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This creamy crack chicken is flavorful, filling, and comforting. The soup is a high-protein, low-carb, gluten-free, and high-fat perfection.
Who doesn’t love soups? Especially when it’s cold or you’ve had a tough day. When I want to give a warm hug to my family through my food, this is the recipe I use.
Each bite is the perfect combination of bacon, butter, cheese, and chicken, all with hints of beautiful herbs and spices like chives, dill, garlic, and onions.
And, yes! This soup contains cheese. So, if you are a soup-lover and cheese-lover, you might love this soup just as much as I do.
What I love about this soup is that you can make it in just 30 minutes. That’s something I can get behind!
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Pin ItThe soup is addictive, comforting, and nourishing to your soul. It’s keto-approved and perfect for a family.
Ingredients and Substitutes
4 slices bacon (diced) – If you are looking to create a vegetarian option, you can substitute bacon for mushrooms.
And, if you are feeling adventurous, you can add the mushrooms along with the bacon. You’ll thank me later.
1 tbsp butter – You can also use ghee.
1 white onion (diced) – Yellow onion will also do.
3 cloves garlic (minced) – While I love the taste of fresh garlic when I don’t feel like washing a lot of things, I often use garlic flakes.
5 cups chicken broth – This adds a lot of flavor, so make sure you don’t skip this option.
3 bay leaves
1 tsp garlic powder – You can also use garlic flakes.
1 tsp onion powder – Just like garlic powder, you can use onion flakes.
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried chives
Salt and black pepper
4 cups cooked chicken (shredded) – For a vegetarian option, you can replace it with tofu.
8 oz cream cheese – Use the full-fat option since it will provide an extra creaminess to the dish.
1 cup cheddar cheese (grated) – I love using a variety of flavors. For example, when I want to add some spice, I add a couple of tablespoons of Pepper Jack.
4 cups baby spinach – You can also use kale or a combination of spinach and kale.
1/4 cup heavy cream – If you don’t have heavy cream, you can use coconut cream or Greek yogurt. However, it may change the flavor and end result.
Fresh dill (chopped) – Adds a little bit more freshness and scents to this soup. It’s worth it!
Green scallions (chopped)
How to Make Creamy Crack Chicken Soup
Step 1. Grab a large pot, and place the diced bacon. Cook it for roughly 5 minutes.
Step 2. Remove the bacon from the pan, but make sure you keep the fat since it’s where all the flavor is. Add the diced onions, along with the butter.
Step 3. Cook it until it’s transparent, which should take around 3 minutes.
Step 4. Add the garlic and cook for 20 to 30 seconds. Take the chicken broth and pour it into the pot.
Make sure you scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. We don’t want to burn anything!
Step 5. Place the bay leaves, onion, dill, chives, salt, and black pepper inside the pot. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 more minutes.
Step 6. Grab your shredded chicken and add it to the pot. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
Step 7. It’s time to add some creaminess to the dish. Add the cream cheese and cheddar cheese.
Make sure you whisk everything until the cheese is melted and everything is well blended.
Step 8. Place the baby spinach and the heavy cream in the pot and let it simmer for another 3 minutes. Make sure you’re stirring throughout to combine the ingredients well.
Step 9. Remove the pot from the heat, and then remove the bay leaves. You can add more salt and pepper to taste.
Step 10. Add the diced bacon, chopped dill, and green scallions to the soup before serving. Enjoy warm.
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Pin ItHow to Store Leftovers
After you try this recipe, you are going to want to go grab seconds (I know I did). But once you and your family are full, you can easily store this meal to have later in the week.
I’ve found that the best way to store it is in glass and air-tight containers. It will last in the fridge for up to 4 days. However, you may want to remove the fresh dill and green onions.
I’ve found that in order to keep the soup fresh, it’s best to remove these ingredients and add fresh ones when you reheat it (either in the microwave or stove).
While you can store this soup in the freezer, it may lose some of its creaminess. But hey, it’s still worth having it ready in case of emergency.
What to Have the Soup With
While the soup is amazing on its own, there are some ingredients that can help elevate the dish. These are some of my favorite sides to have with this soup:
- Garlic bread
- Fresh green salad
- Arugula salad
- Stuffed bell peppers
- Baby potatoes with garlic butter
- Kale salad
Tip!
Have fresh ingredients with the soup. Such as salad, to help balance the richness and creaminess of the meal. It’s the safest way to keep it all low carb too.
Other Keto Recipes
Creamy Crack Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 white onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 5 cups chicken broth preferably low-sodium
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp dried chives
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 4 cups cooked chicken shredded
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Fresh dill chopped for garnish
- Green scallions sliced for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook up diced bacon slices. It will take around 5 minutes
- Remove the bacon, but leave the fat inside the bot.
- Add in the butter and diced onion, and sauté until translucent. That will take around 3 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Then, pour in the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add bay leaves, garlic, onion, dill, chives, salt, and black pepper. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the shredded chicken and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Now add cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Whisk until the cheese has melted and combined with the chicken broth.
- Add the baby spinach and heavy cream and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir throughout.
- Remove from the heat, then remove the bay leaves, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Top up with diced bacon, chopped dill, and green scallions before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this soup! pretty easy to put together and it was a hit with the family. Got 9.5 and 10 start rating from the kids even with the spinach visible. Even tastes fine without the cheese added. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! gluten free friendly which is a plus for me.
Hello Victoria,
thank you for such a wonderful review! When kids approve a dish of mine, I take it as the highest of the highest of compliments! Thank you, it warms my heart! 🥰