Substitute for canned soup in recipes (chicken, beef, powder, onions)

[Sand&Salt]

Once in awhile I get a craving for one of "Mom's" 1950s casseroles. But they all rely on the ubiquitous canned cream-of-mushroom soup, or similar.


We don't live in a major city, so some of these Americana convenience foods don't make it down here.


Any ideas for substitutes in a recipe? Thanks....

[Izzie1213]

Google is your friend :

https://www.thekitchn.com/good-questions-16-100356

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Easy. Homemade mushroom soup can be used. That particular mushroom flavor in cream of mushroom soup comes from using dried mushrooms instead of fresh ones.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Easy. Homemade mushroom soup can be used. That particular mushroom flavor in cream of mushroom soup comes from using dried mushrooms instead of fresh ones.

Homemade cream of mushroom soup is one of the easiest soups to make, and you can really give it an umami punch by adding some dried porcini mushrooms.

[ndcairngorm]

I hardly ever use those canned soups to thicken my casseroles, make gravy, or whatever. I make a roux much like the second poster said:

How to Make a Roux for Creamy, Delicious Sauces | Allrecipes

and you can flavor it any way you want, add milk or water instead, use beef cubes if you're using with something beefy, chicken cubes if it's a chickeny thing, or plain milk or water if it's a tuna casserole or something you don't want to have that flavor. It's easy, and you always have butter, flour, and water on hand (sometimes I don't use butter even, I use oil). Very forgiving recipe.

[sayulita]

Here's a basic recipe for Cream of (any) Vegetable soup. Not exactly the same as Campbell's but quick and easy. Would also work if you wanted something like Cream of Shrimp.

CREAM of (Any) Vegetable SOUP

1 T. Butter
2 T. Flour
3 T chopped onion
2/1/2 c. milk
2 small (14-16 oz.) or 1 large (about 30 oz. give or take) can tomatoes, asparagus, peas, mushrooms (fresh or dried as suggested above) or spinach, drained.

Melt butter. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add flour and cook over medium heat until flour is incorporated. Add milk a half cup at a time and cook until soup is slightly thickened. Add vegetables of choice and cook until heated through. Blend with immersion blender or in batches in a blender. Careful! The hot soup will tend to spray up in the blender. Do it in batches and keep the lid on.

Jazz it up any number of ways with curry or herbs you like. Make it with buttermilk or ½ and ½ instead of milk. You can also use fresh veggies. They will just need to be precooked or cooked longer in the milk mixture. But be careful with that as the milk may burn or cook down too much.

For richer soup, add more butter.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by ndcairngorm

I hardly ever use those canned soups to thicken my casseroles, make gravy, or whatever. I make a roux much like the second poster said:...

You just can't beat roux as a flavorful thickener. I use equal parts fat and flour, and for gumbo, I cook my roux to a chocolate brown. A chocolate brown roux has very little thickening ability, so I make sure to add a decent amount of okra. Some cooks will thicken their gumbo with filé powder.

[Mightyqueen801]

Just make homemade white sauce and add mushrooms.

[evening sun]

I never did see the point of adding a can of souo to a meal, they cost a dollar, so that is a budget breaker, I normally use a simple, home made, white sauce.

[Praline]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

You just can't beat roux as a flavorful thickener. I use equal parts fat and flour, and for gumbo, I cook my roux to a chocolate brown. A chocolate brown roux has very little thickening ability, so I make sure to add a decent amount of okra. Some cooks will thicken their gumbo with filé powder.

You are definitely a person after my own heart! I always prefer a dark brown roux for my gumbo and it must have okra or it "ain't" real gumbo! I usually have bacon grease on hand for the fat.