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(Condensed) Homemade Cream Of Chicken Soup

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Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

Oh yes. You read that title right. We’re going retro today and talking about one of the staples of my childhood — condensed soups.

Of course, the main reason that most families had (and still have) condensed soups sitting in their pantry is to use them for the other staple of my childhood — casseroles. (So. Many. Casseroles.)

But our family actually bought condensed cream of chicken soup to turn it into its original namesake — a nice hot bowl of cream of chicken soup! And oh boy, did I love that soup. My sister and I would be stoked when we arrived home from school and saw that familiar can sitting out on the stove for dinner that night. And then once I learned how easy it was to whisk together the can of mysterious molded glop with a can of milk and — poof! — magically make soup? Oh yeah. You’d better believe that this soup was on regular rotation in my dorm room when I first learned how to cook.

But sadly, you know where this is going…

Tons of preservatives. Ingredients you can’t pronounce. Processed everything. I know, modernity is a bummer.

Because of such, I sadly haven’t bought a can of condensed soup in years. But when my neighbor Christine brought over a box of canned goods from her pantry the day before she moved, the ol’ craving returned as soon as I saw those familiar red and white cans. And then I desperately wanted soup. And then I wanted casserole. And then I began wondering if I could just make the darn stuff homemade. And as it turns out…you can!

Seriously friends, we should have been doing this from the start. Homemade condensed soups are ridiculously easy. Let me show you.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

As I imagined, all that you really need to make condensed homemade cream of chicken soup are four main ingredients: chicken stock, milk (you can use any kind), thickener (flour), and a few seasonings. Oh, and if you want to be like the original, you can also add in some diced cooked chicken. That used to be my favorite part of the soup, back in the day.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

In order to thicken the soup, some recipes have you make a roux with flour and butter/oil. Then others have you just cook the flour right in there with the liquids. I made a few test batches of each, and the second method is arguably the easiest (and is pictured below), but you can go with whatever sounds best to you.

The great news is that you can customize these main ingredients however you’d like:

  • Chicken Stock: If you make homemade stock, then you really win the gold star for this one. I was in a hurry so I went with Trader Joe’s organic stock, which I love.
  • Milk: I went with 2% milk, but you can literally sub in just about any kind of milk in this recipe.
  • Flour: Feel free to also experiment with flours. I just went with all-purpose flour this time, but have read success stories with whole-wheat and gluten-free varitities
  • Seasonings: I kept mine fairly simple, since the stock is already pretty well-seasoned. I do like mine a little more on the salty side, since this recipe is meant to be condensed, but feel free to omit the salt and/or use a reduced-sodium chicken stock if desired.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

So to make the soup, go ahead and whisk together your milk and flour until the flour is dissolved and the mixture is smooth.

Then bring your stock to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

Slowly add in the milk mixture, whisking to combine. Then whisk in your seasonings, and let the mixture come to a very low boil for about 3 minutes or until it has thickened.

Stir in the chicken, if you’d like.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

And then your condensed soup is ready to go! It will definitely thicken up even more as it cools and returns to room temperature.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

Then either go ahead and use it for a recipe, or store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It should keep for up to 1 week.

I used mine to make my favorite — some actual cream of chicken soup — although in my wise old age, I decided to take an extra 10 minutes to add in some extra carrots, onion, celery and chicken. And oh boy, it was like I was 10-years-old again. This totally hit the spot!!! Recipe coming on the blog tomorrow. And also stay tuned for a condensed cream of mushroom soup recipe and even a casserole or two coming soon.

Once I start with the condensed soups, apparently I can’t stop. Enjoy!

