CrockPot Cooking: Substitute for All The Canned Soups?

[AnnaNova]

im trying to ake more meals in the crockpot. i know a lo of people are just like "throw what you have in there, and it will come out yummy", but that philosophy has not worked for me so far.
i bought a recipe book and a lot of recipes in it ask for a canned soup of some sort. we generally try to avoid canned stuff, plus those soups are usually pretty high in sodium.
does anyone know of a decent substitute when a recipe calls for "a can of mushroom/broccoli/cheese soup etc."?

[Bri'sgirl]

I make a really good "cream of mushroom" that I use for recipes. Saute some mushrooms (or whatever) in butter, add a little flour and brown it, then add spices, salt and pepper. When this is ready, add in some cream or milk and thicken a little. I think it would be ok to make this ahead of time and freeze it for quicker dinners.

I've had really good luck adding spaghetti sauce to chicken and some veggies and cooking it in the crock pot. The sauce I use is organic and very low in sugars and salt. It does come from a jar, but I would rather use that than canned tomatoes (bpa in the cans).

Another idea is using some homemade chicken or beef stock or broth for the liquid. Add in some curry powder and coconut milk and you've got a curry to serve over rice or potatoes.

[AnnaNova]

Thank you!!! thats a great idea for your own mushroom soup!!!
i was thinking of adding just regular stock, but then its not as 'condensed' as the soups, so i was afraid the recipes will turn out too liquid-y ...
and what an excellent idea with the tomato sauce!
i have yet to try cooking with coconut milk. ive only cooked with coconut juice so far, but after reading on one of the threads here how good the coconut milk is, ive bought a few cans, but still havent dared to use it!

[InMediasRes]

What recipes are asking for that? A lot of what we do in the crock uses stock, like soups and stews, and whole meats like roast beef and whole chickens, which make their own juices while they cook.

Condensed soups are basically xyz veggie + butter, flour, and cream/milk. Maybe some onions and garlic.

If what you are making is soup, I think stock would be fine, then you could just add some milk/cream and whisk in some flour at the end. If you're using cream of broccoli, you could just add whole broccoli florets to your recipe. It might be a little more liquidy than what the cook book has in mind, but if it's soup, it won't matter.

[BetsyS]

I generally make a white sauce for cream of soups.

I grew up with roast made with dried onion soup mix, and we still really like the flavor of that. For that, I generally substitue some real onion, some dehydrated onion (to really up the onion-y flavor), some better than bouillon, and a little bit of worchestershire sauce. It works really well, and we like the taste just as good.