Low-Carb Crack Chicken Soup

Low-Carb Crack Chicken Soup Recipe– chicken soup loaded with cheddar, bacon, and ranch. Super easy to make – just dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do all the work. Chicken, cream cheese, chicken broth, bacon, ranch dressing mix, cheddar cheese. Can add baby spinach or broccoli to soup mixture. Delicious even if you aren’t doing a keto/low-carb diet.

bowl of crack chicken soup with slow cooker in the background

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Chicken Soup with Cheddar, Bacon & Ranch

Happy New Year!! I don’t know about you, but I might have overindulged during the holidays. I am using the new year as my reset button. We are going to incorporate some Keto/Low-Carb recipes into our diet. This Slow Cooker Low-Carb Crack Chicken Soup is at the top of our list. This soup is SO good – you’ll never miss the carbs! Chicken, cheddar, bacon, and ranch. My favorite combination!

What does CRACK mean?

If a recipe has “crack” in the title it means that the recipe has cheddar, bacon, and ranch in the ingredients. It all started with my Crack Dip way back in 2007. I made the dip for a Titans football game. Everyone went crazy over it. We couldn’t stop eating it and said it was like crack. The name stuck. 

According to the dictionary, the definition of crack is “of superior excellence or ability”. We think the flavor combination of cheddar, bacon, and ranch fits this definition! This recipe is most definitely of superior excellence!

ladle of chicken and bacon soup

How to Make Low Carb Chicken Soup in the Crockpot

This soup is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Place chicken breasts in a 6-qt slow cooker. Add low-sodium chicken broth, cream cheese, a packet of ranch dressing mix, and bacon. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW heat for 4 to 6 hours. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Place the shredded chicken back in the slow cooker and add shredded cheddar cheese. Season with salt and black pepper. Let the soup cook until the cheese has melted and serve.

Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

  • You can use any cut of chicken that you prefer. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or chicken tenderloins all work fine.
  • For lower calories, substitute turkey bacon and light cream cheese.
  • If you are having problems with the cream cheese being clumpy in the soup, use a whisk to get it incorporated into the broth.
  • Here is our recipe for Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix made with buttermilk powder, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, chives, dill, salt, and black pepper: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-ranch-dressing-mix/
  • Can I cook Crack Chicken Soup on the stovetop? Yes! Use a whole rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breasts. Place everything except the cheddar cheese in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the cheddar cheese and cook until melted.
  • Variations/Additions:
    • broccoli
    • baby spinach
    • mushrooms
    • celery
    • onion
    • carrots
  • If you aren’t doing a low carb diet, feel free to add pasta such as thin spaghetti noodles or angel hair pasta.
  • I made this soup in a Hamilton Beach 6-qt Slow Cookerhttps://amzn.to/2Vbebrq
  • Can I freeze Chicken Soup? Yes! Cook the soup and cool to room temperature. Transfer the soup to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
    • Reheat soup in the microwave or on the stovetop.
    • Add a splash of chicken broth, water, or whole milk if the soup is too thick.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
bowl of chicken soup topped with cheese and bacon

What to Serve with Creamy Crack Chicken Soup

We like to top our soup bowls with some extra cheese and bacon. You can never have too much cheese and bacon. Amirite?!?!?! When it comes to serving this soup, I have a few go-to side dishes that I always recommend. First off, a simple green salad. It’s a great way to add some freshness and crunch to the meal, and you can easily customize it with your favorite toppings and dressings. If you aren’t doing a low-carb diet, whip up some garlic bread or breadsticks. They are perfect for dipping into the soup and soaking up all those delicious flavors. And finally, roasted vegetables, such as broccoli or Brussels sprouts. Whatever you choose to serve alongside your soup, I guarantee it’ll be a hit with your family and friends!

Here are a few of our favorite sides that go great with this yummy chicken recipe:

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bowl of crack chicken soup with slow cooker in the background

Slow Cooker Low-Carb Crack Chicken Soup

Yield: 8 people
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 5 minutes
Slow Cooker Low-Carb Crack Chicken Soup – chicken soup loaded with cheddar, bacon, and ranch. Super easy to make – just dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do all the work. Chicken, cream cheese, chicken broth, bacon, ranch dressing mix, cheddar cheese. Can add spinach or broccoli to soup mixture. Delicious even if you aren't doing a keto/low-carb diet.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  • Place chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, bacon, and chicken broth in a 6-qt Slow Cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
  • Remove chicken from Slow Cooker and shred with two forks. Return to Slow Cooker and stir.
  • Stir cheddar cheese into the soup and cook until melted.

Notes:

Can use turkey bacon.
Can use 1 cup of precooked chopped bacon.
Can add spinach, mushrooms, or broccoli to soup mixture.
Use a whisk to incorporate the cream cheese into the soup.
I find that Philadelphia brand cream cheese melts the best in this soup.

