I always enjoy the rich holiday foods – but I also find that I crave simpler comfort foods as the new year rolls around. It’s also the time of year when I enjoy making soups, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Cream of Corn Soup. The soup included both corn and bits of bacon, and was a delightful taste treat.
This recipe is a keeper. My husband said, “This is good,” which is high praise from him.
Here is the original recipe:
The old recipe only called for using 1 tablespoon of bacon grease (fat), but that seemed like a very small about of fat when I stirred 2 tablespoons flour into the bacon grease, so I used all the bacon grease that I got when cooking the bacon.
Here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Cream of Corn Soup (with Bacon)
1 can corn (14-16 oz.) or 2 cups fresh corn (cooked) (Either whole kernel or creamed corn can be used. I used a can of whole kernel corn.)
3 strips bacon
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups milk
Fry bacon until crisp in a Dutch oven or large saucepan, then remove from pan and crumble into small pieces. Set the crumbled bacon aside.
Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper into the bacon grease (fat). Then gradually add the milk while stirring constantly. Add the corn and crumbled bacon. Stir to combine. Continue heating until hot and steamy.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I’d like to try this, but unfortunately my husband doesn’t like sweetcorn. I wonder if I’d get it past him if I processed the corn smooth?
It definitely would be easier to get past him if the corn was processed smooth, though I think that he probably would still notice the taste of the corn. This may not be a recipe for your family. š
š¦
It does sound very good.
I really liked it.
Sounds delicious and simple, both of which are good! And our first report for 1923 cookery! Happy New Year, Sheryl.
Happy New Year! I bought several 1923 cookbooks off Ebay and am enjoying looking through them. I’m always energized at the beginning of a new year. There’s a whole new set of recipes, and now I need to decide which to try. š
I bought corn and bacon today! I will let you know how mine turns out.
I look forward to hearing what you think about this recipe.
I opted to add potatoes and make it like a chowder instead of soup, and it was delicious! I used frozen corn, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was fast, easy, and delicious. I served it with a French baguette. Definitely I would make this again.
mmm. . . the potatoes sound like a wonderful addition. It’s nice to hear that you liked this soup.
Thanks, Sheryl. The potatoes were a nice addition!
This looks really good, Sheryl. I was glad to see you made it so easy with the “Print” button, because this is going on our table in the next week or two. I’m sure the bacon and bacon fat really make this tasty, and yet it’s a light soup. I was surprised that this 100-year-old recipe listed the calories. Always a fun surprise to read these old recipes, thanks so much. And happy new year!
I think that you’ll like this recipe. The recipe is from a cookbook called The Calorie Cook Book, and includes the number of calories for each recipe. I’ve seen calories listed for some recipes for the last 4 or 5 years. (In other words, recipes beginning in about 1918 or 1919.) They clearly knew how to calculate calories back then. I think that it’s interesting that the old recipes give the total number of calories for the entire recipe rather than the number for a single serving like we generally see today.
Just add some onions and potatoes, and you have a New England Corn Chowder!
I wondered how it was related to chowder! Thanks for the tip, Dorothy!
I second what Suzassippi wrote. I also learned the difference between corn soup and chowder from reading your comment.
So glad to help! There are always onions and potatoes in any New England chowder, clam, seafood, fish, etc., with the exception of the former No Name Restaurant on the Boston waterfront. They always bragged their fish chowder was stuffed with so much fish there was no room for the potatoes! Sadly, it closed just before the Pandemic hit.
This is making hungry for some New England clam chowder. š
Me too!
I make this with creamed corn and instead of bacon I use diced ham… Its on the menu for Wed to use up the last of the Christmas ham!!
Sounds like a tasty way to use up the last of the Christmas ham.
Amazing
It’s yummy.
Yes
Iām always looking for new soup recipes to try. This sounds delicious.
It’s a nice soup recipe. It’s tasty and easy to make.
It looks delicious.