Cream of Something Soup Mix

The weather is changing but cream soups are used all year round in many of our recipes. This cream of something soup mix is a staple in my pantry as I use it not only in making creamed soups that normally come in a can, but have found at least a dozen other ways it saves my the day!
I admit I didn’t make this recipe myself. My stock of cream of mushroom soup kept running out and I use it a lot. I mean A LOT. So, I Googled and found several variations that didn’t quite create the taste I wanted. One day I was watching YouTube and one of my favorite Tuber’s came on, Big Family Homestead!
Being a homesteader myself, I really enjoy their videos and recipes. I seldom miss one. Just by chance, Brad was on one day and demonstrated how they made their cream of soup base. I tried it and it worked beautifully. Be sure to check them out for yourselves.
Just a note: Another of my favorites is Off Grid with Doug and Stacy. You just can’t beat great personalities with homestyle ingenuity.
Cream of Anything?
Yes, I did considered calling the mix cream of anything instead of cream of something soup mix. That is because of the extreme variety of soups and dishes this recipe is perfect for.

The options are almost endless, in my opinion. It can be a simple creamed soup or, depending on the added ingredients, can be a marvel at your family table such as this cream of shrimp soup shown above. A couple of peppers and jumbo shrimp made this an amazing dinner.
Working Your Magic
First, let’s dive into the different soups it can create. You saw how amazing that shrimp soup looked. Adding seared scallops or leftover grilled fish would make a great seafood dish your guests will rave over. Thinking about this makes me wonder about crawfish or clams. I can eat clam chowder all day and all it would take is adding diced potatoes, tarragon and clams.
This same idea was tried successfully with King Ranch soup, as well. I added mushrooms and diced chicken that I tossed with taco seasoning in the skillet. They went into the saucepan with a diced jalapeno and a few other ingredients and it saved me a lot of time. I will share my slow cook recipe for King Ranch soup at a later date.

This past winter there was a more intense chill to the air. One night I saw I had an extra can of whole pumpkin sitting on my shelf. Instead of just putting it to the back for the next holiday, I added it to the cream soup base. My son had never had pumpkin soup and was the first to get seconds. This will also work with canned sweet potatoes. Just run it through the food processor to make it smooth and add it to the base and water.

Just a Few Ideas
- toss taco seasoning in with some leftover rotisserie chicken, taco meat or fajita meat
- add a can of creamed corn for some yummy creamed corn soup
- make your cream soups ahead of time by adding dehydrated vegetables, mushrooms, celery, or diced potatoes to a baggie or a pint sized jar. When the recipe calls for cream of celery soup, just grab the pint jar instead of the can.
- make a delicious potato soup with leftover mashed potatoes. Just add it to the base with some chicken stock.
- vacuum seal the mix with your favorited dehydrated or freeze dried ingredients for a hearty meal while camping.
- throw in a package of onion soup mix for a richer onion soup.
- Hamburger Helper is a handy box to keep around but how about tossing a half cup of the cream of something soup mix in with the cooked hamburger along with two cups of water and a cup of elbow mac? Stir in some shredded cheese toward the end and you may never go back to the box again!
- this is great to keep sealed in Mylar bags for the SHTF situation.
- fill jars with this handy mix and a few ingredients to give as gifts-in-a-jar for a holiday, birthday or that special someone who could use that smile it will bring.

Cream of Something Soup Mix
Ingredients
- 4 cups powdered milk
- 1 ½ cups corn starch
- 4 Tbsp. minced dried onions
- 1 Tbsp. thyme
- 1 Tbsp. basil
- ½ cup chicken bouillon powder
- 1 Tbsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients and store the mix in a sealed container such as a ½ gallon jar, vacuum seal or Mylar bag.
Cream of Something Soup
- Combine 1/3 c of mix to 1 ¼ c water in a small sauce pan.
- Add your own main ingredient such as mushrooms, celery, or onion.
- Stir thoroughly to keep the lumps out and heat at a simmer until thickened.
What a neat idea to make your own cream of soup. They are so handy, and you are right; it’s hard to name it because they can go with so many recipes. I will definitely give it a try. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks! It really does come in handy. Let me know how you like it!
What an interesting idea, I had no idea you could do this! I also love the idea of giving this as a gift. So cool.
Thanks! The idea of gift jars came to me when I made up a few pint jars of the mix with the extra ingredients for my own pantry. I gave a couple of jars to a friend who was under the weather so she could have a quick soup (she couldn’t eat the canned stuff). Been doing it ever since.
I love the idea of making your own cream soup! Like you say, useful in so many recipes!
This is perfect and exactly what I’ve been looking for! Thank you!
So glad I could help! I also love that it can be used as a thickening agent for other recipes. Hope you enjoy!
Oh wow this is a great mix to have on hand. You can add it to anything like soups and pot pies…. possibilities are endless!
I’m so glad you shared this recipe! My mom makes her own cream of anything soup mix and I keep forgetting to ask her for the recipe.