The Best Creamy Chicken Soup
This creamy chicken soup is the perfect cold weather soup. Thick and hearty, it comes together fast and is perfect in bread bowls…or not!
I tried to come up with a million other creative names for this soup. But eventually I abandoned the effort.
Why? Because this creamy chicken soup is so amazing, it doesn’t need a fancy name to prove it.

Yes, it has vegetables. Yes, it has some absolutely delightful out-of-the-box pantry seasonings. But at the end of the day, it’s creamy chicken soup.
The best creamy chicken soup I’ve ever had.
Ultra Creamy Chicken Soup
This soup is really easy to make.
- simmer a bunch of vegetables in broth, bouillon and seasonings
- add milk and a simple roux (butter + olive oil + flour)
- thicken until rich and creamy
- add chicken
What sets this soup apart is how rich and creamy it is after thickening with the milk and the roux. And it gets thicker and more flavorful with time. As in: leftovers are a really, really desirable thing with this creamy chicken soup.
Let’s Talk Seasonings
There are a few seasonings in this soup that may come as a bit of a surprise.
First, turmeric. I’ve never added this vibrant, earthy spice to a creamy chicken soup before, but it’s amazing. It lends a pretty color and a subtle but delicious warm, peppery flavor.
Second, herbs de provence. This may not be a seasoning blend you have hanging around your cupboard, but if you are inclined to try something new, I’d highly recommend picking some up! (It’s delicious on eggs, roasted veggies, chicken…)
Herbs de provence is a blend of aromatic spices often used in French cooking. If you don’t have it, I’ve given some suggestions for substitutions in the notes of the recipe. The flavor of the soup won’t quite be the same without it, but you can experiment!
Since Alli, an awesome MKC reader, sent me this recipe last month, I’ve made it many times. For our family. To feed missionaries living in our area. For a take-in meal to several friends.
It was our favorite way to use turkey leftovers this year after Thanksgiving.
This soup is simple enough to be super kid-friendly, but so delicious, it’ll have the adults raving, too.
That little sprinkling of Parmesan, Asiago or Gruyere cheese on top kicks it straight up into gourmet territory. YUM.
What to Serve With This
- Divine breadsticks or bread bowls
- Fresh fruit or green salad
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Creamy Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cups peeled diced carrots (about 3-4 medium carrots)
- ¾ cup diced celery, about 3 stalks
- ½ cup diced onion, about 1 small onion
- 4 cups chicken broth, I use low sodium
- 2 cubes chicken bouillon or 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon paste or granules, optional (see note)
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons herbs de provence (see note)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder or 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 3 ½ cups milk or half-and-half or a combo (see note)
- 3-4 cups cooked chopped chicken
- Shredded parmesan, asiago or gruyere cheese, for topping (optional)
Roux:
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- For the soup, in a 4-quart or larger saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion. Pour in the broth and add the chicken bouillon, bay leaves, parsley, herbs de provence, turmeric, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, uncovered or partially covered, for 12-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- For the roux, while the soup simmers, in a small saucepan, add the olive oil and butter and cook on medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the flour and whisk to combine until a smooth paste forms. Remove from the heat.
- Add the milk (and/or half-and-half) to the soup and heat through. Add the roux to the soup and cook, stirring or whisking constantly, over medium heat until the soup thickens and gently simmers, 5-7 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken, season to taste with salt and pepper (this is important for flavor!) and heat through.
- Remove the bay leaves and serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan, asiago or gruyere on top.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe an awesome MKC reader, Alli R., sent me
I made this with a vegetable protein by plant basics I use the plant protein chunks it turned out amazing the flavors that are in this soup and not having to do so much yourself with that herbs de province made a huge difference it had a real nice smooth smokey feeling too thank you
Delicious! Threw in some frozen tortellini at the end. Yum! One of our favorites.
This soup is amazing! We loved it! I used all half-n-half, 2 golden potatoes and needed to add a little corn starch to thicken a bit more. I served over bread with Swiss cheese crumbles on top. YUM!
This soup is amazing! My picky kids LOVED it! I had a bag of premade gnocchi in the fridge that I tossed in near the end. Sooooo yummmy! Thanks Mel, we just LOVE your recipes!
