Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup
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Loaded with filling, flavorful ingredients from aromatic vegetables to tender, juicy chicken and plenty of bacon, cheese and ranch seasoning, today’s Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup recipe is sure to become a family favorite!
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup Recipe
Year round, I always have a big batch of soup in the fridge, but in the colder months it goes into even higher rotation around here – so I get to experiment and enjoy a wide variety of delicious soups.
Today’s Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup is one we first started making last fall and I think I made it half a dozen times before spring rolled around.
It’s flavorful, filling and irresistibly creamy, with an amazing flavor profile that is undeniably family friendly. Who doesn’t love the combination of cheese, bacon and ranch seasoning?!
It’s the ultimate in comfort food while being super quick and easy to make. The below recipe makes about 6-8 servings, but it’s very easy to double the batch if you want to plan for leftovers (or if your family is likely to go back for seconds after trying this irresistible soup).
As with all of my recipes that call for ranch seasoning, I used my homemade ranch seasoning mix. You can use the store-bought stuff, but making it yourself is much much cheaper if your family goes through ranch seasoning as much as mine does! Plus, you can control the flavor a bit more – reducing salt, increasing the garlic or dill, etc.
Note: A lot of people call recipes with the combination of chicken, ranch, cheese and bacon a “crack chicken” recipe, due to the “addictive” flavor, but I find that a bit insensitive to trivialize addiction, so rather than use the much simpler name “Crack Chicken Soup” as the recipe’s title, I use the very long-winded term “Cheddar, Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup.” Use whichever term you prefer – it will still taste the same! (A rose by any other name, right?)
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup Variations:
- to make this soup even more filling, add some pasta or egg noodles.
- add spinach, chopped vegetables (like broccoli, mushrooms, etc) or kale
- use rotisserie chicken to make the prep easier and add another dimension of flavor
- make it low-carb by omitting the carrots
- swap out the ranch seasoning for your preferred seasoning (ie, Italian seasoning, taco seasoning, poultry seasoning, etc)
What to Serve Alongside Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup:
- side salad (this recipe is from Gimme Some Oven)
- roasted vegetables
- garlic bread
- Garlic Knots (this recipe is from my kids’ cooking site, In the Kids’ Kitchen)
- Cheddar Bay Biscuits
- Copycat Roadhouse Rolls
How to store cheddar bacon ranch chicken soup: Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Can I freeze crack chicken soup? Personally, I don’t recommend freezing soups made with heavy cream as the cream can separate upon thawing. (It doesn’t happen all of the time, but it does happen – ruining the creamy texture of the original soup and making it gloopy.)
If you plan to make a big batch to freeze, I personally would prepare the chicken soup without the heavy cream and then just add that later when you reheat the soup after thawing.
Can I use raw chicken in this chicken soup recipe? Yes, we actually use raw chicken breasts in this cheddar bacon ranch chicken soup and it works great! Just be sure to use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F before proceeding with the other steps of the recipe.
I like using raw chicken so that it really takes on the flavor of the bacon grease and ranch seasoning that we cook it in, but if you’d prefer to skip a step and use pre-cooked chicken, this recipe will still turn out wonderfully.
More Homemade Chicken Soup Recipes:
- Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cold-Fighting Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Classic Chicken and Rice Soup
- Instant Pot Cabbage Roll Soup (Low-Carb) from Sizzle and Salt
- Asian-Style Chicken Rice Soup from Kylee Cooks
- Buffalo Chicken Soup from The Soccer Mom Blog
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup Ingredients
- Chopped Raw Bacon
- Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips
- Ranch Seasoning, or more to taste <– grab our homemade ranch seasoning recipe here
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- Onion, diced
- Celery, diced
- Large Carrots, peeled and diced
- Minced Garlic
- Chicken Broth
- Cream Cheese
- Heavy Whipping Cream
Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.
Tip: add noodles or additional vegetables to make this chicken soup even more hearty.
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- Heavy stockpot or Dutch Oven <– highly recommended for even cooking and seamlessly transferring recipes from the stove to the oven
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Wooden Spoon or Spatula <– I like these spatulas because they are one solid piece and don’t have removable heads for bacteria to get trapped underneath. Plus they are heat-resistant and have a lifetime warranty
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Cutting Board
- Meat Thermometer
How to Make Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup
Heat a dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat.
Once hot, add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp, about 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
Remove the cooked bacon to a clean plate.
Season the chicken with half of the ranch seasoning, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the hot bacon fat and cook until well browned and chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
Remove the chicken to a plate and place the onions, celery and carrots in the stockpot. (Add additional oil or butter, if needed.)
Cook the vegetables until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to cook 1 more minute.
Add the chicken and bacon back to the stockpot, along with the chicken broth and cream cheese.
Once the broth is hot, about 3-4 minutes, add the heavy whipping cream and increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Makes 6-8 servings.
Grab your free printable recipe card for our cheddar bacon ranch chicken soup recipe:
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Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup
Loaded with filling, flavorful ingredients from aromatic vegetables to tender, juicy chicken and plenty of bacon, cheese and ranch seasoning, today's Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Soup recipe is sure to become a family favorite!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Chopped Raw Bacon, approximately 4 slices
- 2 Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips
- 1 Tablespoon Ranch Seasoning, or more to taste
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 Small Onion, diced
- 2 Stalks Celery, diced
- 2 Large Carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
- 6 cups Chicken Broth
- 2-4 oz Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat.
- Once hot, add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp, about 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove the cooked bacon to a clean plate.
- Season the chicken with half of the ranch seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the hot bacon fat and cook until well browned and chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
- Remove the chicken to a plate and place the onions, celery and carrots in the stockpot. (Add additional oil or butter, if needed.)
- Cook the vegetables until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to cook 1 more minute.
- Add the chicken and bacon back to the stockpot, along with the chicken broth and cream cheese.
- Once the broth is hot, about 3-4 minutes, add the heavy whipping cream and increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 2 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 263Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 1026mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 14g
Sugar, Spice and Glitter uses an auto-generate nutrition calculator. Nutrition information isn’t always accurate unless analyzed in a scientific lab, so these should be considered more of a guideline than medical information.
I hope your family loves this easy cheddar bacon ranch chicken soup recipe as much as mine does!
For more scrumptious soups, check out our full soup recipe collection here:
For more ways to enjoy chicken, check out our full chicken recipe collection here:
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