Whether you have gravy, casserole, soup, or some other delicious meal planned for your and your family’s dinner tonight, it’s probable that you will find yourself reaching for a can of cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, or cream of celery soup to make the dish pop with flavor and creaminess.
Cream of soups are a staple in many recipes — especially those that boast fast cook times.
But a fast and easy recipe doesn’t mean it has to come from a can.
Homemade cream of soups can be fast and easy, while being healthier and even more delicious than their store-bought, canned counterpart.
This Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup recipe is a staple recipe you’ll be pinning to your fridge or adding in the margins of that much loved, homemade recipe book you have setting in your kitchen
Other Creamy Soups
Though this recipe is specific for Cream of Chicken Soup, the basic structure of this recipe can apply to any creamy soup or gravy, including Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Celery, and Cream of Onion.
It only requires some basic modification and change of some of the ingredients.
For example, with Cream of Mushroom Soup, you will want to substitute the chicken with mushrooms (OBVIOUSLY!) and add a few more herbs to give it that deep and delicious mushroom soup flavor.
For a complete chart of these tasteful soups, check out my ‘Cream of’ Soups: Recipe staples for Every Kitchen post.
Getting Started
Start your creamy soup off with four to six tablespoons butter in a small or medium sized saucepan.
Once butter is melted, stir in the flour using a fork or whisk.*
* I highly recommend a Scandinavian flat whisk for making sauces, gravies, and in this case — soups! These whisks are small, easy to use in a shallow saucepan, and they really do a great job making all those soups, sauces, and gravies seamlessly smooth without any clumps.
Next, add your liquids and seasonings — milk and chicken stock (I usually cheat and use Better Than Bouillon base with water); onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper.
Stir in newly added ingredients and allow to heat. As the water and milk cook with the flour and butter, the soup will thicken. Continue stirring while heating to prevent scorching and chunks.
While soup is heating, you can add your pre-cooked chicken.
I am “make it work, get it done” type of person, and that attitude follows me to the kitchen.
When it comes to adding pre-cooked chicken to a recipe, I simply make whatever pre-cooked chicken I have on hand work so I can get dinner on the table.
I do not have the time in my day, nor the desire, to spend endless hours in the kitchen making a single meal.
That said, if I have leftover chicken breast from dinner earlier in the week — I will cut or shred that up and add it to this soup. The chicken in the picture above is actually leftover chicken patties from a dinner of chicken sandwiches we ate the night before — and I think it worked just fine.
I usually try to keep either shredded chicken or shredded turkey (YES, turkey works just as well!) on hand in the freezer as a quick grab when making an evening meal.
And of course, if there’s no pre-cooked chicken on hand in the fridge or in the freezer, grabbing a can of chicken out of the pantry tastes great too.
And there you have it. Super easy, comes together fast, homemade Cream of Chicken Soup that you can eat on its own with a slice of fresh bread, or you can add to your favorite casserole dish or other delicious dinner favorite.