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

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(Condensed) Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 14 reviews
  • Prep Time: 2 minutes
  • Cook Time: 13 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: About 2.5 cups 1x

Description

This condensed homemade cream of chicken soup recipe is simple to make, easy to customize, and even tastier than the original canned version!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/8 tsp. celery seed (optional)
  • 1/8 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/4 cup finely diced cooked chicken

Instructions

  1. Add chicken stock to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and flour until the flour is dissolved.
  3. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the boiling chicken stock, whisking to combine. Whisk in remaining seasonings. Reduce heat to medium, and bring the mixture back to a very low boil, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pan does not burn. Let the mixture boil for about 3 minutes or until thickened. Then stir in the chicken (if using), and remove pan from the heat.
  4. Either use the condensed soup in a recipe immediately, or transfer it to airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
  5. *This recipe is NOT meant to be consumed as-is. It is a concentrated soup, which means that it either needs to be diluted to be eaten as a soup, or mixed into a recipe that calls for condensed soup. :)
  6. *I also made a double batch for the photos.

Notes

ALTERNATE RECIPE USING A ROUX:

Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until melted. Add 2 Tbsp. flour, and stir until combined. Let the mixture cook for 2 minutes, or until the flour is cooked and slightly toasted. Then gradually whisk in your stock until the mixture is completely smooth. Stir in the milk and seasonings. (Using the same measurements of stock, milk, seasonings as above.) Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened.

Either use the condensed soup in a recipe immediately, or transfer it to airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

*Recipe very slightly adapted from Tammy’s Recipes  and Pinch of Yum.

Edited: There are already lots of comments about canning and/or freezing this condensed soup. I do not recommend canning it because of the milk/dairy. I have heard from readers who have tried freezing the condensed soup that it works, though.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup -- perfect for soups and casseroles and SO easy to make homemade! | gimmesomeoven.com

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221 comments on “(Condensed) Homemade Cream Of Chicken Soup”

  1. Thank you!  Like so many have already said; I don’t want to buy anything that processed but I needed cream of chicken for a casserole.  Mine turned out thinner than yours, but I’ll keep trying.  It seemed to have worked just fine in the potato casserole dish.  

  2. Just made this and it looks beautiful as it sits here all warm and cooling. Thank so much! Excited to use it this evening in our recipe of pure comfort food!

  3. Tried this tonight in an old favorite crock pot recipe. Not only was it easy, but it made the dish taste better than ever before. It rocked. Nice work.

  4. I haven’t had a chance yet to scroll through the comments, but have you made other varieties of cream of ___ condensed soup? Like broccoli, mushroom or celery?

  5. #GIMMESOMEOVEN…kudos, great name !!

  6. Is it possible to use silk or almond milk for this recipe . I am looking to find alternate recipes for my family as my oldest son is allergic to all dairy products. I have a butter subsitute to make the rue. Thank you in advance 

    • Hey Jessica, yes you should definitely be able to use Silk or almond milk instead. I hope it works out for you!

  7. Could this be pressured canned?

  8. I made this cream of chicken soup and my husband loved it.   Glad to know how easy it is to make and gluten free.  
    Next will be the mushroom soup.   

  9. I used white rice flour to make it gluten free.  And almond milk to make it dairy free also.  
    What a great soup base.   When recipes called for canned soups I always passed them up, Since they contain wheat.   
    But not anymore.  Made a Broccoli chicken rice casserole.   So good. 

  10. Have you tried making it ahead of time and freezing it?

  11. Can you pressure can this recipe? I would like to keep in cupboard 

  12. I made this tonight to use in my Chicken Divan recipe.  It was so easy to make, and tasted amazing!  I used vegan bullion cubes to make the broth, and it turned out great.  Thank you!  I had been buying expensive organic cream soups to use in casseroles, not realizing I could make my own for pennies!

  13. Hey there. What could be used instead of flour? Any suggestions?
    Thank you.
    Teresa

  14. My batch must have thickened much quicker than yours (whole wheat flour?) because I only got about 15 ounces instead of 20.

  15. Hi….could you use cornstarch ILO flour, to make this gluten free?  If so, how much cornstarch should you use?

    • Hi Kendall! Yes, you could use cornstarch instead of flour. It’s got twice the thickening power, so you’d only need 1/4 cup of it in this recipe. Hope that helps answer your question!

