Canned cream of whatever soups are not a subject I would normally write about, but an article in our newspaper this morning, and a few of your comments yesterday on my Facebook page, got me thinking about them.
I am not normally a newspaper reader, but my husband is, so we get the daily newspaper. As I was putting today’s newspaper in the recycle pile, a headline from the food section caught my attention.
It said,
“Embrace that cream of chicken soup.”
Yes, that was the title.
Now for those of you cringing at the thought, please remember I live in Oklahoma. We are not exactly known for our healthy eating. We are the state known for things like barbecued bologna after all. (And that subject deserves a post all by itself.)
But when a newspaper has a title like, “embrace that cream of chicken soup”, I knew I had to read the article.
After reading the article and several of your thoughts yesterday, I decided to do a post on the subject.
Now, to be fair to the author of the newspaper story, she did admit that cream soups should not be everyday food. She also admitted that she only uses them occasionally herself.
But she did go on to talk about using them in nostalgic type casseroles and how they were a necessity. She also talks about the homemade white sauce issue and people not having the time to make a homemade white sauce at home.
So, this got me thinking about whether or not cream soups are a staple in most kitchens today. Do we really not have time to make a homemade white sauce or do we just want certain foods to have that nostalgic casserole taste many of us grew up on?
What are your thoughts? Are you a canned cream soup user? Is it a staple at your house?
Do you love them and use them regularly? Or are you someone that would never even think of buying a can? Or maybe you just use them a few times a year for that favorite casserole recipe that your mom used to make?
I would love to hear what you have to say? ( And can we keep it friendly and not insults each others cooking here, thanks)
I am also curious about your success with homemade sauces. Do you think they work the same?
I have cream soups in my pantry. We use them for casseroles and during the holidays for “green bean casserole!” It simplifies dinner making after a long day at work. Sometimes I put chicken breasts in the slow cooker and dump a can of cream of mushroom soup on top and let it cook all day. Shred the chicken and put it over noodles or mashed potatoes. Yum.
i make a homemade version of them…most recipes ive used it in its been great if not better in! except when i made green bean casserole for thanksgiving. so either i was having a bad day or that particular thing NEEDS the can. its not a staple here…but i usually have the homemade ingredients on hand and it does freeze well.
my mom makes her broccoli casserole with it…along with velveeta! I eat it, happily b/c she only makes it for holidays(xmas, thanksgiving, easter) so 3 times a yr i splurge and have it! the only thing healthy in it is probably the broccoli!
My pantry always has cream soups in it. I use them in a variety of dishes.
I used to buy it but not anymore. It’s full of MSG and it affects my family. I have had headaches ever since I was kid and no one knew what the cause of it was. Once I eliminated MSG from my diet, the headaches disappeared.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved cream of mushroom soup, but now I make my own condensed cream soups. 🙂
@Casey,
ditto. i make my own with excellent results.
I try to avoid them. I haven’t bought cream soup in a can for about a year. I make all the same recipes, though, by making my own flavored white sauce with chicken broth, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed celery, etc. It really isn’t that time consuming and almost always tastes better, IMO.
It would be nice to be able to create my homemade cream soup all the time, but realistically I cannot. So I put them in my pantry and use them when necessary, but not so often that I feel guilty.
I can make a homemade white sauce and it probably less work than going to the store and buying tins of soup. However, with some dishes, I think it just tastes nice and is also quick and easy. depends on what I am making. you get a lot of flavour for your money.
I make my own (with homemade chix stock) and freeze in 2 cup increments. Tastes better than the can and better for you.
I do keep cream soups in my pantry for emergencies, but I do not use them regularly. The main thing I use them for is Chicken and Rice because it’s my husbands favorite dish and it does not turn out as good without the canned soups.
I use them, but not on a regular basis. When I do get them, I tend to get the Healthy Request version. It is nice to have them around when you are hurrying to get something in the slow cooker and then out the door of a morning.
