,

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

How to make healthier cream of mushroom soup
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of mushroom soup is a common ingredient in recipes as cooler weather approaches. This healthy comfort food in a bowl deserves its place along with the casseroles (like my favorite green bean casserole) soups, and stews of the season.

Will the Real Cream of Mushroom Soup Please Stand Up?

Unfortunately, most store-bought cream of mushroom soup has a variety of problematic ingredients. Offenders include:

  • Vegetable oil: chemically processed, high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and potentially harmful on a cellular level
  • Modified food starch: A highly processed starch that contains maltodextrin (often used as a name to hide the presence of MSG)
  • Monosodium glutamate: A food additive and excitotoxin that may interfere with natural neurotransmitter production
  • Soy protein concentrateThis is why I’m not a fan of soy
  • Other bad ingredients: such as soy lecithin, yeast extract, and “flavoring”

In addition, despite the “cream” on the label, canned soup has very little actual cream. Cream is the ninth ingredient on the list, after vegetable oil, processed flour, MSG, and other questionable items. And it isn’t even real cream! It is actually “dehydrated cream” containing milk and soy lecithin as a thickener.

Certainly, these ingredients are probably cheaper and much better for the bottom line of the companies producing processed foods, but they certainly aren’t better for us, the consumer!

No Time for Homemade?

Update: Since I wrote this post I found one premade mushroom soup I do love, and that’s Kettle and Fire’s Mushroom Bisque. It is made with their amazing bone broth, is non-GMO, and is made with all real-food ingredients I would use in my own kitchen. It is dairy-based, so opt for the homemade version below if that is an issue for you.

A Better Cream of Mushroom Soup (& It’s Easy!)

Like most foods, homemade not only tastes better, but it is typically healthier too. Cream of mushroom soup is no exception! This simple DIY version works as a substitute in recipes or is delicious on its own.

Unlike the processed canned version, it only has 10 ingredients total (including spices). Bonus: They are all real food ingredients that you can order at a grocery store. (No need to contact your friendly local industrial products salesman to get the soy protein concentrate or MSG!).

I typically make several batches of this and keep in the refrigerator. I also freeze it for easy meal prep at Thanksgiving or for when I used to get a pregnancy craving for something with mushrooms in it. 🙂

If you use cream of mushroom (or cream of anything) soup in recipes for your family, consider taking 20 extra minutes to make your own. I promise you will be hooked!

How to make healthier cream of mushroom soup

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Delicious creamy soup made with real food ingredients.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Calories 206kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

6 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ¼ cup butter (or coconut oil)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 2 TBSP arrowroot powder
  • 1 quart chicken broth
  • ½ cup heavy cream (or heavy coconut milk, optional)
  • ½ cup sour cream (optional)

Instructions

  • Chop mushrooms and onion and mince garlic.
  • Melt butter or coconut oil in a large pan and add chopped mushrooms and onion.
  • Saute until translucent and cooked.
  • Add garlic and saute an additional 2 minutes.
  • Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and arrowroot and stir.
  • Add broth and simmer about 10 minutes until it starts to thicken.
  • Add cream and sour cream and stir in until smooth.
  • Serve as a soup or use as cream of mushroom soup in recipes.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 206 Calories from Fat 149
% Daily Value*
Fat 16.6g26%
Saturated Fat 9.9g62%
Cholesterol 42mg14%
Sodium 970mg42%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Fiber 1.2g5%
Sugar 2.6g3%
Protein 6.8g14%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Time-saving tip: Make several batches at once and freeze or make a couple days before Thanksgiving and store in the refrigerator. (Here’s how to remedy any slight curdling that may occur!)

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

How do you use cream of mushroom soup?

Sources

Become a VIP member!

Get access to my VIP newsletter with health tips, special deals, my free ebook on Seven Small Easy Habits and so much more!

Easy Habits ebook on ipad

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

60 responses to “Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup”

  1. Victoria Avatar

    This recipe looks delicious. I can’t have butter, but I can maybe replace it with coconut oil. Thanks so much.

  2. Stefania Avatar

    What would be a good substitute for chicken broth? I would love to make this today, but it’s Friday and I’m Catholic. 😉

    1. De Avatar

      If you can’t use chicken or meat-based broth/stock, use vegetable stock or, even better in this recipe, would be mushroom broth. Often you can reconstitute dried mushrooms in hot water and use the liquid from that.

