Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup (GF)

This Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup is perfect any time you want a healthy and delicious meal for your family. There is fresh corn in abundance at our grocery stores and farmers’ markets right now and we have been indulging in it. This soup is a beautiful way to enjoy the season’s bounty.

If you haven’t seen tomatillos, they look like little green tomatoes covered in a papery husk. You need to remove the husk and rinse the tomatillos because they are sticky under the paper. They have a lovely bright slightly acidic flavor that is absolutely addicting. And if you can’t find fresh tomatillos, I would recommend using a can of gluten-free green enchilada sauce to approximate the flavor.

Corn cobs boiling to create corn stock

With my family coming from Indiana, corn is king in our house in the summer. When I was little and the corn was plentiful, we would buy a massive amount and that was our dinner. Kind of crazy in retrospect, but that’s how wild we are for corn, LOL.

You can get the whole family involved in prepping this recipe. The kids can shuck and clean the corn and tomatillos, older helpers can cut the corn off the cobs, and with supervision, they can also blister the peppers. Your littles will love to watch the food processor or blender make quick work of pureeing the ingredients and helping you taste the soup for seasonings!

Cooking along with you encourages your kid’s creativity, allows them to try new things, and teaches them how to follow the directions in a recipe. Plus you are passing along your skills and love to the next generation, one of my favorite things!

If you want a spicy note to your soup, you can use the chipotles, the more you add the spicier it will be. Start with one and add more to taste. It also adds a beautiful smokiness that I love. If you want heat without the smokiness, you can use a little cayenne pepper powder.

If you want to take this in a New Mexican direction, replace the chipotles with Hatch green chiles and you will be immediately transported to the beautiful Land of Enchantment.

This recipe calls for pureeing so you will need a food processor, immersion blender or regular blender to help smooth out the vegetable soup. If you don’t have one handy, you can leave your soup chunky, it will be just as delicious!

If you want a dairy-free/vegan soup, just replace the butter with olive oil for sauteing the shallots or onions.

While this is designed to use beautiful fresh corn, if it isn’t in season, you can use frozen and thawed corn instead.

Give this delightful Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup a try and I bet your family loves it. I know The Artist and I thoroughly enjoyed it and went back for seconds!

If you try this recipe, let me know! Please leave a star rating in the recipe card, comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it @theheritagecook on Instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day and I love hearing from you!

Sprigs of thyme on the side, the seasoning in the soup

Ingredients needed for Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup:

• Stock: fresh corn, water, fresh thyme sprigs
• Vegetable Puree: poblano chiles, fresh tomatillos, water, chipotle en adobo, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, olive oil, butter, shallots or onion, cumin, coriander
• Optional Garnishes: chives or green onions, sour cream, diced tomatoes, chipotles en adobo or green chiles

PRO Tip:

If you have your young ones helping with the corn, break the ears in half so there is a flat surface when cutting the kernels off the cobs. Be sure to save the cobs because you will use them to make corn stock.

How to make Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup:

1. Broil the poblano peppers until fully blackened on all sides on a foil-lined baking sheet. Wrap the broiled peppers in the foil and steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Peel, stem, and seed the peppers and cut them into small pieces.
2. Clean the corn and cut the kernels off the cobs. In a large stockpot, bring the water to a boil with the cobs. Reduce to simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam from the surface. Remove cobs and discard; strain the solids out of the corn stock.
3. Meanwhile, puree the roasted poblano peppers, tomatillos, water, chipotle, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and oil in a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour this puree into the corn stock. Continue simmering the stock.
4. Cook the shallots or onions in the butter with the cumin and coriander until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the raw corn kernels and cook another 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly toasted and the corn is softer. Pour half of the corn/onion mixture into the corn stock and the remainder into the food processor. Process the corn until smooth then add to the tomatillo and corn stock, stirring to combine.
5. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Add a little more lemon juice if desired. Ladle into bowls, top with your choice of garnishes, and serve hot.

PRO Tip:

If you don’t have access to a food processor, immersion blender, or regular blender, you can enjoy this chunky vegetable soup as is and love every bite!

PRO Tip:

If you want a heartier soup, you could add a scoop of cooked rice to each bowl and pour the soup over it.