This was the best chicken soup I’ve ever made, possibly the best I’ve ever eaten. Everyone in our family loved it. I didn’t even have to tell them it was another Mel recipe, they just knew!
This was absolutely FABULOUS! Even better than I could have imagined!
Thank you for another delicious recipe, Mel!
Does this soup freeze well?
It may be a bit grainy after defrosting because of the high dairy content.
Has anyone tried freezing, thawing and reheating this soup?
This is my most favorite soup on the planet. It is comfort food to the max! Agree with the addition of potatoes, especially the small white creamer potatoes, and cubed sweet potatoes are also an excellent addition!
This soup is one of my favorite recipes to make – our whole family LOVES it. So much flavor in a comfort soup.
Best soup ever!!! I thought I was going to need the instant pot so made it there the first time and as I moved down the recipe I realized instant pot was unneeded. However, that sauté setting on the instant pot was perfect so this time I still made it in the instant pot again. I didn’t add the optional potatoes last time, but this time I did and they are so perfect. So so so good!! Thanks for this recipe!!
Ok this is the one of the best soups I have ever made most likely the best creamy soup I have ever made. The flavor profile was so deep and rich and yet a simple chicken soup amped up. Thanks for the recipe as the other side of the house was overjoyed with seconds and thrilled with the homemade breadsticks that were served with it, and how easy they were to make. This website has yet to let me down. Thanks again.
Fantastic recipe. My picky kiddos declared it a masterpiece!
So good! My hubby had 3 bowls… at one sitting.
This is what I call a keeper. I will definitely make it again this winter. The spices were the key ingredient and made the soup one of the best I have made in quite awhile. It is right up there with the turkey and wild rice soup I make.
I agree this is the absolute best soup & I get rave reviews when I make it. But here is the link to the creator of this recipe. Ali needs to give credit to simply sated!
I made this recipe for creamy chicken soup today. It was totally worth the work! The soup is to die for!
This is our hands down favorite! The seasoning is perfect, and my daughter wants it every time she is home from college. Thanks, Mel! We love your recipes and they have made for many great memories!
I’m not a big soup person but this is my fourth time making this soup – the flavors are perfect and I love the way it makes the house smell on chilly afternoons! MAKE THIS SOUP!
I love this soup. Do you think I could sub out the chicken for ham? I have some ham I need to use!
Worth a try!
Herbs de Provence … there are so many variations to choose from. What brand did you use? Does the ingredients contain any lavender? Thanks!
I usually use the Penzeys brand and yes, it does include lavender.
I used Badia brand, which also includes lavender (btw you can’t taste it.) This soup is sooooo good!!! It smells heavenly while cooking and tastes even better. You know the recipe is a keeper when your cat whines for some. Yes, for real. The scent clearly had her name written all over it! I thoroughly rinsed off some chicken – she scoffed it down, licked her chops, and stopped whining. Thanks again! .
Sooooo delicious! I will be making this soup many times for family and friends.
It’s been oddly cold and rainy here for the first week of October, so I was looking for something cozy and delicious to warm us up. This was FANTASTIC! I knew to check out Mel’s for a recipe because everything I’ve made has been a wonderful success! This is my first review, but now I’m feeling motivated to review my other favorite recipes here in hopes of encouraging others to try them during their browsing too! Thank you, Mel!!!
Do you feel like noodles could be added to this recipe?
It’s a thick, rich soup, so the noodles might not be the star of the show like they are in chicken noodle soup, but many people have added noodles and loved the end result.
I adore this soup! I’ve made it twice now, and I use poultry seasoning in place of herbs de provence. The first time I made it, I added in a few chopped up potatoes, but this second time I added in a package of shelf-stable potato gnocchi during the last stage of cooking (so after the milk/cream has been added and it is up to a simmer again). It’s a total game changer, and I won’t make it any other way now.
Also, some kind of bread for dipping is a must. That’s my husband’s favorite part, so when I plan to make this, I throw some chicken into my mini slow cooker and the ingredients into the bread maker so both are ready by the time I make the soup in the evening.