  16. My boyfriend and I have discovered that we are both gluten sensitive after completing a Whole30 so I have been dying to modify this to fit our needs. I loved the flavor of this recipe, but for the life of me could not get the right consistency with ANY gluten free flours (I just finished my ninth attempt). I finally think I have found something that is comparable. I used the Xanthan-free Flour Blend @ https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/all-purpose-gluten-free-flour-recipes/ and I cut it down to 3 Tbsp.. Everything else turned into glue that would have given Elmer’s a run for its money. I don’t know if other people were having the same issues so I figured I would share.
    Also regarding the canning debate, I love having homemade canned goods in a pinch but was worrying about further thickening in the pressure canning process. Therefore, I am leaving out the thickening agent while jarring the chicken stock, almond milk, spices, and chicken pieces. If I were using regular milk I would leave that out too, but this way all you need to do is pop it on the stove and thicken it.
    Thank you so much, Ali! This is an absolute game changer. I’ll be canning a boatload this evening.

    • Thanks so much for sharing, Monica! We admire your patience and determination to make this work gluten-free! We’re so happy you found something that works, and that you like it! : )

  17. Finally read all the comments and saw one ladies reason for not canning (no preservatives) but she suggested freezing instead. That would work also so thanks for the great idea.

  18. I don’t know why, but I can’t stand chicken stock/broth, but last Thanksgiving, I made stock from a turkey and I absolutely love it! We now have turkey once or twice a month so I can make plenty of stock. I highly recommend homemade turkey stock for a deeper, richer flavor.

    • That’s awesome, we’ll have to do more turkey stock! Thanks for sharing. : )

  19. Love the recipe! Can’t wait to try it out this week. I hate using the canned processed cream of chicken soups.

    I wanted to say that this recipe cannot be canned at all. It has both dairy and flour in it which cannot be safely canned. Thanks again for sharing this recipe!!

  20. Thank you for posting this delicious recipe, Im using some in a pot pie tonight, im really excited to see how it turns out. I doubled your recipe ut came out perfectly in consistency and was lovely tasting. I started mine by rendering some onion and garlic, mmm!

    • You’re very welcome, we hope you enjoy the recipe – pot pie sounds amazing! :)

  21. Love the recipe.  Can I freeze it?

    • Thank you, we’re glad to hear that! Unfortunately though this isn’t freezer-friendly because of the amount of dairy.

  22. I made this recipe to use in mini pot pies, and I had left overs. Although you say it isn’t intended to be consumed as-is, I ate the left overs as soup and it was fine, I had no problem and mine wasn’t salty or goopy. I didn’t change anything and it was excellent! Thanks!

    • That’s a great to know Roseanne! We’re happy eating that way was a success, and those mini pot pies sound fantastic! We’re glad you liked the recipe. :)

  23. Wow, this was super easy!! Just finished a batch for two meals…casserole muffins tonight and creamy chicken soup tomorrow night. Thanks for this fast and easy recipe!

  24. I have been wondering about canning potato soup.  Guess not since it has milk in it.  I use instant potatoes to thicken it.  love these recipes.  I Have fallen heir to a bunch of veggies and I need to preserve them.  I Don’t want to freeze in case of a power outage

  25. Very good. One word of caution from an old restaurateur: If you add diced chicken to the soup, use it in 2 days, 3 max.

  26. This was super easy and made the potato chicken lemon casserole delicious! My husband loved it and I will definitely make it again.  Cheaper and way better than  the can. THANK YOU! 

    • Awesome Heather, we’re glad you and your husband enjoyed this, and the casserole as well! :)

  27. Great recipe, but I’m baffled as to why anyone would make a roux without butter! Instead of mixing the milk with the flour, I used the same amount of butter as flour (a stick in this case…1:1, being the basic ratio for roux) and added everything else to it. Turned out awesome! I guess I’m kind of an odd duck for adding in fat whenever possible, but it’s a great way to make a meal more filling, especially in the fall/winter when we start burning more calories. 

  28. Make this all the time and freeze it.It is the best,so easy, so cheap.  We make cream of mushroom and cream of celery as well. Just use fresh  mushrooms or fresh celery instead of chicken. You wont believe when you use it how much more flavor your dishes will have -vs- the canned stuff

  29. Whipped this up tonight for thanksgiving prep. I used my homemade chicken bone broth that I made last weekend! It smelled amazing!! This recipe and instruction was so quick and easy to make! Thank you! 

