Chicken Divan is one of those family favorites that I have been planning on "revamping to wheat/grain free" for a while now and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out on a smaller scale...so I am making a separate small casserole for myself on the side. Making it wheat/grain free involves two parts -- one, substituting the buttered bread crumbs with toasted, buttered almond flour to top it with; and two, coming up with a wheat/grain free cream of chicken soup to make the sauce with.
Since I had also been planning to try making wheat/grain free homemade cream of mushroom soup (to use in other casseroles like the green bean casserole I make at Thanksgiving) I figured I could
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| Diced mushrooms are sauteed until most juices evaporate |
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| Added the minced chicken |
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| Liquids have been added and ready to start reducing |
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| A close-up of the finished product |
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| The recipe yielded about 1-1/2 cups |
Grain Free Cream of Mushroom/Chicken Soup
(Makes approximately 1-1/2 cups of cream of chicken/mushroom soup)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 oz mushrooms, diced (or 1/2 to 2/3 cup finely minced cooked chicken for cream of chicken)
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum (slightly more if you want thicker soup)
3/4 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup half-n-half or heavy cream
Dash tamari sauce, optional
Directions:
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms have released their moisture, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and half-n-half or cream and when the mixture is hot, sprinkle xanthum gum across the surface, whisking until well blended into the soup. Simmer uncovered until soup is thick and reduced, about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. When the soup is the thickness you desire, remove from heat. Stir in optional dash of tamari. The soup can be eaten as is or used as a substitution for canned creamed soups. If you want it thicker, more like the condensed canned soups, add a tiny more xanthum gum while simmering.
***Note: I added about 1/4 cup finely diced chicken breast to my cream of mushroom soup as it was simmering (so I actually made cream of mushroom/chicken soup). You could easily substitute any other item such as small cooked broccoli florets to make cream of broccoli, etc. or make any type of "cream of whatever" soup. The possibilities are endless. Hope this helps you recreate some of your old favorites too!
What a great "alternative" to canned soup for use in recipes! Thanks for inventing and sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your wonderful blog while browsing the WB site. I'll be spending lots of time here!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDeletehey have you tried to freeze this? i was just thinking of making alot and freezing for when needed for casseroles and the like but didn't know how it would hold up considering the cream and all.... thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Emma! No, unfortunately I have not tried to freeze it yet -- but it's a great idea (if it thaws okay). Next time I make it, I may try freezing a small portion and then thawing a week or so later to see how it holds up during the thaw process. I would not freeze a large batch before finding out with a small test batch first. If you try it before I do, let me know how it works. It would be awesome...no better than awesome it it worked well! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend and I LOVE your cream of mushroom soup! I initially made it last year for Thanksgiving and tried to sub it for condensed cream of mushroom soup in the green bean casserole (I've also made it several times since just to enjoy as soup). It tasted wonderful, but was definitely "soupy" lol. Any ideas how to convert this to a condensed cream of mushroom soup? Thanks for all that you do! Jen
ReplyDeleteHi Jen! Thanks -- glad you both like the soup. Do you add the xanthum gum to the soup? If not, that will help. Otherwise, if you already add it, I would maybe add an ounce or two of brick style cream cheese to help thicken it up more. See if that helps! :-)
ReplyDeleteDo you think I can replace the cream with cashew milk since it's dairy free? It can also be made as thicker or thinner by the amount of water added.
ReplyDeleteHi Lesley -- yes, I think that should work just fine. Let me know how it turns out -- that's a great idea! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of mushrooms do you use in this recipe? Am I correct that you use white mushrooms. TIA
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy -- I just used plain white button or regular type mushrooms. But, if you prefer using other kinds, you can do that too -- use your favorite kind (my son's favorite is portabello mushrooms). :-)
ReplyDeleteCan we get a SAVE button for this recipe please? It's a most useful keeper! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Chris -- Yes, I will add the save button to it this evening! :-)
ReplyDelete