Creamy Crack Chicken Soup

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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!

serving crack chicken soup in a bowl


 

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.

cooking chicken soup in a pot

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.

  1. 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.
  2. Melt butter in the pot; add onion and garlic until soft.
  3. Add chicken broth and homemade Ranch mix and boil for 5 minutes.
  4. Add shredded chicken, and cook another 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in softened cream cheese until melted, then add cheddar cheese.
  6. Mix in baby spinach and heavy cream. Adjust seasoning as needed.
  7. Garnish the crack chicken soup with scallions and cooked bacon to serve.
Crack Chicken Soup in Dutch oven

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.
    crack chicken soup in a bowl topped with bacon and green onions

    More Chicken Soup Recipes

    ENJOY!

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    4.89 from 184 votes

    Creamy Crack Chicken Soup

    This Creamy Crack Chicken Soup recipe is loaded with incredible cheesy flavor! The perfect winter comfort food prepared with bacon, chicken, cheese, spinach, and ranch seasoning.
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes
    Servings: 10 servings

    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
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    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

    Serving: 1cup | Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 292mg | Potassium: 351mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1575IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 133mg | Iron: 1mg

    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.

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    4.89 from 184 votes (90 ratings without comment)

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    282 Comments

    1. Berny says:

      Do you know how many points this would be for Weight Watchers?

      1. Katerina says:

        Under the “Notes” section in the recipe card:
        WW FREESTYLE POINTS: 8
        Reduce points down to 3 by using fat free cream cheese, fat free cheddar cheese, and turkey bacon.

    2. Rick L says:

      I love crack chicken in any and every form. I still miss the 80’s. I’ll try this one too!

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        I hope you enjoy it! Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚

      2. Terri says:

        This soup is amazing , my son made it for me a few weeks ago, and loved it , he gave me the recipe and I made it tonight , this will be a regular soup in our household , so many things you can do with it . Havenโ€™t tried it with the bacon yet as we havenโ€™t had any both times and still delicious . Thankyou so much for posting this recipe

    3. Betsy Hearndon says:

      Made this tonight and eating it now. Yum! I added celery and carrots. Also a little Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning and 3 top of sugar. I add sugar to most of my soups and stews. Will be sharing with family tomorrow. Thanks for the deliciousness!

      1. Betsy Hearndon says:

        3 tsp sugar

    4. Hilda says:

      I made this last week using a shredded rotisserie chicken. My new favorite soup! Making it again today. Thank you Katerina for this yummy recipe.

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚

    5. Kim says:

      Made this tonight with just a couple of tweaks and it’s AMAZING! I used leeks in place of onions because I had some extra already cut from another recipe. I also added some sliced shiitake mushrooms I need to use when I cooked the leeks & garlic. I also decreased the cream cheese by half because that’s all I had on hand, but we didn’t seem to miss it and it was perfectly creamy with the amount I used. I will definitely be making this again and again!

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        That’s great! I’m very happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for chiming in! ๐Ÿ™‚

    6. Amber says:

      We make this soup every couple of weeks, soooo good!

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        That’s great! I’m very glad you enjoyed it! Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚

    7. Hilda says:

      Made this yesterday for dinner. It is my #1 favorite right now. My whole family loves it and wants me to make more. Great recipe!

    8. Jeanee says:

      Amazing! I made it as it was laid out and added cauliflower florets at the same time as the broth. I think we have a new winter/fall favorite soup!

      PS- former addict- loved crack. I know how good it is so do not worry about people who says its disrespectful. Crack is almost as good as this soup! (But today I choose soup)! ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚ I am very glad you enjoyed this recipe!

    9. Bella says:

      Im going to make a dairy free version of this but I am really appalled by the named including โ€œcrackโ€ it is very insensitive to people with addiction issues. Please consider changing the name to something more elegant and respectful.

      1. Lottie says:

        Seriously!!! Thatโ€™s such a snowflake comment. Donโ€™t take everything so seriously. If youโ€™re an addict, own it, but donโ€™t expect everyone else to tippy toe around you!

        1. Grace says:

          I agree with your comment. There’s Christmas crack candy. No one says anything about that. Jeez

      2. Carolyn says:

        It’s delicious! My family loves it. It’s up there with the best soups that I have ever made.
        Perfect when entertaining a larger group.

        1. Katerina Petrovska says:

          That’s great to hear! I’m very glad you and your family enjoyed it! Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚

      3. Don says:

        Lighten up there KAREN.
        There’s enough snowflakes whining about everything, we don’t need to hear about someone’s “sensitivity” towards everything even here on Pinterest!

      4. Sally says:

        Loser

    10. Corey says:

      What an awesome soup! My 80 old Father said it was the best soup heโ€™s had in years. My 2 old had seconds. A easy soup to make, for all generations!!!

      1. Katerina Petrovska says:

        That’s wonderful! I’m very glad everyone enjoyed it! Thank YOU! ๐Ÿ™‚