Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp & Kisses of Honey and Lime

Say hello to one of my favorite summer soups! All its ingredients are familiar, but they combine to produce something unusual and surprising and remarkable. While the soup is indeed wonderful warm, for me it's a summer soup to serve chilled, a seasonally sensual choice. For all of us who love corn chowder? This is worthy of our next spoonful ...

Memorable Homestyle Whole Food, Simply Prepared. Real Food, Fresh & Inventive. Little Effort, Big Reward. Familiar Ingredients In an Unusual Combination. A Long-Time Family Favorite. A Summer Classic. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep. Low Fat. High Protein. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

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Especially for Summer, Year After Year

Let’s talk about sweet corn — peak-season, sun-kissed, can’t-stop-eating-it sweet corn — and what happens when you give it a swirl with silky broth plus hints of curry and lime and honey. To then top it all with tender shrimp? Ooolala, people, ooolala.

Seriously, this Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp is everything I crave in the midst of summer, weeknight magic that comes together with ingredients I probably already have (or want an excuse to pick up). Here's why. It's:

• Light but cozy
• Quick but special
• Deeply flavorful with hardly any fuss

Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp fits busy lives.

It makes up in minutes and keeps in the fridge for several days ready to serve warm with bread on a chilly evening or cold with a crunchy salad some steamy summer night. Whether you ladle it into big bowls or serve it in teacups as a starter, this soup absolutely earns its spot in a summer menu rotation.

For company, fresh corn and shrimp make Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp something special, a perfect starter. For dramatic presentation, use large fresh shrimp with the tails left on, two or three per bowl.

For everyday, however, frozen corn and shrimp are a wonderful convenience with minimal flavor loss, especially if there's time to let the flavors meld for a few hours.

But This Is Super-Important: Choose the Right Chicken Broth

The choice of chicken broth is very important here. For once though, I'm not going to say, "preferably homemade". In fact, just the opposite!

To serve the soup cold, please use canned chicken broth or broth from a bouillion cube. Homemade chicken stock has so much collagen, the chilled soup will turn into a lumpy gelatinous mess. Not a good thing! Ask me how I know?! 🙄

To serve the soup warm, a good, rich chicken stock works beautifully but honestly, isn't required or even preferred. But if you want, do try my go-to No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock.

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Recipe Overview: Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp

• This Sweet-Corn Soup with Shrimp is both simple and special, the kind you might pull together on a weeknight but might as happily serve to guests. It's such a surprise, served chilled in summer but no worries, it might also just become your new warm-weather favorite. Either way, serve with crusty bread and call it dinner.

• When to Serve = Serve chilled during warm weather, warm in chilly weather. Or you do you on "opposites day".
• Diet Needs & Choices = Egg Free. Nut Free.
• Distinctive Ingredients = Corn + Shrimp + Touches of Curry, Lime Juice & Honey
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + butter + onion + flour for thickening + chicken broth + milk + salt
• For Garnish = Strips of lime zest are pretty.
• Kitchen Tools = Just a big pot for cooking, a wooden spoon to stir.
• Hands-On Time = Allow about 15 minutes over about 25 minutes.
• Time-to-Table = If serving chilled, be sure to allow several hours in the fridge. If serving warm, there's obviously no need to chill the soup first but it's still a good idea, that time really allows the flavors to meld.
• Tasting with our Eyes = This is such a pretty soup, the obvious corn kernels, the shrimp on top, the strips of lime zest.
• Texture = The soup has lots of texture from the onion and corn, the big bites of shrimp.
• Taste = It's the taste that's so intriguing! Don't be nervous about the curry, it's just a touch, it warms the corn. And don't be nervous about the honey, either. The soup isn't sweet, per se, that's thanks to the acidity of the lime juice. Altogether, it's all just a lovely balance.
• Techniques = Two techniques are simple but important. The first is stirring the dry flour and curry powder into the buttery sautéed onion, then letting it cook for a minute. Doing this cooks off the floury taste and lets the curry "bloom". The second technique is to then slowly add the liquid chicken stock to that onion-flour-curry mixture, just a splash at a time, stirring in each addition completely before adding another. Why? This prevents floury lumps.
• Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly recipe, just 15 minutes of hands-on time, then after that, just unattended time in the fridge before serving.
• Shop Your Pantry = This is a pantry-friendly recipe. I don't know about you but my kitchen always has these ingredients!
• Watching Our Waistlines = This is a calorie-friendly, high-protein recipe, all for under 200 calories for a one-cup serving.
• Staying Cost Conscious = This is a budget-friendly recipe. All the ingredients except perhaps the shrimp are relatively inexpensive.
• Makes = about 7 cups, easily scaled up or down for more or fewer servings.
• Small Households = Since it keeps several days, this recipe works well for those Cooking for One or Two. At least here, everyone is happy for leftovers.
• This soup is a tad unusual, I know. But I hope you'll trust me here: it's so good! I really want you to love it!


• Looking for a corn soup that's a traditional chowder? Don't miss my Summer's Best Corn Chowder.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other Favorite Summer Soup Recipes like gazpachos, summer chowders, cold soups, raw blender soups, fruit soups, so many soups!

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SWEET-CORN SOUP with SHRIMP

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total cook time: 25 minutes
Total time to table: 25 minutes (if you're in a rush) to 24 hours (preferably)
Makes 7 cups

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons curry powder

• 3-1/2 cups chicken broth (not homemade if soup is being served cold)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup sweet corn
• 1 cup milk (preferably 2% or richer, skim doesn't work)

• 1 pound shrimp, uncooked or cooked, shelled and deveined
• Salt to taste

• Strips of lime zest for garnish, optional but pretty

Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add the butter and when it's bubbly, stir in the onion and gently sauté for 3 – 5 minutes until the onion is tender but not turning color. Stir in the flour and curry, being sure that it's completely absorbed into the butter-onion mixture; let cook for 1 minute to cook off the floury flavor.

A splash at a time, slowly whisk in the chicken broth, fully incorporating each addition before adding more. Stir in the lime juice and honey, then bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer.

Stir in the sweet corn and simmer for 3 minutes.

Stir in the milk and shrimp. Heat through but do not allow the mixture to boil, until shrimp is fully cooked (if uncooked) or warmed through (if cooked). Season to taste.

TO SERVE If serving warm, serve right away. If serving cold, refrigerate until cold. Either way, the soup improves if left to rest for 6 – 24 hours before serving. To serve, top with lime zest.

ALANNA's TIPS It takes two or three ears of fresh corn to produce a cup of kernels, here's How to Cut Corn Off the Cob, Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk". The soup invites “bulking up” with tiny colorful bites of additional veggies: when the corn is added, add diced carrots, green beans, red pepper or zucchini.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2011/07/sweet-corn-soup-with-shrimp.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Cup: 181 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 2g Sat Fat; 105mg Cholesterol; 325mg Sodium; 22g Carb; 1g Fiber; 14g Sugar; 16g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 4 & PointsPlus 5 & SmartPoints 6 & Freestyle 4 & myWW green 6 & blue 4 & purple 4 & future WW points

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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