Scratch Made Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

Unpopular opinion: Condensed soup is horrifying.

Listen, I get it. There's nothing easier than opening a can and plopping that jiggly grey mass into a recipe to add salt and flavor and those little squeaky chunks of mushroom-ish bits. But I promise, whatever recipe you're using it for can be so much better if you take a few extra steps to make your own cream of mushroom soup (plus, this is not only edible on its own, but freaking delicious).

Note that this recipe is for prepared soup, not for condensed, and it makes a ton. If you need it in place of a 10.5 oz of condensed soup for a recipe, reduce the amount of milk and chicken stock by half and use 1 1/4 cups in your recipe. Reconstitute the rest with 1 1/2 cups milk or stock.

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Scratch Made Cream of Mushroom Soup
by Twirlerica

Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
12 oz. cremini mushrooms
1 large yellow onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1⁄4 teaspoon plus 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, divided
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder

fresh parsley fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400 ̊. Clean mushrooms and cut into 1/2" pieces. Toss in olive oil and sprinkle with 1⁄4 teaspoon salt. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan lined in foil. Coat whole onion in olive oil and salt and place on the same pan. Roast for 35 minutes until mushrooms are dried and golden, and onion is tender. Once onion is cool enough to handle, discard outer layer and cut the rest into 1⁄4” dice.

Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for a minute, then gradually whisk in milk. Add warmed chicken stock, mushrooms, and onions. Salt to taste. Bring to boil, cover and reduce to simmer. Cook for 30 minutes.

Add heavy cream and cook for 2-3 minutes until soup comes back to a simmer. Garnish with chopped parsley and thyme, and a drizzle of olive oil or cream.

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The Details

Need a little more info? Let's break it down into detail. 

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An enameled cast iron dutch oven is the ideal vessel to make this soup. I got a great deal on a Le Creuset from Burlington (check out that entire haul here!), but the Lodge equivalent you can get at a fraction of the cost works just the same. The Chrissy Teigen 5 qt. dutch oven from Target is a cute option if you want something more classic looking. Make sure you have a wooden spoon for stirring and scraping when using an enameled dutch oven, and a silicone whisk for adding the liquid into the roux (butter+flour mixture, but you knew that) to prevent scratching or damaging the enamel.  

This recipe takes it a step further and calls for roasting the mushrooms and onion first to dry out and toast the mushrooms and soften the onion, then giving a good 30 minute simmer time to rehydrate the mushrooms in the soup for extra flavor. But if you're in a time crunch, feel free to skip that part and instead saute them for a few minutes in the oil and butter until the onions are softened, then sprinkle the flour over top and stir until it absorbs all the fat and add the milk to that. 

Speaking of adding the milk, add veeeery gradually to prevent lumps. Start with about a half cup - it will immediately thicken and turn into a paste. Add another half cup until completely incorporated, and repeat until all liquid is added. 

Oh, and feel free to substitute fresh garlic for the garlic powder. Add a minced clove to the melted butter just before adding the flour for the roux. The time it takes for the flour to cook into the butter is perfect for the garlic to soften and get fragrant without burning. 

Garnishes are the best part of this soup. I like using a drizzle of flavorful olive oil, but how good would a few drops of truffle oil be? An extra swoosh of heavy cream added to each bowl lets everyone know, hey, there's cream in here, plus it adds some fresh dairy flavor. Fresh herbs are a must. I like parsley and thyme to bring out the earthy mushroom flavor and balance the garlic. 

For homemade croutons, cut leftover bread or buns into 1" cubes and place in a single layer on a parchment lined sheet pan. Dehydrate in a 250˚ oven for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes, until dry and toasty. They make the perfect textural compliment to the creamy soup.