Sometimes you just want to have something hearty for dinner, and my favorite super easy but hearty meal is Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Corn Chowder.

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Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Corn Chowder is a perfect meal for Fall, Winter, Spring, and even Summer because the Instant Pot doesn't heat up the entire house! You may want to omit the cream cheese in the summer to make it less heavy, but it's still a delicious dish! Alternately, in the summer months, you can just make Instant Pot Corn Chowder without the bacon and chicken.

First, saute the bacon and onion. I get my bacon from the butcher, so it's the thick-cut kind. You can use packaged bacon if you prefer. I chop it up with kitchen scissors into inch sized pieces and throw it right in there.

When the bacon is crispy and the onions are caramelized, I dump most of the ingredients in the pot; 4 split chicken breasts, cut into chunks, about 3 large potatoes, diced into approximately inch-sized chunks, and 2 cartons of chicken stock or mirepoix broth base if you have it.

Then I press the soup button (high pressure for 90 minutes) and move on my merry way. If I use already shredded chicken then I'll only cook it for 30 minutes.

When the pressure cooker beeps, I natural pressure release for about 20 minutes, stir in the cream cheese until it melts, and add the heavy cream. I don't add the cream cheese and heavy cream beforehand because they will curdle with such high temperatures. For a thicker chowder, you may like another block of cream cheese. Occasionally, I'll add a little cornstarch slurry to thicken it up as well.

It is also at this point that I do most of the seasoning. Because of the bacon, I don't use salt until the end. You can always add more salt, but taking it out is the hard part!

When I serve my chicken bacon corn chowder, I top it with diced red pepper and sometimes parsley. It gives it both a little bit of flavor as well as some color and crunch.

Variations to Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Corn Chowder:

There are so many ways to vary this recipe. If you're not a fan of chicken, turkey will work just fine and requires the exact same method. You can substitute the corn for other veggies too, like more potatoes. Or you can substitute cauliflower for the potatoes and make it lower in carbs. Using creamed corn will make it thicker, too - and sweeter if you prefer a sweeter chowder.

Can you freeze it?

You definitely can freeze it! I usually make a huge batch and freeze at least half. Sometimes I'll pull out a bag of frozen soup and throw it in the crock pot in the morning. By dinnertime, I've got a delicious hot and hearty meal that took literally 5 minutes for me to put in the slow cooker.

How long does Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Corn Chowder last?

I would say that you could keep it in your refrigerator for about 3 days and in your freezer for approximately a month. Because of the heavy cream and cream cheese, it isn't the most shelf stable soup you can make. If you want it to last longer, freeze it before adding the heavy cream and cream cheese. At that point you could freeze it without difficulty for about 2 months. *Be sure to get all of the air out of the bag - there's not much that tastes worse than freezer-burned soup!

What is the difference between chowder and soup?

Chowder typically contains potatoes and is much thicker and creamier than soup.

What could I serve this with?

The best thing about instant pot chicken bacon corn chowder is that you can eat it by itself as a meal with bread and salad, or you can eat it as a side to any meatless meal. I prefer a nice crusty loaf of french bread and lots of butter...but that's also why I have to spend a lot of time on the treadmill so if you're not into burning it off, maybe skip the buttered bread!

Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Corn Chowder

Other Instant Pot Recipes:

• Instant Pot Lemon Butter Chicken
• Instant Pot Lemon Blueberry French Toast
• Instant Pot Apple Pie Rice Pudding