It seems like every time I come across a delicious, easy to make recipe for supper it calls for a can of cream of mushroom, chicken or vegetable soup.
Now I have no problem with the taste of any of these cream soups. But I turn the can around to read the ingredients and I just can’t bear to add all those strange ingredients to my healthy meal for my family.
For a while I just remained in denial. I would place the cans of cream soup in my cart and just pray a little harder over my meal. The thought of scrounging up a recipe to replace the convenience offered in the can sounded like too much work.
And then one day I didn’t check my supplies before I started a recipe for supper. Lo and behold I was out of all cream soups. Welp, how hard can it be to make? So I checked the ounces on a comparable sized can of beans in my pantry and decided to wing a recipe. 
I based my recipe from my basic knowledge of the white sauce that I make for my biscuits and gravy and for my cheese sauce. The white sauce was more like gravy consistency so I added a bit more flour to my roux to achieve the thickness of condensed cream soup.
Ta da! It worked! Supper was saved and I realized making my own cream soup wasn’t so difficult after all.
Making Your Own Cream of Mushroom, Chicken or Vegetable Soup
In the name of super healthy cream of mushroom, chicken or vegetable soup, I would have homemade stock to use as a base. However, most of the time I only have the store-bought stuff in a box because I keep my homemade stock in the freezer for soups. And if I’ve really dropped the ball, I will use my healthy(ier than most) bullion.
I don’t usually worry about adding the chunks of mushroom or chicken to my homemade soups. If I am feeling super ambitious, I take a can of mushrooms, drain them and throw them in the food processor. I then add some of these chopped mushrooms to my cream soup.
You can add some small chunks of chicken to your cream of chicken soup, also. I never do this because the chicken flavored broth or bullion sufficiently makes the recipe I’m adding the soup to.
Condensed Cream Soup
An easy way to make cream of mushroom, chicken or vegetable soup for adding to any recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1 cup Broth Chicken, beef or vegetable depending on desired flavor
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
-
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and whisk until combined.
Slowly add broth and milk and continue whisking until thickened.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature before using in your recipe.
Recipe Notes
Instead of broth, you can use bullion by following the directions on the package.
To make the soup a little thicker, add more flour to the melted butter at the beginning.
To thin soup, whisk in a tablespoon at a time of broth or milk at the end.
So the next time your recipe calls for a can of cream of mushroom, chicken or vegetable soup, grab this recipe. Plan an extra 5-7 minutes for preparing supper and Wow! your family!
