The Simple Canned Soup Shortcut For Tasty Pasta Sauce In Minutes

Finding a creative and delicious way to put a home-cooked meal on the table every single night is a never-ending challenge, but not every dinner needs to be difficult. Sometimes, all it takes to whip that evening meal is the clever combination of two simple pantry staples. With a box of pasta and some cream of chicken soup, you're only a few minutes — and perhaps a few extra ingredients — away from a creamy, comforting meal that the whole family will enjoy.

Condensed cream of chicken soup is a simple product made primarily with cream, chicken stock, and chicken meat. Straight out of the can it offers delicate flavor and silky texture that makes an excellent base for a pasta sauce. Just like a jar of Alfredo sauce can be a casserole shortcut, so too can this typical canned casserole base be used for dressing freshly cooked noodles — though it should be treated slightly differently than what it says in the instructions on the package.

Following the directions on the can of cream of chicken soup will, of course, create a soup. When using it as a pasta sauce, things need to be a bit thicker, so a bit less liquid should be added. Instead of a full can of water, consider adding just a splash at a time of water, milk, broth, or even white wine. After each addition, mix the pasta, stopping once the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Just like that, your creamy pasta is served, but a few additions can really take this meal to the next level.

With a base as simple as the combination of pasta and cream of chicken soup, this recipe is begging for a touch of creative flair. Fortunately, there are several different directions that you can go, and there isn't a whole lot that doesn't work with cream, chicken, and pasta. To add complexity to the flavor, all you need is to, say, sauté some onion and garlic before adding the condensed soup to the pan and melt in some grated parmesan cheese at the end. Then, once the pasta is sauced, top it with steamed broccoli or another vegetable, or maybe even some leftover chicken, and a complete meal is served in a flash.

That is still a pretty traditional complement of pasta ingredients, though, and this cream of chicken pasta is more versatile than just that. You could try, for example, adding a splash of balsamic vinegar to the creamy pasta sauce, giving it some color, tang, and subtle sweetness. Or really go outside of the box and take inspiration from this roasted tomato and chipotle cream pasta recipe. The delicate flavor of cream of chicken soup makes a delightful backdrop for all sorts of different flavors and aromas, leaving lots of room for experimentation.

As far as ways to use canned cream of chicken soup go, it doesn't get much easier than making pasta sauce. Perhaps it's as simple as melting in a bit of cheese for a creamy, cheesy pasta dinner, or maybe as complex as taking the flavor profile to the other side of the world with spicy chiles and intriguing aromatics. Either way, the base for that next quick, comforting dinner is waiting in the pantry.