A cream soup is a soup prepared using cream, light cream, half and half, or milk as a key ingredient. Sometimes the dairy product is added at the end of the cooking process, such as after a cream soup has been puréed.
A cream soup will often have a soup base, prepared with ingredients such as onion, celery, garlic powder, celery salt, butter, bacon drippings, flour, salt, pepper, paprika, milk, light cream, and chicken stock or vegetable stock. Various vegetables or meats are then added to the base. Sometimes, leftover vegetables and meats are used in cream soups.
A multitude of notable cream soups exist, including, but not limited to the following listed below.
| Image | Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bisque | Heavy cream soups traditionally prepared with shellfish, but can be made with any type of seafood or other base ingredients | ||
| Bobó de camarão | A chowder-like Brazilian dish of shrimp in a purée of manioc (or cassava) meal with coconut milk and other ingredients.[1] | access-date=25 March 2012--> | |
| Chowder | Often prepared with milk or cream, fish chowder, corn chowder, and clam chowder are especially popular in the North American regions of New England and Atlantic Canada. | ||
| Clam chowder | Any of several chowder soups containing clams and broth, many regional variations exist, but the two most prevalent are New England or "white" clam chowder, a cream-based chowder, and Rhode Island/Manhattan "red" clam chowder, which is typically prepared without a cream base. | ||
| Corn chowder | Basic corn chowder ingredients comprise corn, onion, celery, milk or cream and butter. | ||
| Cream of asparagus soup | Asparagus, a light chicken or vegetable stock and milk or cream are primary ingredients. | ||
| Cream of broccoli soup | Primary ingredients are broccoli, stock and milk or cream. Mass-produced commercial varieties of cream of broccoli soup are produced by various food manufacturers, such as the Campbell Soup Company. | ||
| Cream of chicken soup | Mass-produced in a condensed soup form, various non-commercial and homemade variations also exist | ||
| Cream of mushroom soup | A simple soup where a basic roux is thinned with cream or milk and then mushrooms and/or mushroom broth are added. In America, the Campbell Soup Company began producing its well-known condensed "Cream of Mushroom Soup" in 1934. | ||
| Cream of spinach | With spinach as a main ingredient, additional ingredients can include onion, green onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, seasonings, salt and pepper. Spinach soup is typically served hot, but can also be served as a cold soup. | ||
| Cream of shrimp | Sometimes prepared as a cream soup, pictured is a shrimp chowder. | ||
| Cream of tomato | Cream of tomato soup is made with tomatoes as the primary ingredient and cream or milk as an ingredient. It may be served hot or cold in a bowl, and may be made in a variety of ways. | ||
| She-crab soup | A rich soup similar to a bisque, made of milk or heavy cream, crab or fish stock, Atlantic blue crab meat, and (traditionally) crab roe, a small amount of dry sherry added as it is plated. |
Additional cream soups include cream of cauliflower, cream of fennel, cream of potato, cream of corn, cream of walnut, cream of roasted pumpkin, cream of celery and cream-of-anything soup.