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This Cream of Chicken Soup substitute recipe works great as a soup starter or in casserole type recipes that call for a can of condensed cream soup as a base. We have several recipes on our site that use “cream of” soups and we always get asked about a substitute.
Featured with this recipe
- Ingredients in Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
- A Tastier Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
- Substitute Ratios
- Step by Step Instructions
- How to Store Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
- Frequently Asked Questions about Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
- Try these recipes using Cream of Chicken Soup
- How to Make Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
- Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute Recipe
This easy homemade cream of chicken soup recipe can be made in just a few minutes with ingredients that are most likely already in your kitchen. It’s quick to whip up when you’re making a recipe that requires a creamy chicken soup as an ingredient. Condensed cream of chicken soup is a pantry staple that we use all the time, but it tastes so much better when you make it fresh in your own kitchen. This recipe can be used to dress up all sorts of chicken recipes.
Ingredients in Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
Use this delicious, homemade soup substitute next time you’re making cooked chicken and vegetables, or with all sorts of recipes. Here’s what you need:
- Butter – use about six tablespoons.
- All purpose flour – about two-thirds cup, which you’ll mix together with the butter to create a roux. That’s what gives the soup its thick, creamy texture.
- Milk – two-thirds cup, or more if the roux seems too thick. For an extra creamy texture, you can add a dash of heavy cream or half-and-half.
- Chicken broth or chicken stock – you can use low-sodium broth to control the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Garlic powder – a quarter teaspoon.
- Onion powder – also a quarter teaspoon.
- Salt and pepper – to taste
- Optional ingredients: add parsley, thyme or a bay leaf while the soup simmers to give it extra flavor and garnish.
A Tastier Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
We can all agree that this soup recipe is fantastic, but if you are wondering why this is better than its canned counterpart, here’s the deal: this version has the same tasty consistency and texture as canned cream of chicken soup, without any of the artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. Additionally, this recipe tastes even better than the canned one, thanks to real ingredients. Oftentimes, when using canned condensed soup, the artificial ingredients can overpower the taste of everything else in the dish. Using this version recipe makes every recipe taste better.
Substitute Ratios
Keep in mind that this recipe is condensed, so if the recipe calls for a cream of chicken, mushroom, or celery soup continue to add water or chicken stock to reconstitute it.
- Use 1 ⅓ cups of this condensed cream of chicken soup to replace a standard 10 oz can.
- This recipe makes 2 2/3 cups which is equivalent to 2 cans of condensed cream soup.
This substitute does have a slight chicken flavor because of the chicken broth used. However, you can add more chicken bouillon if you want to have more chicken flavor. Replacing cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup in a recipe? You will want to add cooked mushrooms, celery, or celery salt to the recipe, to give it the correct flavor. Or, simply try our cream of mushroom soup recipe!
Step by Step Instructions
Making your own condensed cream of chicken soup substitute is so easy, you’ll have it done in just five simple steps.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat to medium-low heat.
- Add some all purpose flour to the melted butter and stir until it makes a paste.
- Whisk in milk and chicken broth to the mixture. Whisk briskly until all the flour paste is dissolved, and make sure to get all of the flour from the edges of the pan to avoid lumps in the flour mixture.
- Add garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper to taste.
- Continue to whisk and heat thoroughly until the condensed soup is smooth and creamy.
How to Store Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
Use immediately warm in all sorts of recipes. If you’re not using it right away, cover and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
The all purpose flour is only used to thicken the soup. You can substitute with keto thickeners like Xanthan gum.
You should be able to store the soup in the freezer, tightly covered, for up to two months. To thaw, defrost in the microwave or warm on the stovetop.
Add small amounts of milk and broth to your soup until your desired consistency. Remember this recipe is for condensed soup, so it will be much thicker than regular soup.
READ MORE: 30+ Chicken Breast Recipes
Try these recipes using Cream of Chicken Soup
How to Make Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute
Video
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup flour
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Add flour to the melted butter and mix into a paste.
- Whisk in milk and chicken broth ⅓ cup at a time. Whisk briskly until all the flour paste is dissolved making sure to get all of the flour from the edges of the pan. Add garlic and onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Continue to whisk and heat thoroughly until the condensed soup is smooth and creamy.
