This customizable sweet corn bisque is the perfect blank canvas. Unadulterated, it tastes purely of sweet corn with a velvety smooth texture. A charred Street Corn topping gives it smoke and spice and can be customized with vegan, dairy or bacon options. Eat it hot on a cool day or cool on a hot day, either way!
roast corn: 12 mins
prep: 30 mins
broth cook time: 60 mins or less
total: 105 mins
We’ve been eating a lot of corn on the cob lately, and I’d heard you can make a broth with the cobs, so I got to it! Also, don’t make fun of me, but they’ve been making a lot of bisques on Masterchef lately, and that got me wondering about bringing the smooth silky texture of a bisque to a vegetable based soup puree. But I wanted to make it unadulterated (my favorite adjective for this sweet corn bisque) where the corn creates the velvety texture without cream or butter, used in most seafood bisques. Once I worked out the bisque, I realized the street corn and other toppings are very versatile. Keep it vegan with vegan feta as a topping. Make it vegetarian with a bit of crème fraîche and salty feta. Go omnivore with salty bacon bits and plenty of chives. Any way you top it, this sweet corn bisque makes a flavorful light meal with crusty bread or a great starter soup. In fact, the pure and simple corn bisque tastes so sweet of fresh corn, you could serve it without any toppings at all for a rich flavor experience.
Why this recipe works
- No thickeners- no flour, butter, or cream are used to make this bisque means more corn flavor, and less fat. I find it more pure tasting versus tasting butter or cream.
- Simple process- I call this a bisque, because corn cobs and kernels are cooked together for an hour or less, then the cobs are removed and the resultant broth and cooked kernels are blended and strained to create a smooth bisque. The natural starches in the corn create a velvety texture.
- Sweet corn flavor- by leaving out additional aromatics or seasonings aside from veggie broth and some garlic, the bisque develops a prominent sweet corn flavor, without any other flavor distractions.
- Versatility- the entirely vegan bisque can be kept that way with spicy and smoky vegan street corn toppings (and vegan feta to complete the street corn taste), or it can be made vegetarian with dairy feta or even omnivore with bacon pieces.
- Minimalist- as mentioned, no thickeners, fats and no sherries or alcohols added. I love the pure corn flavor.
Above: Fresh corn on the cob is the star (5 ears worth!) of this recipe!
Ingredient notes
- Corn on the cob- this recipe uses 3 ears of fresh corn on the cob to make the broth/bisque and 2 more ears to make the street corn topping. You could use some frozen corn for the street corn topping if you want.
- Dairy- to add the authentic street corn flavors to this bisque, you can use a vegan feta for a salty taste. As mentioned above, you can use dairy feta as well for a vegetarian option.’
- Vegetable bouillon- bouillon cubes or boxed vegetable broth can be used. I adjusted the strength for a lower sodium content of 400mg per cup, take note and adjust based on your broth choice.
- Jalapeños- roasting fresh jalapeños on the tray with the corn kernels for the topping, is an easy way to add some heat to the dish. Once roasted, the jalapeños are chopped and used as a topping to the soup. I used red jalapeños, but you can use green or other red hot chile peppers as well.
- Spices- smoked paprika (not regular paprika), chili powder, cumin, salt and cilantro create the spice blend to mimic street corn flavors. I used dried cilantro for a change, but if you don’t want to buy that or don’t have it, fresh cilantro can be chopped and used instead.
Above: all the ingredients needed to make the street corn topping.
Step-by-step instructions
The first order of business for this sweet corn bisque is to gather the 3 ears of corn, strip them of their kernels, and place them in a pot with the bouillon, garlic and water, then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to simmer and cover for 1 hour.
While the broth cooks, gather the street corn topping ingredients and toss them together before placing in a preheated oven on broil. Use the 2nd rung down so they are close but not too close to the broiler (4-6″). Broil for about 10-12 minutes, until they are golden with a bit of charring, but not over cooked- see recipe card for more details.
Once the hour has passed and the broth is cooked, remove the cobs and puree the rest of the ingredients in the pot. See recipe card for safety details.
The final step is to pour the puréed soup through a sieve, to leave behind any bits of corn, to allow for a final texture of a smooth and velvety bisque.
The final step is to serve the bisque and top it with your roasted street corn, jalapenos, herbs, feta, and sprinkles of spices for that extra beautiful presentation.
Tips for making and serving this recipe
- Finishing the corn broth- when the corn and cobs are done cooking in the broth, I recommend grabbing each cob with tongs and using a paring knife with the other hand to gently scrape down the sides of the cob to release the last bits of corn, before blending the soup.
- Straining the broth- no need to push on any corn fibers that remain behind in the sieve. The idea is to keep those out of the finished product. Depending on your corn the amount of fiber could be very little or a couple tablespoons, I’ve found.