Recommended Tools (affiliate links; no extra cost to you):

• Kitchen scale
• Chef’s knife
• Stockpot, large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan, or Dutch oven
• Food processor, immersion blender, or regular blender
• 10-inch skillet
• Ladle
• Soup bowls

Gluten-Free Tips:

Any time you are using a prepared product (like the chipotles en adobo) always be very careful to read the labels for gluten ingredients. Contact the manufacturer if you have any questions. 

You will get the best and most consistent results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients, especially when you are baking. And use grams, they are much more accurate than pounds and ounces.

All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.

Continue to Content

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup (GF)

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This Corn, Poblano, and Tomatillo Soup is perfect any time you want a healthy and delicious meal for your family. This soup is a beautiful way to enjoy the summer season’s bounty. This soup is vegetarian and can easily be made dairy-free/vegan by switching out the butter for more oil. Note that you will need a food processor, immersion blender, or regular blender to puree the soup.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 large fresh poblano chiles

Stock

• 4 ears fresh corn
• 6 cups (1362g) water (or you can use vegetable or chicken stock)
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme (put the whole stems with leaves in the pot)
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Vegetable Puree

• 6 to 12 fresh tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and quartered
• 1/2 cup (113g) water
• 1 canned chipotle en adobo* chile, stemmed and seeded, optional
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp butter (or more olive oil for dairy-free)
• 3 large shallots, peeled and diced or 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/3 cup (76g) water

Optional Garnishes

• Minced chives or sliced green onions
• Sour cream, diced tomatoes, more chopped chipotle or chopped green chile – anything you like!

Instructions

1. Preheat your broiler, set a rack close to the top of the oven. Place the poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil, turning as needed with tongs, until the skins are completely charred and blistered. Remove from the oven and pull the foil up and over the chiles, steaming them for 10 to 15 minutes. Peel, remove stem and seeds, then cut the chiles into small pieces. Set the chopped chiles aside.
2. Shuck and clean the corn. Cut the kernels off the cobs and place them in a bowl. Reserve the cobs. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, place the cobs and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low or medium-low, add the thyme and salt and simmer for 30 minutes. Skim any foam that rises and discard. Remove cobs and discard; strain the solids out of the corn stock. Be sure you get all the thyme sprigs out!
3. While the cobs are cooking, in a food processor, immersion blender, or regular blender, puree the roasted poblanos, quartered tomatillos, 1/2 cup (118ml) water, chipotle en adobo, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and oil until smooth. Add this mixture to the corn stock. Do not clean the processor, you’ll be using it again in a few minutes. Continue simmering the stock to concentrate the flavors.
4. In a medium skillet, melt the butter or more oil over medium heat and cook shallots/onions, cumin, and coriander until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the raw corn kernels and continue to cook another 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly toasted and the corn is softer.
5. Scoop half of the corn/onion mixture** into the corn stock, stirring to combine. Puree the remaining corn/onion mixture with 1/3 cup (78ml) water in the food processor, blender, or immersion blender until smooth. Scrape the corn puree into the corn stock, stirring to combine.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Add a little more lemon/lime juice if desired. Ladle into warmed soup bowls and garnish with minced chives and other options if desired.
Recipe found at www.theheritagecook.com.

Notes

* If you can’t find chipotles en adobo, you can substitute chipotle powder or smoked paprika. Use the paprika if you don’t want the spiciness of the chipotle peppers.

** The pops of texture from the corn kernels are fun to eat but this makes a very thin soup. If you want it thicker, puree all the corn (add another 1/3 cup; 78ml water) and stir the puree into the soup.

This soup, as written, is vegetarian and gluten-free. If you leave out the butter and use more oil to sauté the shallots/onions and corn, and don’t use sour cream as a garnish, it will be vegan and dairy-free!

You will get the best results by using a digital kitchen scale and weighing your ingredients, especially when you are baking. And use grams, they are much more accurate than pounds and ounces.

All recommended ingredients are gluten-free as of the writing of this article. Always check to be sure the products haven’t changed and are still safe to consume.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 524mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 6gSugar: 12gProtein: 5g

The nutritional information for recipes on this site is calculated by online tools and is merely an estimate. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.

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