Casserole used to be my secret weapon dinner. Do you know what I mean? The dinner that was always hidden the back of the pantry or thrown together as a freezer meal and saved for one of those days when I feel like I’m at the very end of my fraying rope. It took absolutely no mental energy because I had made it so many times, and I was GOOD at it.
When dairy was eliminated from my daughter’s diet, then later from my son’s, I felt like I’d lost a lot of my secrets. Nearly everything that I was good at cooking was now forbidden. It’s no exaggeration when I say that this recipe was borne of desperation. I really wanted to make my kids’ favorite casserole again,. I wanted to be the dinner hero I used to be.
I started throwing things into a pan, and ended up with something that tastes better than canned cream of chicken soup, is dairy-free and won me some major points at the dinner table.
Dairy-free Cream of Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut soup base*
- 1 cup chicken broth**
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken, or one can of chicken finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cool water + 1 tbsp corn starch
Instructions
- Mix the coconut soup base, chicken broth, and chicken in a pan over medium heat. Bring to a low boil.
- Whisk the water and corn starch. Add to mixture in the pan.
- Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about five minutes.
* Nondairy milk would probably work just fine if you don’t have coconut soup base.
**I have successfully used 1 cup water + 1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon, or 1 extra cup coconut soup base + 1 1/2 tsp bouillon. You get the idea.
www.lionessatthegate.com/allergen-free-cooking
Good luck! What casserole are you making?