- Roasting the kernels for topping- watch this process closely. You don’t want to broil them too much so that they are all very brown, but rather, only lightly char some of them. You want to preserve some of the moisture and color for best flavor.
- Broth cook time- if an hour is too much time to spend cooking the broth, 20-30 minutes works fine as well. Because we are only cooking corn and not meat, we don’t have as much flavor or fat to develop. I like to boil longer to maximize extraction of flavors from the cobs, but it’s not necessary.
- More heat- feel free to puree the roasted jalapeños (skin and all) with the corn broth, for a corn bisque with great heat. I love how jalapeño heat has a nice dissipating hotness soon after eating it. I like developing recipes without the heat , but also have a way of dialing up heat and spice for those that love it.
- More spice- you are welcome to include some of the designated spices in the puree of the bisque, but note that this will create a darker, more golden, beige colored soup versus the pure soft yellow bisque color of this recipe as written.
FAQs
Traditionally bisques are a French soup preparation for a creamy, seafood based soup, that includes thickeners like butter, cream, and sometimes even ground up shells from the seafood. Over time, the method of making bisque has expanded to vegetable soups, such as tomato bisque.
A broth is a clear liquid cooked with meat, aromatics and other vegetables, then the ingredients are strained out of the broth, leaving the clear flavorful liquid, whereas bisques are made usually with seafood (and sometimes with vegetables), and are thickened with cream, butter and sometimes even pureed shells from the seafood, traditionally.
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Sweet Corn Bisque with Street Corn Toppings (Vegan w/options)
Kitchen Tools
- 1 3 qt dutch oven, sub other soup pot
Ingredients
Bisque Ingredients
- 3 ears fresh corn (see notes)
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced (small-average size (or 1 elephant sized clove))
- 1.5 cubes vegetable bouillon (or boxed broth- use half strength- see notes)
Street Corn Topping Ingredients
- 2 ears fresh corn
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried cilantro (or fresh, finely chopped)
- 1 tsp chili pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (make sure to use smoked)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Other Toppings (includes vegan, vegetarian and omnivore options)
- 2 jalapenos (red or green, or other spicy red pepper)
- 2 limes
- 4 oz feta cheese (vegan or dairy)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 4 oz sour cream (vegan or dairy)
- crumbled bacon
Method:
Make Corn Broth/Bisque
- Cut kernels from 3 ears of corn by holding each ear vertically inside the pot and using a small paring knife to safely cut the kernels off all sides of the cob. Snap each cob in after after stripping it and place in pot with kernels. Add bouillon cubes and sliced garlic, cover with 6 cups water and bring to a boil with cover on. Simmer for 60 minutes or less (see notes).
Make Street Corn Topping
- Preheat oven on broil, with top rack 4-6" from broiler (2nd rung down, likely).
- Cut kernels from two ears of corn and place on sheet pan (don't use parchment since you will use broiler). Toss with the 2 tsp olive oil and add the dried or fresh cilantro, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, and salt. Mix spices even through the kernels. Feel free to add these cobs to the broth as well.
- Clean the jalapenos, cut in half and de-rib and de-seed. Place on sheet pan with corn kernels.
- Place sheet pan into preheated oven to broil for approximately 12 min. Watch closely throughout. No need to toss. Don't over cook, or they will get chewy. Broil just enough to retain some moisture but for many of the kernels to develop a deeper color and a few to char.
Puree the Bisque (yields 5-6 cups total)
- Remove the corn cobs from the finished broth. I use tongs, and use a paring knife to quickly scrape any extra corn bits from the cobs into the broth, before discarding the cobs.
- Pour the broth w/the kernels into a high speed blender. Leave the center piece out of the lid, and hold a dish towel over the top, while pureeing the soup, which allows steam to escape and prevents the hot soup from spurting up. Start slowly, and increase to top speed for about 20-30 seconds. Alternatively, based on your timing, you can wait for the broth to cool before pureeing and then reheat when you want to serve it.
- Pour the pureed soup through a metal seive strainer back into the dutch oven. Swirl the strainer/seive until all the liquid passes through. Depending on your corn, there may be enough fiberous material left in strainer to move around a bit with a spoon, just to be sure all the liquid has passed. It varies.
Finish the Bisque
- Taste the bisque for seasoning and add salt or pepper to taste. It should taste velvety and purely of corn. So good.
- Serve the bisque and top with 1/4-1/3 cup of the roasted street corn.
- Top with vegan feta and/or vegan sour cream (or dairy versions, and/or crumbled bacon if you are an omnivore.
- Other toppings to place over the street corn are the roasted jalapenos, chopped, chopped fresh cilantro, sprinkles of the spices, squeezes of lime juice.