Notes
- Use 1 ⅓ cup to replace one 10 ½ ounce can of cream of chicken soup in recipes.
- This recipe makes the equivalent of 2 cans of cream of chicken (or mushroom or celery) soup.
- If not using immediately, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Haven’t made this yet but looks great. So much sodium in canned soups and I’m salt restricted.
I made mine vegan using Miyoko’s butter, plant milk and veggie stock. I used more veggie stock than was called for to make it not so thick but it was a perfect substitute for the condensed soup in a can. Thanks!
I needed a dairy free version for my family. I use lactose free milk and this works perfectly. So delicious!
I just found your website this morning … looking for a creamy chicken sauce (soup substitute) because, over the years, I’ve come to realize how much is added to canned soups. I was excited to find yours and will be trying it soon. As equally excited about this recipe, I was excited to find that your website is so user-friendly and pleasant to look through. Thanks for working hard to make this wonderfully easy to use and enjoy!! I’ll be back to check out more of your recipes.
I would love to try this, but I’m keto and avoid flour other than almond or coconut flours. Is there another option besides regular flour? Not sure almond flour or coconut would work.
Anyone have ideas?
Thanks for asking! The flour is only used to thicken the soup. There are keto thickeners like Xanthan Gum that would work great.
Just like others said…. Won’t go back! Used organic whole wheat flour. Thanks for putting this together!
I’ve never had a cream of chicken soup until now! Will definitely be making again – it was so delicious and perfectly creamy!
I love this healthier version of Cream of Chicken Soup! I made a gluten free version with GF flour and it worked perfectly!
I love this recipe. So much better than the canned stuff. I use it in so many recipes.
So smart to make your own at home! Looks perfect. 🙂
So simple yet so delicious! This is definitely my kind of soup 🙂
Tasted amazing. I added a tsp. or so of “Better than Bouillon” , so I didn’t have to add salt. I also added alittle paprika & some parsley flakes.
Have you ever tried freezing this recipe? or using it with a freezer meal recipe?
I haven’t! Let me know how it goes if you try it!
The sodium amount is that per serving or is that what’s in 1 1/3cups of the mix
That’s per serving – which is 1/5 of the recipe. Hope this helps!
The canned version claims 2.5 servings per can and each serving contains 870 mg of sodium! So much better!!!!
Thank you for this! It’s just what I needed today – I’m running out of staples! In fact, I might use this recipe instead of the canned product in the future…it’s so easy and lacks all of the superfluous ingredients you mentioned, including and, more importantly, my concern about products loaded with sodium.
It made my casserole very creamy! So easy to make!
Mad:
You’re making a CONDENSED soup. The writer reminded people of that to make certain they weren’t expecting regular soup consistency. The fact that is condensed also means that you can easily compensate for the thickness in whatever use you have for it. Add more liquid for soup. I use it for crockpot recipe and the thicker consistency thickens the gravy up better so I’m good with it.
The roux is really hot when you add the liquids and it all comes together really fast at that point, thickening it more than you want. If you take it off of the heat and add the liquid, it works better. I’m grateful it was shared b/c it alleviates issues I had with the store bought. varieties.
Hopefully you aren’t as unpleasant and ungrateful as your comment above suggests.
Shame on the people leaving a five star review. The consistency is not correct and I don’t understand why the original has not been modified. The comment about how it’s condensed and not prepared is not helpful.
Sorry this recipe didn’t meet your specifications. We will try to revisit the recipe and see where people are having difficulty.
The flavor is pasty as well as consistency. I had to add a bunch of more broth and milk. Next time I’m decreasing flour to 6 tbsp.. A traditional roux is equal flour to butter. I had my doubts but wanted to follow the recipe first time out.
Sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. Glad you were able to make it work by adding extra broth and milk!
I had the same issue as multiple other posters… Turned out super thick and did not make enough. I doubled the chicken stock and it was closer to the right consistency, but still didn’t make the amount in a can of soup. Yes, I understand this is supposed to be like a condensed soup.