Wow, “not having the time to make a homemade white sauce”? This takes 10 minutes tops, and generally takes me less than 5.
I used to use cream of soups ALL the time till I started reading labels (25+ ingredients for cream of chicken soup?!?! No thanks!). That’s just not something I want to feed my family.
Also the replacement white sauce can be flavoured in any number of ways. Chicken Stock, Beef Stock, diced mushrooms, grated cheese, garlic & onion, diced celery. It’s much more versatile.
I *always* have butter, milk, flour, chicken stock in my house – instant cream of chicken soup.
Also you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days so it’s easy to make ahead of time if need be ^_^
Give it a try! 🙂
I do buy cream of chicken, but I only use it in one recipe… a chicken and rice bake that my mother made. It was one of my favorite foods when I was growing up, so for me, it is a comfort food. I probably only make it once every 3-4 months. My family rejoices when I make it. Hmm… maybe I’ll make it tonight!
I usually have a can or two of cream of chicken soup in my pantry. I have two favorite recipes that need one can each. Even though we don’t eat those meals very often (maybe once a month or even less), I like to have the soup handy for when I do want to make them.
When it comes to homemade sauces, I don’t make them often, but when I do they turn out just as good (or better) than anything that comes out of a packet. I like to control our salt intake and I find that premade sauces and gravies can be way too salty for our taste. Honestly, to make a quick white sauce is as simple as stirring a little flour and seasoning into some milk and butter – takes less than five minutes. That quick sauce can then be turned into any cream sauce that you want. Or to make a pan gravy with a little fat and a little flour or cornstarch and water is just as easy.
I use them occasionally and keep some on hand in the pantry. My kids are not big casserole eaters, so that kind of eliminates most of my need for the canned soups!
I get a little panicky if I don’t have cream of mushroom soup in my pantry.
I make them all the time! They take less than 2 minutes to make with the microwave and taste better in my opinion than the canned. I have some canned ones I was given and they sit there!
I use them all the time. However, I always buy the healthy request kind. It has lower sodium and no MSG (which I am highly sensitive to). I don’t feel bad using the more healthier version but probably wouldn’t buy the regular version. Great post!
God bless!
I have not used canned cream soups in a long time. I think the last time I did was for a green bean casserole over the holidays. We eat almost completely vegetarian at home and my husband does not like casseroles, so I rarely cook with them at all. I think I may have a couple crammed into the back of my pantry that have probably been there for a while, haha. Since I have been making a lot of things by hand and eating healthier, I honestly can’t stand much that comes out of cans anymore. I can taste the difference.
I would like to not use them, but my husband has a pretty picky palate. He can pick out the smallest changes I make to a recipe, and I do it all the time! I’m more of a dump and go than measure and go type of cook. I tried making his favorite enchilada casserole with white sauce, and he knew it wasn’t right. So yep, I use them in various casseroles.
Hi Lynn,
Since moving to Portugal I make all my own soup; including cream.
I usually substitute the cream for low fat milk and this makes a great base for veg such as carrot, celery, mushroom, spinach etc I would not dream of buying canned soup now because I make extra to freeze for busy days. The taste is so different 🙂
Since I’m cooking for one I tend to have canned cream of mushroom soup in my pantry but I only use it a few times per month. I use it for different rice, chicken and pasta dishes.
That’s the only other canned item I use except for tomato paste. The rest is always fresh or frozen because I’m concerned about the BPA lined cans.
🙂
I use them for a few dishes (tator tot hotdish, my husband’s chicken and wild rice soup, misc. casseroles) and always have cream of chicken, cream of brocolli and cream of celery in my pantry. We probably use them 3 times a month. I would be interested in trying to make my own. Anyone have a recipe you’d be willing to share?
@Barb,Several of you have asked for a recipe, so I am going to put together a post about the different homemade versions. I will try to get it up in the next week or so.
I have no idea how to make my own cream soup. Can someone post some links? I would love to try.
