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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.
Again with the crack! To get the real story behind crack – Wild Cowboys by Robert Jackall.
Hey looking for the instructions to use ranch seasoning??
I found them up under the heading “How to Make Crack Chicken Soup” It call for 1 TB of ranch dressing mix.
Hi just wanted to say this recipe is super easy to make and delicious! Even my nephew who says he doesn’t like soup went for 3 bowls. Thank you
That’s great! I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
This is easy and incredible tasting! You could call it “Creamy Chicken Ranch Soup” if you have a problem with the name. It IS addictive!
I modified recipe a bit and added 5 large portabella mushrooms (thinly sliced) when sautéing onion. I added garlic last and it was so lovely that I deglazed the pan with @ 1/3 C red wine before I added broth and remaining ingredients. I also decided to add a package of riced cauliflower and maybe not as much spinach as recipe called for. OMGoodness this soup is tasty. And you will want seconds. Definitely will try browned Italian sausage eventually. Recipe is absolutely a KEEPER!
Asked several times, but I didn’t see an answer. Can you freeze this soup?
Hi 😊
The answer is in the body of the text, right above the recipe card.
Just pour soup into freezer bags and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to serve, remove from freezer the night before and let thaw in the fridge overnight.
Reheat over medium heat, stirring frequently. Do not boil.
Very good soup! I added spicy andouille sausage to it and used store bought ranch seasoning.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
Delicious! I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese…so good!
Can I put this in a slow-cooker?
I want to màke this recipe but no where in it does it call for ranch. I have no idea how much it when I should add. Help!!!!
The ranch flavor is the garlic and onion powder dill chives S&P which is step 7. She didn’t use a packet
Calls for a ranch packet, or just use seasonings
I made this soup tonight because it sounded good and I needed to use up a couple of cups of left over broiled chicken, and I also needed to use up 3-4 cups of fresh mushrooms. I used mushrooms in place of the spinach first I slicing them and sauteing them in butter, salt and pepper, then I added them to the pot where I would have normally added the spinach. I also eliminated the dill, chives and bay leaf and scallions using only the bacon to top the soup.
This was absolutely DELICIOUS!!!
Thanks for the recipe!!
That’s great! I am very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! 🙂
It was very good, as expected. It was a little thin so next time I would use the smaller amount of chicken broth.
I have to say, I never like recipes being referred to as “crack” anything. The word is so over-used it’s lost its meaning. More importantly, I just don’t think calling something by the name of a dangerous street drug is at all appealing or cute.
Can this soup be frozen ?
Yes. The directions are in the body of the text.
Hello. Quick question. How many does this recipe feed? We are a family of 4 adults – 3 of which are men. So I usually try to cook for at least 6 since rhey are big eaters. It looks amazing.
Hi 👋
This recipe will certainly give you around 8 to 10 cups of soup, depending on how much broth you use, but if you want to serve it as a main, you can double up on the ingredients.
It’s pretty filling I make it for a family of 4 same 3 are men and we always have leftovers
If I am adding noddles to it how much would you add??
Is that tomato or bell pepper in the photo? Is isn’t mentioned anywhere.
Hi,
That’s bacon 😊
It’s the bacon pieces you chopped earlier. Put it in before serving.