Cream of Chicken Soup

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 20 mins

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
50 g / 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup / 75 g flour
1 garlic clove, minced
½ small brown onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 red capsicum/bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small celery stick, diced
2 cups / 500 ml chicken stock / broth, preferably low sodium
3 cups / 750 ml milk, any fat %
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp EACH garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, black pepper (“Spices”)
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup cooked chicken, diced or shredded
Croutons:
2 slices white bread, cut into cubes
Olive oil spray
Salt

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes until partly translucent but not browned.
2. Add carrots, celery and capsicum, cook for 1 minute to soften.
3. Add butter and melt. Then add flour and mix until incorporated, and stir constantly for 1 minute.
4. Add broth, mix until flour is incorporated, then add milk. Mix to combine, then add salt, Spices, chicken and peas.
5. Bring to simmer, mixing occasionally to stop bottom of sticking. As it heats, it will thicken – about 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t let it bubble.
6. Once thickened to your taste, adjust salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve garnished with croutons and fresh thyme if desired.
7. Croutons: Spray croutons generously with oil, sprinkle with salt, then bake for 5 minutes at 180C/350F or until golden and crunchy.

Video Recipe : https://youtu.be/PG54PMNh6-w 

Notes

1. This recipe was originally published in August 2014 and has been updated. The original recipe was written starting with a homemade condensed cream of chicken soup (that gloopy stuff that comes in cans), but because that only keeps for a few days, I haven't made it in years because it kind of defeats the purpose of having it on hand.
2. I don't make casseroles or pasta bakes using condensed soup so I don't use it for that purpose either. So I removed that recipe and instead recreated this cream of chicken soup recipe to be made from scratch. However, in case you want the Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup recipe, click here to get the recipe.
3. Fill it out - This is terrific filled out with noodles / rice (pre cooked then added into the soup) and more veggies.
4. Storage - leftovers will keep for 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months (thaw then reheat). Use a touch of water if needed to loosen the soup.
5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings excluding croutons. Each serving is about 1 3/4 cups.