"Condensed Cream of blech soup" replacement?

[Stellalarella]

OK, Duggars aside, if you do use a can of condensed cream of blech soup in one of your recipes, but you wanted to go "homemade," what would you use instead?

I use cream of mushroom soup to make tuna noodle, but I would love to have a different option.

[unsinkable]

OK, Duggars aside, if you do use a can of condensed cream of blech soup in one of your recipes, but you wanted to go "homemade," what would you use instead?

I use cream of mushroom soup to make tuna noodle, but I would love to have a different option.

 

a white sauce

 

You can make it thicker or thinner and also add mushrooms.

[Mrs Mungo]

I make a basic bechamel sauce that I use in things like potato soup or chicken pot pie.

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Sauce-or-Bechamel-Sauce-40046

[Parrothead]

A white sauce either just the white sauce or depending on the recipe I'll add mushrooms, celery, onion, or cheese.

[NotAVampireLvr]

From: http://afrugalsimplelife.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/cream-of-whatever-soup-substitute/

 

Cream-of-Whatever Soup Substitute

 

hite Sauce (thick):

 

• 3 Tablespoons butter or oil
  
• 3 Tablespoons flour
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• dash of pepper
  
• 1-1/4 cup liquid, milk or stock
  

Melt butter or oil in saucepan. Stir in flour and seasonings. Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Add liquid slowly, stirring with wire whisk to prevent lumps. Cook until thick. Makes 1 cup or 1 can of condensed soup.

Tomato Soup: Use tomato juice for the liquid. Add dashes of garlic, onion powder, basil and oregano.

Chicken Soup: Use chicken broth for half the liquid. Add 1/4 t. poultry seasoning or sage.

Mushroom/celery/chive soup: Saute 1/4 C chopped mushrooms, celery or chives and 1 T minced onion in butter before adding flour.

[kiana]

I make a basic bechamel sauce that I use in things like potato soup or chicken pot pie.

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Sauce-or-Bechamel-Sauce-40046

 

Ditto. I also chop all kinds of stuff into this and serve over rice as the basis for a meal.

[MamaSheep]

I just make up kind of a thick white sauce. In its most basic form that's milk, a little salt, and enough corn starch or flour to thicken it. Usually, though, I add in some seasonings as appropriate to whatever I'm making, and sometimes I use broth for half the liquid, and/or cream instead of milk.

 

If you wanted to keep the mushroominess going, you could chop up some mushrooms, sautee them in butter, maybe add a little onion or garlic, mix a little flour with the butter after they're cooked, and then pour in a little milk, and you'd have a thick mushroom sauce that would work fine.

[Stellalarella]

When I've attempted a white sauce in the past, it typically ends up kind of lumpy or slightly gritty.

A similar thing happens to the sauce when I make homemade mac-n-cheese.

Am I doing something incorrectly? I think if I could get a truly smooth sauce, we would enjoy it.

[kiana]

When I've attempted a white sauce in the past, it typically ends up kind of lumpy or slightly gritty.

A similar thing happens to the sauce when I make homemade mac-n-cheese.

Am I doing something incorrectly? I think if I could get a truly smooth sauce, we would enjoy it.

 

Are you warming the milk before you add it and stirring it in in small amounts? That really helped me with lumps.

[Dustybug]

I posted my recipe on the other thread, but here it is again:

 

Condensed Cream Soup Base

1 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

½ cup any broth

½ cup milk

salt

pepper

 

 

Melt butter in saucepan over med-low heat. Stir in flour, a little at a time, until smooth. Remove from heat. Add broth and milk a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth. Return to heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper.

 

add add chicken, mushrooms, or whatever depending on what I'm making. Sometimes I add in other seasonings as well.

[Mrs Mungo]

When I've attempted a white sauce in the past, it typically ends up kind of lumpy or slightly gritty.

A similar thing happens to the sauce when I make homemade mac-n-cheese.

Am I doing something incorrectly? I think if I could get a truly smooth sauce, we would enjoy it.

 

I start by melting the butter. Do NOT get it too hot. Whisk the flour in a bit at a time. This mixture should be smooth, not lumpy. Give it time for the flour to cook. Slowly whisk in the warmed milk. Allow it to thicken slowly, don't try to do it too fast or hot.

