This Hatch Chile Chicken Corn Chowder is silky, smoky, and hearty. It pops with a little heat from the chile, a little sweet from the corn, and smooth creamy melted cheese.
Using Hatch chiles brings an authentic flavor to this hearty chicken corn chowder but it’s really versatile with other ingredients. Feel free to leave the chicken out, or add in other veggies that you have – we often add zucchini to this chowder.
Hatch Chiles are a family favorite.
Are Hatch chiles spicy?
I would describe the heat in my Hatch recipes as more as complex smoky pepper flavor rather than being ‘hot’. It’s vibrant but not spicy. The heat level has everything to do with our selection of Hatch chile seeds.
There are varying Scoville levels with Hatch. We source our certified Hatch seeds from Sandia Seed Company. Scoville ranges from the low 1,000 for the Green Mild Hatch to a fiery Hatch Rattlesnake of 20,000.
We’ve found quality seeds matter & purchase our seeds from Sandia Seed Company. They have a high germination rate and are easy to grow!
Our favorites are:
Hatch Green Mild
Green Medium
Hatch Medium Red
Big Jim
Nu-Mex or NM 6-4
Joe Parker
Estimating how many Hatch peppers you need.
Generally about 12 – 13 LARGE Hatch peppers = 1 lb of roasted pepper. Once you remove the skin, stem, and de-seed the pepper the yield will be just shy of 2 cups of pepper flesh (either whole or roughly chopped).
This recipe uses 2 cups of prepared Hatch Chile that’s been roasted, de-stemmed, skinned, and seeded. Then roughly chopped. About 12-15 peppers.
Don’t have fresh Hatch Chiles? No problem!
Look for canned Hatch chile peppers at the grocery store near the salsa, refried beans, etc. And our grocery store also sells them frozen. They’re located near the frozen burritos and there’s a mild and a hot option.
If you liked this Hatch Chile Chicken Corn Chowder recipe you might also like Hatch Green Chile Relleno Casserole.
Hatch Chile Chicken Corn Chowder
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp neutral oil
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 cup onion yellow or white, chopped
- 1/2 cup red or green bell pepper chopped
- 2 tsp garlic chopped
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 5 Tbsp flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups Hatch chiles roasted, peeled, deseeded, and chopped (see note)
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 1 can corn with 1/2 cup canned corn juice
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup cream or 1/2 and 1/2
- 6 oz cheddar cheese shredded
- cilantro for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- In a large pot sauté onion in butter & oil over medium to med-high heat until becoming translucent – about 3 minutes.
- Add chopped red bell pepper, garlic, oregano, salt & pepperStir until aromatics bloom. About 2 minutes.
- Add flour and whisk until all veggies are coated and a film starts to form on the bottom of the pan.Add chicken broth. Whisk vigorously, adjusting the heat, until mixture comes to a simmer and starts to thicken. Scrape the bottom of the pot to release all the fond (the browned bits from the veggies & flour).
- Add chicken, chiles, and corn.Stir and allow to come back to a simmer.
- Add milk & cream. Stir, allowing to come back to a simmer.Taste for seasoning.
- *Important* Before adding the cheese, turn OFF the heat and remove from the burner area. Add the cheese in small batches, completely stirring it in after each addition. This method will prevent the cheese from separating (also called breaking).
- Serve & enjoy!
Perfect!