@Jess, Several of you have asked for a recipe, so I am going to put together a post about the different homemade versions. I will try to get it up in the next week or so.
@Lynn, I’ve developed an intolerance to lactose recently and I’m wondering if you will you have one that is lactose-free?
@Rosemary,
I’m lactose intolerant, Rosemary, and I use Lactose Free Milk. It works just fine ^_^
Casseroles in my family were made with flour and butter, but bf is from a cream-soup family, so I’ve adapted. When I cook,I do it my way, when he cooks, I suck it up, smile, and eat it.
I make homemade sauces, sure. I even use copycat sauces sometimes. But cream of whatever soups, I adore.
I have always proudly used them. I will always proudly use them. No apologies. But, I don’t knock anybody who prefers not to use them either.
Personally I don’t like the taste and can instantly tell if something I’m served has canned cream soup as an ingredient. It is so easy to make a white sauce (which tastes fantastic even using white whole wheat flour) so it is not even a convenience food for me.
I never use canned cream soups. At age 33, my husband had congestive heart failure which meant I started cooking low sodium and low fat [heart healthy]. I do make white sauce from scratch; I use canola oil for my fat instead of butter. I know there are many who say that doesn’t taste as good. We have decided we’d rather have me cook with canola and still get to eat the foods than to never get to eat them because of the butter.
I use a can of cream of mushroom about once a month for my creamy stroganoff. Sure, I could probably make it from home but I’m busy with my kids and I’d rather spend the time I DO have in the kitchen doing other things.
I use canned cream soup in casseroles and crock pot cooking. While I prefer to make my own “eating” soups, I’ve not found a satisfactory substitute for good old-fashioned cream of whatever in my favorite recipes.
I used to buy them but I am now totally grossed out by what is in them so I rarely get them anymore. Only if it’s going in something I’m not going to eat – ha! I normally make my own. Our Best Bites has a great recipe for cream of chicken and it really makes the recipes much better than the canned. I roast a chicken a couple times a month and always make my own chicken broth so I use that in the cream soup.
I only use canned cream of mushroom soup in one crockpot dish that I make maybe once a month. It’s one of my “all I have to do is dump four ingredients in the crockpot” go-to meals when I’m tired or don’t have a lot of time. Usually, though, I make my own cream of soups and I like the resulting dishes much better. I never cooked with cream of chicken soup before I started making my own because there’s just something off about the taste of the one in the can to me. My mom never made casseroles (she really didn’t cook at all) so there’s nothing nostalgic about the canned soups for me.
Nope, we never have it in the pantry. That said it’s SUPER expensive here AND I can’t eat half of what’s in it. However, I pretty much always have a batch of it in the freezer. 😉 My dh swears it tastes just like the stuff from the can. We use the homemade stuff in chicken pot pie & ground beef stroganoff, and occasionally a chicken pasta dish. None of which we eat ALL the time, but it’s nice to have it on hand for when we need it.
I have a list of about 3 recipes (all casserole type) that I use different “cream of” soups in. I use them because no matter how hard I try, I can’t replicate that wonderful casserole taste on my own.
Also, while cream of chicken/mushroom etc, soups aren’t great, there are a number of other things that I would rather put my energies against, mainly high fructose corn syrup, palm oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and all the terrible dyes and other chemicals that are added to just about everything out there.
I have to agree strongly agree about high fructose corn syrup and anything soy. But palm oil like coconut oil is very good for you. I do use a home made white sauce in most recipes calling for cream soup. It’s just easier for me besides it simply taste better to me and my family doesn’t need the chemicals in the can. Trying to cook toxin free is so hard these days, there are chemicals in everything.
I used to keep cream soups around, simply vecause I couldn’t make a gravy to save my life, so I just thinned out the soup to a gravy consistency. Then I married my Redneck, and I really wanted to impress him with my cooking. I spent a whole day figuring out how to make gravy, and I got good at it. Then I was reading about white sauces, and realized they are just a version of gravy. And they are cheaper than cream soup, which appeals to the ‘thriftologist’ in me. My husband never grew up with green bean casserole, so I don’t even need them or holidays.
