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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And then your condensed soup is ready to go! It will definitely thicken up even more as it cools and returns to room temperature.
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!
(Condensed) Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 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
- Add chicken stock to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together milk and flour until the flour is dissolved.
- 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.
- 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.
- *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. :)
- *I also made a double batch for the photos.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!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.
This is a great recipe. I found it because I needed a can of cream of chicken soup for a recipe and did not want to run to the store. I used my homemade stock that I keep in the freezer and for milk, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I was really taking a chance with that milk choice but that’s what we drink. Again, I did not want to make a trip to the store. It may have worked so well because of the great flavor of my homemade stock but the result is fabulous. Thank you
This is evermore good! I mean tasty! I have been disappointed in store bought cream of chicken soup lately. Put it in a casserole, and you get noodles floating in a weepy mess!! I finally gave up making my favorite tuna casserole because it ended up too soupy. I have one in the oven now, and I’ll bet it will hold up. Thanks for a great, and easy, recipe.
Thank you, Marjorie — we’re glad to hear you enjoyed it and we appreciate you giving the recipe a try! :)
This soup sounds yummy, I’m an avid canner & yes this soup could be successfully canned in a pressure canner. Most thickening agents will not react well with the extreme heat of the pressure canner, so for best results check on line for a product called sure jell, there are two different types, instant & the type you have to cook, you want the type you cook.
Sure jell is just a food starch that withstands high temperatures & is used commercially.
This soup would be processed for the time allotted for a meat product, check your canner instructions or a chart for your altitude.
Thanks for sharing all of this with us, Dawn, and we hope you enjoy the recipe! :)
I just found this recipe today. I know it had been a few years since this post. But if you have canned it and it works could you please send me the recipe you have been using, with how much sure jell you used. Thank you so much. Have blessed day.
I made this recipe with steamed fresh vegetables and fresh chicken I cut up and sautéed. I had used a whole quart of chicken stock (Simple Truth, Kroger Family brand of organic line groceries), which turned out to be a lot I wasn’t expecting! So I proportioned the ingredients somewhat, though I was expecting to put a lot of veggies in it to begin with.
I’m making this for easy-to-fix food this coming week as I’ve had my last treatment of harsh chemo, and the nausea, though controlled, still threatens badly afterward. Last time went for a week. I love cream of chicken with rice, and I wanted to see if this would help me.
I put the milk in last, after veggies and cooked chicken. If you scale up proportions, TASTE THE SALT; DON’T PROPORTION THAT! I’m hoping that letting it cool and thicken will also meld the flavors. If not, I expected to use it as a cream soup with rice anyway, and the rice can cut the salt taste. I used corn starch as my go-to thickener.
Lastly, I had cut off the leaves of the celery before I steamed it, leaving them raw. I put them in after I took the soup off the fire.
Looking forward to it tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing this, Virginia! We appreciate you giving this a try, and we hope you enjoy it!
Is there a way to can this?
Hi Harriet! 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!
Can you process this recipe for canning your own condensed chicken soup? If so, please let me know how you would go about it.
Hi Brenda! Unfortunately we do not have much experience with canning, and haven’t experimented with processing and canning this.
Yummy! I had it eaten in one meal. Organics including: carrots, chicken,green Beans, and Leeks.
also made egg noodles and added separately to keep them ardent’ My family wants it again next week! Thanks so much. Kit T.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Kit!
I do canning and have chicken broth and chicken canned and on hand. This will be a great way to use some of it! Can’t wait to sit down to a hot cup of this soup..
Awesome, we hope you enjoy it, Paula!
I found your wonderful Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup. I make it will them same amount of almond milk as the milk it calls for and I substitute 2T coconut flour for the wheat flour. It is divine and I make it up in 4X batches to freeze. I am beyond excited to have found this recipe. Now with almond flour egg noodles and this soup, I can make comforting chicken and noodles again. My diabetic/gluten intolerant system thanks you!!!
Yay, so glad you enjoyed the recipe! :)
This recipe does frees freeze well. The fattier the milk you use the better though. I use whole milk when making this. I freeze milk when I can get it on sale. It may not look to pretty at first but once it heats up it will look the same as day one before you put it in the freezer.