  30. I’ve been making and freezing my own cream of chicken soup for many years. So simple- fill a zip lock sandwich bag 3/4 full (the approx amount in a can) and lay flat on cookie sheets in the freezer. When frozen, stack and write contents on baggie with a sharpie. This is an awesome quick condensed soup that,  with the addition of carrots can be blended and even eaten diluted with milk or nut milk. Have successfully used corn starch to have on hand for my celiac friends so they can enjoy my creations too.

  31. I can’t believe nobody here said anything about good old Chicken Continental which my wife first made for me in the 60’s. Chicken pieces quick fried and nestled in minute rice and cream of chix soup and baked until the rice starts to crust. I was revising my original family cookbook from the 80’s to cut down amounts for us empty nesters and decided to see what I could do instead of using canned soup. Came across this site and started reading. Yum….. I will do a mod for just enough soup for what I need, although after reading all of it, I admit I’m drooling. Thank you all.,,,,,,, ps, don’t non flour thickeners (tapioca etc.) make translucent sauces that tend to break when you freeze them (eg. Chinese)

  32. I’ve been looking for an easy recipe for a cream base for soups (particularly potato soup). I cannot wait to try this!

  33. How shall I incorporate carrots & celery? Also how much does one recipe yield? You mentioned the pics were a double recipe? Also, can this be frozen?

    • Hi Alison! This recipe is not meant to be consumed as-is. It is a concentrated soup, which means that it either needs to be diluted to be eaten as a soup, or mixed into a recipe that calls for condensed soup. So we would add carrots and celery to whichever soup recipe you want to add it to. Or, you could just dice your celery and carrots, sauté them, and then add them when you add your chicken. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups, or the equivalent of two 10-oz cans of condensed soup. Because of the dairy, we would not freeze this unless you incorporate it into a soup – otherwise, it will separate. We hope all of this is helpful!

  34. Great recipe! 
     I used your recipe for condensed soup for the 10th or so time tonight for dinner (plus a double batch of mushroom for stroganoff later in the week). I have made both the chicken and mushroom from your blog and Love them both.  
    My husband always fights to eat the (condensed!) mushroom soup straight off the stove.  If making ahead of time, I have to hide it from him or else he will eat it for a snack.  
    I saw in a previous comment that someone asked how to include celery and carrots.  While I haven’t tried those veggies, I do add onions to the mushroom soup for added flavor.  Before boiling the stock, I take a few extra minutes to chop up an onion and the mushrooms, then toss them in a pan with a little butter.  You can add that directly to the soup after the flour/milk mixture. But, if time permits, and if I am using the soup for something that I don’t want to be chunky, I will put the onion/mushroom combo into the Ninja blender with a little chicken stock, give it a whirl, then add the purée to the soup.  I’m sure that you can do this with any veggie… But I’d probably not purée every veggie! 

    • Hi Kirsten! We’re so happy you like this recipe, and we think that’s too funny about your husband sneaking bites straight from the stove! :D Thanks for sharing all of this with us! :)

  35. Is there anyway to do this without flour?

    • The flour is used as a thickener, but you might try cornstarch or arrowroot powder (we just haven’t tried either of those ourselves). We hope that helps!

  36. Hayley, with regard to your 16 January 2016 comment re: Freezing the concentrate … If you use corn starch instead of flour in the roux (1 tbsp. corn starch has the same thickening power as 2 tbsp. flour), you can freeze it. Re-heat gently, stirring from time to time. It will separate at first, but as you stir it and it warms it comes back together.

  37. I am in a Low Sodium Cooking group on FB. Someone just posted your Cream of Mushroom Soup, and I then I searched for Chicken– I will certainly love your page, so thanks for loving to cook. I do, too, but after 50+ years, I am not loving it so much!! I look forward to seeing your recipes and making them LOSO for my new lifestyle. Thanks again.