I’m glad to see this post and comments, and I look forward to the recipes, Lynn.
I used to use canned soup before I started reading labels and having to cook with allergies in mind. For a long time I just didn’t make anything that was creamy. Now I’ve learned how to make a cream of whatever soup using chicken stock as my base, and I do that sometimes. I never thought of making a batch and freezing it, though. Great idea from the comments. I always do that with spaghetti sauce.
A few weeks ago I made a delicious chicken pot pie filling in the crock pot and just thickened it with potato starch at the end. We just served it over bread, regular or gluten-free. I got the recipe base from AllRecipes.
For those of you that don’t have time to make the actual soup, maybe something like that would be an option instead of using a canned variety. Just thicken it at the end.
@Cheri,
Cheri-I found the recipe you are talking about Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew. Did you leave out the cream soups entirely and thinken at the end or did you make our own cream soup and then still thicken it at the end. This is something my family would love and I can’t do canned cream soups because of the gluten. I would love to know exactly how you modified this recipe!
@Kristin, I did not use the canned soups at all. I used 4 cups of chicken stock and Mrs. Dash, garlic salt, frozen mixed veggies, and potatoes and cooked it all day on low. I made a potato starch slurry about 30 minutes before I wanted to eat and put that in for it to thicken it. I also uncovered it then. I hope your family likes it as much as mine did. 🙂
@Cheri,
THANKS!
I have a recipe for a powdered cream of soup mix. I use this on a regular basis. It is wonderful because of food allergies we used to always have to buy the more expensive “healthier” versions of the canned soup. At $2 a can casseroles quickly lost their “value” as an inexpensive meal. Plus the recipe uses non-fat powdered milk and no additional fats so it’s healthier. The recipe calls for powdered milk which is pricey, but I’ve found it marked down several times and always buy as much as I can when it is on clearance.
@Terri, Can you shared the powdered milk recipe with us or Lynn?
@Cheri,
Here is the recipe, It is from The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Cacyczyn.
Cream Soup Mix
2 cups dry milk
1 1/4 cups cornstarch or 2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup chicken bouillon powder
2 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. thyme (optional)
1 tsp. basil (optional)
Mix all the ingredients and store in an airtight container If the mix is made with cornstarch, add 1/3 cup mix to 1/ 1/4 cups water, if made with flour, add 1/2 cup mix to 1 1/4 cups water . This makes the concentrated casserole consistency. For soup consistency, double the water.
Note from Terri: I use the cornstarch version, I labeled the container with the directions for both the concentrated and soup versions, then I don’t have to look up the recipe. Also, because of food allergies I have a difficult time finding powdered chicken bouillon, so I leave it out and use chicken base from Sam’s Club, I just add it when I’m cooking and use just a little less mix. This also gives me the freedom to add beef, turkey or ham base if I think it will complement the dish more. Enjoy.
I enjoy making my own version. I love the taste of homemade anything. And my family doesn’t get all the unnecessary added chemicals, such as MSG and such! My goal is ‘healthier for my family’, and nothing can beat homemade versions!!!!!
I use cream soups about once every two years. I always make my own cream sauce. It takes about seven minutes. My favorite recipe was the creamed chicken sauce in Joy of Cooking—I used it all the time (until my book went to cookbook heaven). Some recipes you cannot substitute homemade soups, particularly slow-cooker recipes. The canned soups have some type of stabilizer (or perhaps not as much milk?) that keep them from separating. But I have had success using homemade white sauce in the slow cooker, I just have to be careful.
Hubby asked me when I got married never to make casseroles. He can’t stand them. So, in fifteen years of marriage, I have never again made a casserole. Hence, no need for cream soups.
We make cream soups from scratch all the time — I’ve successfully made mushroom, celery and chicken.
https://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/cream-soups.html
@SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen, Thank you for the link. I will add that to the post I am putting together for next on homemade cream soups.
