5 Ways To Improve Canned Cream Of Chicken Soup

There probably aren't many people who would argue that canned cream of chicken soup tastes better than homemade, but that doesn't mean canned soup doesn't have a place in a home cook's repertoire. If anything, keeping a few cream of chicken soup cans in the cupboard is a sign of kitchen savvy — it's convenient and affordable, and is used in many recipes that go far beyond soup. In fact, it's a great ingredient to help you get the juiciest fried chicken imaginable.

Canned cream of chicken soup is an easy way to ensure you serve up a hearty meal in a hurry, but there's no reason to settle for the often basic canned taste. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to elevate this pantry staple so you can serve up a delicious meal that tastes like it was made from scratch every time. It all comes down to choosing the perfect ingredients to add to your canned soup so you complement the flavors and bring vibrancy to an otherwise dull and boring dish.

One of the easiest ways to dress up a dish, whether you made it at home or got it from a can, is to add herbs and spices to give it more flavor. Canned soups can be lackluster and bland, which is one of the many reasons they're often snubbed. Fresh herbs and spices not only enhance flavor, but they're one of the best ways to tailor your cream of chicken soup to suit your palate.  

Steer clear of adding salt to start, however, since many canned goods are notorious for high sodium levels. While it's often believed that this is to increase the shelf life of the canned food, it's actually there to add flavor. So, before you reach for the salt in your cupboard, taste your cream of chicken soup first to see if it really needs any extra. More than likely, it won't, and you can instead focus on other herbs and spices like oregano, basil, or bay leaves. You can also opt for more delicate herbs, such as dill or chives, or add some red pepper to give it a bit of heat.

Cream of chicken soup on its own is a bit basic, but cream of chicken noodle soup and cream of chicken soup with rice are comfort foods that no one will turn their nose up at. The pairing is common enough that plenty of store-bought cream of chicken soups come with rice or pasta already added. Unfortunately, these ingredients don't always hold up well to the canning process and generally come out mushy and unsatisfying. Sadly, they just don't bring a lot of quality to canned soup, so stick with a can of basic cream of chicken noodle soup and cook your own rice or pasta to add in while you're heating it.

You can use store-bought pasta or easily make your own pasta dough and create any style of pasta that you would like to enhance your soup with. Not only will these starches add different flavors and textures to your creamy potage, but they will also give the dish more substance, yielding a hearty and filling meal that you simply can't get from a can.

There is something irresistible about the smell of onions and garlic sautéing on the stovetop. These aromatics are the cornerstone of many classic recipes, and for good reason. It isn't just the aroma they create, but the depth of flavor they bring to dishes, and this is certainly the case with chicken soups. Even if a canned cream of chicken soup includes these ingredients on the label, they may be simply blended in with the rest of the soup and hardly contribute to the flavor profile. Adding fresh aromatics while heating the soup will enhance the intended flavors rather than creating a whole new flavor profile; after all, these are two of the most basic ingredients that are used to build flavor in dishes like a perfectly roasted chicken.

Sauté freshly chopped onions in a bit of oil before adding some garlic to the pan to release their pungent flavors. You want them browned enough to give them maximum flavor but not burned. Add them to your canned soup and cook everything together for a while, allowing the flavors to blend and give it a cooked-from-scratch taste and texture. Want to add even more depth and nuance? Try fully caramelizing your onions or mashing up some sweet and slightly tangy black garlic cloves for a more intense savoriness.

Canned cream of chicken soup often has vegetables, but they are usually basic and overcooked. Small, uniform, and mushy veggies are basically a dead giveaway that your soup is canned. You can easily upgrade your dish by using fresh veggies. Canned soups often include ingredients like celery, peas, and carrots, but you can definitely go above and beyond other varieties like zucchini, corn, cauliflower, or broccoli. You can also go the leafy green route with kale or spinach. Cabbage, meanwhile, not only adds great flavor but also a more robust texture.

Another common concern with canned cream of chicken soup is the poultry itself, which can be mushy and often cut into small chunks or shreds. For a more substantial dining experience, toss in a few sizable hunks of dark and white meat from a rotisserie or leftover roast chicken. Not only does this addition give your soup a rustic feel (as will any fresh vegetables), but the fresher, better quality bird is far more enjoyable to eat.

For a Mediterranean twist that will expertly mask the fact that you're cooking with canned goods, try transforming store-bought cream of chicken soup into a take on avgolemeno, a sauce that serves as the key ingredient of a soup by the same name. It's a classic Greek dish that involves incorporating a delicate egg and lemon sauce into the broth.

Canned soups often lack body, so enriching cream of chicken soup with such a brightly flavored yet robustly structured egg-lemon mixture is an easy way to boost the broth's mouthfeel while perking up its flavor. Besides thickening the soup in this way, you can bulk it up further with vegetables and carbs like orzo or rice.

The traditional method involves using hot broth to temper whisked eggs and lemon, creating the velvety sauce, which is then stirred back into the soup. However, for a quicker citrusy potage, you can skip the eggs and simply mix in some lemon juice and fresh herbs, such as dill and parsley, as it finishes cooking. With these improvements, you may never look at canned cream of chicken soup the same way again.