4/28/05 | Campbells Mushroom Soup
[ Currently Eating: Crackers ]
I find there’s a lot of uses for canned cream of mushroom soup, the majority of which are casseroles. So I try to keep a few cans around all the time. Actually, the key is to buy ‘em in bulk (6 for $3?) at CostCo once again because as the bottom of this particular can I’m looking at says, it will last until MARCH 2007. That’s 2 years! Cheap Eats pantry heaven. Plus you can get your Andy Warhol fix having all those soup cans lined up…
Anyhow, I actually like cream of mushroom soup plain as it is, straight up, just add water. Seriously, I don’t even add milk sometimes. I can hear you cringe. But it’s actually really good and surprisingly filling. Here’s a sample:
A Mushroom Soup Lunch
Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (1 can) — $0.50
French Bread (1 small mini loaf) — $0.25Salt / pepper / water — negligible
Total: $0.75
Put Campbell’s soup in pot. Add water. Bring to boil stirring often, or it will burn on the bottom like no tomorrow. Meanwhile put your bread in the toaster and toast it up. Put soup in a large, no, HUGE bowl. Help yourself to bread. Yum!
Duhrr.. I know, there’s more to it than that. And you don’t want to do that every day. But that’s 75 cents for a pretty good lunch. I actually use crackers (saltines are a favorite)
Mushroom soup gets really useful when you use it as a base for sauces. The stuff is condensed so it’s actually really tasty. (Health-concerned cheap eaters should be concerned that it has a bunch of MSG in it… but that’s another tale.) I’ll be posting some of those recipes later, but you can basically use it to make anything from Turkey A La King to Tuna Casserole to Smothered Chicken. What makes a difference is the amount of dilution and what you use to dilute it (water, milk, chicken stock). It also makes pretty durned fast gravy.
Actually, here’s a “Chicken Bake” right off the can:
Chicken Bake
Campbell’s Mushroom Soup (1 can) — $0.50
2 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breast Halves - $2.00
pepper / water — negligibleTotal: $2.50
I modified this to a half recipe, plus I like more gravy! Place chicken in 2 qt. baking dish, glass is good. Spread soup evenly over the chicken and cover it. You probably want to dilute the soup a bit w/ water and add some black pepper.
Bake the whole shebang for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Take it out. That’s it.
Because of it’s high usability, great shelf life, and cheap price, I’ve got to give Campbell’s Mushroom soup a pretty high grade. The only reason it doesn’t get a 10 out of 10 is that after awhile I get tired of using it as the base of so many recipes.
Cheap Eats Score: 9/10
April 29th, 2005 at 8:13 am
Flavorite and other store brands sell for 3 for a dollar on sale and the taste, esp. in cooking, is comparable to Cambell’s.
April 29th, 2005 at 8:15 am
cool! thanks for this site man, I am always looking for cheap and tasty recipes.
April 29th, 2005 at 8:16 am
That sounds excellent… I have no qualms about “store brands” vs. name brands any day of the week! I often get “Albertson’s” brand things like sugar. The “staples” are often good because it’s harder for them to mess up. I’ll have to look into that brand of soup!
April 29th, 2005 at 9:22 am
For what it’s worth, these soups contain MSG and often High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not good either way. The one makes you eat more, and makes some people sick, and the other doesn’t get digested the same as sugar and other sweeteners and makes you fat.
I guess when your only focus on eating is how cheap it is, healthiness isn’t your top priority. But you are what you eat, so if you eat crap, you shouldn’t expect much health-wise.
April 29th, 2005 at 9:45 am
Visitor - Agree with you completely on the health issue. However, this is Cheap Eats so that’s our focus as you say. Healthy + Cheap is often difficult though not impossible. In any case, I think moderation is important to remember; you don’t want to eat this stuff every single day.
Another important note is that, I don’t expect people will NEED to follow a Cheap Eats regimen all their life, or for that matter for more than awhile. It’s more a stopgap at a time in your life when your finances are really hurting. There’s no need to subsist on junk soup and ramen if you’ve got the means to do otherwise! =)
April 29th, 2005 at 4:11 pm
Here’s a recipe for “company”: cut some potatoes up like scalloped potatoes. Add some diced green pepper (trust me, it not only dresses up the dish, it tastes great) and mix in slightly diluted mushroom soup, bake at 350 until done. You can serve 2-3-4 guests depending on amount of potatoes/soup. Or dump mushroom soup over turkey or chicken and broccoli and call it “Divan”.
April 29th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
That sounds interesting… re: green peppers, I love those things so you’re preaching to the choir! I know a lot of people who make “bakes” using mushroom soup and either broccoli and cauliflower, topping them with parm cheese and/or bread crumbs.
