Lazy Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Soup

Why is it that comfort food and laziness go hand in hand? A few weekends ago, I was feeling extra work-shy, but was also craving something to satisfy my comfort food hankering. I slowly opened the freezer drawer and grabbed the first 3 bags of vegetables on top and tossed them into the crock pot. The rest of the ingredients took me an entire 3 minutes to place in the slow cooker. And 4 hours later, as I sat on the couch watching football, my crock pot creamy chicken soup was ready to be devoured!

Frozen Vegetable Soup

This recipe uses ALL frozen vegetables! Sometimes just the THOUGHT of peeling and chopping vegetables can make you speed dial your local restaurant. We ALL have frozen vegetables shoved in the corners of our freezers. Instead of leaving them to get freezer frost, we should be using them more often in our recipes! They are so quick and easy, and still taste great. And if you are able to get organic frozen vegetables, even better!

Also, the frozen vegetables in this recipe will let off extra liquid once heated up, which will help to thin out the soup base!

If you are in need of a Crock Pot Slow Cooker, this is the exact one I have in grey!

Are Frozen Vegetables Good For You?

Absolutely! In many studies, they actually have a higher vitamin and mineral content than ‘fresh’ produce. I say ‘fresh’ with a grain of salt, because much of the fresh produce we see at the grocery store has actually been sitting around for a lot longer than we think. Some produce, like avocados for example, are picked before they are ripe, and are left sitting for weeks during the transportation process, before we get our hands on them. At this point, some of the vitamins and minerals have diminished

Many ‘fresh’ fruits and vegetables are also speed ripened artificially!

Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked at their peak ripeness and immediately frozen at a facility near the field in which they were picked, which helps to retain their vitamin and mineral content.

So Is Frozen Produce Or Fresh Produce Better For You?

A comparative study done by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that:

“Peas, carrots, and spinach were lower in β-carotene in the frozen samples, while green beans and spinach showed no significant difference between the two storage methods. Overall, the vitamin content of the frozen commodities was comparable to and occasionally higher than that of their fresh counterparts” (1)

What does this mean? I say it means eat whatever you want (that’s the hippie in me). If you like fresh produce, EAT IT. If you like frozen produce, EAT IT. And for this frozen vegetable recipe, use whatever produce you want. Since I am feeling lazy, I will use frozen!

Citations:

(1) Bouzari A, Holstege D, Barrett DM. Vitamin retention in eight fruits and vegetables: a comparison of refrigerated and frozen storage. J Agric Food Chem. 2015 Jan 28;63(3):957-62. doi: 10.1021/jf5058793. Epub 2015 Jan 13. PMID: 25526594.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do you make crock pot creamy chicken soup?	This quick and easy soup recipe legit took me 5 minutes to throw together. And since it is slow cooked, you just need to place the lid on it and let it do it’s thing until it’s done. Once all of the ingredients are in the crock pot, they need to sit for 4-6 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Pull apart the chicken with 2 forks once its done cooking, season the soup with salt and pepper and you are ready to serve!
Can you use frozen chicken?	Yes! Frozen chicken is totally fine. Just adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Is this crock pot creamy chicken soup dairy free?	While we don’t actually add any heavy cream or milk like many other creamy chicken soup recipes do, there IS dairy in the Campbell’s cream of chicken soup. So no, this soup is not dairy free.
How is it creamy without added dairy?	This frozen vegetable soup recipe is definitely not as creamy as some other recipes out there. And it might not even be as good. I know, hear me out. This is one of those pantry recipes that pretty much ANYONE can make at ANY time! We don’t always have fresh dairy in the fridge, so I left the added dairy out of this recipe. So while I’m sure Barefoot Contessa probably has an AMAZING home made creamy chicken soup recipe, I DOUBT it will only take you 5 minutes to prepare! If you would like it to be creamier, and you have heavy cream sitting in your fridge, feel free to add it after it is done cooking!

Did you like this Lazy Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Soup recipe? If so, go check out my ‘Slow Cooked Creamy Tuscan Chicken‘ recipe that is just as simple and tasty! And it is freezable for a freezer friendly crock pot meal prep idea!