Steph

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bowl of crack chicken soup with slow cooker in the background
ladle of chicken bacon soup

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Comments

  1. From the first time my family had this, it became an instant favorite! Some things we do differently is the following: we use can chicken & whipped cream cheese. Both for quickness of time & to insure the cream cheese melts down. Another thing I do is cook in my pressure cooker. 20 minutes on high & it’s done. Whether slow cooker, stove top, or pressure cooker. You just can’t go wrong with this soup! I would love to freeze leftovers….we just never have any! 🤣😉

  2. absolutely love this soup. I add Spinach and sometimes mushrooms. I wanna make this for my sister but she is allergic to bacon. other than turkey bacon ( she doesnt like it ) what could she use in place of bacon?

    1. We jokingly call this crack stew at our house. I keep the soup on simmer, put the chicken on a plate, add a frozen bag of cauliflower rice and a bag of peas and carrots and let them cook while I shred the chicken. Return the chicken to the pot for a few minutes more and PRESTO! Crack chicken stew. Not keto but not bad once in a while.

    1. Just tries this tonight for dinner and it was very good. I made it in the stove though and used a roasted chicken from the store that was already cooked, but next time I’m going to do it in the crock pot and add chopped spinach. Adding it to my soup recipes for fall and winter. My 14 year old son had two helpings so I say that’s a winner.

  3. Made this today. So good! I used low sodium chicken broth, in addition to the ranch packet, I used half a packet of fiesta ranch. Will definitely be making this often! Thank you!

  4. Soooo yummy, but very salty! I recommend finding low sodium chicken broth. I think finding a spicy element would make it even better.

  5. Thought this was delicious! I would like to know the nutrition information.
    Thank you!!

  6. SO GOOD!!!!! I added a jalapeño for some kick. I am just wondering if anyone knows the nutritional information? I could not find the total portion /fat/net carbs
    Thank you in advance
    Polly

  7. What do I do to make to normal recipe that isn’t low carb… I know it has hash browns but can’t remember if there are other differences. Your other recipe is not accessible right now.

    1. I’m not sure what recipe you are talking about. All the recipes are always available on the website.

  8. Great soup. I added a few cubes of velveta cheese, about 1/2 a tablespoon of corn starch water mix, broccoli. I used rotisserie chicken which I think made it 10 times better. It was really good.

  9. I haven’t made this yet but I was wondering if it would be good with potato chunks in it, and if so how would you recommend cooking them in.

  10. I did this recipe last night and wow, the smell and the taste!!! So good! I will be doing this recipe over and over.

  11. For those of you wondering, I calculated out the serving size and nutrition info. I’m following keto, and I found this to be low carb! For reference, I only used 12 oz of cream cheese (I forgot to pick up more from the store), thick cut bacon, and low sodium chicken broth. Here is what I found:
    Serving size: 1 cup
    Calories:560
    Fat:44.5 g
    Sodium: 1,872mg
    Carbs: 2g
    Protein:38g
    I hope this helps for those wondering!

  12. I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but it looks amazing. I am putting it on the menu for later this week. 🙂 Hand tip: instead of removing chicken from the crockpot to shred it with forks, try a potato masher to break it up right in the pot. I’ve done this with other recipes and it works great.

  13. Very easy recipe to follow. I have it in the crockpot right now on low. Was thinking abt adding some egg noodles ? If I do, when would you recommend that I add them in.

  14. leaving five stars instead of four because this soup might have turned out a little too salty due to the bacon i used. i’m planning to try this again with a low sodium broth and a little less chicken as my batch turned out to be a bit too thick. regardless, it was a big hit with my girlfriend (who typically doesn’t like chicken at all) and her little sister.

    1. Thanks for the tip – I am trying this and am using low sodium broth. I wouldn’t have thought of it otherwise, and figure I can always add salt later.

  15. My husband and I both loved this soup! I used Chicken Broth with White Wine and added a bit of concentrated chicken stock (1 tsp) as well. Next time I would just add the cheese on top of the soup when serving. I did it on the oven, not slow cooker at medium low for 35 minutes.

        1. My attempt didnt come out creamy. The cream cheese is curdled in the broth. So, I’m thinking there may be a better way to get the cream cheese blended with the chicken stock. Any thoughts?

        2. Use a whisk to incorporate the cream cheese. I also find Philadelphia brand cream cheese works best for melting. You can also try heating the broth and cream cheese on the stove before making the soup and whisking it together first.

    1. I used frozen chopped spinach because that’s what I had on hand and added about an hr before cooking was done. I just made sure to remove and excess water from the spinach before adding in the soup. I think fresh would be fine too.

  16. My family and I Love this soup!I’m watching my calories so I wanted to know if this is a serving size of one cup? I track my food so I need to make sure I’m eating the right amount.

    TY,
    Julie

      1. Loved this. The whisk didnt work for me for the cream cheese. I just used the immersion blender. Good to go. Thank you!

  17. Oh my! So good even with the substitutions I had to make! I only had cooked rotisserie chicken, so I just shredded up that, and I had no ranch packet, so I just added as many of the seasonings as I had that would have been part of the ranch packet. Still amazing!

  18. OMG! This is fabulous! I understand why it is called crack soup lol. My husband and I ate half the pot…if I wasn't so full, I would eat the rest lol. I added a little white pepper! Best soup EVER!

  19. Not a big fan of the taste of cream cheese… could you substitute heavy whipping cream or half and half for all or half of the cream cheese???

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