Cream of Mushroom Soup {Video}

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

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Cream of mushroom soup that is so creamy, rich, and satisfying that you would never guess is vegan, starch-free, and nut-free. It's one of those amazing meals that exploits all of the comforting elements of food.

Servings: 4

Calories: 124 kcal

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

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. 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.

2. Blend the cauliflower. Transfer the cooked cauliflower, almond milk, and vegetable broth into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

3. 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.

4. Simmer. Add the pureed cauliflower mixture into the pot with the sautéed mushrooms and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and heat, stirring constantly, until hot. Thin with additional vegetable broth if too thick.

5. Season. Taste and adjust the flavor as needed, adding more salt for saltiness, wine for acidity, and thyme for earthiness with lemony-minty undertones.

6. Serve. Garnish the soup with fresh thyme leaves. Serve hot.

7. 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.

8. Reheat. Transfer frozen soup into the refrigerator 24 hours before reheating to thaw slightly. Reheat in a pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until hot. Add ¼ cup/60 ml water/broth at a time if too thick.

Recipe Notes

*If you’d like the soup to be creamier (and mimic real dairy-based cream of mushroom soup even more), replace some of the cauliflower with raw cashews.
**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.

Nutrition Facts

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Amount Per Serving (1 of 4)

Calories 124 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Carbohydrates 14g5%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 6g7%

Protein 6g12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.