Healthy Mushroom Soup Recipe

4 REASONS YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

• The simplicity of the ingredients makes the mushrooms the star of this soup.
• Ready in under 30 minutes, this soup is better than store bought and will really be the best mushroom soup you have ever had!
• This soup is thick and creamy without the use of heavy cream or milk making it dairy free and low fat!
• Vegan, dairy free, gluten free and Whole30 friendly, this mushroom soup is great for entertaining or weeknight meals!

INGREDIENTS

• Onions
• Sliced mushrooms (I like white button mushrooms and baby portobello)
• Fresh Thyme
• Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Bay Leaves
• Coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
• Vegetable broth
• Arrowroot powder
• Dairy free milk

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST MUSHROOM SOUP

1. Chop the onions and slice the mushrooms. Sauté the onions until slightly softened. Add the mushrooms and allow the mushrooms to cook for 5-6 minutes.
2. Add the fresh thyme, salt, garlic powder, bay leaves and coconut aminos to the mushroom and onion mixture.
3. Mix the arrowroot powder into the vegetable broth and stir well until completely combined. Pour the arrowroot powder and vegetable broth slurry and the dairy free milk into the mushroom and onion mixture and allow it to come to a simmer for 15 minutes to thicken.
4. After 15 minutes, serve hot or you can blend up some of the soup with an immersion blender to thicken the soup a little more.

THE BEST MUSHROOMS FOR SOUP

This vegan mushroom soup uses a mixture of cremini mushrooms (baby portabella mushrooms) and white button mushrooms. The cremini mushrooms add a depth of flavor and umami that you don’t get with just white button mushrooms. You could also use shitake mushrooms, but those are usually more expensive so I stick to cremini and white button to save money.

To save time, you can buy the mushrooms pre-sliced but I prefer to buy them whole and slice them myself since the pre-cut mushrooms can go bad faster.

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH MUSHROOMS

To prepare the mushrooms, use a dry paper towel to brush off any soil/dirt you see. Don’t run mushrooms under water, as they are very porous and will absorb the water, and never really develop their flavor fully.

Wait to salt the mushrooms until after they have cooked down for some time. Adding salt too early can cause the mushrooms to not fully release all their water.

WHAT HERBS ARE BEST IN MUSHROOM SOUP

Fresh thyme and mushrooms are a match made in heaven!

• To remove the little thyme leaves from the stalk, simply hold the stalk at the very top (so the leaves are pointing up) and run your fingers down the stalk pulling the leaves down with your fingers. The stalks can be very fibrous and tough, so be sure to remove as much of them as you can.
• Don’t have fresh thyme? You can always use dried thyme! Just remember that the dried herbs are much stronger, so you will want to use about 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.
• To get the most flavor out of dried thyme, it’s best to rub the leaves between your fingers to crush them up before adding them to the soup to help release some of their natural oils!

Garlic powder is used in this recipe because fresh garlic can get a little overwhelming and burns easily. This way you get the garlic flavor without worrying about it burning!

Bay leaves are one of the ways to take a soup to the next level, especially soups that don’t have much cooking time. Add one or two bay leaves and let them do their magic! Just don’t forget to remove them before serving the soup (or pureeing it).

HOW TO THICKEN WITHOUT HEAVY CREAM

This recipe for dairy free mushroom soup uses arrowroot(or tapioca flour) to thicken the soup (no cream or milk needed). It’s important that you mix in the arrowroot powder into a cold or room temperature liquid before adding it to the heat. This is to ensure the mixture is smooth since the heat will cause any clumps to clump together more.

Tip: If you wanted a creamier soup, you could blend half of the soup with an immersion blender or high speed blender to help thicken it more! You could also add pureed white beans or mashed potatoes to the soup to help thicken it without cream.

HOW TO MAKE CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP

The hearty vegan mushroom soup can also be made creamier with the addition of white beans to make the best ever vegan white bean mushroom soup, or boiled potatoes for a vegan and paleo recipe! Both of these are an awesome way to add creaminess.

You could also add 1-2 tablespoons of vegan (or regular) cream cheese. The Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese would be delicious stirred into this soup!

HOW TO MAKE CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

To make this vegan cream of mushroom soup, reduce the vegetable broth by half and blend the soup in the blender in batches or using an immersion blender.

Once blended, continue to add more non-dairy milk as needed until it reaches your desired thickness. If you add too much liquid, you can always add in more arrowroot powder (just remember to dissolve it in water before adding it in so it doesn’t clump).

FAQS

WHAT DAIRY FREE MILK CAN BE USED

Any dairy free milk you enjoy would be great! This includes but is not limited to:

• Coconut milk
• Cashew Milk
• Almond Milk
• Flax milk
• Hemp Milk

CAN THIS SOUP BE MADE AHEAD OF TIME

This easy mushroom soup is almost better the next day, so if you are having company, this would be a great make ahead meal. Just give the soup a few minutes to come back up to temperature over medium low heat before serving.

Note: This recipe only makes 2 servings, so if you are making it for company, you will want to double the recipe.

HOW TO STORE MUSHROOM SOUP

Fridge: This recipe will last 4-5 days in the fridge once prepared. Be sure to store it in a covered glass container (I use mason jars for easy storage). Reheat in the microwave or on the stove!

Freezer: This recipe can be frozen. However, if you choose to freeze this recipe, the arrowroot powder can get a little gritty after freezing but this doesn’t always happen, so I prefer to make it fresh!

SUBSTITUTIONS

Mushrooms: You can use all white button mushrooms, all baby portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms or a mixture of your favorite mushrooms in this soup.

Onions: The onions compliment the mushrooms and add a depth of flavor. You could also use shallots, green onions or omit the onions completely.

Fresh thyme: As I mentioned above, thyme and mushrooms are made for each other. You can also use dried thyme (about 1 tsp) or italian seasoning (1-2 tsp) in place of fresh thyme.

Vegetable broth: You can also use vegetable stock, chicken stock or broth or even a bouillon cube in place of the vegetable broth.

Tapioca starch/flour: This helps to thicken the low-fat mushroom soup. You can also use arrowroot flour or corn starch to thicken. You will need equal measurements of either of these substitutions.

Dairy free milk: You can use any dairy-free milk you enjoy (be sure it’s not sweetened or vanilla though). You could also use regular milk of you are not dairy free.

Bay leaf: This helps add a depth of flavor to the soup. If you don’t have a bay leaf, add an additional teaspoon of coconut aminos (or soy sauce).

Coconut aminos: These are a soy-free and gluten free version of soy sauce. You can also use tamari (gluten free soy sauce) or soy sauce in place of the coconut aminos.

Garlic powder: I like to use garlic powder in this recipe so it doesn’t take over the flavor (as garlic can be very powerful). If you love garlic, you could use 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, added with the onions in the beginning of the recipe.