Cold Corn Soup with Tomato Salsa and Basil

When summer corn is in season and you can’t think of enough ways to enjoy it, make this cold soup. It’s refreshing as a light lunch or the start to a warm-weather dinner of grilled meat or fish. Just remember not to season it until it’s fully chilled, because the temperature really affects what and how you taste. Salty-ass corn is no bueno.

Serves 6 to 8

CORN AND STOCK

• 6 ears corn, husked

• 1 large yellow onion, cut into quarters

  Now We're Cooking: All-Purpose, Laid-Back Recipes Matthew Broussard

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 bay leaves

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground white pepper

SALSA

• 10 multicolored cherry tomatoes, diced

• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

• 2 teaspoons seeded and minced jalapeño chile

• 1 teaspoon minced scallion

• Kosher salt

TO SERVE

• Sugar (optional)

• Small or coarsely chopped basil leaves

• Extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Cook the corn and stock: Combine the corn, onion, thyme, and bay leaves in a large saucepan and add enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the corn is tender, about 10 minutes. With tongs, transfer the corn (but not the onion) from the cooking liquid to a colander and rinse under cold running water to cool. Remove the saucepan with the cooking liquid from the heat, but don’t toss the liquid. You’ll use it for the stock.

One at a time, stand a corn ear vertically on its wide end and use a large knife to cut the kernels from the cob. Transfer the kernels to a bowl. Holding one ear over the bowl, run the knife from the bottom to the top to scrape the corn “milk” from the cob into the bowl with the kernels. Repeat to scrape all the ears; you should have about 5 cups corn and its milk.

Chop the corn cobs in half and return to the cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Using tongs, remove and discard the corn cobs, thyme, and bay leaves. Pour the corn stock with the onion into a bowl. You’ll need about 4 cups stock; add water, if needed.

In batches, combine 4 cups of the corn kernels, 3 cups of the corn stock (including the onion), 11/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a blender. Blend until very smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and cool until tepid, about 1 hour. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Adjust the thickness with the 1 cup remaining stock, as needed.

Make the salsa: Mix the remaining 1 cup of the corn kernels (and any additional kernels), cherry tomatoes, lime juice, jalapeno, and scallion in a small bowl. Season with salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.

To serve, whisk the soup well, and season again with additional salt, pepper, and a pinch or two of sugar, if needed. Ladle the soup into wide bowls and scatter a ring of the salsa around the outside edge. Sprinkle basil over the salsa, followed by a drizzle of the oil. Serve immediately.

TAKEAWAYS

To contain the kernels when cutting from the cob, you can stand the cob in a shallow baking dish— any size will do. The kernels will fall into the dish and not all over the counter.

The soup should be well chilled before serving, so make it a few hours or even a day ahead.

Excerpted from Now We’re Cooking: All-Purpose, Laid-Back Recipes . Copyright © 2026, Matt Broussard. Photography Copyright © 2026 by Sarah Flotard. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

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