These three homemade Cream Soups are quick and super easy to make and they all taste so much better than those store-bought versions you get in the cans. They are also made from whole ingredients without preservatives.
So that makes them great for use in all your favorite recipes that your family loves!l those additives in the processed cans.

What is Cream of Something Soup?
A condensed soup is a specialized soup that’s made in a very thick consistency. Usually with a minimum amount of water or stock, which results in a thick texture that can later be thinned out for consuming.
I think most of us are familiar with the canned soups from Campbell’s we find in our grocery stores. In fact, it was the founder of Campbell’s Soup who first invented condensed soups.
These thick soups can be consumed as is by adding more liquid and reheating them on the stove of course, but they are most commonly used in recipes such as casseroles.
I grew up eating such recipes as Green Bean Casserole and Corn Casserole that both call for canned soups.
While I still love some of those traditional casseroles around the holidays, I don’t enjoy buying processed cans of soup, so I’ve learned over the years just how easy it is to make these soups at home.
How To Make Homemade Condensed Cream Soups
Have you tried making homemade cream of chicken soup to use in your favorite casserole recipes? If you haven’t, you are missing out on all the goodness my friends.
These homemade versions are super easy to mix up and cook at home. You can have them ready in under 30 minutes!
Oh, my favorite part of these condensed soup recipes is that there are no questionable ingredients!
Our family is on a quest to eat as nutritious as possible so that means eating whole foods that are as minimally processed as possible.
So that means reading labels and avoiding things like MSG (my husband has bad reactions to these) that can come in many forms and other preservatives.
I also try my best to avoid foods in cans because those cans are lined with plastic liners and plastics are another major area we are working on removing slowly from our lives.
Okay, enough about all the reasons for making your soups at home and on to more of the recipe information.
Here’s the base of all three soups:
- Butter – a good quality fat is important in making the rou or the thickening agent that will take your soup from a thinner consistency to that thick and creamy condensed richness. Real salted butter is my fat of choice when it comes to these soups because it gives great flavor and richness. If you need to be dairy-free then any healthy fat like lard, avocado oil, or a light-tasting olive oil will work nicely too.
- Unbleached Flour – I love using my freshly milled flour when I have time to grind it, but I don’t so I try to keep a few bags of good unbleached all-purpose flour in my freezer to use in those times. I buy my flour and wheat berries in bulk from Azure Standard. They have a great product that works nicely as a thickener in these soups. Of course, your favorite flour will work as well! Keep reading if you need a gluten-free option!
- Chicken Stock – I love to use my home-canned chicken stock that I slow cook for hours and then pressure can. It has such a beautiful richness and savory chicken flavor that it yields a delicious soup base. If you don’t have the option of using your own, then choose a good quality chicken stock that is low in sodium and preservatives. It is easy to make your own up for these recipes if you choose to do that. you can freeze any leftover stock for a later date. For vegetarian options use a good vegetable broth in these soups.
- Cream or Milk – I prefer to use some lovely rich heaving whipping cream in my soups because there is just nothing that can compare to the velvety goodness they bring to these cream soup recipes. However, the cream can be expensive, so I’ve tried these with whole milk, half and half, and even dairy-free milk and they all yield a good soup option.
- Mushrooms, Celery, Chicken Additives – depending on which cream soup you are making you’ll need the main flavoring components. I love to make sure my mushrooms and celery are as fresh as possible so they yield the best product, but I’m going to be honest and tell you that I don’t always have those two items fresh in my fridge so I’ve used frozen mushrooms and celery and the soups turned out just as tasty. Just thaw them first and make sure to cook all the extra moisture from them before you add in your flour to create your thickener. As for the cream of chicken, adding in actual chunks of chicken isn’t necessary, but I like the texture and added flavors it adds. If you’ve ever bought those cans of condensed cream of chicken soup, you know for yourself there is very little chicken, but feel free to add as much or as little as you like. I have made it both ways and either works great in my casseroles.
- Seasonings for flavor – these soups are super easy to flavor with your favorite seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic onion powder, and more. I like to add in a nice poultry seasoning to the cream of chicken, and some celery seeds to the cream of celery just for another punch of flavor but you can leave those out if they are not something you keep on hand.
Once you have all your ingredients gathered you’ll just need a good heavy bottom saucepan and about 20 minutes. You’ll love how fast these soups come together!
You can find the complete recipes and cooking directions for each of these three soups in the recipe cards you’ll find below.
You can print them out and keep them handy, so you’ll not have to worry about buying those canned soups again!
Can Cream of Soups be Made Dairy or Gluten Free?
Many have asked me if you can make these homemade condensed soups dairy and gluten-free and I’m thrilled to let you know the answer is, yes!
If you want to have a gluten-free version you can of course skip the unbleached flour and use a 1 to 1 gluten-free flour in it’s place when you are starting the cooking process.
But if you don’t have any of those gluten-free flour alternatives you can stick to a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch.
To do this you can mix your corn starch in with your room-temperature chicken broth or the dairy option you use before you add it to the pan.
Then as the soup simmers the corn starch will thicken it as it would had you used flour. It works great and it still tastes amazing!
For a dairy-free version, you can use oil instead of butter and your favorite plant-based milk. Just make sure it is an unsweetened or unflavored plant milk.
Just follow the recipe as is in the recipe cards but simply substitute the plant-based milk and your oil of choice where it calls for cream and butter.
Three Amazing Condensed Soup Recipes
These three cream soup recipes are deliciously rich and made from scratch. They are perfect for replacing the store-bought cans of condensed soups in your favorite casseroles and recipes.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
A great mushroom soup for all your casserole needs. It is also a delicious stand-alone soup for all the mushroom lovers!
Easy Cream of Celery Soup
A creamy and rich celery soup great for adding flavor and richness to any recipe.
Easy Cream of Chicken Soup
This Cream of Chicken Soup is a great homemade alternative to those storebought condensed soup cans.

I am a southern girl through and through that loves to laugh, cook, read and spend time with family. My passions outside of home schooling my son are ministering to those in need and creating art in the kitchen! Every day is an adventure in our little house and I wouldn’t trade it or the chance to share here with you for anything!
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