The 2 Canned Soups You Need For An Easy, Creamy Weeknight Dinner

If you live alone (and even if you don't), you may well find yourself dining on canned soup on days when you're just too tired to cook. Why not? It's certainly no sadder than having cereal for dinner (not that either option is any kind of long-term solution to rising grocery costs). If you want to feel you're doing just a little bit more for yourself, all you really need to do is open two cans instead of one. The combination of cheese soup (either cheddar or nacho, your choice) and cream of chicken is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Why these two soups together? Well, the first one is pretty obvious. Because cheese, that's why. Cheese makes everything better. A can of cheese soup is more of an ingredient than a meal, though, since it's just a bit too creamy and cheesy to be eaten on its own. The addition of cream of chicken adds a certain meaty component that speaks to the soup's status as a main course. It's also ever so slightly thinner in consistency (though still creamy), so it can help to lighten things up to an extent. (For something even less heavy, use a 50/50 mix of milk and water to reconstitute your soup mixture.)

Depending on your energy level on any given evening, you can upgrade your canned soup combo by adding some extra ingredients to turn it into a different dish. If you have leftover cooked potatoes or a can of corn on hand, these can be used to make the soup into a hearty chowder. It'll be even better if you fry up a few strips of bacon and crumble those in as well. Chopped chicken would be another great add-in, as would pre-cooked pasta or rice.

If you have carbs and meat that are ready to go without too much prep, you're well on your way to transforming your soups into one of America's most legendary casseroles. The two soups can be combined with shredded potatoes, cheese, and sour cream to make an Idaho hash brown casserole. Those same ingredients topped with crushed cornflakes could be turned into Utah-style funeral potatoes. If you mix the soups with ground beef and top them with tater tots, you'll have a classic Minnesota hot dish, while the addition of shredded chicken, corn tortillas, and chiles would transform them into Texan King Ranch chicken. If you cook them with sausage and grits, you could even whip up a Southern breakfast bake. Any kind of carb plus any kind of meat with canned cream of chicken and cheese soup can yield a tasty casserole, although it'll be even better with extra cheese and a tasty topping.