April 30th, 2005 at 1:10 am
Instead of baking, try this. Cut chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and sautee in one tbs oil. Dilute soup with a little water and pour over chicken. Cook over med heat until gravy forms. Stir continuously and be sure to scrape bottom of skillet, as this enhances the flavor.
April 30th, 2005 at 7:23 am
Earl - I think I’ve done something similar before. The recipe I modified used sliced brown onion as well, and they always say to scrape up the “browned bits” at the bottom which promote a good gravy! I always see them talking about the importance of the browned bits (fond) on shows like Alton Brown’s Good Eats.
April 30th, 2005 at 9:08 am
A dash of good paprika on the top makes it looks pretty and adds some flavor as well, without adding a whole lot of extra cost/
April 30th, 2005 at 9:29 am
Hulakitty - I haven’t tried paprika on stuff yet, but I’ve been meaning too because I assume it’ll keep pretty well in the pantry (like other spices). Sometimes I chop up parsley really fine and sprinkle some on for color and a bit o freshness.
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Hey I was just looking for something I could do fast with chicken breasts. What a party pooper the “healthy visitor” was. I presume he (she) only eats organically grown veggies and mineral water, because nearly everything else someone will find a health issue with. Moderation and variety are the keys to good health, not sweating every ingrediant. Thanks for the quickie!!
January 23rd, 2006 at 3:27 pm
alan - totally agreed, moderation and variety is the way to go.
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Love this for a quick meal serve with egg noodles!!! Better when cooked in skillet. Cut chicken into bite size pieces - brown and set aside. Saute 1 onion and 1 can mushrooms - add chicken back to pan. Add 1 or 2 cans Cream Mushroom + equal amount of milk. pepper if choose. Simmer few minutes. Serve over egg noodles.
July 9th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Hi Looking for Flavorite Chicken flavored oriental ramen noodles
Please Help>
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:41 am
I have a very very old recipe for green bean casserole made with Cambell’s Mushroom soup. Trouble is, I live in Germany now and there is no such thing here. Can anyone tell me what is in this? I remember it was pretty thick, what is the usual dilution for soup? Thanks for the help.
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Marsha: here’s the Green Bean Casserole recipe, courtesy of Campbell’s website (hope it’s what you’re looking for).
Green Bean Casserole
From: Campbell’s Kitchen
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6
This traditional classic features green beans and Campbell’s® Cream of Mushroom Soup topped with savory, crunchy French fried onions.
Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup OR Campbell’s® Condensed 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French’s® French Fried Onions
Directions:
MIX soup, milk, soy, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in 1 1/2-qt. casserole.
BAKE at 350°F. for 25 min. or until hot.
STIR . Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 5 min.
TIP: Use 1 bag (16 to 20 oz.) frozen green beans, 2 pkg. (9 oz. each) frozen green beans, 2 cans (about 16 oz. each) green beans or about 1 1/2 lb. fresh green beans for this recipe.
For a change of pace, substitute 4 cups cooked broccoli flowerets for the green beans.
For a creative twist, stir in 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Omit soy sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup additional Cheddar cheese when adding the remaining onions.
For a festive touch, stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with soup.
For a heartier mushroom flavor, substitute Campbell’s® Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup for Cream of Mushroom Soup. Omit soy sauce. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with green beans.
September 18th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I don’t think it’s true that . I tried the America’s choice in a stuffing back once and it tasted, to put it lightly, like canned crap. Made the stuffing taste like canned crap. if your gonna cook with cream of mushroom soup, might as well use the good stuff i say
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 am
l another take on the chicken bake is to cover it with foil for 40 minutes, then remove the foil, crush ritz crackers and layer on top. bake until the crackers are a darker brown.
I serve this with mashed potatoes. It’s very good and I make it for people if I ever have to take a meal to someone. It’s really salty though, so be warned
February 11th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Okay, cream of mushroom soup on the cheap. By a cheap pack of chuck steak, cut into thin strips. Stir fry until browned. If you can afford onions add them too. When this is done stir in the cream of mushroom soup to the steak and onions, during the last five minutes of cooking add a few Tablespoons sour cream. You can put this over egg noodles, mashed potatoes or rice. If you can’t buy the chuck steak you can substitute a pound of hamburger. Cheap Beef Stroganoff.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I have to say it. I’ve tried other brands and store brands of soups…it’s got to be Campbell’s. Even to cook with. For the healthy amoung us, you can make a substitute cream soup base instead. I don’t know if it’s any cheaper. It’s not quicker.