In a small to a medium-sized sauce pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter.
Add the flour, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and celery seed. Whisk to combine until smooth.
Cook the flour mixture for 1 minute, whisking occasionally.
Slowly stream in the chicken broth while constantly whisking to avoid lumps.
Slowly stream in the milk while again whisking constantly.
Bring the mixture to a low simmer while whisking often. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Take off the heat until ready to use.
Notes
Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
I used 2% because that’s what we had on hand. To make it even richer, you can use, whole milk or half and half but I don't recommend skim milk.
If it seems too thick to you, you can thin it out with a bit of milk.
If using in recipes that call for condensed cream of chicken soup, make sure to use just the amount the recipe calls for. Normally it is a 10.5-ounce can, so with this recipe, you would use 1 ¼ cups of this recipe. This will make the amount needed for 2 cans.
If you want to use this as a base to make it into a soup, you can add more chicken broth and milk until you get your desired thickness. Then, you can add this to sauteed vegetables or shredded chicken, etc, whatever you want to have in your soup.
Once at room temperature, you can store it in an airtight container (I prefer mason jars) in the fridge for up to 3 days.