I’ve been playing around with this mushroom soup recipe without using any cream in the back of my mind for some time – ever since I had a similar one at a fine dining restaurant in Copenhagen.
The rich, creamy texture and deep flavours of porcinis and thyme are still on the tip of my tastebuds and I’ve been on a quest to recreate that soup since then.
This recipe, I believe, does it. And the result is a rich and creamy mushroom soup without any dairy products at all. In fact, it is actually completely vegan.
Using a combination of both dried porcini mushrooms along with browned crimini and shitake mushrooms, the soup is also super easy to make and can be finished in under an hour.
How to Make a Dairy-Free Mushroom Soup
We’re going to start this soup by softening our porcini mushrooms (you can buy dried porcinis here). Add some vegetable stock to a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer.
Remove the pot from the heat, add your dried mushrooms and cover the pot. Let the mushrooms soften for at least 15 minutes – in the meantime, we’ll get the rest of the soup together.
Now, in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, add some olive oil and set it over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add some sliced fresh mushrooms.
I use a mixture of crimini and shitake mushrooms, but you could even use white button mushrooms here. Because we’re going to thoroughly brown them, they will get a good amount of mushroom flavour.
Cook the mushrooms, stirring frequently, until they begin to release their moisture, shrink in size and start to brown. Be patient with this – the whole process will take around fifteen minutes.
It is essential that you adequately brown your mushrooms as this is the basis for the flavour in the soup. It’s also the same process that I use in my mushroom sour cream sauce, mushroom bucatini and my quiche recipes.
Once the mushrooms are golden brown, toss in some sliced shallots along with a few generous pinches of salt. Cook the shallots until they are very soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes or so.
Next, add a bit of minced garlic to your mushrooms and shallots. Cook this just until it’s fragrant, no more than a minute.
Toss in a number of thyme sprigs tied together with some butcher’s twine (for easy removal) and cook for another 30 seconds or so, just to release the oils from the thyme leaves.
Then, sprinkle a bit of flour over the mushrooms. This will act to thicken the soup when the time comes. Stir the flour into the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes, just get the raw flavour out of it.
Deglaze the pan with a bit of dry white wine. Cook this, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until the wine has all but evaporated and the strong alcohol smell has cooked off.
Then, pour over your soaked porcini mushrooms and their soaking liquid along with some vegetable stock.
Bring everything to a simmer and season generously with salt and pepper (make sure to taste the broth!).
Let the soup simmer for about fifteen minutes, just to get everything softened and to allow the thyme to really infuse its flavour.
Once the leaves have started falling off of the thyme bouquet, it’s time to turn off the heat. Remove the thyme and, working in batches, transfer your soup into a blender.
Blend on high until the soup is completely pureed, emulsifiers and creamy – about two minutes.
Return the pureed soup to the pot and bring to a simmer once more. Taste to adjust for seasoning – adding more salt and pepper if needed. Then, all you need to do is serve and enjoy!
Mushroom Soup Without Cream
Ingredients
- 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock divided
- 40 g (1.5 oz) dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 250 g (8 oz) mixed mushrooms such as crimini and shitake, sliced thin
- 1 large shallot sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 15-20 fresh thyme sprigs tied together in a bouquet garnis
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 150 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
Instructions
- Add 250ml (1 cup) of the vegetable stock to a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cover and bring to a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat and add the porcini mushrooms. Cover the pot and allow the mushrooms to rehydrate in the hot stock for at least 10-15 minutes, while you are building the rest of the soup.
- While the porcinis are soaking, add the olive oil to a large saucepan or Dutch oven and set over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the sliced mixed mushrooms. Stirring occasionally, cook the mushrooms until they have released all of their moisture, shrunk considerably in size, and have begun to turn a deep golden brown – about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Once the mushrooms have browned, add the shallot along with a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot has softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the pot and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Toss in the thyme bouquet and stir it to combine. Sprinkle flour over the mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the raw flour smell has cooked off and it begins to smell toasty.
- Pour over the white wine and stir to combine with the mushrooms, scraping up any browned bits that have accumulated on the bottom of the pot. Cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the strong alcohol smell has dissipated.
- Pour over the remaining 750ml (3 cups) of vegetable stock along with the porcini mushrooms and all of their soaking liquid. Stir to combine and bring everything to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the leaves begin to fall off of the thyme sprigs. Taste the broth to adjust for seasoning, adding salt and pepper where necessary.
- Using tongs, remove the thyme bouquet from the pot and discard. Likely working in batches, ladle the soup into a blender and blend on high for about 2 minutes – until the soup is thick and creamy.
- Add the pureed soup back into the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Taste to adjust for seasoning, adding salt and pepper where needed. Serve and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
This rich cream of mushroom soup without any dairy is easy to make and incredibly flavourful. It’s sure to become a quick favourite!
Are you wondering how to make milk and cream-free mushroom soup? Have any questions about this recipe? Let us know in the comments!
