This homemade gluten free cream of chicken soup is easy to make once you master the simple gluten free roux base. Bring back all of those old favorite recipes your family loves!
What makes this soup special
- Customized to your tastes: Make it as creamy as you like, with your favorite herbs and spices
- Versatile: Add more chicken stock or even water to thin the soup and serve it with a big slice of gluten free artisan bread for a complete meal; add last night's leftover chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken
- Equal to 2 cans of condensed soup: Use half of this recipe to replace one standard can of cream of condensed soup
- A head start: Use this to make gluten free chicken and dumplings, or as a base for gluten free chicken pot pie with vegetables and gluten free pie crust
Key ingredients
- Onion: I like to saute a minced shallot in olive oil, but you can add any onion you like for flavor
- Butter: Adds flavor and is the base of the roux
- Gluten free flour: A basic gluten free flour blend without xanthan gum, like Nicole's Best, thickens the sauce without making it gummy
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, herbs de Provence or poultry seasoning all make this taste rich and smell like chicken soup
- Chicken stock: Use a flavorful brand, like Pacific, or your favorite
- Evaporated milk: Adds some moisture but not too much, and creamy richness
- Chicken: Chunks of cooked chicken breast make this chicken soup
How to make gluten free cream of chicken soup
Cream of condensed soups are made with a roux, which is just a mixture of butter and flour used to thicken sauces. A condensed soup has less moisture, and concentrated flavors.
All of the ingredients are thickened and reduced (moisture removed by cooking). They are great starting points for all types of recipes, and can be thinned with milk or chicken or vegetable stock to make a hearty meal, quickly.
Make the roux
- Cook down a minced shallot or other small, mild onion in some olive oil, then set it aside
- Melt butter in a saucepan and add gluten free flour, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and cook into a paste
- Add chicken stock, and whisk until smooth
Finish the soup
- Add evaporated milk, and add back the minced shallots
- Cook until the mixture is reduced and thickened
- Add in cooked chicken and you're done!
About the chicken
The cream of chicken soup calls for cooked cubed chicken. But you can make it without adding in the chicken at the end and it still tastes amazing.
You can also use shredded gluten free rotisserie chicken if your family likes the flavor. The way I cook plain chicken breasts, they have a more neutral flavor that doesn't compete with the herbs and spices added to the soup.
How to cook chicken breasts easily
Place the raw breasts in a lined or greased casserole dish. Drizzle them lightly with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cover completely with parchment paper placed directly on top of it, covering the chicken completely.
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place the dish in the hot oven and cook for about 20 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of each breast reads at least 165°F. Allow to rest outside the oven, still covered, for 10 minutes before dicing.
Other condensed “cream of” soups
You can make this same dish into potato soup by simmering diced potatoes in the soup as it reduces and thickens. You can use vegetable stock, and instead of poultry seasoning, add dry mustard powder to taste to deepen and enhance the flavors.
If you're thinking about making a classic gluten free green bean casserole, gluten free cream of mushroom soup is a must. Click through for details on how to make that extra special variety of gluten free “cream of” soups.
Popular ingredient substitution suggestions
Dairy free
The dairy is butter to saute the shallots, and evaporated milk to enrich the sauce. To replace the butter, you can use nearly any nondairy butter substitute, even Earth Balance buttery sticks. Since Earth Balance sticks have more moisture, you should allow the roux to cook lower and slower, so it doesn't burn but the moisture cooks off.
To replace the evaporated milk, Carnation makes a nondairy cooking milk in a small carton that is reduced down to a similar moisture content. If you use a “regular” nondairy milk, use something unsweetened and neutral-tasting, like almond milk.
If your milk isn't reduced-moisture, either reduce it separately in a saucepan, stirring constantly over medium-low heat, or add more milk and cook longer. Either way, you'll have to cook off that extra moisture or your soup will be too thin.
Some readers have reported successfully replacing the evaporated milk with a mixture of half canned coconut milk and half “regular” nondairy milk.
Shallots
I like to make this with shallots because they're such a mild, sweet onion, but you can use anything in the onion family. You can even skip the olive oil and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of minced dried onion flakes in place of cooking down a shallot.
Gluten free flour blend
You can use our gum free gluten free flour blend, Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour blend, tapioca starch, superfine white rice flour, or even cornstarch to make this soup. I prefer Nicole's Best or our 3-ingredient gum-free blend because they make a smooth sauce that doesn't leak liquid as it cools. Cornstarch will become watery as the dish cools.
Herbs and seasonings
I like herbs de Provence best because they make everything taste like gluten free chicken pot pie filling to me. But poultry seasoning is great, too.
FAQ
Yes! Progresso and Pacific Foods make gluten free cream of condensed soups, and now Campbell's makes a gluten free variety. They're not always available, are expensive, and of course they're not as good as what you can make at home. With this homemade recipe, you can use exactly the herbs and spices you like.
If you place it in a well-sealed glass container, like a mason jar, in the refrigerator, it should stay fresh for at least 5 days. For longer storage, leave out the chicken and add that soon before serving.
Yes! You can store the cream of chicken soup, with or without the added chicken, in well-sealed ziptop bags laid flat. If you choose to store the soup in a mason jar, but sure that you leave enough “head space” at the top to accommodate expansion in the freezer. You can also freeze in portions in an ice cube tray. Defrost in the refrigerator or in a saucepan on the stovetop gently over low heat!
Gluten Free Cream of Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small shallot peeled and minced
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons gum-free gluten free flour blend (See Recipe Notes)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence or poultry seasoning (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken
Instructions
- In a medium-size saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the shallots, and cook until translucent (about 3 minutes). Transfer the shallots to a small bowl, and set aside.
- To the same medium-size saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat.
- Add the flour blend, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence or poultry seasoning, and stir to combine well. The mixture will clump at first, and then smooth. This is the roux that will thicken the soup.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has just begun to turn a very light brown color.
- Add the stock to the roux very slowly, and switch to a whisk, whisking frequently to break up any lumps that might form.
- Add back in the cooked shallots and whisk to combine.
- Add the evaporated milk, and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about one-quarter and/or thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 6 minutes). This whisk should leave a visible trail in the soup.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and add the cooked chicken. Stir to combine and serve.
