Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Learn how to make homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup with this simple recipe! Perfect for casseroles, soups, and more, it’s rich, flavorful, and easy to customize the sodium content to your preferences.
Servings: 5.5 servings (1/2 cup condensed soup)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I use Kerrygold)
- 9 tablespoons all-purpose flour (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon, 70.3 grams total)
- 2 cups chicken broth or stock (see note)
- 1 cup milk (see note)
- 1 teaspoon roasted chicken base (I use Better Than Bouillon Reduced Sodium)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder , lightly rounded (see note below)
- ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic powder , lightly rounded
- ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning (I use Bell's Seasoning), lightly rounded
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt , lightly rounded
- 1 pinch sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt 1/4 cup of unsalted butter over medium heat. Once melted, reduce the heat to low and whisk in the flour. Whisk continuously for about 3 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste and avoid browning, keeping the roux light in color. The mixture will start out very thick and clumpy but will loosen slightly into a more paste-like consistency as it cooks.
- Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in 2 cups of chicken broth or stock, 1/2 cup at a time. Whisk to fully combine each addition and smooth out any lumps before adding more liquid.
- Whisk in the milk, chicken base, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, celery salt, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Place the pot back on medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently. Once it starts to bubble, cook for 3–4 minutes, gently whisking continuously until the soup thickens. You'll notice that the bubbles that rise to the surface will pop more slowly when the soup is ready.
- Season the soup to taste with additional salt, only if needed. If desired, you can strain the mixture through a mesh sieve to remove any lumps before storing. (You might not need to strain if the stock was whisked in incrementally and whisked thoroughly.)
- Transfer the soup to a heat-proof container and cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temperature before using in a 1:1 ratio for canned condensed soup in your favorite recipes. If you're making the condensed soup to use later, refrigerate it within 2 hours.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freezing is possible but not preferred due to a slight change in consistency after thawing. See Storing the Soup in the article above for more information and instructions.
Notes
Serving Size: The serving size and nutrition estimate have been calculated for the soup in its condensed form, not reconstituted.
Milk: I use whole milk, but you can substitute 2% (the soup will be slightly thinner). I don't recommend using 1% or skim milk and haven't tested non-dairy milk alternatives.
Ground Spices: When measuring onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, celery salt, and paprika, I use lightly rounded (not heaping) measuring spoons instead of leveling them. (To do so, I dip the measuring spoon into my spice jar and lightly shake off the excess.)
I've found that this gives the soup just the right amount of seasoning—a little bit more than a leveled measurement but less than the next standard size of measuring spoon. For reference, here’s how my "lightly rounded" measures translate by weight (you don't need to be this exact!):
- Onion Powder: 1.6 grams
- Granulated Garlic Powder: 1.2 grams
- Celery Salt: 1.5 grams
- Bell's Seasoning: 0.5 grams
- Paprika: 0.2 grams
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 161kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 448mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 338IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
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