Creole Crab and Corn Chowder

41 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 20
  • 4 Rating Star 12
  • 3 Rating Star 4
  • 2 Rating Star 3
  • 1 Rating Star 2
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Ideally you would make this in the middle of summer with ears of fresh, sweet-as-sugar corn. You can also make a perfectly fine version of this chowder using a premium-quality, extra-sweet, frozen corn.

By Chef John
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Ingredients

6
Original recipe yields 6 servings
The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

Directions

  • Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; stir in onion, jalepeno peppers, celery, and a pinch of salt. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, 7 to 10 minutes.

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  • Stir seafood seasoning and cayenne pepper into onion mixture; cook for 30 seconds.

  • Sprinkle flour over onion mixture; cook and stir until mixture is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

  • Pour 2 1/2 cups water, 1/2 pound corn kernels, and 2 ounces crabmeat into the onion mixture; increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer.

  • Place 1 cup water, 1/2 pound corn kernels, and garlic into a blender. Cover and puree until smooth.

  • Pour corn puree into the Dutch oven and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until chowder is thicker and the color deepens, about 45 minutes.

  • Stir 6 ounces of crabmeat, paprika, and heavy cream into chowder. Season with salt and pepper to taste; garnish with green onions and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Tip

Aluminum foil helps keep food moist, ensures it cooks evenly, keeps leftovers fresh, and makes clean-up easy.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
196.92 calories; 10.53 g protein; 21.83 g carbohydrates; 9.01 g fat; 45.79 mg cholesterol; 217.04 mg sodium. Full Nutrition

Reviews (33)

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Most helpful positive review

Wyattdogster
08/03/2012
If I had made the recipe as is I would have given it 3 stars at the most because with that amount of jalapeno in it I think it would have been inedible. Just to clarify I like it hot I'm no wimp. I add extra hot sauce to almost everything and ask for extra spicy at Thai restaurants. But this would be over the top hot and wouldn't allow for enjoying the flavor of that very expensive crabmeat. Luckily I watched Chef John's video so I made some changes based on what he mentioned. For the liquid I used 8oz. clam juice and 1 1/2 cup water. I chopped a half cup of green bell pepper then one large jalapeno (2 Tbsp). Half&Half was in the fridge so I used that. With those changes it was outstanding with a rich broth the flavor of the crab came shining through and it was still plenty Creole-spicy! This was a wonderful way to use up the leftover crabs...after picking I had close to a pound and you bet I put it all in!
Helpful
(23)

Most helpful critical review

MY4KIDS
07/07/2012
I agree with review number 3. The chowder is WAY too spicy and takes away the taste of the crab. I only used 3/4 of a jalapeno pepper and the rest green bell pepper and it was still too spicy to taste the 12 worth of crab meat that I put into the recipe. I will probably use this recipe again with several alterations of my own. The basics of the recipe is good but unless you absolutely love a lot of spice don't use the hot peppers.
Helpful
(5)
41 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 20
  • 4 Rating Star 12
  • 3 Rating Star 4
  • 2 Rating Star 3
  • 1 Rating Star 2
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
Wyattdogster
08/03/2012
If I had made the recipe as is I would have given it 3 stars at the most because with that amount of jalapeno in it I think it would have been inedible. Just to clarify I like it hot I'm no wimp. I add extra hot sauce to almost everything and ask for extra spicy at Thai restaurants. But this would be over the top hot and wouldn't allow for enjoying the flavor of that very expensive crabmeat. Luckily I watched Chef John's video so I made some changes based on what he mentioned. For the liquid I used 8oz. clam juice and 1 1/2 cup water. I chopped a half cup of green bell pepper then one large jalapeno (2 Tbsp). Half&Half was in the fridge so I used that. With those changes it was outstanding with a rich broth the flavor of the crab came shining through and it was still plenty Creole-spicy! This was a wonderful way to use up the leftover crabs...after picking I had close to a pound and you bet I put it all in!
Helpful
(23)
SHRIEKINGVIOLET
05/05/2012
Great soup extremely flavorful and pretty easy to make! I did think it a bit too spicy though. I knew using all jalapenos would be more heat than I could handle so I used the milder Anaheim pepper instead. It was still a little hotter than I would have preferred. It wasn't the heat itself that was the problem but that the level of heat overpowered the flavor of the crab. I added some milk to tone it down a bit which helped but I think if I made it again I'd replace half of the chili pepper with plain bell peppers. Pretty yummy soup though! Hearty and full flavored.
Helpful
(11)
Jake
10/18/2012
Chef John- Another great recipe. I'm glad that I watched your video before making this - although the directions are ok watching those extra observations of yours help me big time in the timing of the steps. I swapped out the celery for Red Bell Peppers split the jalapeno amount between a jalapeno and a serrono pepper up the cayenne to three pinches and went 1/3 cup of heavy cream used all chicken stock for the liquid added 8 oz of lump crab. Served it with Sweet Cornbread. Family went nuts.....love it big time.
Helpful
(5)
MY4KIDS
07/07/2012
I agree with review number 3. The chowder is WAY too spicy and takes away the taste of the crab. I only used 3/4 of a jalapeno pepper and the rest green bell pepper and it was still too spicy to taste the 12 worth of crab meat that I put into the recipe. I will probably use this recipe again with several alterations of my own. The basics of the recipe is good but unless you absolutely love a lot of spice don't use the hot peppers.
Helpful
(5)
holly
05/19/2012
This is amazing!! Just like I had in a New Orleans restaurant I had last week!!!
Helpful
(4)
mbaker
01/16/2013
Don't listen to those who used green pepper instead of jalapeno. This recipe is delicious with them. As a matter of fact it would be inedibly bland without them. I served it with jalapeno cheese cornbread for an extra kick!
Helpful
(3)
Doug Matthews
Rating Star
Allstar
02/04/2013
The next time I make this if I do I won't use a 1/2 cup of jalapenos. That just seemed like heat for the sake of heat. It also buried the paprika & Old Bay. I'll keep it for inspiration.
Helpful
(3)
AL J
03/27/2016
Cutting back to half on the jalapeno whilst substituting regular green pepper for the remainder lets the other succulent flavours come through nicely without the jalapeno overpowering and there's still plenty of heat to be had too when garnishing with cayenne. Fresh crab is the only way to go if you can get it. Made this five or 6 times now I live on the NW Pacific ocean so fresh crab isn't a cost concern..just a bit of work. Also when fresh corn is in season here I'll grill and scrape off the cobs just to kick it up even more. And although it was good the first time following the recipe to the letter now I always use a good low sodium organic chicken broth instead of plain water and avoid adding any other salt. This is so good I double the recipe everytime....must have leftovers if possible:-)!
Helpful
(3)
Sharon H
07/30/2013
This was really good. I used a red pepper in place of the jalapeno b/c we don't like things too spicy and kids were eating it. I used one can of chicken broth and the rest water for flavor per the video and only a pinch of the cayenne for our taste. Since it is corn season I used fresh corn (7 ears) and it was great although I might try 8 ears next time. I will try frozen in the winter months. I could not find fresh crab in my town so I had to use a high quality can (Miller Select Special White) 6.5 oz and it was plenty of crab for the soup.
Helpful
(2)
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