[CalicoKat]

I start by melting the butter. Do NOT get it too hot. Whisk the flour in a bit at a time. This mixture should be smooth, not lumpy. Give it time for the flour to cook. Slowly whisk in the warmed milk. Allow it to thicken slowly, don't try to do it too fast or hot.

 

Amen! No more canned cream of crap. :D

 

If you add cheese and a pinch of dry mustard powder you've got cheese sauce for your homemade Mac & Mold! :lol: That's what my kids call it.

[MamaSheep]

When I've attempted a white sauce in the past, it typically ends up kind of lumpy or slightly gritty.

A similar thing happens to the sauce when I make homemade mac-n-cheese.

Am I doing something incorrectly? I think if I could get a truly smooth sauce, we would enjoy it.

 

If you're using butter and flour as the thickener do as the other ladies have suggested. Don't get the temperature too high, heat the milk first (you can just heat it in the microwave in a glass measuring cup if you don't want to dirty another pan), and add it in slowly.

 

If you're using cornstarch as the thickener, either whisk it in while the milk is still cold and then heat it all up until it's thick and bubbly, or heat the milk first, and then use a fork to stir the cornstarch into some additional COLD milk before adding it to the hot milk. Cornstarch gets really lumpy really fast if you add it directly to the hot milk.

[fairfarmhand]

Are you warming the milk before you add it and stirring it in in small amounts? That really helped me with lumps.

I add the milk to a jar with a lid. Then spoon in the thickener. Shake it like crazy. Then I whisk whisk whisk.

[Susan in TN]

Something I've done that turns out pretty well is to use equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream. Very rich, obviously, although you could use low fat/fat free varieties, I suppose. Add in seasonings to coordinate and there you go.

[Stellalarella]

I get distracted and often let the temperature get out of control. Part if it, I think, is having one of those terrible glass top stoves that initially takes a long time to heat up. The other part of the equation is me teaching spelling while cooking or stopping to see what is happening on the WTM board. :001_smile:

Edited January 11, 2012 by Andrea Lowry
proofread

[Mynyel]

I start by melting the butter. Do NOT get it too hot. Whisk the flour in a bit at a time. This mixture should be smooth, not lumpy. Give it time for the flour to cook. Slowly whisk in the warmed milk. Allow it to thicken slowly, don't try to do it too fast or hot.

 

 

:iagree: also make sure, if you are using a roux, not to make the roux too thick. It should be kinda like an applesauce, just smooth. That make sense?

 

I have never, for the life of me, thought of making a white sauce and adding to it for cream of whatever soup and I make a lot by hand. Even mayo!

 

Glad I saw this thread!

[justamouse]

bechamel

 

in a sauce pot, equal parts butter and flour, then add in warmed milk. Add cheese for mac and cheese, add herbs, bullion, whatever. You can go anywhere from there, and it's so easy my 12 yo son knows how to make it.

[Mrs Mungo]

I get distracted and often let the temperature get out of control. Part if it, I think, is having one of those terrible glass top stoves that initially takes a long time to heat up. The other part of the equation is me teaching spelling while cooking or stopping to see what is happening on the WTM board. :001_smile:

 

I have one of those glass top stoves too. I hate it. You need a smart phone, then you can check the board while you stand at the stove. ;)

[catz]

I make a basic bechamel sauce that I use in things like potato soup or chicken pot pie.

 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Sauce-or-Bechamel-Sauce-40046

 

:iagree: I don't use cream of X soup ever.

[mom31257]

:lurk5: Does anyone make these with a milk alternative? If so, which kind, and is it really good?

[Stellalarella]

I have one of those glass top stoves too. I hate it. You need a smart phone, then you can check the board while you stand at the stove. ;)

:lol:

i only use 2 cans of cream of blech soup a month. $2 total.

Umm, the gas stove, plus running the gas line, plus the smart phone adds up to about $1200. $2-$1200 = -$1198.

But IT HAS JUST GOT TO BE DONE to keep my family BPA free. Right? RIght? SOmebody help me out here.

[Carrie12345]

:lurk5: Does anyone make these with a milk alternative? If so, which kind, and is it really good?

 

I tried rice milk with horrible results. I never bothered to try with another milk substitute.

