Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

While fishing around in our freezer, looking for something specific, I found a package of Italian sausage that I had forgotten about. I use Italian sausage for making homemade pizza, in Lentil Soup, and (if I'm feeling ambitious) to make "Sardinian Sausage Tomato Sauce with Semolina Gnocchi".

Instead, I had breakfast on my mind. I had a hankering for a classic breakfast casserole. I had visions of making a hash brown casserole, with sausage, onions, bell peppers and cheese.  The only problem was,  I needed one can of cream of chicken soup. Deep sigh. I don't buy canned soups (with the exception of boxed chicken broth, from Trader Joe's). Phooey!

 
There had to be a way to make my own, so I used the internet to confirm my idea. Sure enough, there were oodles of recipes on Pinterest.

Making my own cream of chicken was so simple, that I wanted to share it with y'all. All you need is chicken broth, milk, flour, and some seasonings.  It took a total of ten minutes to make, and I froze half of it for future use.

This recipe is a perfect substitute for canned cream soup.  However, it is not flavorful enough to eat as a stand alone recipe.  I used a low-sodium broth, because I knew that I'd be seasoning my casserole anyway-- and I didn't want it to be over salty.

I don't make casseroles often, but I admit that they are one of my favorite comfort foods.  My first attempt making this casserole didn't pan out quite as my taste buds had envisioned.  This photo is from Round #2.  Even though I scaled down the recipe, I still got about six servings.  Craig and I were both happy about that, because this reheated well for the next few days.  I'm making this for Christmas morning, when my son will be visiting us from Texas...he's going to love it!

The casserole recipe is posted here.


Here's the handy recipe card on how to make this easy recipe: