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This Creamy Crack Chicken Soup recipe is loaded with incredible cheesy flavor! It is a delicious soup with bacon, chicken, cheese, spinach, and ranch seasoning. Low carb and Keto-approved, too!
Are you looking for more crack chicken recipes? Try this Baked Crack Chicken Breasts or my Instant Pot Crack Chicken recipe!
Crack Chicken Soup
Warm up to a big bowl of this Creamy Crack Chicken Soup! Judging by the popularity of my slow cooker crack chicken AND the chicken noodle soup, me thinks you will absolutely LOVE crack chicken in soup form.
SO good, so comforting, and really easy to make, this soup is by far my favorite homemade chicken soup. Ready in less than 30 minutes, you will enjoy every spoonful of it. Like a good ol’ split pea soup, this chicken soup also makes an ideal meal for cold winter nights, but we enjoy it year round, no matter the season.
Why It’s Called Crack Chicken
I get this question on ALL my crack chicken recipes; the basic internet explanation is that the flavors of dry ranch seasoning mix paired with the creaminess of cream cheese and cheddar cheese make this chicken 100% addictive, just like crack.
How To Make Crack Chicken Soup
Just pick up a cooked rotisserie chicken, and let’s get on it! OR, you can use leftover cooked chicken breasts. It’s a tasty and creamy soup, and also a keto chicken soup, and it will have you drooling while simmering away in that pot.
- We start with cooking some bacon in a Dutch oven or a soup pot; cook the bacon until crispy, then remove it from the pot.
- Melt butter in the pot; add onion and garlic until soft.
- Add chicken broth and homemade Ranch mix and boil for 5 minutes.
- Add shredded chicken, and cook another 5 minutes.
- Stir in softened cream cheese until melted, then add cheddar cheese.
- Mix in baby spinach and heavy cream. Adjust seasoning as needed.
- Garnish the crack chicken soup with scallions and cooked bacon to serve.
Tips & Variations for Chicken Soup
- Instead of spinach, you can add in kale or zucchini noodles or take some inspiration from this chicken vegetable soup.
- For those not following a low carb/keto diet, add pasta noodles to the boiling chicken broth and cook for 8 minutes. Then, continue to add the rest of the ingredients per the recipe directions.
- If you don’t have any leftover cooked chicken to use, I suggest making my Oven Baked Chicken Breasts. Use these shredder claws to shred afterward.
How To Store Leftover Soup
- Store soup leftovers in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.
- Reheat over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- To freeze this keto soup, store it in freezer bags and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. Reheat on medium heat without boiling.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup with Chicken
- Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Thai Chicken Soup
ENJOY!
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Creamy Crack Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 to 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chives
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 package (8 ounces) softened cream cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 to 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- sliced green scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook diced bacon to a crisp in a Dutch Oven or soup pot.
- Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon, leaving bacon grease in the pot.
- Add butter to the pot and melt over medium-high heat.
- Stir in onions and cook for 3 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and cook for 20 seconds.
- Add chicken broth and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Season with garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed, chives, salt, and pepper.
- Add bay leaf and bring to a boil; lower heat to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in shredded chicken; cook for 5 minutes.
- Add cream cheese and whisk in until completely melted and combined.
- Stir in shredded cheese; whisk until melted and thoroughly combined.
- Add baby spinach; cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream and cook for 1 minute.
- Taste for seasonings (salt and pepper) and adjust accordingly. Remove bay leaf.
- Remove soup from heat; top with scallions and previously prepared bacon.
- Serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I made this last December and it is definitely titled accurately – LOL – as it is very hearty, satisfying and addictive! The recipe comes together as written and the seasonings play well together to yield some amazing flavors. Thank you for sharing
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy to hear the flavors came together so well. 😊
Does this recipe half well? Can I just use half of each ingredient to get a smaller batch?
Yes, this recipe should halve well! You can simply use half of each ingredient to make a smaller batch. Just keep an eye on the cooking time, as it may be slightly shorter with the reduced quantity. Otherwise, it should turn out just as delicious! 😊
I’ve made this so many times! My family loves it every time – it never gets old. I will add that I edited it slightly though. I don’t include the bay leaf (it’s not in my flavor palette and I find a lot of people don’t like even the faintest smell of it) and I add diced potatoes to make it more filling, as well as baby tomatoes and cayenne powder to give it a little zing! 🤤
Thank YOU! I love that it’s a family favorite, and your tweaks sound amazing especially the potatoes and cayenne for extra flavor! 🙂
In the lead up you say it calls for ranch seasoning mix, but in recipe you don’t say how much or when to add.
The ranch seasoning mix is actually made from scratch in the recipe, using garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed, and chives, plus salt and pepper. It’s listed in the ingredients in the recipe card and added in step #7, where it says to season with those herbs and spices. I hope that clears things up. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
So so good!!
Very creamy, but not for me. Will not make again
Thanks for giving it a try! Not every recipe is a keeper, but at least now you know. 😊