One of the biggest questions I get from all of the Crockpot Freezer Meals that I have posted, is this…..
“My family is staying away from canned cream soups because they’re so unhealthy. Do you have any substitution for this?”
Well, I finally DO have an answer to this question. It does require a little extra work, but depending on how much time you have, I think you’ll find it’s worth it!
The truth is, since I’ve been pregnant, I’m not at all happy with the taste or the smell of cream soups. They make me want to gag. blech. So…yesterday, when I made Beef Stroganoff, I decided to try something new. It was delicious! My husband was raving and as you know, that makes me happy. 🙂
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (or beef or veggie, depending on what is in your recipe)
- 1/2 cup milk
- salt and pepper to taste
So. You’ve made gravy before, right? Well, amazingly, this cream soup substitute is just like making gravy.
You start out by melting the butter.
Then you stir in your flour until it makes a paste.
Finally, you slowly stir in the milk and broth until it looks something like this (keep in mind this is a double batch equal to two cans):
So…. you’re thinking, OK, yes that was pretty easy, but I don’t always have time for this. What now? Shall I just skip making anything with cream soups? Absolutely not! In doing my research, I found a couple of other options.
Recipe #2
This one is extremely simple. Keep in mind that I’ve never tried them, but from what I’ve read about them, it’s safe to say they’ll work. If you do try one, please comment here and let me know how it turned out!
Mix together 1/2 (equal parts) cream and 1/2 chicken stock.
Recipe #3
The next one is by making up a mix.
2 cups dry milk
1.25 cups cornstarch or 2.5 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 ingredients and store in air tight container. If the mix is made with cornstarch, add 1/3 cup to 1.25 cups of water. If it was made with flour, add 1/2 cup to 1.25 cups of water. This makes the concentrated consistency. If you’re actually wanting soup, double the water.
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