This Sweet Corn Zucchini Soup is deceptively simple, and the perfect vessel to showcase some of the more delicate flavors of autumn.
The magic of this soup comes from creating the broth by boiling the corn cobs. This generates so much more flavor than you might think! Just 20 or 30 minutes of boiling while you prepare the rest of the ingredients yields a broth that is both earthy and sweet, rich but light.
Because of this, using fresh ears of corn at the height of seasonal freshness is MANDATORY! This soup is not the time to use frozen corn, even frozen corn on the cob. You will miss the entirety of the flavor.
Since you need high quality corn, this is the perfect early fall soup. It’s lighter than its heavier winter cousins but still rich enough to be hearty and satisfying.
If you have an immersion blender, this is a great time to bust it out! Part of the luxurious texture of this soup comes from completely blending half of the vegetables into the broth. If you don’t have one, pouring the mixture into a regular blender would work just as well. A food processor would be acceptable as well although you may not be able to achieve quite as silky of a texture.
In that same vein, you want to make sure that your cooked veggies get soft enough to blend in the first place. In the recipe you will see that after cooking the vegetables, they are divided into two portions. One portion is meant to be blended into the broth, and one portion is meant to be served in the final dish. I like the veggies in the final dish to retain a little texture and crunch. So I tend to let the broth and the other half boil together for a few extra minutes just to be sure.
Looking for other delicious ways to use fresh sweet corn? Check out my Green Chile, Peach and Corn Salsa and Honey Butter Quinoa and Corn recipes!
Sweet Corn Zucchini Soup
Equipment
- 1 blender or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 2 ears fresh (not frozen) sweet corn
- 6 cups water
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 yellow onion (about 2 cups after dicing)
- 1 medium carrot
- 2 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1 small zucchini
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- pepper to taste
- green onions, cilantro or parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Slice the kernels from both ears of corn. Bring water, kosher salt and leftover corn cobs to a boil, covered. You may need to break the cobs in half. Boil for the duration of the next steps, or at least 20 minutes.
- Dice onion. Cut carrot into thin discs. Cut zucchini into half medallions.
- Melt butter or ghee in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to become translucent - about 15 minutes.
- Add carrots and corn to onions. Cover and cook for 10 or so minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to have vegetables that are cooked through, but still retain some of their crunch and texture.
- Add half of your onion / carrot/ corn mixture to the boiling water, reserving the other half in the pan. Boil, covered, for about 5 minutes or until the veggies are totally soft.
- In the meantime, add the zucchini to the remaining vegetables in the pan. Cover and cook until the zucchini is soft but not mushy. Remove from heat.
- Turn the heat off on the boiling water once the vegetables you added have cooked through. Fish out the corn cobs with a slotted spoon and discard.
- Add heavy whipping cream, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper to the pot. If you have an immersion blender, use that to blend the soup until thickened and no large chunks remain. If you are using a regular blender, pour the soup mixture into that and let cool slightly. Blend until thickened with no large chunks remaining. Return to pot.
- Add the remaining vegetables from the frying pan and heat through. Garnish with green onions, cilantro or parsley if desired.
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