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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 this cozy and delicious 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 or even boneless chicken thighs. 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.
- Cook the bacon. 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.
- Cook the aromatics. Melt butter in the pot; add onion and garlic until soft.
- Stir in the broth and seasoning. Add chicken broth and homemade Ranch mix and boil for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken. Add shredded chicken, and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add the cheese. Stir in softened cream cheese until melted, then add cheddar cheese.
- Add the spinach. Mix in baby spinach and heavy cream. Adjust seasoning as needed.
- Serve. Garnish your creamy crack chicken soup with scallions and cooked bacon to serve.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Veggie options. In this crack chicken soup, you can swap out the spinach for kale or zucchini noodles. Or, take a cue from my chicken vegetable soup and add your favorite mix of veggies to make it your own!
- Add pasta. 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.
- Chicken recipes. 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.
- Use store-bought Ranch seasoning. If you’re using store-bought ranch seasoning mix, substitute with about a tablespoon. Start with two teaspoons, taste, and adjust as needed since the mix already contains salt, which could make the dish too salty if you add too much.
Serving Suggestions
This crack chicken soup recipe is everything you need on a cozy night—loaded with bacon, chicken, cheese, and ranch-seasoned goodness. To round out your meal, pair it with a crisp and refreshing radish cucumber salad, or keep it hearty with my chicken cobbler. Need bread for dunking? My dinner rolls are perfect for soaking up all that cheesy, creamy broth. It’s comfort food at its best!
How To Store Leftover Soup
- Fridge. Store soup leftovers in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat over medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Freezer. 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 Orzo Soup
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup
- Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Thai Chicken Soup
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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
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried dill weed
- ½ teaspoon dried chives
- salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 8 ounces package cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 to 4 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- sliced green scallions, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the bacon. 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.
- Saute the aromatics. Add butter to the pot and melt over medium-high heat. Stir in onions and cook for 3 minutes; then stir in garlic and cook for 20 seconds.
- Stir in the broth and season the soup. 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.
- Cook the soup. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil; lower heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and cheese. Stir in shredded chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add cream cheese and whisk it continuously until completely melted and combined. Stir in the shredded cheese; whisk until melted and thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the spinach and cream. Add baby spinach and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and cook for 1 minute.
- Finish. Taste the soup for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Remove the bay leaf.
- Serve. Remove your crack chicken soup from the heat and top it with scallions and previously prepared bacon before serving.
Equipment
Notes
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.
Do you think I could just up the cream by a cup if i don’t like cream cheese??
Or would a different cheese work, maybe?
Looks good!!
Hi!
Sure, heavy cream should work since cream cheese is a cheese made with heavy cream and milk, but you’ll just be missing out on a bit of that tanginess and saltiness that cream cheese adds.
I would start with 1 cup cream, give it a taste and decide how much more you may want to add in. You might also want to adjust some of the seasonings, salt in particular.
This is hands down an amazing comfort soup. I made it for the first time tonight, WOW!! Just an FYI, we make and sell beef jerky and one of our best sellers is called “ass crack”, marinated in cracked pepper. People have fun with the name, not everyone sucks lemons! Thanks again!
That’s such a fun name for beef jerkey!! 😀 I am very glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank YOU! 🙂
This was amazing!! I will definitely be making this again!!! BTW, I love the name! Don’t change it!
Thank you so much!! I am very glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Keep the name crack chicken makes me think of pepper or spice. Silly we take it so personal blah anyways making this tonight I’m excited! Might add a bean or pasta to try t like bow tie mmmm
I also want to suggest we stop calling recipes crack anything. It doesn’t sound appetizing, it’s unimaginative and lazy, it’s incredibly tone deaf to the struggles people actually addicted to this devastating drug, and if you open up a thesaurus I’m sure you can find plenty of words that actually will make me want to make this recipe.
Thank you!
I agree with Lisset’s comment above. I also haven’t tried this soup It looks good but also looks a little greasy.
It’s always that one if you don’t want to try it then don’t try it and just shut up!
OMG the word crack has been around longer then the drug has been a common problem. You CRACK me up, plumbers CRACK, there’s a CRACK in the wall people give it a rest. The word CRACK in a recipe most of the time means it has bacon in it. If you are offended by this word then don’t make the soup I think it look delicious and will be trying it tonight but with turkey bacon because I can’t have the other will let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for this recipe! We are getting an ice storm in 2 days so I will definitely try this !!! I appreciate you and could care less about what you call it — so many crabby comments — if it bothers you – rename it yourself ! God Bless you Sweetie !! Carry on or should I say Cook on !!! 😘🥰😍😇❤️🧚🏻♀️😘Dee in Kentucky
I am very happy you loved it! Thank you so much for chiming in and keep safe! 🙂
Please consider calling this recipe something other than “crack.” I’m sure you mean no disrespect, but the word carries a lot of history.
Omg really?! The name crack got my attention and not because I’m on crack or ever thought of being on crack. But I can assure you the name is not disrespectful. I really doubt that any one of those folks would get on here to look for a recipe anyways. Good grief. This recipe is excellent btw! Thank you for sharing
I am very glad you enjoyed it! THANK YOU!! 🙂
Awesome🥰
🙄 crack chicken has been a thing for a long time. If you don’t like the name, call it something else for your personal preference. This soup looks fantastic and I can’t wait to make it. I love crack chicken so I have no doubt this soup will taste amazing. Thank you for sharing it!
Geeze! Get over it! It’s just a word.
I have NO problem with the name. The recipe is great and the name attracted me to it! People will not even be able to speak someday without using COMMON words that offend someone!
Would it ruin the soup to use frozen spinach? We don’t get fresh spinach on our island, and normally I can’t stand frozen spinach, but this looks too amazing to pass on.
Hi!
It should be OK, but do thaw the spinach and drain it as well as possible, just to avoid all the extra liquid.
This soups looks so tasty! I was thinking about adding some type of white bean to it. Would that be a good mix?
I think that is an excellent idea! I suggest cannellini beans. Just drain the can and rinse and they are ready to go, and if you mash half of them they really add body to the broth.
Loved this soup! So flavorful! I cannot wait to make this again!
I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Then it’s not Keto ! Which is the whole point of the soup
I didn’t see where and how much ranch seasoning to add!!! Am I missing something??? I’m so excited to make this I can barely stand it!!!
Hi!
So the recipe is to be made with homemade ranch seasoning, and that includes the garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed, chives, salt, and pepper. Those are already included in the recipe above. But, if you’re going to use store-bought Ranch seasoning, you will need 1 tablespoon. Also, if going with the premade seasoning, don’t use the garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed, chives, salt, and pepper that are in the recipe. I hope that makes sense. 😁
Woops, I used both. Noticed it wasn’t in the 2nd set of instructions so reread the first and figured it just got overlooked in the second, so in it all went. I’d do it the same way again – I liked the very savory flavor. I may have overlooked it, but I scroll down to the recipes and don’t bother with all the pictures and blog chat. For someone who can’t have a lot of carbs, this was like loaded potato soup, minus the potatoes – which weren’t missed with all that chicken. Will make it again, but will probably refer to it as loaded chicken soup; I nearly overlooked it because of the name (there are so many awful “crack” recipes) but the photo was so alluring.
Thank you so much!!! We love this recipe!!
THANK YOU! 🙂
This will quickly become a favorite at my house! It looks SO good!