I do use Cream of Mushroom soup. I like the taste and texture and I don’t feel guilty about it. I buy it when it’s on sale. I have never tired making my own ( don’t know how) but I would definitely try. I will be watching for your post Lynn.
Making my own cream soup substitute is one of my goals for 2011. I do currently use the canned version ~2/month in 2 different recipes.
I do keep them in my pantry but do not use them often, mainly for casseroles. Think church or family potluck – hashbrown casserole. On occasion, in winter, I’ll make a childhood comfort food – pork & rice that uses cream of mushroom.
I’d like to to try homeade. Unfortunately, my family (and now myself) have experienced lactose intolerant issues for long enough time periods, that I just don’t keep enough dairy products in the house to be ready to make a white sauce when needed.
I use them several times during the month in casseroles. I would love to have a simple recipe to go to for a cream base to make when I have the time to make homemade instead. Can you pass one on?
@Susan, So many people have asked for the homemade recipes I am going to put together a post for next week that includes links and recipes to some homemade versions.
@Lynn, AWESOME – THANKS!
I do use them on occassion. I am currently learning how to make my own. Very excited to be learning how to make premade thing we would normally buy at the store myself. Any tips or website that would help in my quest would be appreciated.
God bless
@Renee, I am not sure what homemade versions you are looking for. I have a homemade enchilada sauce and a homemade taco sauce recipe on my site. I also have homemade taco seasoning, homemade refried beans, and several other things here on my site. I should do a category just for my make at home versions of things.
I’m a cream soup user! I probably use them a few times a month and admittedly, it’s because it’s a big time saver! I’m sure I could make the sauces myself from scratch and I actually would like to do that, but I’d like to have the time to practice them enough until it becomes a smooth and quick process. I would love to move away from them, as long as it’s time and cost efficient.
I stopped buying canned cream soups the moment I found a good recipe for homemade. I started out using a mix, but now I just wing it. Mix some milk and some boullion granules and heat, then thicken with cornstarch. I haven’t looked back since. Saves so much time and money and I don’t worry about thinking I have a can on hand and finding out I don’t.
I haven’t used cream soup in years. My mom used to use it for enchiladas and casseroles but since I figured I could substitute by making my own sauce I’ve done that. Tastes much better. Plus we try to limit processed foods.
I used to use them a few times a month until I was diagnosed with a gluten intollerance. Now I need to learn to make them on my own. Looking forward to the post Lynn.
We buy stock in cartons from Trader Joes to make soup if we are pressed for time.
But, we mainly make our own stock and soup from scratch. We skin/clean whole chickens and freeze them in our freezer in our garage. If we are home, we throw one chicken in water and bring to a quick boil and simmer for 4 hours without monitoring it while it simmers (or just use the slow cooker overnight). There’s really not much monitoring at all. Then, we strain the stock and add veggies/spices.
The condensed soups like cream of mushroom seem to take the most time, so I don’t make it from scratch unless it’s a special occasion. There’s no recipe for it online…just something I came up with through trial and error. I’m still trying to perfect the written recipe (i.e. I’m still doing a bit of adjusting while I’m cooking it to get it perfect). There is nothing that comes even close to homemade condensed cream of mushroom soup…it’s out of this world.
If you are concerned about what happened to the lab rats that got cancer from BPA, BPA was discovered in the canned food linings last summer. So, our family may be ditching a majority of our canned food consumption.
I grew up on cream of _____ soups and it was not until I started really cooking (as in not using boxes, cans and mixes for the entire meal) that I even realized it could be made from scratch. I have been slowly learning how to get away from convenience foods, one product at a time. I have yet to make some up to freeze, but I think I will soon. For now, I make it from scratch if I have the time to do it, but if time is tight, it is easier to pop open a can. It may only take 5-10 minutes to make the sauce, but sometimes, that is all the time I might have to pull the entire meal together.
