Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

I used to keep a hearty stock of canned Cream of Chicken soup on my shelf, until I realized that my cooking style was moving away from the standard "cream-of-something" casserole dishes. When I realized that all of my cans had expired, I figured I'd better stop buying the stuff. Then I regretted NOT stocking up when I needed a can for a recipe. I searched the internet until I found a recipe that used common ingredients, so that I could whip up some homemade cream of chicken soup any day. Please notice the special note at the end of the recipe when considering substituting this for the good old can. :)

PS--as with anything homemade, it tastes SO much better than the canned version!


4 cups milk
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups finely chopped, cooked chicken
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder

1. In a 3 qt saucepan, heat oil. Gradually stir in flour. Let this form a paste. Then gradually stir in the milk and continue stirring until thickened.

2. Add chicken to white sauce mixture. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.

3. If soup is not as thick as desired, mix a small amount of corn starch with a small amount of water and add to soup. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. This soup can be used in recipes that call for a can of cream of chicken soup…but remember—this is not concentrated like the cans, so you will need to reduce the other liquids you add to the recipe.