This cream of mushroom soup is so creamy, rich, and satisfying that you would never guess it’s dairy-free. It has an enticing texture of fresh mushrooms and a layer of flavor from a humble cauliflower. I could use a thousand words to describe it, but one thing for sure is: you must try it! It’s unbelievable the flavors that can come from so few ingredients.
Is there any food you hated as a child and never tried again as an adult? Chances are that you don’t like certain food because of the way it was prepared the first time you ate it. Nobody likes canned beets or boiled-to-death cauliflower. The quality of ingredients plays a huge role in the overall flavor as well. Have you ever noticed that tomatoes from the grocery store taste nothing like the tomatoes you buy at farmer’s market?
To make matters even more complex, there’s also our natural aversion to foods that are new or different from what we’re expecting. This feeling of unfamiliarity makes us a little bit uncomfortable, which we interpret as a personal dislike. Recognizing this bias may help you overcome aversions to foods you think you don’t like.
So even if cauliflower and mushrooms aren’t your thing, try this recipe. Keep trying the food you currently don’t enjoy. Prepare it the way you like. Who knows, maybe you’ll find an appreciation for foods you hated as a child.
My husband, for instance, hates cauliflower. And by hates, I mean hates. But his repeated exclamations of “this soup is so much better than the canned cream of mushroom soup” made me think twice about the foods we think we don’t like.
Tips for Making Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
Even though cauliflower is the main ingredient in this soup, it serves primarily as a textural vehicle for milk/cream and salt. It gives this soup the perfect thick and creamy consistency without contributing much of a flavor.
The fat component come mainly from almond milk (or any other plant milk that’s neutral in flavor). Some people swear by coconut milk in this soup. However, I would not recommend it.
The wine is optional and in all honesty, I rarely ever use it because neither my husband or I drink. However, when my parents are visiting and open a bottle of wine, I use the leftovers in my cooking. If you don’t have a bottle of wine handy, use any type of acid you have – apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, etc.
Herbs and seasonings are optional, but I really like thyme, which compliments the woodsy earthiness of mushrooms. Talking about mushrooms, the more varieties you use, the better. I usually use a mix of white button, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms, but any variety works here.
Technique
I usually start this soup by sauteing the mushrooms with aromatics. The goal in sauteing the mushrooms is to get as much water out of the mushrooms as possible. Mushrooms, especially cultivated white mushrooms, are hard to sauté because they release so much water. So, make sure you use medium-high or high heat to encourage evaporation. When all the water is gone, you can deglaze the pan with wine (if using)
As the mushrooms are sauteing, cook the cauliflower. You can either boil the cauliflower (in the almond milk) or roast it in the oven. Boiled cauliflower yields a cleaner, more simple flavor and a satiny texture while roasted cauliflower brings deep, nutty, and much more complex flavors. The choice is yours.
Once the cauliflower is cooked, add the rest of the ingredients into a blender, and blend on high. The texture is so silky and smooth that you would never guess it’s not thickened with a roux. You can puree some of the mushrooms as well. Just make sure you reserve a few mushrooms to get some meaty bites of them every so often.
More Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipes
If you’re looking for more creamy soup recipes with cauliflower, you might enjoy this cream of cauliflower soup. What makes this cauliflower soup shine is roasted cauliflower and caramelized aromatics. The recipe is simple but it will surprise you in the best way possible.
For even more pureed soup recipes, check out this blog post with Vitamix soup recipes and tips for making blended soups.
Tools You’ll Need
1. Blender (Vitamix 750) | 2. Cookware Set (Calphalon, Stainless Steel) | 3. Knife Set (6 Pieces, Utopia, Stainless Steel) | 4. Cutting Board (24″x 18″, Michigan Maple Block, Maple) | 5. Measuring Cup (2 Cups, Anchor Hocking, Glass) | 6. Measuring Cups (Set of 6, Stainless Steel) | 7. Measuring Spoons (Set of 6, 1Easylife, Stainless Steel)
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Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 4 cups cauliflower florets*
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk**
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup white wine***
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 cups wild mushrooms, chopped
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- sea salt, to taste
- fresh thyme, for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the cauliflower. Add the cauliflower, almond milk, and vegetable broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low,season with salt (if the broth doesn’t contain salt already), and simmer,partially covered, until the cauliflower is tender, 5-10 minutes.
- Blend the cauliflower. Transfer the cooked cauliflower, almond milk, and vegetable broth into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Sauté the mushrooms. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms and thyme, season with salt, and sauté until the mushrooms have softened and reduced in size, 7-10 minutes, Add the wine and deglaze the pot,scraping any browned bits off the bottom.
- Season. Taste and adjust the flavor as needed, adding more salt for saltiness, wine for acidity, and thyme for earthiness with lemony-minty undertones.
- Serve. Garnish the soup with fresh thyme leaves. Serve hot.
- Store. Leftover soup keeps well covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. For longer term storage, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
**You can use any plant-based milk you like. Other than unsweetened almond milk, I also like to use unsweetened cashew milk or unsweetened hemp seed milk.
***You can substitute the wine for 1-2 Tbsp./15-30 ml apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
****Nutrition information is approximate and may contain errors. Please, feel free to make your own calculations.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! Also, a few days ago I had a girlfriend over, and together we made your vegan mac and cheese recipe. It was SO good!! 🙂
Yay! I am so glad you liked it, Emily! Your comments always make my day 🙂
Looking fwd to making this tonight. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Gina, I hope you liked the soup 🙂
I love it, but why home made almond milk separates into two layers with boiling and how I solve this problem.
Hi Kacy – hmmm, interesting. In my experience, the milk doesn’t separate when it’s heated and thickened. I assume you boiled the milk, correct? Did it thicken? Somehow the same reaction that thickens it caused it to not separate for me. Another important thing is to heat the almond milk over low-medium heat (rather than high heat).
Hi Petra ♀️ My family love your delicious mushroom cauliflower soup and going to make it again this weekend ❤️
Thank you so much dear Petra
I am so happy your family enjoyed the recipe, Rajaa! Thank you for the lovely feedback ❤️
Thank you forever dear Petra
You’re very welcome, Rajaa 🙂
Hi. I can’t consume alcohol because of my faith. What could I use as a substitute?
Thank you. Really want to gets some wild mushrooms for this 🙂
You can totally substitute the wine. I would use more broth with a splash of lemon juice in its place. The wine isn’t an essential ingredient, but I do have to say that it definitely adds a depth of flavor to the final dish. Hope you enjoy the risotto 🙂
I just made your soup, and oh my goodness, this is the best cream of mushroom soup. It’s midnight and I want to eat the entire pot! I could eat this for the rest of my life, it’s that awesome!! Thanks a million for sharing your recipes!
I have tried lots of your other recipes and they are all out of this world AMAZING! I’m so glad I found you on YouTube!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback, Luanne! I appreciate it more than you know ❤️ So happy you loved the soup so much 🙂
Did you use a dry and not sweet white wine? Thx!
There is so little wine in the recipe, that you can use any white wine you have on hand. I typically use dry white wine.