Quick Recipe Ideas: Finger Foods for Dinner

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Years ago, in my single mom days, Campbell’s soups were my mealtime lifesavers. I loved grabbing a can of cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup and essentially making the recipe on the back of the can. All you needed was some chicken, rice and cheese and you had a super easy meal that looked more complicated than it was. It was perfect for me, because I really didn’t do much cooking back then and it gave me the confidence to continue to try new things and new recipes. So when I noticed that Campbell’s had a line of Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking, I was all over it willing to try some new recipes and also show my older kids around the kitchen with easy ways to fix something fun and simple.

Of course when I think of cooking with soup, my first thought is either slow cooker recipes or a casserole of some sort. I really wanted to make something just as fun as it is easy, so I thought I’d come up with some quick recipes for finger foods that would make for fun weeknight meals. Something that would be filling enough for dinner, but for those really busy nights when you’re on the go, driving to practice or picking kids up from a midweek game these foods could literally be eaten on the go. So even though they might look like they take a lot of effort, they are super simple and also pretty filling.

My premise was simple. I had a bag of frozen chicken, some wonton wrappers, and a few boxes of Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking. This was definitely fun and showed me that you don’t need to make a casserole for a quick family meal and Campbell’s. The Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking have a ton of flavor that creates such a wonderful base for any meal.

For my first meal I decided to create little cups using wonton wrappers and a muffin pan. The Mexican Style Tomato Soup flavor was perfect with some cubed chicken to create little chicken taco cups. All I needed was some cheese and any additional ingredients I had on hand. I went truly tex mex and just added pimentos and mixed up a little sauce to dab on top, but you can easily switch it up by adding or replacing the current ingredients with corn, green onions, olives or anything else you like. This is a great quick recipe base to create your own type of taco cups and it’s a simple to make it a complete meal by adding some beans and/or rice on the side!

For my next quick recipe I wanted to create little wonton bites with a creamy center, almost reminiscent of a pot pie filling. The Savory Portabello Mushroom soup was a delicious creamy base and I added simple vegetable ingredients I had on hand with some shredded chicken. You can save even more time on this recipe by deep frying the bites instead of baking them, and I also had about half the filling left that I just served over rice and it was so delicious. You can replace or add more vegetable like peas, sun dried tomatoes or even replacing the chicken with sausage. The ideas are endless, and really both of these recipes are great for what’s already in your kitchen, which is how I made them up. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

Ingredients for Chicken Taco Wonton Cups:

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder
• lemon pepper
• cumin
• 1/4 cup Campbell’s Soups for Easy Meals Mexican Style Tomato Soup
• cooking spray
• 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 (2 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained
• 1/4 teaspoon dry cilantro

Ingredients for Creamy Avocado Dip

• 1/4 medium avocado
• 1-2 teaspoons sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican hot sauce

Directions for Chicken Taco Wonton Cups with Creamy Avocado Dip:

Begin by cubing up the chicken, melting butter in a large skillet and browning the chicken over medium/low heat. Add just a dash of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, lemon pepper and cumin and cook until almost golden.

Add the Campbell’s Soup for Easy Cooking Mexican Style Tomato Soup.

Continue to cook over medium/low heat until evenly mixed with the chicken and heated through.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a muffin pan with 12 cups, spray evenly with a non stick cooking spray. Spoon the chicken into the “cups”, then top with cheese.

Evenly spoon the pimentos over and sprinkle lightly with the dry cilantro.

Bake in preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the corners of the wonton cups are golden.

Mix the sauce together and serve with the cups.

Lightly spoon a dab of the sauce over each cup.

Enjoy!

Ingredients for Creamy Mushroom Chicken Wonton Bites:

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into 3 or 4 large pieces
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• smoked paprika
• dried basil
• small peels of one small carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 package Campbell’s Soups for Easy Meals Savory Portabello Mushroom Soup
• wonton wrappers
• water
• cooking spray

Directions:

Begin by heating olive oil on medium/low in a large skillet. Season each side of the chicken pieces and place in skillet to brown, turning on each side for even cooking.

Once the chicken is mostly cooked through, begin to shred it apart with two forks.

Add the carrots and spinach, stir together lightly until spinach is wilted.

Add the Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking Savory Portabello Mushroom soup to the skillet.

Stir it all together, keeping the heat on medium/low.

Add the cream cheese and stir until it has melted and the mixture is creamy and thick.

If you’re baking the wonton bites, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lay out the wonton wrappers, only a few at a time, on a well sprayed surface. Spoon in small teaspoonfuls of the mixture into the center of the wrapper.

Wet the edges of the wrappers with dabs of water, and pinch closed. I prefer bringing all the corners up into a triangle, as pictured, but the packaging for the wrappers shows other methods of wrapping as well.

Spray all sides of the wontons with non stick cooking spray and bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden.

Remove from pan and let cool.

Serve over greens for a pretty platter or with a salad for a round meal. If you don’t use all of the filling, it’s great with some white rice.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite finger foods? Have you ever cooked with Campbell’s Soups?

I’m really in love with these little packages of Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking. I actually picked up one in each flavor at my local Walmart because they all looked so good. You can find them right there in the soup aisle tucked away with the other soups. Pay close attention, because these little packages are smaller than they look, they are actually about the same size in height as the average can of Campbell’s Soups!

Click here for a coupon for $.75 off any 1 (ONE) package of Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking in any flavor at Walmart I’d love to hear what you would be interested in creating with them! You can also find more recipes using Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking to get inspired, or you can see what they’re sharing on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.