I am so sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. There are so many factors that can contribute to differences in results – freshness of ingredients, brand of ingredients, temperature differences on stove tops and in ovens – it is hard to say what might have happened. We test all of our recipes and try to share them as accurately as possible. I hope you’ll give our recipes another chance!
I am so excited I found this recipe! I’m vegetarian but grew up on sturdy classics and am desperately trying to figure out how to recreate them as my family gets bigger. This gives me the building blocks for how to recreate a few recipes I’ve been craving for the last few years. Thank you for this!
Hi Jamie! I am so glad you found a recipe that will work for you! Let us know how it works in your recipes! Thanks for the 5-stars 😀
This was so easy and tasted wonderful!! I made 2/3 of the recipe and used it in my chicken enchiladas instead of 2/3 can of cream of chicken soup.
So glad you liked it! Thank you for sharing your results! We love using this recipe in enchiladas too, so yummy!
Made this as a sub for regular cream of chicken soup and following the directions to a T made the mixture come out almost like mashed potatoes. Added another 2/3 cub of broth and it thinned out to be a lot closer to the consistency of condensed soup.
Thank you for sharing! Yes, we have noticed that sometimes it takes more or less broth to get it the right consistency. With this recipe you have to almost go more by “feel” or consistency than actual measurements.
I halved this recipe because an old family recipe I was making called for 1 can of cream of chicken soup. It turned out perfect! Truly, the final recipe I was subbing this recipe out for tasted exactly the same! Super happy I found this copy cat recipe. It is definitely going in my go-to recipe book.
Thank you so much for the five stars! I’m so glad you like the recipe! 🙂
I agree that this came out MUCH thicker than anything found in canned condensed cream of chicken soup. I understand that it is supposed to be thick and it should resemble condensed cream of chicken…. But what I have is a pan of the thickest “chicken flavored flour paste” on my stove right now, lol! I think next time, I will start with at least only 1/2 the amount of flour and add more to achieve the proper consistency.
You can definitely keep adding milk or broth until you reach the consistency you like. Hope this helps!
Absolutely got the same result! Lol but its definitely an easy enough recipe to know to keep adding broth and milk. I’m just thankful theres a substitute recipe out there so I dont have to feed my family MSG amongst other garbage!
Good and well done
I’m dairy and soy free. I need this for thanksgiving dressing! So I have great butter substitutes. Has anyone tried a milk substitute in this? Like plain almond milk or ripple milk? Not expecting it to be as good as the real thing but just good enough to make me feel included in the thanksgiving meal! Thanks!
I haven’t tried a milk substitute in this particular recipe, but I usually find that unsweetened almond milk works pretty well in cooking. Let me know how it goes if you do try it!
This was super easy and fast and tasted fantastic out of the pan. When i added it to my casserole though, it separated and all the butter formed a greasy layer on top. The rest of it all seemed to congealed within the casserole. Any tips?
Oh no! I’m so sorry this didn’t work for you! Did you add the soup to the casserole when it was hot or cooled?
It was probably still hot or at least pretty warm.
Would this hold up in crockpot recipes? I figure it would but thought I’d ask. Really excited to try this because I would love to get away from using the canned “cream of”soups thank you!
Yes, it should hold up just like any canned “cream of” soup. It shouldn’t separate or get grainy. Hope this helps!
Ok that’s what I thought. Thanks!
Another question….have you tried adding chicken bouillon to it for more flavor? If so, how much would I add? I have the bouillon cubes not granules
i’m very excited to try this! My husband has recently (as of January this year) started a gluten free died, which has severely limited what I can cook, and eliminated some of my favorite recipes! I know this isn’t a gluten-free recipe, but I don’t see why I can’t substitute with a gluten-free flour and give it a try (for a childhood comfort food). Thank you!
You can easily use cornstarch instead of flour and it will still taste great! We have many gluten allergies in our family so we are learning all the work-arounds. Most of our new recipes we share how to make them GF in the writing of the post! We have learned going GF really isn’t that bad. It’s totally doable!
I have been substituting gluten free flour and making my own cream
of soups for years for all my casseroles.
I SO love that you made this recipe! I’ve been feeling so reliant on “Cream of” soups and have this nagging concern about the preservatives and MSG. I can’t wait to try this! Will be back to review. . . someday. . .
