Spare Spoons Kitchen
Weeknight · Instant Pot · about 50 minutes

“Charge Ahead” Chowder with Potatoes, Corn & Wild Rice

A creamy, dairy-free chowder — potatoes, corn, and wild rice in a coconut-milk broth thickened with a quick roux. Hearty enough to be supper, and it all happens in the one pot.

~50 min total 25 min pressure Instant Pot method
Effort ●●○○ Time ●●○○ Anytime
Instant PotVegan
Servingsamounts scale to match
8
Units

Ingredients

Brown the roux first, and add the potatoes and corn late. Cooking the margarine-and-flour roux to golden in the pot gives the chowder its body and toasty depth. The wild rice needs the long cook, so the halved potatoes go in for a quick second round and the corn and coconut milk only at the very end — so nothing turns to mush.

Easier, if you like

  • Frozen corn (about 1½ cups) works in place of canned — stir it in at the end.
  • Skip the roux for a lighter, brothier soup, and thicken at the end with a cornstarch slurry instead.

Method

    Cook's notes

    Dairy-free and creamy — full-fat coconut milk gives the richness; lite would leave it thin.

    Why two rounds: wild rice wants the long cook, but potatoes would fall apart over 25 minutes — so they go in for a quick second round and stay intact.

    It's not gluten-free as written (the roux uses wheat flour) — see the swaps below.

    Thickens as it sits; loosen leftovers with a splash of broth or water.

    Vegan as written; easy to make gluten-free

    Gluten-free: use a gluten-free all-purpose flour for the roux, or skip the roux and thicken at the end with a cornstarch slurry (1–2 tbsp cornstarch whisked into a little cold water).

    Vegan: it already is — Earth Balance margarine and full-fat coconut milk keep it plant-based.