  3. Faith Avatar

    Is coconut or almond milk a suitable substitute? I skip the dairy now but I still want to make green bean casserole as its a favorite in our house. Also, any substitute for the butter or just omit it?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      Use heavy coconut milk. That will work the best. If you want to cook your onions/mushroom/garlic in something, you could use coconut oil or tallow.

  4. Monica Avatar

    Do you think making a large quantity canning this in mason jars for later use would work well?

  5. Jaclyn Avatar

    Thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it out. Do you have an approximate shelf life? I’d love to make a huge batch and keep some in the fridge and freeze some.

  6. Suzie Avatar

    Could you can this? Probably have to use a pressure canner. . . Sometimes taking freezer space isn’t an option.

  7. Rachel Avatar

    5 stars
    I used to use cream of mushroom soup all the time but stopped because one day I looked at the ingredients and nearly dropped the can right on the floor! Thank you for sharing a homemade recipe! Can’t wait to try this!!

  8. Mandy Avatar

    If I were to follow this same recipe, but omit the mushrooms and add in chicken instead, would it make a good cream of chicken soup? I make a casserole my family loves but would much prefer homemade soup to store bought! Also, I pressure can all kinds of things and make homemade chicken stock this way, could I pressure can this soup and extend its shelf life, or is it best to freeze it? Thank you so much! I just found your blog about a week ago but I am loving it! We’ve always been very conscious of our dietary choices, but just recently I’ve “cleansed” our home of chemicals. I’m making all of our cleaners and hygiene products, and couldn’t be happier!

  9. Laurie Avatar

    Thank you sooo much for this!!! So much calls for these cream based soups and it’s great to have a healthier option!

  10. Graham Avatar

    Could you provide a caloric intake and nutritional breakdown please? He has to watch his sugars and I have to watch my carbs…

    1. Liz Avatar

      Hi Graham. You can easily do this yourself by taking all the ingredients that you use and adding up all the carb/sugar counts of them, then divide all those numbers by the total of serving sizes. Remember the rule about fiber. Use a program like calorieking.com to help you. Most real food advocates aren’t big into calorie and macronutrient counting so she may not have that available. 🙂

    2. Angela Avatar

      Hi there,
      What type of mushrooms would be ideal? Is there one that offers one taste and a second choice for an alternative taste?

  11. Christy Avatar

    I have lived in central Italy for 35 years and learned the proper way to use and cook garlic. Italians actually make very different use of garlic than you would think, and never use a lot unless on Bruschetta.
    Your foods cooked with garlic will taste much better if you always add the garlic when everything else is almost cooked. Garlic should never brown, it is “cooked” before it reaches that stage and if it browns the flavor is not good.
    DO NOT mince extremely fine and DO NOT use a garlic press. Your foods will taste better, have the garlic flavor but not be overpowered by it if it is minced in about 10 to 20 bits.

    1. Stefania Avatar

      Yes! That is what I discovered by accident while cooking a pot of marinara sauce. I forgot the garlic earlier and added it at the end. It tasted so much better! That is how I have cooked garlic ever since.

    2. Angi Avatar

      Thank you for these wonderful tips on garlic. I was wondering why the ladies in my old neighborhood had so much of a better flavor to their foods then I did no matter what I did. Now I know.

  12. Victoria Rains Avatar
    Victoria Rains

    Hi, I love your site and tips. Thank you! Most cream of mushroom soup is concentrated, so what would be the ratio if using this? I.e. if it calls for a ten ounce can, how much of the homemade would you use?

  13. Elizabeth Avatar

    do you know how you would do condensed cream of mushroom soup, gluten free???? so many recipes call for it and Campbells soup is not gluten free at all. I do alot of crockpot recipes and they always call for it.

  14. Dee Avatar

    THANK YOU! I can’t wait to try this. I LOVE green bean casserole & have made it using the organic brands I can find, but this year we’re going gluten-free and I was pouting about not making one of my favorites! Now I can and it sounds DELICIOUS! Cream of Mushroom is one of my all time favorites.

    1. Melanie Avatar

      I added 2 tsp. of Worcestershire and about 2 tsp. of onion powder to give it a little more flavor. Yummier! Does anyone know if this soup will freeze well?

4.06 from 37 votes (27 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating