Creamy Mushroom Soup (Printable Version)
Silky mushroom soup with thyme, cream, and broth—rich, warming, and vegetarian-friendly.
# What You Need:
→ Vegetables
01 - 1.1 lb fresh mushrooms (button or cremini), sliced
02 - 1 medium onion, finely chopped
03 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
→ Dairy & Liquids
04 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter
05 - 2 tbsp olive oil
06 - 3 cups vegetable broth
07 - ~1 cup heavy cream
→ Spices & Seasonings
08 - 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped)
09 - Salt, to taste
10 - Black pepper, to taste
11 - 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (for garnish, optional)
# How To Make It:
01 - Melt butter with olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent and softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
02 - Add the minced garlic and sliced mushrooms to the pot. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are deeply browned and most of their released moisture has evaporated.
03 - Stir in the dried thyme along with a generous pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper to coat the mushrooms evenly.
04 - Pour in the vegetable broth and stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let the soup simmer gently for 15 minutes to develop the flavors.
05 - For a velvety, smooth texture, use an immersion blender to purée the soup directly in the pot until it reaches your preferred consistency. For a rustic, chunky soup, skip this step entirely.
06 - Stir the heavy cream into the soup and warm gently over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not let it boil. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.
07 - Ladle the hot soup into individual bowls and garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve immediately with crusty bread or garlic toast alongside.
# Helpful Hints:
01 -
- It tastes like something from a restaurant but only demands one pot and zero technique beyond stirring.
- The earthy depth from browning the mushrooms properly is the kind of flavor that makes people close their eyes when they take the first spoonful.
02 -
- If you do not let the mushrooms brown properly and instead stir them constantly, you end up with grey boiled mushrooms and a soup that tastes flat and watery.
- Adding the cream off heat or on very low heat is critical because boiling cream soup can break the texture and leave it looking curdled.
03 -
- Cook the mushrooms in batches if your pot is not wide enough, because overcrowding is the number one enemy of browning and browning is the number one friend of flavor.
- Toast a slice of sourdough in butter, rub it with a raw garlic clove, and float it on top of the bowl for a garnish that turns soup into a full meal.