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This cream of mushroom soup recipe is rich and velvety, with deep mushroom flavor and tender pieces of mushrooms in every spoonful.
The secret to a really good cream of mushroom soup is getting plenty of flavor from the mushrooms themselves. I use a mix of varieties—shiitake, oyster, and portobello all work beautifully—because each brings something a little different to the soup.. Many grocery stores sell mixed mushrooms in convenient packages, so there’s no need to buy several kinds separately.
What I especially love about this recipe is the texture. Most of the soup is puréed until smooth and creamy, but some of the mushrooms are reserved and stirred back in, which gives it a nice bit of texture. I also add the white wine in two stages, saving some for the end to brighten the flavor. Fresh thyme, sage, and just enough cream bring everything together without overpowering the mushrooms.
“We loved this soup on the night I made it, and it was even better the next day!”
What You’ll Need To Make Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Butter, Shallots & Garlic: Form the savory base of the soup. Shallots are a little milder and sweeter than onions and work especially well with mushrooms.
- Flour: Thickens the soup just enough to give it body without making it overly thick.
- Mixed Mushrooms: Remove any tough stems before chopping. There’s no need to chop the mushrooms uniformly since most of them will eventually be puréed.
- Dry White Wine: Adds acidity and brightness that balances the richness of the soup. Use a dry white wine you enjoy drinking, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.
- Chicken Broth: Forms the base of the soup. I recommend low-sodium broth so you can control the seasoning.
- Heavy Cream: Adds richness and gives the puréed soup its smooth, creamy texture without overwhelming the mushrooms.
- Fresh Thyme & Sage: Add fresh, woodsy flavor that complements the mushrooms.
- Chives & Croutons: For finishing the soup with a little freshness and crunch.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Cream Of Mushroom Soup
Start the soup: Melt the butter and cook the shallots until soft and translucent, without letting them brown. Add the garlic; when it smells fragrant, stir in the flour. The mixture will become thick and a little pasty—that’s exactly what you want.
Simmer the mushrooms: Add the mushrooms, wine, broth, salt, and pepper. As the soup simmers, the mushrooms will shrink considerably and become completely tender, and the broth will deepen in color.
Blend the soup: Scoop out some of the mushrooms and set them aside, then purée the soup until smooth and velvety, with no visible bits of mushroom remaining. If using a countertop blender, let the soup cool slightly and blend in batches, taking care with the hot liquid.
Finish the soup: Stir in the reserved mushrooms, cream, remaining wine, thyme, and sage, and gently bring the soup back to a simmer. It should be creamy and lightly thickened but still pourable, with tender pieces of mushroom throughout.
Serve: Ladle the soup into bowls and top with chives and croutons. Serve with crusty bread or a simple green salad, or add a sandwich for a heartier meal.
If you’re a mushroom lover like me, try my mushroom barley soup next. It’s a hearty, wholesome soup made with plenty of mushrooms and vegetables.
More Creamy Soups You’ll Love
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup chopped shallots, from 4 medium shallots
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ lbs mixed mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster, portobello, stemmed and roughly chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine, divided
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, for garnish
- Homemade or store-bought croutons, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute more, then add the mushrooms, ¼ cup of the wine, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove about 2 large ladlefuls of the mushrooms and set aside (don’t worry if there are some shallots mixed in there). Using a handheld immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth. (Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and use a blender to puree in batches. Be sure to remove the center knob on the blender top and cover with a dish towel to avoid splatters.)
- Stir in the cream, the remaining ¼ cup of wine, the thyme, the sage, and the reserved mushrooms. Bring to a simmer, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. Ladle into bowls and top with the chives and croutons.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made the recipe using half portobello mushrooms & half brown mushrooms. I prepared it slighting different, in that I made the white sauce on its own using 5 T butter to 8 T flour. I used 1 cup of 36% Mf cream. I think using 2% milk would have been fine. I also added 2.5 – 3 cups chicken broth to think my white sauce. On the side I fried for 2 minutes my onions & garlic in the 1 T remaining of butter. Then I added my finely shopped mushrooms and fried for about 5 minutes before adding 1/2 cup Madeira and spices. It’s all I had on hand for wine. After about 10 minutes of cooking to reduce liquids, I stirred the mushrooms into my white sauce. Then I poured everything into a blender and pureed. At this point, you can decide if your soup is too thick. If consistency is too thick add a little bit more of chicken broth and blend a little more. I only had chicken broth that was salted. If you’re using salted chicken broth, I recommend you leave out the salt. I only added 1 tsp of salt and was thinking I could taste it, but my sister said she couldn’t taste it. So … ??? Maybe add to taste. We loved it. Lots of mess, lots of cleanup after! lol
Had a bunch of cremini mushrooms to use up. Made this pretty much as written (substituted dried for fresh herbs and added them with the garlic.). Absolutely delicious; I could eat the whole pot. Great recipe. I think the white wine is what puts it over the top.
