Leftover Turkey Chowder - A Leftover Recipe | Greedy Gourmet (2024)

Essentially, there are four main types of corn you can use for this leftover turkey corn chowder. You might think that all corn tastes the same – but it doesn’t. They all have their own unique characteristics and some are even inedible!

Field or dent corn

A widespread type of corn is field corn or dent corn, which is not used for cooking but rather to feed livestock. Even though this corn is visually appealing as it’s dented, the taste isn't very nice.

Flint corn

Another type of corn, generally found in Central and South America, flint corn is quite similar to dent corn; however this corn is more colorful. You can even find flint corn which is red or almost purple.

Its range of colour makes these corns perfect for decorative display. It is edible but not very soft. I wouldn’t recommend using this corn for the turkey chowder.

Popcorn

Ah, the quintessential movie snack. Popcorn kernels are known for their soft starchy centres. Once you expose the popcorn to heat, it explodes and gives you that lovely end-result we all know and love.

Have I got you in the mood to eat popcorn? Why not try my bacon popcorn with honey or this Blackstone Caramel Popcorn recipe. They're utterly delicious!

Sweetcorn

The corn we’re using for this recipe is sweetcorn. This type of corn has a lot of soft starch and as a result will never pop if you try making popcorn with it. Compared to other types of corn, sweetcorn contains the most amount of sugar.

Always fresh! The fresh kind is so much better than canned. You’ll need about two cobs of corn for this recipe to serve four people.

If absolutely necessary, you can also use canned sweetcorn. However, I am not a fan of these as they might contain additives and excessive amounts of sugar. When cooked in the broth, this soup recipe resembles cream style corn, albeit made with turkey leftovers!

Many recipes call for the use of cream corn, but fresh sweetcorn works much better.

The trick here is to add the double cream in a way where it doesn’t split, which would make the soup unappealing. Once you let the soup boil and simmer for a while, take it off the heat and stir occasionally. This will prevent splitting.

The hotter the turkey chowder is, the more likely it is to split. Once you set the turkey chowder aside for ten minutes, add the cream in small portions and stir. It’s a good idea to use double cream that is at room temperature. So, make sure to take it out of the fridge between 20-30 minutes before you start to cook.

For final tweaks, I recommend chopping some fresh red chillies or jalapeños, or adding a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. A dusting of nutmeg would also work well with the double cream.

For some more tanginess, add some fresh herbs like fresh parsley, coriander or watercress.

Ingredients

UnitsScale

• 15ml (1 tbsp) butter
• 5ml (1 tsp) oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 450g (1lb) potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 500ml (2 cups) sweet corn kernels, approximately 2 sweet corn cobs
• 1 red pepper, washed and finely chopped
• 225g (½lb) cooked turkey, shredded
• 1L (4 cups) vegetable stock
• 250ml (1 cup) heavy/double cream
• 9g (1 tbsp) cornstarch
• salt and pepper, to taste
• a handful flat leaf parsley, chopped

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan.
2. Gently fry the onion until softened and translucent.
3. Add the garlic, celery, carrot, potato, corn and red pepper to the onion and fry for another 5 minutes.
4. Tip in the turkey and stock, then bring the mixture to boiling point.
5. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes, or until the potato is fork tender.
6. Towards the end of the cooking time, prepare a slurry by placing the cornstarch in a cup with a splash of the cream. Stir until a thick paste has formed. Pour the remaining cream to the soup, then slowly pour the slurry to the soup while stirring vigorously until the soup has somewhat thickened.
7. Season to taste and serve immediately.

• For an even thicker soup consistency, double up on the cornstarch used, i.e. 18g (2 tbsp).
• The turkey can be substituted for leftover chicken or any roast meats for that matter.
• Don't have any celery? Check out these celery substitutes to use instead!