No Cream of Soup Hawaiian Haystacks
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One of my go to meals and all time family favorite dinners is Hawaiian Haystacks. I have shared my recipe before which includes several different ways to make it – stove top, crock pot, meatless. They do, however, all involve cream of chicken soup. I saw a recipe for No Cream of Soup Hawaiian Haystacks with a made from scratch sauce over at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe and decided to give it a try.
It was a yummy variation on a family staple. I did adapt the recipe to suit my family’s tastes. Now, I have a version that I can make from scratch. It is a great recipe to use up any leftover chicken or turkey.

These are great ideas for toppings for these no cream of soup Hawaiian haystacks: (items with a star are our favorites) shredded cheddar, cheese*, pineapple tidbits*, sliced olives*, diced green onion*, chopped celery*, shredded coconut*, slice almonds*, diced fresh mushroom, Chow mein noodles*, diced tomatoes, peas, mandarin oranges, raisins, diced green, pepper, water chestnuts, cashews, soy sauce or anything else that you think would be good.
Here is what you need to make the
No Cream of Soup Hawaiian Haystacks
- COOKED AND CUBED CHICKEN (OR SHREDDED CHICKEN)
- BUTTER
- ONION
- GARLIC
- SALT
- PEPPER
- FLOUR
- MILK
- CHICKEN BROTH
- SALT AND PEPPER

No Cream of Soup Hawaiian Haystacks
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cooked and cubed chicken or shredded chicken
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ onion about ½ cup, finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp garlic finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp flour optional
- 2 Tbsp water optional
- In a large sauce pan saute the onion in the butter until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for one minute.
- Slowly whisk in the milk and chicken broth. Cook stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium. Add the salt and pepper.
- Add the chicken and simmering stirring the sauce frequently, until the sauce has thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
- At this point if you want the sauce to thicken more in a small bowl whisk together the 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp water until smooth, you don't want lumps. It should look like a paste. Drizzle a little of the flour mixture at a time while whisking into to sauce mixture until desired thickness is reached. I like it to be like a thick gravy.
- Serve the sauce over steamed rice with desired toppings from the list below. Serves 4-6.