If you’re a fan of mushrooms this soup is a must try! Delicious and creamy and the sage/thyme pairing is perfect. I topped it with home made croutons and chives ~ an excellent recipe!
I’m just one but I’m sorry but I did not find this soup to be creamy at all. The flavor was good but the consistency was not at all thick or creamy. I ended up adding cream cheese so that I could serve it. I won’t go to this cutting trouble, immersion, and clean up ,etc again. Maybe it needed more all purpose or even self rising flour to thicken it.
Basically, you’re making a white sauce with the flour and milk. If you’re familiar with making a white sauce, it doesn’t matter how much butter you use, just add enough flour to stir the mixture into a smooth ball. Gradually add a little bit at a time of milk, and stir until it is a smooth ball again. Keep doing this. It will gradually thin out, so it won’t stir into a smooth ball, but it will always stir into a smooth consistency. When making a white sauce, don’t add more milk until you have that smooth ball. Otherwise, you will end up with a lumpy white sauce. White Sauce is the base of many dishes: e.g. cheese sauce … just add cheese to it. You can fry your garlic in this butter or in 1 tsp – 1T butter in a small frypan, then add it to your White Sauce and carry on with your the remaining recipe. This way you can make your soup to your desired consistency and don’t have to add cream cheese to thicken it. French refer to White Sauce as Bechamel. By making your white sauce you avoid over heating the milk and causing it to curdle. White Sauce is used for so many dishes. I make it as a base for my Turkey or Chicken pot pies adding some chicken/turkey broth for flavour. I’ll get my White Sauce quite thick, then thin it to my desired consistency using the broth. It’s delicious everytime.
Delicious!!
Followed the recipe to the letter and it was just meh
I made this soup, though I did have to substitute baby bellas for the mixed mushrooms. But let me say…this soup was GOOD…so savory and comforting. My husband and I loved it; I gave some to my neighbor (also some of Jenn’s potato leek soup), and she raved about both as well! It was even better when we warmed up the leftovers for lunches. Definitely a keeper!
Made this today and followed the directions to the T. It came out as the very best mushroom soup I’ve ever eaten, let alone made. Thanks Jenn! I make a lot of your recipes and each one is a gem. Also, thanks for sharing your experience and expertise with us. I always appreciate the helpful tips for shopping or cooking that you include at the beginning of the recipes. One question: I’ve read many ways of cleaning mushrooms prior to using them in recipes. What method do you recommend? My husband, a serious cook, rinses them individually with lots of water then places them on a baking sheet and dries them in the oven for an hour. That’s waay to much for me, so I hope you have a professional ‘quick-tip’ for that. 🙂 Best to you!
Hi Carolyn, thanks for your nice words about the recipes – so glad you like them (including this one)! I clean my mushrooms with either a small brush or a dish towel. 😊
Hi Jenn,
Can it be made without wine?
Hi Sabeen, Yes you can add a squeeze of lemon at the end for a touch of acidity.
My local farmer’s market had bulk baby bella / cremini mushrooms this week for significantly less than the place I usually get them ($2.79/lb vs. $3.99/lb), just in time to make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. I decided that I was in the mood from some mushroom soup, so I headed back for more (also got oyster and shitake). I was going to make my traditional mushroom-barley soup, but opted for cream of mushroom instead. I love looking for new recipes, and stumbled upon yours. Simple & easy enough, so on went the apron and the music!
Typically I’ll follow a recipe the first time out, but I decided on some variations. I love the flavor of celery, especially with mushrooms (they’re both in my stuffing recipe), so in with the shallots went one rib of finely minced celery. In addition to the initial white wine, I added about a tbl of cognac, as I love the extra richness it brings to dishes. The final variation is that I added about 2 tsp of Better Than Bullion organic chicken base. When making soups, stews, and sauces, I tend to hole back on the salt so that I can use these wonderful bases (the Sofrito is my new favorite!). They add a lot of depth to these dishes, but I learned early on to wait and adjust the salt at the end. I also added some chopped fresh parsley and substituted chopped green onion tops, as I was out of chives.
All in all, a great recipe. The only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 is probably my own fault. I should have either run the immersion blender longer, or run it through a chinoise before adding back the mushrooms and the rest of the final ingredients. The flavor was great, but it was a bit too ‘grainy’ for my liking. Oh well, note made for next time!
Thanks again for a wonderful recipe, and I’ll certainly check out more of yours!