This creamy mushroom soup is like a hug in a bowl! Use both wild and cultivated mushrooms for maximum flavour.
Mushrooms are one of those ingredients that you either LOVE or hate. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground and I am firmly in the love camp. I even loved mushrooms as a child – especially coated in breadcrumbs and pan fried with lots of garlic!
I try to sneak mushrooms in a lot of my recipes, but unfortunately neither of my children have embraced them yet and will literally pick them out of stir fries and casseroles. I can’t wait for them to develop slightly more sophisticated palates! I can’t remember when that kicked in for me, but I think I was a lot less fussy as a child (my mother probably would beg to differ).
This creamy mushroom soup came about because I had asked my husband to get me some mushrooms for the pierogi recipe I posted recently… and he came back with enough mushrooms to feed an army. I needed a way to use the surplus and making a soup seemed like the easiest way to use lots of them at once.
Now mushroom soup tastes absolutely delicious – provided, again, that you are a mushroom lover – but it it is not much of a looker. In fact, it looks slightly off putting as it is sort of sludgy grey/brown colour. But dress it up with a few fried garlic mushrooms and some croutons and you have a dinner party worthy starter!
If you would like to soup to be a bit more substantial, you could add a potato or two, which will make it a bit thicker and more velvety. Instead of potatoes, I really like adding a handful of cooked chestnuts which go really well with mushrooms and lend a bit of sweetness to the soup. You can buy them vacuum-packed or tinned these days. Leave the butter and cream out for a vegan version.
If you are looking for more mushroom recipes, then these are for you
- Which one is your favourite, Chicken Marsala or Beef Bourguignon?
- No cream in this pasta with chicken and garlic mushrooms
- Creamy mushroom and spinach gnocchi from Salt and Lavender
- Mushroom and lentil soup with miso from Lauren Caris Cooks
- Quinoa spinach and mushroom risotto
- Garlic croutons
- 4 slices stale bread cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp dried herbs I used Herbs de Provence
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- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil to fry
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- Garlic croutons
- 4 slices stale bread cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- ½ tsp dried herbs I used Herbs de Provence600g | 1lb 3 1/2oz mushrooms, preferably a mix of wild and cultivated, sliced
- 100 g | 3 1/2 oz cooked chestnuts or cubed potato
- 750 ml | 3 cups hot vegetable stock
- 125 ml | 1/2 cup single pouring cream + extra to drizzle
- salt and pepper to season
- fresh thyme leaves to garnish
- Toss the bread cubes in the garlic granules and herbs. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan and then fry the bread cubes, stirring often, until nicely coloured. Set aside.
- Select a handful of small mushrooms and pan fry in the same pan you made the croutons for five minutes. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot and fry the onion and garlic over low heat until softened - about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining mushrooms and continue to fry, stirring often, for a further 5-6 minutes.
- Add the chestnuts or potato and stock and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 mins.
- Use a blender to blitz the soup, in batches if necessary, until completely smooth.
- Return to the pot and stir in the cream - heat until warmed through.
- Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the soup sprinkled with thyme, garnished with a drizzle of cream and olive oil, a handful of croutons and a few mushrooms.
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