Step 1

Prep your ingredients first by draining the beans, chopping the garlic, and seeding and dicing the peppers.

Step 2

Place a large stockpot on medium heat. I use 5.75" stockpot. Once the pot is hot add the olive oil.

Step 3

Add the corn to the pot and cook for a minute. Next, add all the peppers and the dry seasoning plus the garlic to the pot and stir, frequently until the corn and peppers are cooked and the spices are fragrant about three minutes.

Step 4

Add the beans and the chicken stock to the corn mixture, stir well then bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and let cook at a simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 5

While the soup is simmering shred the cheddar cheese using a box grater or a micro plan cheese grater, this should yield 1 cup of shredded cheese. Alternately you can use pre-shredded cheese.

Step 6

Add the cream to the soup pot and stir well. Bring the soup back to a simmer then add the cheese in small batches, stirring between batches so it melts easily, then stir in the cilantro. Taste the soup to adjust any season and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Step 7

Serve the soup hot. Add any of the optional toppings.