I have one recipe that has to have a can of cream of chicken and a can of cheddar cheese soup in it plus sour cream and it has frosted flakes and melted butter on top so changing up one ingredient to a healthier option would be rather pointless 🙂 But I only make it about twice a year for us and maybe another time to take to a potluck.
Hi Lynn,
I posted on Fb yesterday about using Erin Chase’s (5dollardinners.com) white sauce and to be honest, I had no idea how easy a white sauce was, then adding the chicken broth to make it “cream of” chicken & celery/mushrooms etc. It basically just uses another pot on the stove, no real extra time. And I’m pretty lazy in the kitchen lol
Now that’s a lot of comments about canned soup!
Personally, I use to only have creme of mushroom in the house, and that was for tuna noodle casserol – which I got from my Mom. Than I found a Nacho Chicken Casserole that I LOVED and (being from Betty Crocker on-line) but it had Creme of Chicken in it. But I LOVE this recipe – and the family is good with it too! Not to shabby when you have picky toddlers and a picky 8 yr old! Anyway, the thing is – I don’t know HOW to make a white sauce (let alone a good one) at least, I’m not even sure what a “white” sauce is. Something with chicken stock, and flour? May sound sad – but that’s the truth! I’m not into nostalgia for casseroles cause my Mom didn’t make them while growing up. Though I am always into making things from scratch, home made – whatever – and if there is a better homemade way to make something – I’m on bored with making it that way! The other thing though, is, that I’m sure there are a million different ways to make it – with everyone exclaiming that their’s is “the best” way – and I can’t go through all of those claims, trying a different one (I just don’t have the time! We homeschool! 4 – at home!) Try typing in pancake recipes and you’ll see what I mean! Generally if I find 1 way to make something I really, really pleased with – than I’m going to stick with that one. Along with that 4 kids at home thing, I am (while enjoying making something from scratch) also being able to whip it up quick. Quick and minimal ingredients. I will not deny the fact that sometimes I use self-rising flour in a recipe – cause it calls for it, and does save me time!
So, I’d be all for discovering a great tasting, easy, quick white sauce recipe – if you can provide it! Oh, and my pancake recipe calls for 4 ingredients – and I have yet to find another pancake recipe that compares. Is there better tasting one’s out there? I’m not sure, cause arguably they are all smoothered with syrup anyway – so who can tell? And when I don’t have time for the long way to make pancakes, my recipe saves me that much needed time and keeps me from ordering in pizza!
No store bought here either. And only a whole foods diet in our home. I remember thinking it was so hard for everyone to lose weight even though we did low fat. Well, now everyone is losing weight and we use real butter, whole milk, raw as often as possible and no artificial sweeteners, usually sucanat or honey.
I remember when I made my first green bean casserole, without Campbells. I was thinking it would be horrible, but now I can say I’ll never go back.
I totally understand having to buy it or feeling the need to buy it. It took us a couple of years to totally change our eating style and there is still room for improvement, I’m sure there always will be.
I try to use a white sauce instead, but many recipes do not taste the same and/or the consistency is wrong. I’ve been buying the organic cream soups in the aseptic packaging as they are much healthier than the canned ones.
We used to cook with them all the time, but no more. Now we simply make our own. As previous posters pointed out, full of MSG and just not good for you!
I buy far fewer of them than I used to once I started learning what was in them. I used to use them often but now we simply don’t eat that many ‘creamy’ foods anyway. Every so often I will buy them for convenience or when I’m craving some comfort food but I have made it from scratch before and like the other have said found it to be much tastier than the canned stuff anyway. So much so that when I was making it I could not stop “testing” it! And I’ve made it with skim milk too (even though it called for 2%) and it turned out fine.
I would say they are a staple in our house. Maybe because my mom used them so now I do and also, I wasn’t a very confident cooker when I got married so the soups helped making meals easier. I would love to make a homemade sauce because I’m trying to use less of the premade items but I just don’t know how or have the recipes to do so. It may be easy, I just don’t know. Still learning but getting more confident with cooking. I would recommend the soups to any one but I’m sure they would get old if you used them for every meal.
