Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

August 6, 2022

Homemade Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup can be easily made with household ingredients. Forget the canned salty stuff, you’ll be making this over buying a can for your next favorite casserole dish! It’s the perfect substitute for the Campbell’s can.

Condensed cheddar soup is basically just a cheddar bechamel sauce. Its consistency is a perfect swap for canned soup. All you need is 6 household ingredients and 10 minutes of your time. The soup tasted almost like the cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich. The ground mustard definitely bumped up its flavor of it, since it adds a tangy flavor. It helps cut through the creamy, fatty taste of a rich cheese sauce. I always use ground mustard in yellow cheese sauces along with garlic powder. You can omit them entirely if you want. I used this in my Tater Tot Hotdish as a replacement for the canned soup.

How to make Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

This soup is super easy to make and requires less than 15 minutes. You can swap out the cheddar for American cheese if you wish. I recommend Velveeta brand cheese because of its creamy nature. (Full ingredient amounts and complete instructions are available in the recipe card down below).

Shredded Cheddar Cheese: I recommend shredding your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with an anti-caking powder that prevents it from melting to its gooiest potential. I also noticed that when melting pre-shredded cheese for a cheese sauce (or soup for this recipe) that it results in a chalky texture. Shredding cheese yourself and melting it has that smooth, creamy texture you want in a cheese sauce.
Milk: Whole or 2% works well.
Flour: This is for thickening the soup.
Unsalted Butter: It’s better to use unsalted because you can control the salt content when seasoning and tasting.
Salt (optional), Garlic Powder, and Ground Dry Yellow Mustard: Dry mustard adds a tangy flavor to it and because it’s acidic, it can help cut through the creamy, fatty taste of a rich cheese sauce.

In a small saucepot, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook it for a minute, whisking to ensure it doesn’t burn. Add in the milk, salt, garlic powder, and mustard, then whisk until smooth and thickened. Add in the cheese, and whisk until it has completely melted into the soup. This will be very thick and that is ok. Condensed soup isn’t really best enjoyed out of a can, but more so in a casserole!

Tips & FAQs

Storage: I recommend you make this a day ahead of planned usage and store it in an airtight container or a mason jar. However, you can freeze this soup in a freezer-safe container and be sure to thaw before using it. Once thawed, you’ll use it just like the can either by mixing it with milk or adding it in its condensed version to any recipe.
Can I use another type of cheese? Of course! Use American cheese or Velveeta cheese.
What can this soup be used for? The most popular way is in a casserole. I used this in my Tater Tot Hotdish. You can also use it for slow cooker cheesy potatoes, a baked mac and cheese dish, or make it into a creamy cheddar cheese soup by adding some more milk to it and some broccoli for a broccoli cheddar soup!

Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Follow my Facebook page for updates as well! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.

Servings 1 (10.5 oz)

Author Dani Bayer

Cook time

10 Min

Total time

10 Min

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