You know that casserole or recipe that calls for a can of cream of something soup? And you look and you have none? Or you’re like me and you just prefer not to use them? Here are three recipes to replace those cream of soups in your cooking.
The basic plan? You make a heavy white sauce using butter, flour and milk or broth and add flavors like chicken, mushrooms or asparagus. Each recipe makes about 10 ounces to its like having a can of undiluted cream of soup at your fingertips.
Basic Cream Of Soup
- In a small, heavy saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter over low heat.
- Blend 4 tablespoons of flour into the melted butter.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- Cook over low heat, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes. Cooking for this length of time will minimize the ‘flour’ taste.
- Slowly add 1 cup of milk, stirring constantly.
- Continue cooking slowly until smooth and thickened
Now we can make alterations and get different flavors…..
For Cream Of Chicken Soup
Replace half the milk with good chicken stock OR add 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules to the milk.
Add 1/2 cup small bits of cooked chicken after step 5
For Cream Of Asparagus Soup
Add 1/2 cup drained, minced, canned asparagus and a pinch of garlic powder after step 5
For Cream Of Mushroom Soup
In a large skillet over medium heat cook 1 cup diced mushrooms in 1 tablespoon butter. Don’t crowd the skillet and cook til the mushrooms are light brown in color.
Add the cooked mushrooms after step 5.
You will probably use these immediately when you make them, but if you need to store them, keep them covered tightly in the refrigerator for about 3 days. They won’t keep much longer than that because of the milk and butter in them.
Now these are basic recipe. Which means you can tweak them to your heart’s content. That’s what I do. The richer and more flavorful your cream of soups are … the better the recipes you make with them will be. So go ahead and add things like black pepper, more salt, garlic and herbs. Go ahead and experiment with using broths, bouillons and even heavy cream. You will hit on just the right taste for you and your family and then you’ve got a Keeper!
About Sylvia
Thank you so much for posting these! This is fabulous…
Do you have a recommendation on how to adapt this recipe to make Cream of Celery soup? Thanks for posting these recipes. I have a similar recipe but am going to try yours.
Yes I do. Celery must be cooked first so it will be tender. So dice 1 cup of celery (or use less if you prefer) and saute it in a little water or butter til tender. Add it after step 5.
You may also add a pinch of celery seed to pep up the flavor.
Mmmm! Sounds delicious and much better than the canned stuff!
Thank you, Sylvia! I was wondering about this not long ago, since the canned creamed soups have MSGs.
This is wonderful…thanks!
This is wonderful!
I used it this evening in my King Ranch Chicken!
Thank you!
I’m so glad you were able to use it Molly!
Ah! Now I know what to do with that can of asparagas. Cream of cabbage soup is good too, or broccoli, cauliflower, especially if you have a garden or a farmers market. Mmmm. I love cream soups!
Thank you so much for this recipe, Sylvia. I am excited to add this to my “homemade” file.
Thanks for sharing this. I have been putting off making my own “cream of soup,” but I found a pretty, non-scratching whisk at the store the other day. So, now I can’t wait to use it!
Do you know how to make a flavorful stock base (chicken or beef), without all the msg? Even bouillon has msg, and I’m trying to avoid using it. I’ve tried making stock from simmering a chicken overnight (had a recipe I followed), but it was flavorless, so I must’ve done something wrong…
Tammy I make chicken stock a little like Traci makes it.
Only sometimes do I use the whole chicken to make stock. Most of the time I use a chicken carcass where I have roasted the bird and then removed the meat.
So you can use these instructions with a whole bird or just the carcass.
I use a small whole onion studded with two whole cloves, a large carrot, a large stalk of celery, 5 black peppercorns and a bundle of thyme, rosemary and parsley. I tie the fresh herbs together with kitchen string to make the bundle. And I use about 1 Tablespoons of vinegar. The vinegar helps get the protein out of the bones and into your stock.
You can use other seasonings like tumeric or ginger instead and in addition to the herbs.
I place everything into a pot of water with the carcass and bring it to a boil. Then I lower the heat and allow it to simmer for about 2 hours.
Once it has simmered for a couple of hours, I allow it to cool, then I refrigerate stock, carcass and all. If you use a whole bird, you can take the meat off the bones once its cooled, store the meat and refrigerate the stock and bones.
A thick gelatinous layer will form on top of the stock after its been refrigerated. That layer is flavorful protein. Take the stock out of the frig once its cold.
Gently heat the stock and other ingredients. Remove the bones and vegetables, strain if desired. There’s your stock! Now you can use it with your recipes and season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Tammy, when I make chicken stock, I add lots of onion, garlic, a stalk or two of celery and sometimes carrots. Cover and simmer until chicken is done. Add some salt and pepper and you have a delicious chicken stock.
Thanks! I’ll give it a try!
What about freezing these in wide-mouth pint jars? How would that work out? I never seem to have room in my fridge for the large amounts I’d like to make of things like this. Or, anybody know of if I could pressure-can something like this?
Pressure canning would probably not be an option because of the milk involved. I’m not sure what freezing would do to the texture, either. I make what I know I will need at the beginning of the week and it keeps well, covered, in the refrigerator all week.
I make large batches of “Cream of…” soups and freeze them without any problems. I have never used a canning jar though. I would maybe place a protective layer over the top of the soup to keep it from getting freezer burn. I know a lot of people don’t like to use plastic wrap or aluminum foil, but I think if the soup is cold when you place it on top it would be okay?
I am preparing for severe hard times when we may not even have electricity and so am dehydrating most everything from my garden (rather than freezing it). I can but not too much because I don’t want to destroy all the food value.
Anyway, I am on the lookout for ways to make cream-of-xxx soup bases that do not rely on butter or milk, so that I can have it available long-term. The other day I learned about substituting bean puree for oil and cooked beans for butter in baking, so I’m wondering if I can just dehydrate cooked bean-based and bean puree-based mixtures for cream-of-xxx soup bases. I know I can purchase freeze-dried butter and freeze-dried milk, and freeze-dried soup and meal mixes, etc., but they’re expensive and usually contain MSG so I’m not interested in that. I know I can dehydrate beans and bean puree separately, but I’m looking for information as to how to pull all this together.
If you have recipes of this nature, I’d really appreciate your posting them! Many thanks!
Connie,
I’ve never heard of using beans as a substitute for butter and oil in baking. I would love to know more about this. Have you tried it yet?
Hi Sylvia! Can I copy this and print it for my own use at home?
God bless,
Ella
Yes of course you can, Ella!
Anything here on the site can be printed out for anyone’s personal use.
If you’d like to make copies, please email me
Christianhomekeeper (at) yahoo (dot) com
Sylvia, Thank you so much for these recipes. I use mushroom and chicken through out the year making chicken or turkey pot pies and I have always wanted to make my own and stop buying the processed stuff. So again THANK YOU!
wonderful!