Does anyone happen to know how to make a substitute for Campbell's Cream of Something Soup? I have noticed that a lot of my family's everyday favourites seem to start with these soups for a base. Especially the cream of chicken. I thought of using broth with guar gum, but don't know how much that would resemble condensed soup. I have tried whipping cream for a base, but I find the taste quite overwhelming and my kids don't like it as much. Any suggestions?

LCSue, I've got something somewhere on that but darned if I remember where. I'll have a rummage and see if I can dig it up.

Found it, LCSue.

I haven't actually tried them yet myself, but I had plugged them into my MasterCook for future reference. Hope they are of *some* help to you.

The first one uses the ThickenThin not/Starch from Expert Foods.

The second comes from the original Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution (1972-77) and is an old-fashioned thin custard or basic cream sauce (thickened with egg yolks) but will be much heavier on the fats and the tastebuds... and may not hold its thickness with extended cooking (like in a casserole).

Good luck!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Cream Soup Base

Recipe By : Judi, adapted from Barb Pollack discussion
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Development Sauces & Coatings
Soups

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
5 Tablespoons Heavy Cream -- 95% Cals From Fat
8 Fluid Ounces Chicken Broth
5 Teaspoons ExpertF not/Starch

" Barb: To make the equivalent of a canned soup, use good strong chicken broth or at least two chicken bouillon cubes (more, if they aren't too salty), four to five teaspoons of not/Starch, two to four tablespoons of heavy cream or use half fresh heavy cream and half RealCream (to get a better match on the flavor), plus enough water to make the required 10 1/2 fluid ounces. (For cooking only, you can use all RealCream -- it tastes great, but it doesn't
look as good as soups made with at least part fresh cream.) ***
This recipe, using three bouillon cubes at one carb apiece, would have approximately five carbs net for the equivalent of a can of soup, plus it should cook like the canned soup. "

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NOTES :
Nutrition: 364 kCals, 30g fat, 13g protein, 11.5/7.5g carb/fiber [net=4g]
[in a pinch, substitute a mix of Xanthan/Guar gums for the not/Starch; beware of lumping]


* Exported from MasterCook *

Basic Cream Sauce

Recipe By : Judi, from DADR (slight mods)
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Fat Fast Ingredients
Veggie Ovo-Lacto Soups
Sauces & Coatings

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 Cup unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1/4 Cup water
1/4 Cup Whipping Cream 35%
Dash salt

Makes 18 tablespoons or about 1 1/8 cups.
Melt buttter (top of a double boiler or gently in the microwave).
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating with a whisk or rotary beater.
Combine cream, salt and water, add a little at a time, beating constantly; continue beating until thick and cream (about 4 or 5 minutes).

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NOTES : 1243 kcals, 134.8g fat 96% (78.9s 40.3m 6.9p), 2.6g carb/0g fiber, 10.5g protein, 59mg sodium, 123mg potassium, 136mg calcium, 2mg iron, 1.7mg zinc, 5513iu A, 78.3mcg folacin.

I use the Campbell's ready to serve cream of mushroom soup. I don't have any right now but I think it's 7 or 8 carbs / 1/2 cup. You could probably add some cream to cut the carbs a bit more.

Thanks so much Judi and Deirdre for your quick responses! I shall try these all out and see which ones work the best. Both seem to turn out to be quite low in carbs ... super!!

I thank you, my spoiled kids thank you ... !!

Hi LCSue,

Another thing to try--though carby but--is making a soup base with lots of sauteed leeks and a lot of "whatever" you want to make the soup out of. Add enough chicken stock to cover, cook, puree and sieve.

Reheat and add finely chopped of the "whatever" vegetable for texture then thin out with more stock and bring to a boil. Add cream and season to taste. Now, for each 2 cups of soup you will need 2 egg yolks...

Remove the soup from the heat--it can't be anywhere near boiling--and add a cup of soup to the yolks while whisking constantly. Pour the yolk mixture into the soup and reheat gently. If you boil it. the eggs will curdle. Soup made this way cannot be reheated. If you like this method, you can make the soup without the yolks and only add them when you heat and serve the soup.

Karen

Thanks for the recipe, Karen. I had forgotten about using a puree for thickening ... great idea and sounds very versatile.

I have always preferred 'baking' more than 'cooking'; think I'll have to take up a new challenge.

I know this is an old post, but thought I'd post this recipe for posterity so others coming along who see it will have a GOOD solution to this LC cook's dilemma. Of course, you can always just use cream, mushrooms and thicken it up heavily. But Jennifer Eloff at "Splendid Low Carbing with Jennifer" has a marvelous Condensed cream of Mushroom soup buried inside a recipe that is absolutely so close to Campbell's counterpart, it's the only recipe I use for this purpose now. Her recipe makes the equivalent to two cans of the soup. Best of all, there's no cooking!!! You whip this stuff up in a blender/processor in minutes! Here's a link to her chicken casserole she created the soup mix for, so just scroll down to see the soup recipe:
http://low-carb-news.blogspot.com/2...-casserole.html

You will NOT be sorry you tried this soup recipe!!!

Here's my chicken version of the above posted recipe. I used her recipe as my starting point. I omitted the mushrooms and subbed in Sam's brand canned chicken (no yucky ingredients). I made a couple other changes and VOILA! A very tasty condensed soup that rivals what comes in the Campbell’s can, and ever so much healthier!

The recipe makes exactly 21 oz. or 2 cups, so it is equivalent to two cans of condensed soup and can be used in recipes you have that call for 1 can of soup! How’s THAT for convenient? Only thing is this should not be frozen or the cream cheese will break down. So just whip it up in your food processor or blender right when you need it. Any leftovers can be stored for probably up to a week in the fridge. If you choose to make this up as soup, this undiluted soup should be diluted 1 for 1 with water: 1 cup undiluted + 1 c. water or broth = 2 cups finished soup. This entire recipe, diluted with 2 cups of liquid (5o:50) will yield 4 c. finished soup or four 1-cup servings ready to eat.

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup heavy cream
2 T. hot water
1 chicken bouillon cube (use back of spoon & dissolve in hot water above)
1 T. olive oil
Dash onion powder
¼ tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. arrowroot powder, cornstarch, ¼ tsp. glucomannan powder or xanthan gum
1-2 drops liquid sucralose
1 13-oz can chicken breast, undrained (Daily Chef Sam’s is "pristeen"

DIRECTIONS: Place all ingredients but the chicken in food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Add chicken with its liquid and pulse a few times to slightly chop and blend. Scrape out into 2 storage contains equally. There will be 10.5 oz. in each. Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately. Keeps about a week in the fridge. DO NOT FREEZE!

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes two 10.5 oz. soup cans worth of condensed (undiluted soup). Each “can” (half the recipe) contains: 660 cals., 52 g fat, 8.1 g carbs, .65 g fiber, 7.45 g NET CARBS, 5.9 g protein, 1392 mg sodium.

If reconstituted with water or broth this recipe will make four 1-cup servings of reconstituted, ready-to-eat cream of chicken soup. You should dilute with 50:50 water or plain chicken broth. Each 1-cup serving of soup contains: 330 calories, 26.2 g fat, 4.0 g carbs, .3 g fiber, 3.7 g NET CARBS, 2.9 g protein, 696 mg sodium.