Homemade Substitute for Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

Did you know that you can easily make your own condensed cream of chicken soup with 4 simple ingredients and in less than 10 minutes??

The secret? Using Better Than Bouillon, a chicken base. It's basically a very thick, concentrated chicken stock. This has more flavor and stores well in the fridge for up to a year. 1 teaspoon of base, mixed with 1 cup of water, is equivalent to 1 cup of chicken stock. When adding milk instead of water to chicken base, you get a creamy texture that is similar to cream soups.

Need a low sodium option? Use unsalted butter and the reduced sodium option of Better Than Bouillon.

1. Melt the butter & Better than Bouillon chicken base together.
2. Add all purpose flour
3. Stir, mixing flour well and cook for one minute. I LOVE using this flat wire whisk for all my sauces & gravies. It scrapes the bottom and cleans all the sides while stirring.

4. Quickly stir in milk

5. Stir and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

That's it!

This recipe will make 1.5 cups of thick, creamy condensed cream of chicken soup. If you need it to be thicker for a particular recipe, you can reduce the amount of milk or increase the amount of flour to 1/3 cup. Store in the fridge and use within 7 days.

Enjoy!
Recipes I love that use canned cream of chicken soup (now you can make your own!):
Tater Tot Casserole

Homemade Substitute for Canned Cream of Chicken

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Author: Frieda Franchina, adapted from KitchenStewardship

Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min

Have a favorite recipe that calls for canned cream of chicken? This is a perfect replacement that is so easy to make and tastes better too! See notes below for variations.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cups butter (salted or unsalted)
• 1 teaspoon chicken base or bouillon (Better Than Bouillon)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups milk

Instructions:

How to Make Homemade Substitute for Canned Cream of Chicken

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
2. Once the butter has melted, add the bouillon and flour, stirring it into a thick paste. Continue to cook for one minute, stirring, to remove any raw flour taste.
3. Pour the milk, all at once, into the flour mixture, stirring until incorporated.
4. Continue to cook over medium heat, until the sauce is the consistency of a thick gravy, about 5 minutes.
5. Use as directed for your recipe calling for canned cream soup or store in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Note: If you need your soup to be thicker for a particular recipe, you can reduce the amount of milk or increase the flour to 1/3 cup.

Low Sodium: Use reduced sodium chicken base and unsalted butter.
Cream of Mushroom: Saute 1/2 cup of diced mushrooms in the butter/bouillon mixture
Cream of Celery: Saute 1 stalk of finely diced celery in the butter/bouillon mixture
Cream of Broccoli: Add a couple of cooke florets, chopped, after thickening the soup
Cream of Cheddar Cheese: Add 3/4 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese after thickening the soup