Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup
I’m already experiencing temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s here in Nashville and it’s got me in FULL BLOWN fall-mode. I’m ready for cozy sweaters, campfires, and SOUP. Creamy mushroom soup has been on my “to make” list for years and now that I have access to inexpensive mushrooms (thank you, Aldi) I decided to go for it. This Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup was rich without being too heavy, and oh so delightfully earthy. I suggest pairing it with a nice crusty bread to soak up all that creamy goodness, like a loaf of No-Knead Bread.
Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup
What Kind of Mushrooms Should I Use for Mushroom Soup?
I used Baby Bella mushrooms for this Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup because they’re still on the inexpensive side compared to most mushrooms, but they give more flavor and color than a white button mushroom. Thankfully these baby portobella mushrooms are becoming really popular and I’ve seen them at several grocery store chains.
Broth Matters
For the broth I used vegetable flavored Better Than Bouillon to make the broth used in this soup, but you could certainly use their mushroom flavor if you have it. Their vegetable broth does have a rather distinct flavor, though, so I used half broth and half water to prevent overpowering the mushroom flavor. I find that Better than Bouillon broths tend to be quite strong in flavor, so if you’re using a different brand you may want to increase your broth to water ratio.
Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb. baby bella mushrooms ($3.38)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced ($0.24)
- Pinch salt & pepper ($0.05)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.04)
- 2 cups vegetable broth* ($0.18)
- 2 cups water ($0.00)
- 1/8 tsp dried thyme ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream** ($0.42)
- 1 tsp soy sauce ($0.03)
Instructions
- Wash the mushrooms to remove any dirt or debris. Slice half of the mushrooms and roughly chop the other half.
- Add the olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a soup pot. Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they have released all of their moisture, all the liquid has evaporated from the bottom of the pot, and the mushrooms become very dark brown.
- Add the butter and flour to the pot. Stir and cook for about two minutes more. The flour and butter will form a thick paste and coat the mushrooms and the bottom of the pot. It's okay for the flour to coat the pot and brown a bit, just don't let it burn.
- Finally, add the vegetable broth, water, and dried thyme. Stir to dissolve all of the flour from the bottom of the pot. Allow the liquid to come up to a simmer, at which point the flour will slightly thicken the broth.
- Stir the cream into the soup. Finally, add the soy sauce, taste the soup, and add an additional pinch of salt if needed (depending on the salt content of the broth you used). Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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Step by Step Photos
These are the “baby bella” mushrooms I used, which are just baby portobella mushrooms. These will give you a much better color and flavor than a white button mushroom. You’ll want one pound of these babies.
I wanted a lot of texture for the soup, so I sliced half of the mushrooms and chopped the other half.
Add the mushrooms to a soup pot along with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic (minced) and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and then that liquid evaporates away. You want the bottom of the pot to be dry again. Why? You don’t want the mushrooms just steamed, you want them to actually brown a little and this doesn’t happen until the moisture is gone.
Once the mushrooms are a nice dark brown color and all the moisture has evaporated, add 2 Tbsp butter and 1/4 cup flour.
Continue to stir and cook the flour and butter for about two minutes more. The flour will form a thick paste that coats the mushrooms and will begin to stick to the bottom of the pot. The flour will turn a nice golden brown, but keep an eye on it and don’t let it burn.
Add 2 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups water, and 1/8 tsp dried thyme, then stir to dissolve the flour off the bottom of the pot. Let the liquid come up to a rapid simmer, at which point the flour will slightly thicken the broth.
Add 1/2 cup heavy cream to the soup…
Add 1 tsp soy sauce, then taste the soup and add more salt if needed (this will depend on how salty the broth is that you used). And that’s it!
This was so delicious! I made this for myself- my boyfriend doesn’t like mushrooms- but he loved it too!! I added half a red onion at the beginning and a dash of Worcestershire. Sooo yummy!
Nice and easy. I made this on a cold, snowy day and it turned out great! I made mine a little thicker since I’m trying to convert my boyfriend into a soup person, so I used 3/4 cup of flour. I used a little more liquid than called for though, maybe by like 1/3 cup. Next time I’ll be taking out the mushrooms before making the rue because it stuck to the mushrooms and didn’t melt very well. Still yummy though! Next time!
This soup was absolutely delicious and so quick and easy to make! I really enjoyed it exactly as written! To put things over the top with flavor I ultimately added about a tablespoon of Marsala cooking wine and a squeeze or two of fresh lime juice. Oh my goodness, so delicious! Thanks for this fantastic recipe that is now part of my official rotation of favorite soups.
Fabulous! I also used 2 oz dried wild mushrooms which I soaked in hot water then added the strained liquid from them with the stock. Otherwise stuck to recipe😋
My husband loves this soup! Its perfect on a cold day! I double everything and add ditalini or a protein pasta.
Nice and easy! I replaced some of the water with white wine and let it simmer for a bit then I blitzed it and added sour cream instead of heavy cream. It is so delicious. I’m glad no one likes mushrooms in my house. This is all mine!
I made some substitutions based on what I had and like and this soup was great. I subbed white mushrooms since that is what I had, used half and half instead of cream and fresh parsley instead of thyme just because I don’t like it. A great, easy soup that will be in regular rotation. Thank you!
Perfect cozy soup! So easy and delicious.
Can this be made in a big batch and frozen?
I haven’t tried freezing this one, unfortunately. Sometimes creamy based soups tend to separate after freezing and thawing, so that might happen here. You might try making a regular sized batch and testing it by freezing just one portion, so that next time you can know if the results are palatable to you. :)
This is my first visit and I actually followed a recipe from start to finish! I have just made it from a pack of mushrooms that were a bit slimy, a pot of double cream I was given, garlic granules that I had and my favourite Swiss bouillon and I must say I am very impressed, absolutely lovely, I shall be having this for my lunch today. Probably taste better tomorrow as things do, so thank you shall be using more of your recipes now. KT (UK)
Any suggestions to make it dairy free? I’be developed lactose intolerance as an adult, and I’d love to enjoy this soup! Thanks.
You might try coconut milk (the kind in a can, not the kind in a carton meant to be a dairy milk substitute). While I haven’t tried it with this recipe, I make a mushroom ramen with coconut milk and it’s fantastic.
I used twice the recommended flour and it was great
So I’ve done this recipe a few times now & we love it. The only difference is, I make ours a bit thicker, instead of a quarter cup of flour I use a half cup for the extra thickness & it works great. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe so quick & easy to do as well.
Excellent. I used portabellas, oyster and shitake mushrooms, so a little over a pound. Also, rather than let all the mushroom “juice” evaporate, I poured it into my stock/water bowl and incorporated it back into the soup. I also did use the better than broth combined with half chicken stock and half water…
Great recipe, it was so delicious! The only thing I would suggest is taking out the mushrooms when making/mixing the rue annd once that is smoothed out put the mushrooms back in and mix with the rue. Otherwise it was great, thanks so much!