You are awesome! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the nice comment! Let us know what you think when you try it, we would love to hear your opinion!
A lot of the people commenting about MSG in Can soups may not realize that it is hidden in every thing we eat. I read an article that gave the different names it’s hidden under and one of them very often used is “ natural flavors” so if truly trying to avoid MSG be very careful. It is VERY DIFFICULT to avoid. For this recipe unless your making your own broth fro scratch ,.. every single chicken broth you can buy in the store says “ natural flavor “ in the ingredients:(
Could olive oil be used in place of butter?
I haven’t tried it, but I can’t think of a reason it wouldn’t work. Thanks for asking!
I really do appreciate your recipes.The ones I have pinned are a part of my regular routine now.Even the dreaded baked potato halves (to which I am addicted).Thanks for all the great recipes.Barb
Thank you so much! haha yes, the potato halves are definitely addicting!
I use arrowroot powder instead of flower or corn starch to thicken my rou. I’m also trying coconut oil instead of butter because my friend has so many allergies.
Oh excellent. Let us know how it turns out! We love GF options!
I don’t think the amount of milk and chicken broth is correct. 2/3 cup and 2/3 cup = 1 and 1/3 cup. I don’t see how this can possibly make 2 and 2/3 cups of soup. I tried it and it doesn’t. It was sooo thick, so I added double the milk and broth and then it was perfect.
This is actually a recipe for the soup in its condensed form. So it should turn out exactly how it comes out of the can.. not as a prepared soup. Does that make sense?
My daughter is on a low carb diet. Is there a thickening agent that won’t add the carbs for this soup?
We haven’t tried anything that is low-carb as a substitute for this recipe. You can try using mashed up cauliflower but we haven’t don’t this before and can’t let you know for use if it will taste as good. Hope this helps!
Try arrowroot powder!
Are the ingredient amounts correct? I came out with about 1 1/3 cups total and it was the consistency of mashed potatoes. I added an additional 1 cup chicken broth and then it seemed right and worked out perfectly!
Yes, the ingredients are correct… did it look the way the cream of chicken soup looks directly out of the can? Or thicker than that?
Way thicker than that. More like the consistency of a can of pumpkin.
This sound wonderful. I will use this recipes in all that calls for a can of cream of . Just be sure to cook the butter and flour for at least 10 minutes before adding other ingredients so that it doesn’t take like flour.
Love your site. Usually try 90% of all recipes. Thank you.
Hi, great site!! I was wondering, at the end of the recipe where it says it makes the equivalent of 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (or mushroom or celery) Does that mean you ue this recipe to replace all 3 soups tins in various recipes or do u adapt it to substitute cream of celery and cream of mushroom?? Thanks in advance.
Hi Rachel, I adapt the recipe to get the flavor I want. If I’m using it to replace a cream of chicken, I’ll add a little shredded chicken. For cream of mushroom, I will sauté some mushrooms to add and I do the same for cream of celery. Thanks for asking!
I hate using canned soups. This recipe is awesome, but
Is 2/3 c. of flour correct…seems like a lot!
Do you think it will be OK to freeze? Sometimes saving even few minutes matters.
We haven’t tried freezing it before… I don’t know how it would turn out. I’m worried that the dairy components won’t freeze well but that’s just me. I know I am not much of a help here– if you try freezing it, let us know how it turns out!
Great idea. Thank you
This is so perfect! Works like a charm every time! Thank you!
Thank you for your kind review!
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! I have CHF and sodium is something I have to watch closely. I’d stopped making so many of my childhood favorites simply because even the lower sodium soups caused me trouble. With this wonderful substitute I can control the amount of sodium and still enjoy my favorites.
So glad you can enjoy your favorite recipes again! Thanks for the 5-stars!
So easy to make and so much cheaper than those cans! I went to go make hamburger stroganoff for dinner last night and realized I’d forgotten to pick up the cream soups. I stumbled across this recipe in search of a substitute. Only thing I’d do different is add more garlic. Otherwise the flavor was exactly what I was looking for.
Hey is it two-three cups of flour or two thirds if a cup x
Two thirds!