Elote-Style Corn & Potato Chowder
with Cotija Cheese, Pepitas & Cilantro
- Milk
Mexican street food inspired this creamy corn and potato chowder that's flavored with zingy garlic and smoky ancho chili powder, and topped with cotija cheese, cilantro, and pepitas. Best of all, these loaded bowls hit the table in a speedy 20 minutes for a warm and comforting main course that's perfect for any night of the week!
Ingredients
2 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
12 ounce
Potatoes
1 unit
Onion
½ cup
Cotija Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Ancho Chili Powder
1 unit
Lime
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
¼ ounce
Cilantro
½ ounce
Pepitas
1 unit
Corn
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
¼ tablespoon (tbsp)
Sugar
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
-
Wash and dry produce.
-
Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces. Drain corn and pat dry with paper towels. Dice onion into ½-inch pieces. Pick leaves from cilantro; mince stems. Quarter lime. Reserve ¼ tsp chili powder (½ tsp for 4 servings) in a small bowl (you'll use it in Step 4).
-
Place potatoes in a medium bowl with 1 TBSP water (2 TBSP for 4 servings). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave until slightly tender, 5-7 minutes. (They'll finish cooking in the soup.)
-
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
-
Add corn, onion, and cilantro stems. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 3-4 minutes.
-
Add garlic powder, remaining chili powder, and ¼ tsp sugar (½ tsp for 4 servings). Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute.
-
Add potatoes (careful when uncovering the bowl—steam may release!), stock concentrates, 1½ cups water, and ½ tsp salt (3 cups water and 1 tsp salt for 4 servings) to pot.
-
Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer until soup has thickened, 5-7 minutes.
-
Turn off heat; stir in cream sauce base, half the cotija, 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4), and a squeeze of lime juice.
-
Divide soup between bowls; top with reserved chili powder, remaining cotija, cilantro leaves, pepitas, and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The elote-inspired flavors are a pleasant surprise, with the cotija, lime, and chili powder coming together nicely 🌽. Some found it mild or bland as written — using the full chili powder packet rather than reserving half as garnish made a noticeable difference.
- Ease of prep: A true one-pot meal that's easy to pull together, though actual prep time runs longer than 20 minutes once all the chopping is done.
- Suggestions: Mash some of the potatoes directly in the pot to thicken the broth into a proper chowder consistency. Add green chiles, jalapeño, or Tajín for extra kick, and consider charring the corn first for a more authentic street-corn flavor.
- Leftovers: The chowder tastes even better the next day as the flavors meld — one reviewer finished the rest for breakfast and loved it.
- Protein: Several reviewers added shredded chicken, shrimp, or bacon to make it a more complete meal, all with great results.
Reviews from our home cooks
Really good! I charred the corn and onion though because that's how elote is prepared.
This ended up needing some help but was really good in the end. I didn't follow the cooking instructions exactly to bring out more flavors. I wish I had diced the onions a lot smaller. 1/2 inch was way too big. I added all of the chili powder and I didn't add the corn until I added the potatoes. I added a half-tablespoon of elote seasoning from Aldi, lots of salt, and I smooshed it a little to make it more chowdery. I added half of a rotisserie chicken at the end.
It was good but too chunky, maybe blending it would have helped? This is not a chowder, this was more like a thin stew, the flour did nothing.
I needed to hit this with the hand-blender to get it to a chowder consistency and added a bit more chili powder along with some Mexican oregano to punch up the flavor. I also included the water from the corn can because that straight flavor town. It was delicious. Ate it with some tortilla chips to add texture (like crackers in other chowders). perfect combo.
Real Good. I had mine with bread. The Cotija Cheese adds just the right flavor with the lime to put this on the eat again list.
My whole family adored this meal! Winner, winner Elote-Style Corn and Potato Chowder dinner!
Loved the creativity here! Since the was not enough protein, I combined it with your Southwest Chicken Salad to make a complete gourmet meal that lasted a couple days.
This Potato Chowder was probably the best I've ever tasted would definitely make this again.
Absolutely delicious. It tasted so much like Elote en Vaso. Please have this as a recurring menu item.
This dish was full of texture and flavor. I added black pepper to give it a little more kick.