[Mrs Mungo]

:lurk5: Does anyone make these with a milk alternative? If so, which kind, and is it really good?

 

My sister is allergic to dairy, I think she uses Earth Balance instead of butter and coconut milk instead of milk.

[brett_ashley]

From: http://afrugalsimplelife.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/cream-of-whatever-soup-substitute/

 

Cream-of-Whatever Soup Substitute

 

hite Sauce (thick):

 

 

• 3 Tablespoons butter or oil

• 3 Tablespoons flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• dash of pepper

• 1-1/4 cup liquid, milk or stock

 

Melt butter or oil in saucepan. Stir in flour and seasonings. Cook over medium heat until bubbly. Add liquid slowly, stirring with wire whisk to prevent lumps. Cook until thick. Makes 1 cup or 1 can of condensed soup.

Tomato Soup: Use tomato juice for the liquid. Add dashes of garlic, onion powder, basil and oregano.

Chicken Soup: Use chicken broth for half the liquid. Add 1/4 t. poultry seasoning or sage.

Mushroom/celery/chive soup: Saute 1/4 C chopped mushrooms, celery or chives and 1 T minced onion in butter before adding flour.

 

This is the recipe I use. I always make a big batch if I have some mushrooms that are past their prime. Chop them and saute them in oil or butter, then add it to the white sauce. I like to puree it in the food processor and freeze them in 10 ounce portions.

 

For cream of chicken soup, I simmer the chicken broth and reduce it by half before adding it to the sauce to concentrate the flavor.

[Stellalarella]

This is the recipe I use. I always make a big batch if I have some mushrooms that are past their prime. Chop them and saute them in oil or butter, then add it to the white sauce. I like to puree it in the food processor and freeze them in 10 ounce portions.

 

For cream of chicken soup, I simmer the chicken broth and reduce it by half before adding it to the sauce to concentrate the flavor.

So this white sauce can be made in large quantities and frozen?

[brett_ashley]

Yes in my opinion (though I probably wouldn't freeze a cream soup I was planning on eating as a cream soup). The recipe I use is very thick and gloppy (though not gritty or lumpy) just like a can of condensed soup. The consistency is same so I have great success with it in my recipes that call for it (beef stroganoff, chicken florentine lasagna, king ranch chicken).

[Pretty in Pink]

You can also purchase natural/organic cream of X soup at some supermarkets. The one I've used comes in a tetra-pak (I think that's what it's called -- the little soft box like shelf stable milk comes in).

[Dustybug]

Amen! No more canned cream of crap. :D

 

If you add cheese and a pinch of dry mustard powder you've got cheese sauce for your homemade Mac & Mold! :lol: That's what my kids call it.

 

:iagree: I add dry mustard, paprika, garlic powder and maybe a dash of Worcestershire to mine for my mac and cheese.

[littleWMN]

You can also purchase natural/organic cream of X soup at some supermarkets. The one I've used comes in a tetra-pak (I think that's what it's called -- the little soft box like shelf stable milk comes in).

 

This is what I use since its gluten free. The brand I use is Pacific Natural and I get it in bulk off of Amazon. I also make my own. T

[brett_ashley]

You can also purchase natural/organic cream of X soup at some supermarkets. The one I've used comes in a tetra-pak (I think that's what it's called -- the little soft box like shelf stable milk comes in).

 

It's not condensed, however, so you'll need to adjust your recipes accordingly.

[Mommy22alyns]

Thanks for this thread! I am going to try the substitutes.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Can you use these cream sauces in a crockpot or will the milk curdle?

[Stellalarella]

Thank you hive!

I made the bechamel sauce today for our tuna noodle and it worked like a charm.

Yes, and it tasted good as well.

Apparently, I needed to watch the heat and pour in hot milk, two things that I was not super careful about before. Also, I think that I have tried making the sauce in a pan that was too big. I got a much better result in a smaller saucepan.

I will not be buying cans of cream of blech any more.

[brett_ashley]

Can you use these cream sauces in a crockpot or will the milk curdle?

 

No the white sauce won't curdle if it's the right proportions. Because there is a lot of flour and just a little bit of broth, you should definitely scald your liquid before adding it though.

 

Adding a non-melty cheese when the sauce is too hot or something acidic like tomato could curdle it though.