Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute



1/2 LB butter
1 cup flour
1 qt. chicken broth
1 qt half and half
1/2 LB cheddar cheese (optional)
Shredded chicken (optional)
Pepper
Salt

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Add flour to butter and cook 2-4 minutes stirring constantly. Add chicken broth, then bring to a boil and cook until thick. Turn heat down, then add remaining ingredients. Simmer on low until cheese is melted and soup is hot. Freeze in 2 cup proportions and use in place of Cream of Chicken soup in any recipe.

Use the following guides for making a smaller batch:

For 1/2 cup of soup
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP flour
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup half and half or milk

For one "10 oz. condensed soup can"
4 1/2 TBSP butter
4 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half or milk
3 oz. cheese

For 2 cups of soup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half or milk
2 oz. cheese

For 4 cups of soup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 quart chicken broth
1/2 quart half and half or milk
4 oz. cheese

*****
This recipe is very versatile and always a big hit at any get together or party. Add extra cheese for a cheese soup, chopped steamed vegetables for a creamy vegetable soup or chopped celery for a cream of celery soup. For a low fat option, use 1% milk instead of half and half. All variations freeze well.

8 comments:

Kristin said...

I just made this tonight for the first time to add to a chicken & dumpling stew, since the canned soups have garlic in them which my son is allergic to. This is good enough to eat on it's own! And it was so easy!!!

Whenever I need to look for the breakdown of a recipe when the original calls for a boxed or canned ingredient - you blog is the first place I check & I've never been let down yet :)

Niki said...

When using this to substitute for a "campbell's soup can" do you use 2 cups of this recipe? Thanks for all your hard work!

Emily said...

I just edited the post to give the conversion amounts for a 10 oz. can of condensed soup. I eyeball when I cook so I've never measured out an exact amount, but this would be what you would need to replace one can. Hope this helps!

For one "10 oz. condensed soup can"
4 1/2 TBSP butter
4 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half or milk
3 oz. cheese

Holly said...

Again, I'm so impressed with your breaking things down to help us less experienced cooks. You talk about adding steamed vegetables or chopped celery to make different styles of soup. Do you mean that you cook this recipe and add those items later when you bring it out of the freezer depending on what you want or do you mean you would make a batch of cream of celery separate from this one? If you add them after your freeze, how long do you let the flavors come together?

Emily said...

Hi Holly, you can do either- whichever works best for your schedule and cooking style.

Personally, I make a variation of this sauce at least twice a week and make it that day from frozen chicken broth. I cook less from recipes and more from "whatever sounds good at the moment."

At times when life is busy and it would be helpful to have more frozen meals on hand, I make a variation of this and freeze it for later meals (right now its in our freezer made with finely chopped caramelized onions, sauteed carrots and celery, peas and shredded chicken).

If you froze this sauce plain, then thawed later for a cream of celery. I would reheat over the stove to allow the sauce to come back together, add some sauteed celery, then cook for a few minutes for the flavors to come together. I hope this helps! Happy cooking.

Holly said...

I made a batch of "no extra" just the base recipe without cheese/meat and ended up with 9 cups in case anyone wants a ballpark of how much it makes.

Made it for the pot pie. My family loved it. Didn't try to make my own curst this time. (ha ha, saw my typo but thought it was fitting for my cooking so left it there...meant crust but would have been curst if I tried it)

Jill said...

have you ever tried to make this dairy free?

Emily said...

Hi Jill, Yes I do occasionally make this dairy free. You first need a dairy free fat. A dairy free butter spread, bacon grease or olive oil. Olive oil doesn't add much flavor so it's best to use another fat that has a little flavor.

Heat the fat until melted and hot, then add the flour and cook for 2-4 minutes. Then add all of your liquid as chicken broth or you can divide it between chicken broth and a dairy free milk.

I sometimes make it with half chicken broth and half rice milk. Season well, then serve. I hope this helps!