Creamy Mushroom Soup

Mushroom soup is creamy, comforting, and packed with rich, savory mushroom flavor. It’s easy to make in one pot, perfect for cozy afternoons or weeknight dinners. You can make it with cream for extra richness or keep it lighter—it’s delicious either way!

Love More Soup Recipes? Try My Italian Penicillin Soup or this Chicken Pot Pie Soup next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s foolproof – I’ve never had anyone mess this up, and trust me, I’ve shared it with some questionable cooks
• Uses stuff you probably have – no weird ingredients that’ll sit in your pantry forever
• Takes thirty minutes from dirty kitchen to dinner on the table
• Tastes expensive but costs maybe eight bucks to make the whole pot
• My kids actually eat it and that’s saying something since they usually live on chicken nuggets

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the Soup Base:

• 2 pounds mushrooms – whatever’s on sale (I usually grab cremini because they’re cheap)
• 4 tablespoons real butter (margarine tastes like sadness here)
• 1 big onion, chopped up
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (or just use the jar stuff)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups chicken broth (the low-sodium kind so you can control the salt)
• 1 cup heavy cream (milk works if that’s what you have)
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry (skip it if you don’t have it)

For Seasoning:

• 2 teaspoons thyme (dried is fine, fresh is better)
• 1 bay leaf (seriously don’t forget to fish this out)
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley to make it look fancy

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Why These Ingredients Work

Look, mushrooms are weird little sponges that soak up every bit of flavor you throw at them. I learned this the hard way after making watery mushroom soup for years until my neighbor Carol showed me her trick. You gotta get them golden first – that’s where all the good stuff happens. The butter isn’t negotiable here because margarine just tastes like sadness in soup form. Heavy cream makes everything better, obviously, but if you only have milk just use it and don’t stress about it.

Essential Tools and Equipment

• Big pot (my dutch oven that I got for my wedding 12 years ago)
• Sharp knife (or whatever’s clean in the drawer)
• Wooden spoon for stirring
• Measuring stuff
• That stick blender thing if you want it smooth (totally optional)
• Ladle (or just a big spoon)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Prep Your Mushrooms

Don’t you dare wash those mushrooms under the faucet – they’ll turn into little water balloons. Just brush them off with a paper towel like my grandma taught me.

Pro Tip: I slice mine thick because thin ones disappear into mush. We want actual mushroom pieces in our soup, not mushroom-flavored cream.

Step 2: Sauté the Mushrooms

This is where most people screw up – they dump all the mushrooms in at once and wonder why everything’s soggy. Do half at a time and leave them alone for a few minutes. I know it’s tempting to stir, but don’t.

Step 3: Build Your Flavor Base

Same pot, add more butter, throw in your onions. Cook them until they’re soft and smell amazing – about the time it takes to load the dishwasher.

Step 4: Create the Roux

Dump the flour over everything and stir it around for a couple minutes. This gets rid of that chalky flour taste nobody wants in their soup.

Step 5: Add the Liquids

Pour in the broth slowly while whisking so you don’t get weird lumps. Add the sherry if you’re using it, plus the thyme and bay leaf. Let it bubble for about 10 minutes.

Pro Tip: I learned the hard way that dumping all the liquid in at once makes lumpy soup. My kids still remind me about that disaster from two years ago.

Step 6: Finish with Cream

Put the mushrooms back in, then slowly add the cream. Let it heat through for 5 minutes but don’t let it boil or you’ll have cottage cheese soup.

Step 7: Serve and Enjoy

Fish out that bay leaf before someone bites it, then ladle into bowls. Grab some bread and call it dinner.

You Must Know

Critical Tip: Once that cream goes in, keep the heat low or you’ll have chunky soup and not the good kind. I learned this during my first dinner party disaster in 2018.

Personal Secret: I always make this when my mother-in-law visits because it’s the only thing she’s ever complimented me on, and honestly, I’ll take any win I can get with that woman.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

• Buy the pre-sliced mushrooms if you’re in a hurry – life’s too short and nobody will judge you
• That fancy sherry from the wine store is nice, but cooking sherry from the grocery aisle works fine too
• If it’s too thin, just let it simmer longer with the lid off while you clean up
• Don’t have cream? Half-and-half works, even milk if that’s all you’ve got
• Burnt the bottom? Don’t scrape it – just pour everything into a new pot and pretend it never happened
• Out of thyme? Oregano, rosemary, whatever green stuff you have will work

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

• Fancy version: Use those expensive mushrooms from the farmer’s market when you’re feeling bougie
• Herb crazy: Throw in whatever green stuff is dying in your fridge – rosemary, sage, whatever
• Smoky twist: Add some smoked paprika because everything’s better with smoke
• No wine version: Just skip the sherry, nobody will die
• Meat lovers: Toss in leftover chicken or turkey if you want it heartier
• My lactose-intolerant sister’s version: She uses that canned coconut milk instead of cream

Make-Ahead Options

This stuff tastes way better the next day when all the flavors get to hang out together. I make it Sunday and we eat it Monday through Wednesday. Keeps in the fridge for about 4 days before it starts getting sketchy. You can freeze it for months but don’t add the cream until you reheat it. I learned that lesson when I had chunky white soup that looked like something the cat coughed up.

What to Serve With Mushroom Soup

• That crusty bread from the grocery store bakery for dunking
• Grilled cheese because duh, it’s soup and sandwich night
• Bagged salad with whatever dressing’s not expired to balance out all the cream
• Store-bought biscuits heated up so they seem homemade
• Bacon bits from the jar because we’re not animals
• Wine if the kids are finally in bed and you’ve earned it

Allergy Information

This has: Dairy, gluten, maybe sulfites if you use the wine

If you can’t do dairy: Try that vegan butter and coconut milk stuff – my neighbor swears by it Gluten problems: Use rice flour or cornstarch instead of regular flour No alcohol: Just don’t put the sherry in, obviously

Storage & Reheating

Shove leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. Heat it up slow on the stove and stir it once in a while. If it’s too thick, splash some broth in there. For the frozen stuff, let it thaw overnight then heat it up gentle-like and add more cream if it looks weird.

Emily’s Kitchen Secret: I double this recipe every single time because my family inhales it, and there’s nothing worse than scraping the bottom of an empty pot when you really wanted seconds. Plus, frozen soup is like having a meal fairy visit your freezer when you’re having one of those weeks.

FAQs

Can I use those canned mushrooms instead?

You can, but please don’t tell me about it. Fresh mushrooms really do make a difference here, and they’re not that much more expensive when you think about it.

Help, my soup looks like mushroom-flavored milk!

This happened to my sister last month – you probably added the liquid too fast or didn’t cook the flour long enough. Next time, whisk like your life depends on it and cook that flour mixture for a full two minutes.

Can I make this soup without cream?

Yeah, but it won’t be the same. You can try milk or even that fancy oat milk stuff my daughter’s always buying. Just don’t expect it to be as rich and wonderful.

What if I don’t have a big pot?

Make half the recipe or use two smaller pots. I’ve done this when my big pot was full of last night’s chili that nobody wanted to deal with.

Honestly, this soup has saved more weeknight dinners than I can count. When I’m standing in my kitchen at 5:30 wondering what the heck we’re eating tonight, this is my go-to because I know I can pull it off without losing my mind. My kids stop fighting long enough to actually eat something with vegetables in it, and my husband always asks if there’s more.

💬 Made this soup? Tell me how it went! Did you change anything up or discover any happy accidents? I love hearing how recipes turn out in real kitchens with real chaos happening.