
- Next pour in chicken stock and make sure to scrape up all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once at a boil, add corn and turn down heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Whisk in cream of choice and taste and adjust seasoning.
- Serve in desired serving bowls. Top with roughly chopped shrimp, bacon pieces, parsley, thyme, scallions, and corn if using.
How to Make it Dairy Free
Cashew cream is a great way to make this creamy soup dairy-free. If you haven’t heard of cashew cream before, it is simply soaked cashews that are blended until they are smooth and creamy. It’s a great replacement for heavy cream It can be used for both savory or sweet recipes but also it’s just kind of delicious! To check out these easy directions for how to make this, check out this post.
If you like this soup recipe, check out these others:
- Split Pea and Ham Soup
- Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- Hot and Sour Soup (Vegetarian)
- Easy Black Bean Soup
- Gluten-Free Minestrone Soup
- Healthy Broccoli Soup
Creamy Potato Chowder with Shrimp and Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 package nitrate-free bacon
- 1 pound deveined shrimp
- 1 onion minced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 yukon potatoes diced
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 2 carrots minced
- 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn thawed and cooked
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or 1/4 cup cashew cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley for garnish
- 1 sprig fresh thyme for garnish
- 1 tablespoon scallions for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until crispy, around 5-8 minutes. Turn off heat and place bacon on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat out of the pan. Turn heat to medium-high and cook shrimp for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until pink and fully cooked through. Transfer shrimp to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Drain all of the cooking liquid out of the pan.
- Place garlic and onion into the dutch oven. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until onions start to turn translucent. Add potato, celery, and carrots to the pot. Cook until potato starts to soften.
- Add in spices. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken stock and stir well, making sure to scrape up all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once at a boil, add corn and turn down heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Whisk in cream of choice. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Serve in desired serving bowls. Top with roughly chopped shrimp, bacon pieces, parsley, thyme, scallions, and corn if using.
- Serve warm!
New to paleo. Is corn allowed? Isn’t it a grain?
Really nice recipe! We substituted prawns with chicken, and it was just as good! Very simple, very delicious.
Another absolutely amazing soup!!!
Can celery be omitted or replaced with onions or carrots? My husband has stomach issues with it.
Sure!
Great recipe, Lexi, thank you so much.
I like my chowder a little thicker, so I sautéed the onion & garlic in 2T of unsalted butter and added a little flour to make a roux. Also used 1/4 cup each of whipping cream and cooking cream for added richness. Seasoned with a little cayenne pepper for zing… fantastic!
Such a good recipe, my family and i just love it. I was wondering how many cups in a serving for this recipe.
Holy cow, this was awesome! I just added a little tarragon and dash of nutmeg to this perfect recipe. Next time, I will double it because it will be gone pretty darn quick, and maybe a little cajun seasoning and lime. I love to make soup this time of year and the amount of veggies in this is stellar.
YOU MUST MAKE THIS CHOWDER!!! It is absolutely delicious! My husband loves it and it was so easy to make! Thanks Lexi for such an easy and delicious recipe!!!!!!
YAY!!!!
Potato and bacon are a perfect combo already, then you add in the shrimp…just amazing!!
This was delicious! I made it with half coconut cream and half grass fed dairy cream. I am sure this would have been even better with fresh corn, but this time of year I only had frozen. A great lightened version of a heavy soup!
SO glad you loved it!
I love how creamy this looks! Those shrimp are perfection!
This chowder is stunning Lexi! those shrimp!!!
Comfort food at it’s finest! Can’t wait to try this with the cashew cream!
shrimp and bacon in a chowder = PERFECTION!
Can the thick portion of coconut milk be used instead of the cashew cream?
Yes!
1/2 lb bacon or full pound? Looks delicious!
1/2 pound or as much as desired!
The perfect fall chowder!
Yum, love how you included a cashew versions also!! delish!
Now, THIS is what I call comfort food…it has ALL the good stuff!!
OMG this is like corn chowder and loaded baked potato soup and seafood chowder all got together and had a baby! Love this. Seriously, all my favorites in one!