Creamy Crack Chicken Soup with Bacon and Cheddar

This creamy crack chicken soup takes the flavors of the popular crack chicken dip (bacon, cream cheese, cheddar and ranch seasoning) and turns them into a spoonable soup. Chicken breasts simmer whole in seasoned broth, get shredded, and go back into a pot thickened with cream cheese, heavy cream and freshly shredded sharp cheddar. Crisp bacon and green onions go on top.

It is rich and filling, made in one Dutch oven, and serves 6. Plan on about an hour from the first chop to the table.

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How Long It Really Takes

Many versions of this soup list 30 minutes of cooking. Adding up each stage on a home burner gives a more honest number of about 45:

• Bacon: 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat until crisp.
• Onion and garlic: about 5 minutes for the onion to soften, then 1 minute for the garlic.
• Bringing the broth to a simmer: about 5 minutes.
• Simmering the chicken: 15 to 20 minutes, covered, until the thickest part of each breast reads 165°F.
• Shredding: about 5 minutes, while the broth waits on low heat.
• Cream cheese, cream and cheddar: 6 to 8 minutes at a gentle heat, adding the cheese a handful at a time.
• Warming the chicken and bacon through: 2 to 3 minutes.

Prep takes about 15 minutes: chopping bacon and onion, mincing garlic, cubing the cream cheese, shredding the cheddar and slicing green onions. That makes 15 minutes of prep, 45 minutes of cooking and 1 hour total.

Ingredient Notes

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: One and a half pounds, usually 2 or 3 breasts. Poaching them whole in the seasoned broth keeps them moist and flavors the soup. If one breast is much thicker, it will need a few extra minutes.

Bacon: Eight slices, chopped. Most of it goes back into the soup and the rest stays crisp for topping. Keep only about 1 tablespoon of the drippings; more makes the finished soup greasy.

Cream cheese: A full 8-ounce block, softened and cut into cubes. Soft cubes whisk smoothly into the hot broth. Cold cream cheese tends to leave small white lumps.

Heavy whipping cream: One cup. Its high fat content keeps it stable over gentle heat, so it is less likely to separate than milk or half-and-half.

Sharp cheddar: One and a half cups, shredded from a block. Bagged shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking starch and can melt grainy or stringy in soup. Freshly shredded cheddar melts smoothly.

Ranch seasoning mix: Two tablespoons of dry ranch dressing mix (about two-thirds of a standard 1-ounce packet). Brands differ in salt and in added starch or sugar, so check the label.

Low-sodium chicken broth: Four cups. Bacon, cheddar and ranch mix all bring plenty of salt, so low-sodium broth keeps the pot from becoming too salty.

Making the Soup

Crisp the bacon

Put the chopped bacon in a cold 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Stir occasionally for 6 to 8 minutes, until the fat has rendered and the pieces are browned and crisp. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel. Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of the drippings, leaving the browned bits in the pot.

Soften the onion and garlic

Add the butter and onion. Cook, stirring and scraping up the browned bits, about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute, just until fragrant.

Simmer the chicken

Pour in the broth and stir in the ranch seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and smoked paprika. Add the chicken breasts in a single layer so the broth covers them. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of each breast reads 165°F. Keep it at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil, which makes breast meat tough and dry.

Shred the chicken

Move the chicken to a cutting board and turn the heat to low. Pull the meat apart with two forks into bite-size shreds of different sizes. Uneven pieces give the soup a better texture than finely chopped meat.

Melt in the cream cheese, cream and cheddar

With the broth barely steaming, whisk in the cream cheese cubes until no lumps remain, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream. Add the cheddar one handful at a time, stirring until each addition melts before adding the next. Do not let the soup bubble from this point on; boiling makes the cheese grainy and can separate the fat.

Finish and serve

Return the shredded chicken and most of the bacon to the pot, saving a little bacon for topping. Warm gently for 2 to 3 minutes, without boiling. Taste, then add salt only if it needs it. Ladle into bowls and top with the reserved bacon, green onions and a little extra cheddar, if you like.

Texture and Doneness

The finished soup should be creamy and spoonable, pale ivory to light golden, with plenty of shredded chicken in every spoonful. It should coat a spoon but still pour from a ladle; it is a soup, not a dip. It thickens as it stands and thickens more as it cools, so if it looks thin in the pot, give it a few minutes off the heat before adding anything.

Salt and Seasoning

Bacon, cheddar, ranch seasoning and broth all bring salt, which is why the recipe adds salt only at the end. Many pots need none at all. If it tastes flat rather than under-salted, a few extra grinds of black pepper or a little more green onion usually fixes it.

Is It Low-Carb or Keto?

The soup has no pasta, potatoes, rice or flour, so it is lower in carbohydrates than many creamy soups. Whether it fits a low-carb or keto plan depends on the brands you use: some ranch seasoning mixes contain maltodextrin, sugar or starch, and broths vary too. Check your labels. We have not calculated nutrition for this recipe.

Troubleshooting

• Grainy or stringy cheese: The soup was too hot, or the cheese was pre-shredded. Keep the heat low and add freshly shredded cheddar in handfuls.
• Lumps of cream cheese: It was too cold. Keep whisking over low heat; a few minutes usually smooths it out.
• Oily surface: Too much bacon fat stayed in the pot, or the soup boiled after the dairy went in. Blot the top with a folded paper towel and keep the heat gentle.
• Too thick: Stir in broth, 1/4 cup at a time, over low heat.
• Too thin: Let it stand off the heat for 5 minutes; it tightens as it cools slightly.
• Dry chicken: The broth boiled hard, or the chicken cooked well past 165°F. Check with a thermometer near the low end of the time range.

Substitutions

• Rotisserie chicken: Use 4 cups shredded. Simmer the seasoned broth for 5 minutes, then go straight to the cream cheese step and add the chicken at the end.
• Chicken thighs: Boneless thighs work and stay juicier. Simmer to at least 175°F for tender shreds.
• Half-and-half: It can replace the cream for a lighter soup, but keep the heat very low because it separates more easily.
• Homemade ranch blend: Mix 2 teaspoons dried parsley, 1 teaspoon dried dill, 1 teaspoon dried chives, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
• Other cheeses: Monterey Jack or a cheddar-Jack blend melt just as well. Shred it from a block.

Storage and Reheating

• Refrigerate: Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours for up to 3 to 4 days. Keep the topping bacon separate so it stays crisp.
• Reheat: Warm over low heat, stirring often and adding a splash of broth, until steaming hot (165°F). Do not let it boil. In the microwave, heat in 1-minute bursts and stir between them.
• Freezing: Not recommended. The cream cheese and cheddar tend to turn grainy once thawed. If you must, freeze the broth and chicken before adding dairy and finish after reheating.

More Creamy Chicken Soups

For a Tex-Mex version with tomatoes and chiles, try our cheesy Rotel chicken soup. If you like heat, make the buffalo chicken soup, or keep it classic with our chicken noodle soup. You can also browse all of our soup recipes.

Crack Chicken Soup Questions

Why is it called crack chicken? It is a popular American nickname for chicken cooked with cream cheese, ranch seasoning, bacon and cheddar. This soup uses the same combination.

Can I make it in a slow cooker? Yes. Crisp the bacon on the stove, then put the broth, onion, garlic, seasonings and chicken in the slow cooker on low for about 4 hours, until the chicken reaches 165°F. Shred, then stir in the cream cheese, cream and cheddar on the warm or low setting until melted.

Why add the cheddar a little at a time? Adding it all at once cools the soup and clumps the cheese. Small handfuls melt evenly.

What should I serve with it? A green salad, crusty bread or plain crackers.

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