I made this last night and it was heavenly! Easy, rich and reminded me of childhood. Love the addition of Tumeric a relatively new spince to American palates. I added Orzo but it would be great with potatoes or rice as well. I also added a little chopped collard greens which added a beautiful vibrant color.
Nom Nom!
This soup was so easy to make and delicious!! I added 3 potatoes which seemed to be a good amount. I also made Mel’s -Super Easy French Bread Rolls…went perfectly with the soup!
Oh wow, this is so good. I usually add/subtract to any recipe. But this is so good, so rich, so full of taste, I changed nothing about the recipe. Made the garlicky cheese biscuits to go with it. Again: ridiculously delicious!
I made this soup tonight and it was wonderful. I followed it to the letter, but I also added some chopped Yukon gold potatoes to it because we like them. The soup was so delicious and the house smells amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
This was delicious and easy. My entire family liked it and that never happens.
AWESOME!!!! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Family requested chicken noodle soup, but those are normally bland. This was a big hit! Made it with a few Yukon gold potatoes and everything else exactly like it was written. We paired it with a copy cat Olive Garden bread stick recipe. Will make again! Delicious.
I was looking for something for turkey leftovers and boy did this hit the spot! I added potatoes (hungry teens) and we were fighting for seconds! My family has requested this several times since – which is unreal as normally I can’t make something more than twice a year.
Mel you are always my first stop when I’m looking for something new! You never let me down!!
Thanks so much, Debbie!
I only have skim milk could I add some carnation evaporated milk to my milk and how much
You could definitely try! Maybe half skim milk, half evaporated milk?
This is amazing. Herbs de province is new to me but well worth putting in this soup. I plan to make it a staple.
Let me start off by first saying that I NEVER leave reviews on recipes. Ever. But I felt, in this case, I was obligated to, and that I owed the world a favor by adding a review in order to get this recipe out to the world. That being said, this is hands down, by far the best soup I have ever made or eaten. Literally. My boyfriend would not stop talking about this soup, and actually hasn’t stopped…I made it 4 days ago! He wants me to make it again today!! Do yourself and your loved ones a favor and make this soup. Right. Now. (I did add pearl couscous to it because I wanted to!) Thank you Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!!!
Excellent Recipe! Will certainly make it again…many times, I’m sure! Glad I got to know about your site when I Googled Creamy Chicken Soup. I have pinned many of your recipes and can’t wait to give some of them a try!
I wonder could this be blended? Like before one adds the chicken, maybe? Or do you think that would mess us the texture too much? Thank you!
Worth a try!
I haven’t made soup in ages because my kids aren’t fans but I wanted to try this. One word WOW! So much flavour, I will be making this often. Thank you for a lovely recipe
I’ve been making this soup for years and got it from Simply Sated site on pinterest…it is the best but it’s pretty much her exact same original recipe! https://www.simplysated.com/category/recipes/entree/soups/
After eating a bowl of this soup I think i have a idea of what women are talking about when they mention a orgasim in their mouth!
Amazing soup!
I made this tonight for my lunches this week and it was super delicious! I used a mixture of half and half and milk and I substituted paprika because I didn’t have turmeric. I will definitely make this again! Thank you!
Just made this soup, my husband and I are recovering from the Covid, and our sense of smell is diminished. But, we can definitely smell and taste tonight. Soup is delicious, just what we needed.
Delicious. Our family loved this soup.
This is is a hit time and time again. Kids love it. Parents love it. Everyone loves it. I added in some rice and it made it so yummy and hearty. Thanks again Mel. You are such a wonderful resource!
I just made this soup. I am not known for my cooking but this was delicious!
This soup is so delicious! A perfect meal for a cool spring day! Loved the new spice! Thanks for another tasty recipe!
This is the best chicken soup recipe I have found! Definitely a keeper!! Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m glad this Creamy Chicken Soup recipe just popped up on my phone. I read over it and decided to try it because I had a large bag of cubed chicken that I needed to cook & most of the ingredients. My family really like it. I was asked twice to make it again and I did.
I was in a little hurry and did not prep the roux, and still, this soup came out so delicious. My family was pleased and this will most definitely be a staple recipe. Thank you!!!