Easy Sweet Corn Soup

Corn Jalapeno Vegetable soup

Sweet Corn Soup is All. About. Vegetables! Use fresh or frozen in this easy, one-pot meal. Bonus: it freezes well for a make-ahead meal.  

We wait all year for garden fresh summer vegetables

We complain about lackluster store-bought tomatoes. We think about the first ear of fresh corn. We laugh about too-much zucchini. We wait all year for this: the peak season of vegetables. And now they’re piling up. Peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, beets and corn are ripe and ready. How does a quick soup sound?

Vegetable Corn Soup, a one-pot meal ready in less than 30 minutes

  • is all about vegetables! Use fresh or frozen.
  • this one-pot meal is ready in less than 30 minutes.
  • freezes well for a make-ahead meal.

The ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 5 cups corn, frozen or fresh
  • 1 14.5 ounce can chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
2 Corn Jalapeno Soup bowls with spoon

Corn Jalapeno Soup is veggie-rich comfort food

3 things to know about freezing vegetables

To make them last, freezing is my go-to option to preserve food. For the best results you need to know three main factors.

  1. Enzymes, naturally present in vegetables, contribute to ripening and flavor.
  2. Blanching inactivates the enzymes so preserves flavor and color.
  3. Freezing at 0°F or below maintains quality and nutrients.

Blanch ’em

Blanch vegetables by briefly boiling or steaming then rapidly cool in ice water to stop cooking. Timing is key. Over-blanching results in a cooked food and loss of flavor, color, and nutrients. Under blanching stimulates enzyme activity and is worse than no blanching at all. Find recommended times at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

How to blanch vegetables

For home freezing, use one gallon of water per pound of prepared vegetables. Put the vegetable in a blanching basket (or steamer pot) and lower into vigorously boiling water. Cover the pan with a lid. The water should return to boiling within 1 minute. If it takes longer you are using too much food for the amount of water. Start counting blanching time as soon as the water returns to a boil. After blanching, quickly cool vegetables to stop the cooking. Plunge the basket of vegetables into a large amount of cold water, such as a large bowl of water and ice. Cooling vegetables should take the same amount of time as blanching. Be sure to make a new bowl of ice water for each pot of vegetables. Drain vegetables thoroughly after cooling. Freeze the blanched vegetables in a single layer on a sheet pan until frozen, and then pack containers with the frozen vegetables.

How to freeze vegetables

Speed in freezing is important for best quality, so put no more unfrozen vegetables into the freezer at one time than will freeze in 24 hours–usually two to three pounds of vegetables per cubic foot of freezer space. Plastic freezer containers, freezer bags, or glass canning jars are best for freezing. Regular (not canning) jars break easily at freezer temperatures. Your goal is to remove as much air from the package as possible. Label packages with the name and date. Most vegetables maintain high quality for 8 to 12 months at 0°F or lower. Longer storage will not make food unfit to eat, but may impair quality.

How to freeze vegetables Corn Jalapeno Soup recipe

Here are instructions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation for popular vegetables.

How to freeze green, snap, or wax beans

  • Rinse in cold water, cut into 2 to 4-inch lengths. Blanch 3 minutes. Package, seal and freeze.

How to freeze beets

  • Wash and sort according to size. Leave tap root; trim tops leaving 1⁄2-inch of stem. Cook in boiling water (or steam) until tender. Small beets, 25-30 minutes; large beets, 45-50 minutes. Cool, peel (removing stem and tap root) and cut into slices or cubes. Package, seal and freeze.

How to freeze peppers

  • Wash and remove stems. Package, seal and freeze.

How to freeze tomatoes

  • Dip in boiling water for 30 seconds to loosen skins. Peel, core, leave whole or cut in pieces. Package, seal and freeze.

How to freeze zucchini

  • Wash and cut into 1⁄2-inch slices. Blanch 3 minutes, cool, package, seal and freeze.

How to freeze corn

cutting kernels from an ear of corn

make cutting corn off the cob easier by setting it in a bowl and run knife along core

This is an easy way to cut the corn from the cob. Run a sharp knife along the cob. The bowl catches the kernels.

  • Husk and trim the ears, remove silks and rinse.
  • Corn-on-the-cob – Blanch medium ears (1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter) 9 minutes and large ears (over 1½ inches in diameter) 11 minutes. Cool, drain, package, seal and freeze.
  • Whole Kernel Corn – Blanch 4 minutes. Cool, drain and cut from cob. Package, seal and freeze.

Rather than freeze ALL the corn, enjoy some in Sweet Corn Soup.

2 bowls of Corn Jalapeno Soup

Vegetables Corn Soup is a great make ahead meal

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Corn Jalapeno soup is all about vegetables

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Sweet Corn Soup

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Sweet Corn Soup is All. About. Vegetables! Use fresh or frozen in this easy, one-pot meal. Bonus: it freezes well for a make-ahead meal.

  • Author: Judy Barbe
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 5 cups corn, frozen or fresh
  • 1 14.5 ounce can chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

In a large pot add oil; heat over medium-high. Add onion and red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno; cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add cumin, cook and stir for 1 minute. Add corn, broth, water, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Notes

Add diced zucchini or chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned) with the onion or rinsed and drained, black beans when you add the the corn. This soup can be eaten hot or blend it, then chill to serve as a cold soup. It also freezes well.

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