Honestly, I enjoy the taste of cream soups, probably because I grew up on them! They definitely used to be a regular pantry staple in my home up until about a year ago when we became a lot more concious of what’s in processed foods. Since we’ve adpoted a more whole food type diet I try to stay away from the canned soups. That’s not to say that I NEVER use them, it’s just something I try to avoid for the most part. I have not yet tried a homemade sauce as a replacement, but I’ve seen several different recipes for them and I’m hoping to try it soon to test it out and see how it tastes!
I keep Cream of Mushroom in the pantry for my all-time favorite comfort food: Tuna Casserole. I also use it for Green Bean Casserole during the holidays even though my brother and I are the only ones who really like it. Other than those two dishes, we really don’t use them–and those two dishes just don’t taste right without the canned soup.
I use canned soups a lot in my cooking and truthfully had never even considered making my own…. but being a stay at home mom maybe I should think about it!
I use canned soups because that is what I grew up with, that is how I learned how to cook. I never really knew that I could make them from scratch. But, now that I know, definitely going to try it and see how it goes. From the sounds of it, it shouldn’t be too hard!! Thanks for the information. Love your blog by the way!!!
The one I use is just a base and it’s super versatile 🙂 I also use lactose free milk because I’m lactose intolerant and it works just fine!
4T butter
4T flour
2 cups liquid
any addins you want
For the liquid, I generally do 1 & 1/2c milk and 1/2c stock (chicken/beef/veg), for the addins, if I have leftover diced chicken, mushrooms, celery, onions, etc. The possibilites are endless 🙂
Heat butter and flour over med heat for a couple of minutes (I generally toss the mushrooms/celery/onion in here depending on what soup I’m making) till it darkens a bit (generally 2-4 minutes), then whisk in liquid and whisk till thick (generally 4-6 minutes)!
I used to keep them on hand, but now I try to eat clean/natural and it has too many chemicals in for my liking.
I’ll try to keep it nice, but honestly, I’m here because I’ve been surfing the web trying to find some explanation for so many recipes that call for cream canned soups. Cream of chicken is particularly offensive. I don’t speak of the cost, or the health hazards, but the taste. It has an awful aftertaste and isn’t that tasty to begin with. I know when it’s been mixed into a dish and it does not substitute for good ingredients. I’m no food snob, either. I eat movie theater nachos. That should prove it. A very nice lady who was trying to help out the family brought us a dish called Poppy-Seed Chicken. I tried it before I scooped off all the crackers and rinsed away the sauce and seeds and made gumbo with the chicken… honest. It was just bad. I still don’t understand why poppy seeds, but the soup and sour cream made the most dreadful sauce… She didn’t tell me the ingredients, mind you. They spoke for themselves… right before I chugged cream soda to get rid of the taste. I know another lady who ruins perfectly good potatoes every Thanksgiving with the same soup, saying her family loves the stuff. I must assume it’s the only way she ever prepares potatoes. She got me to taste it once, but I wouldn’t try it in front of her. She’d already told me the ingredients.
I’m actually debating right now. In the past, I was a huge fan of creamed soups and used them frequently.
Lately, not so much. But my daily diet has become SO restricted. (Plain meat from electric grill, vegetable smoothies.)
I need another ‘taste’. My first thought is the old crockpot and various meats and veggies cooked in various cream soups.
How *unhealthy* would that be?
oh PLEASE! lol. What a cop out! I am from Oklahoma too, and every time I see a recipe asking for cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, velveeta, cool whip, or a baking mix, I absolutely CRINGE! Besides any true cook, especially a country cook, can whip up a white sauce in minutes with any substitutions even for that and use chicken broth, and expect a better outcome to the taste of the recipe! You wrote a cute thing though. It helps dumb lazy, fatties not worry but be happy!