Homemade cream of chicken soup is so easy to make, uses simple ingredients, and takes about ten minutes to whip up. So much of what we buy at the store can very easily be made at home. And the more you replace store bought with homemade, the more money you save! Plus you get the peace of mind that you’re not feeding your family laboratory produced junk.
Store bought cream of chicken soup contain MSG’s, whose safety is debatable. At the very least, limiting your exposure to MSG’s will only benefit your families overall health. It also contains other highly processed ingredients that just aren’t doing you any good. So, why eat them?
In general when it comes to food, if you can’t theoretically produce it in your own backyard, then it’s probably not worth eating.
At first, I was very hesitant to learn how to make cream of chicken soup. Doesn’t it have to be condensed? Wouldn’t that take a long time? Could I use a homemade version in recipes the same as store bought? Finally I tried it and found that homemade cream of chicken soup is so easy to make and can be used just the same in recipes.
Ingredients you’ll need for this recipe
Our first ingredient is butter. You could also use lard, tallow, duck fat, chicken fat… really any fat will do.
Next is our thickening agent. For this recipe we will use organic, unbleached, all purpose flour, although you could use starch if you are gluten intolerant. You will need to play around with the amounts, as you typically will need less starch than you will flour.
Once we’ve combined the butter and flour, we will add chicken broth. This is a great use for some of your homemade chicken bone broth, especially if you have kids that don’t like soup yet, but will eat sauces and gravies.
Next is the cream. You can’t really have a cream of chicken soup without the cream can you?
After that we will add spices, and salt. For this recipe we will add onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, paprika, sea salt, and black pepper. Each in small quantities so that the flavor of the soup is mild and complimentary as an ingredient in other recipes. You could also opt to keep this simple by just adding a bit of salt.
How to make homemade cream of chicken soup
First we need to melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is fully melted and bubbly we will add the flour. This is very similar to making a roux for something like mac and cheese, however, we will be adding more flour here. The flour, butter mixture will look like wet sand when it’s all combined. Cook the mixture for a few minutes before turning the heat to low.
Slowly add in the chicken broth. I like to add the broth in thirds, fully mixing in a third of the broth before adding more. When the chicken broth is fully incorporated add the cream and seasonings. Stir until smooth then crank the heat up to medium high. We want to bring our mixture just barely to boil. Stir constantly during this part so that your soup doesn’t burn.
When the soup just barely reaches a boil, remove from the heat. The soup will have thickened noticeably by this point, but don’t worry if it doesn’t look as thick as what you get from the can. The soup will thicken upon standing and will continue to thicken when chilled.
How to store homemade cream of chicken soup
This recipe will make the equivalent of two cans of cream of chicken soup. You can use it immediately in recipes that call for it or save it in a jar either in the fridge of freezer. You can easily double or triple this recipe to stock up your freezer with soup. I’ve found that small glass peanut butter jars are the perfect size for storing my homemade condensed soups. So, if you too are a peanut butter lover, than save those jars and fill them up with some homemade goodness!
I hope you give this recipe a try and find out for yourself how easy and delicious homemade cream of chicken soup is. I’d love to hear how it went for you in the comments below, and of course if you have any questions I’d love to help out.
Cream of Chicken Soup
Ditch the store bought condensed soups we all grew up with. Homemade cream of chicken soup is super easy to make, delicious and nutritious!
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup + 2tbsp flour, or 1/2 heaping cup
- 2 1/2 cups chicken bone broth
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp each paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, sea salt, black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium high heat, melt butter and cook until the butter becomes bubbly and frothy.
- Add flour. The mixture will look like wet sand, continue stirring and allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low. Slowly add broth, mixing constantly to ensure it comes together smoothly. Once all the broth has been added, add cream and seasonings.
- Turn heat back to medium high, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches a boil. Remove from the heat.
- Allow soup to cool for about 10-15 minutes before adding it to jars for storage. Store in the fridge for 5 days or the freezer for several months.
Notes
For a smoother texture use a whisk and stir constantly throughout the process. You can also strain soup through a fine mesh strainer. But... a few lumps never hurt anyone 😉
This recipe makes the equivalent of two cans of condensed soup from the store. Use it the same way you would the store bought kind.
The soup will continue to thicken upon standing, and once chilled will resemble the store bought thickness.
Turn this soup into a nutrient powerhouse by using your own homemade chicken bone broth. Plus, you'll save yourself a good bit of money doing so. Win, win!
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