Cream of ? Soup Substitutes

Thanks for posting this! I avoid recipes with "cream of" soups for reasons you described so now I can start using those recipes again. As for other substitutions....hmmm. I am more likely to add items to recipes than substitute. For example, why cook anything without a lot of minced garlic? I also throw in frozen diced white onion to most recipes. I add spinach or yellow squash or other veggies to any recipe that will take it. Regarding dried herbs, in the summer I sub my fresh herbs and in the winter i sub herb flavored olive oil.

Coconut milk in the can can be used as a subsitute for regular heavy cream. I've subituted it for regular whipped cream as well as put it in my savory dishes like creamy potato or broccoli soup.

yes-wine instead of tap water

This looks like a basic 'white sauce' and you can add almost anything to it. I also am sick of the cream of....soups. So this is a good reminder of substitutes.

Lol. Yep.

Roux or Béchamel Sauce

Which is what you described above.

When it calls for mushroom, just add mushrooms or use mushroom stock. Chicken, ditto. Celery, celery or veggie stock.

SERIOUS TRICK:

When making a roux... Don't add the liquid right away. Cook the flour in the oil for a few minutes (until it turns cream, beige, tan, caramel, peanutbutter, mahogany, chocolate color). The lightest colors don't add flavor, but the cooked flour no longer TASTES like flour, and the taste 'cooks out' in 2 mminutes of stirring, instead of 25 minutes of cooking. The lighter colors also thicken A LOT (dark colors not as much). When I make jambalaya, I use a peanutbutter roux. When I make gumbo, a chocolate roux. Those both add incredible depth of flavor in their own right... Although the more you cook them, the less they thicken.

You can use ANY amount of oil/flour... Just keep the ratio the same. 1tbs:1tbs or 1gallon to 1 gallon... It doesn't matter. As you're adding liquid... Add slowly (it thickens almost immediately, but not instantly. Keep adding liquid until its exactly as thick as you want it).

That takes the guessing out (you know how thick its going to get, no waiting 25 minutes and then adding more flour because its thin, and waiting another 25 minutes), and shortens the cooking time a ton.

The types of oil/flour alter the recipe flavor significantly.

Butter
Lard
Bacon grease
Olive oil
Corn oil
Veggie oil
Turkey drippings
Beef drippings
Chicken drippings
Etc.

All change the character. When cooking Italian, Spanish, or Mediterranean... Olive oil. When cooking Mexican or Southern, lard (or corn oil). When cooking meat based (like beef pot pie, or chicken casserole, or biscuits n gravy)... Using meat drippings creates a WOW dining experience.

You can also start getting jiggy with flour choices. I usually just use unbleached wheat. But try using rye flour, pumpernickel, oat, rice, etc... For totally different flavor profiles.

These all add 10 minutes to cooking time (why our grandmothers fell in love with condensed soups)... But they're SUPER easy.

Thanks for the tip! May have to try that as I have a recipe that calls for cream of chicken and we don't have any. In baking, I have substituted applesauce for vegetable oil.

Here's an excellent "Cream of Anything Soup Mix." You make a big batch and have it in a container for any recipe that calls for it. Best of all..no butter or fat required.

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/293/Cream_of_Soup_M...

I also love that you can add FRESH ingredients to flavor it..like mushrooms, celery, onion..and there's SO much less salt.

I just use milk with a little bit of cornstarch or flour. :)

Thanks for this! It never occurred to me to make what is a basically a good, thick white sauce in place of the "cream of..." soups. I have a ton of recipes that I've never tried because as soon as I see the cream of... I find a new recipe. Great tip, thanks for sharing! Love to coconut milk instead of cream suggestion too.

I've been meaning to try Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in some of my baking recipes. I don't eat sour cream but use it in some cakes and I think the yogurt would be a healthier alternative but would still supply the creaminess and acidity of the sour cream.

I've been doing this off and on for years. It really is simple.

Your recipe is a simple white sauce. I don't know how people can cook without it. It's the base for tons of things I make, the most frequent being mac and cheese.

Yup. Your idea for a bechamel is pretty standard.

Or you could use rice or add a potato for nice texture/creaminess. (You'll need to blend the soup).

Example, broccoli soup using stock, onion, broccoli, and a potato. Cook. Blend.

Same thing, except with rice instead of a potato. Cook. Blend. Julia Child did this one (when she wasn't pushing the cream).

They give it body and creaminess without the cream. And you could always drizzle a teeny bit of cream on top.

I may have to play with this recipe because my daughter is allergic to milk. Anytime I see 'cream of' anything soup in the recipe I bypass it because non-dairy cream of ___ soup doesn't exist (prepared).