    • That’s wonderful Jan! We hope you can give this a try soon, and that you enjoy it! :)

  38. Thank you for sharing your awesome homemade condensed cream of chicken soup. 
    It’s so nice to have soup with no chemicals or preserveatives that you can make from scratch. 
    The only thing is I sometimes have little lumps of flour. Maybe my Canadian flour makes a difference?
    I’ll put up with a few lumps for this great soup. 
    Why the difference in amounts from the chicken soup and the mushroom? Can you use the chicken
    recipe and just add mushrooms and beef or vegetable broth? I like to have as much of this soup at once
    as I can!!
                       Lovin it ; )

  39. I made a similar recipe using whole milk and regular flour. It froze just fine! I use mine in Bisquick’s Impossible Chicken Pot Pie.

  40. Thank you for the homemade cream of chicken recipe. This is perfect. 

  41. After I make my soup before putting chicken in, I let it cool some and then pour into a blender and  a few wh rills and all lumps are gone and it’s smooth as can be. If I don’t have chicken stock on hand, I make it using chicken bouillion cubes and water. Just some tips that I’ve learned over the years.

  42. Yummy this looks so delicious. Thanks for sharing this for us.

    Simon

  43. Just whipped up some of this using full-fat coconut milk and sorghum flour (we have gluten and dairy allergies in the house). Came out wonderful! My process was slightly different – browned my chicken breast in the frying pan, then sauteed my veg (i used carrot and celery and onion and garlic, because veg) in the fond, then deglazed with the chicken broth and added my milk/flour mixture. Then for my casserole (which was the final destination) added frozen peas, the chicken/veg, and rice pasta. This is amazing!!! So glad someone had the perspicacity to make a recipe! Thanks so much!

    • Very cool, thanks for sharing Meredith! We’re glad you enjoyed this and that you were able to make it gluten and non-dairy! :)

  44. Wow, that was super easy and delish! Thanks for the great recipe. I’d need to be in a serious pickle to buy condensed soup from the store again. Took all of maybe five minutes to make, and that includes getting out the measuring spoons, etc.. Yay for Ali!

  45. I was wondering if I could use corn starch instead of flour to make this gluten free? Is the flour used just to thicken the soup? Thank you very much! Ann

  46. I made this as a non-dairy version and it was a HUGE hit in our house! We have a dairy allergic kiddo, and cream based anything is always tricky with non-dairy subs. Thank you for nailing this recipe. The seasonings are perfect and mask the sweetness that soymilk lends. After nearly 9 years of casserole-free living my inner Southern momma is ecstatic!

    • We’re so glad you were able to make this non-dairy for your family, Heather, and we’re so glad it was a hit! :)

  47. Hi,

    I understand that this is concentrated, I’m wondering how much liquid I should add in order to eat it as a soup. The canned version usually calls for a can of milk or water (10 oz). Is this the same amt for this recipe.?

  48. I would love to “can” this. How do I take it to the next step and can as Christmas gifts?

    • Hi Mary! We’re not terribly experienced with canning and haven’t tried canning this for long-term use — we’re sure you can do it if you follow the standard canning process and have everything you need (it sounds like you would need to pressure can this though). We hope this helps!

  49. How long in a pressure caner would I pressure this in order to can it for winter uses? I would use 15 lb pressure, and probably cook for 25 mins. Please let me know if this would preserve this. My grandkids
    love soups and casseroles in the winter.

    • Hi Brenda! Unfortunately we’re not really familiar with pressure canning, so we aren’t sure. However, we looked up pressure canning condensed soups and saw this: Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure, 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. We hope this helps!

  50. I have been using this recipe for years. I always come back to this recipe to make homemade chicken pot pie or anything that need cream of chicken. I absolutely HATE processed can of cream of chicken. It always tasted weird and ruined flavors of chicken pot pie. This recipe is absolutely perfect! I love it! Who knew there’s such an amazing recipe of this! Like someone else says-“It’s so nice to have soup with no chemicals or preserveatives that you can make from scratch.” Thank you for creating this recipe!