The Best Healthy Mushroom Soup (Really)
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This easy healthy mushroom soup is deeply satisfying and is truly over the top delicious. The perfect blend of fresh mushrooms, coconut milk and just right seasonings comes together super fast, is surprisingly nutritious, and tastes amazing.
Mushrooms are often used as an accent in main dishes and sides, but they are the star of the show in this vegan mushroom soup. This soup is a healthier alternative to traditional canned cream of mushroom soups and is easy enough for every day, but special enough for entertaining too.
This mushroom soup came about as an accident. I had bought a few too many organic mushrooms on sale (typical problem for this frugal-minded mama) and needed to use them up….so I tried making this creamy mushroom soup on a whim-and well, it turned AMAZING.
Amazing as in “stop eating it all and save some for me” amazing.
It’s that good.
This soup is a great healthy soup recipe for chilly or cold nights, but as I mentioned in this post about Butternut Squash and Pear Soup, hot soup is healthy for you in the warmer months too. So be sure to enjoy this delicious soup year round.
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Benefits of Mushrooms
Mushrooms are more nutritious than you’d think–they are surprisingly bursting with health benefits. Loaded with B vitamins, selenium, and even vitamin D, makes mushrooms an unexpected powerhouse for your immune system.
Some mushrooms function as adaptogens which help your body adjust to stress. This post on Mushroom Fudge touches on that topic more.
Ingredients
- Mushrooms – I used typical white button mushrooms but the possibilities are endless. See ideas below.
- Olive oil – I recommend high-quality olive oil, both for the flavor as well as the health benefits. Other oils will work too, however, like avocado oil.
- Onion – I typically use yellow onion but any onion works well and for convenience you can also use dried minced and add a bit more liquid to the soup for rehydrating.
- Coconut Milk – I love coconut milk (we make this homemade coconut milk all the time) for the creaminess, but almond milk or cashew milk would also work. Cashew and hemp would be the best creamier alternatives.
- Chicken Broth (or beef broth or vegan work as well) – Use homemade broth or purchase a high quality brand. For vegan alternative use a vegan broth. This Vegetable Broth Powder works great—just check the seasonings before adding more salt.
- Garlic – always a great addition to soup.
- Salt and pepper – I love a lot of real unrefined salt for my cooking–either Himalayan or sea salt
- Sage – Adds a delicious rich herbal flavor with hints of pepper that compliments the earthy flavor of mushrooms perfectly.
- Thyme – Use fresh if you can, but I used dried for convenience.
Directions
- Wash, dry, and slice mushrooms (Photo 1)
- Saute onions and garlic in oil in pan (Photo 2)
- Add spices (Photo 3). Add mushrooms and cook (Photo 4)
- Place mixture in a bowl (Photo 6)
- Add oil to pan and heat (Photo 7)
- Add flour and stir into a paste (Photo 8)
- Add stock gradually, whisking out clumps to blend (Photo 9)
- Add coconut milk gradually and do the same, if needed (Photo 10)
- Increase heat to medium high
- Add veggies to pan along with remaining ingredients (Photo 11)
- Heat for about 2 minutes or until heated through and thickened
- Let cook for 3-4 minutes and then serve into bowls. Garnish if desired (Photo 12)
Storage
Leftovers (if you have any!) of this soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up 5 days.
You can also freeze the soup for up to 3 months. Simply cool then place in a freezer-safe container.
Use Any Kind Mushrooms
This vegan mushroom soup recipe is loaded with flavor from lots of mushrooms as it is, but it’s also easy to customize if you want to change things up. I love making this with simple white mushrooms, but you can try different types mushrooms for a variety of flavors and textures or using a combination of mushrooms works great as well and gives a nice visual interest. Try it with:
- portobello mushrooms
- brown button mushrooms (portobellini)
- shiitake mushrooms
- cremini mushrooms
- baby bella mushrooms
- wild mushrooms (just make sure they are edible prior to using)
Can You Substitute this Mushroom Soup for Cream of Mushroom Soup?
While this soup is different from a traditional cream of mushroom soup, you could add more coconut milk and chop the mushrooms if desired and use the resulting soup as a substitute for cream of mushroom soup in any recipe.
So warm and comforting–it really is surprisingly good.
The next time mushrooms (organic preferably) are on sale, make sure to grab them and make this soup. You’ll be glad you did!
Special Diet Notes
Note that for a vegan option, as mentioned above, please use a vegan broth like this broth. This Vegetable Broth Powder works really well too. Just again, check the seasonings before adding salt.
More Easy Healthy Soup Recipes
You’ll love these other easy healthy soup recipes for sure.
Creamy Root Vegetable Soup – rich and hearty
Dairy-free Potato Leek Soup – a great easy, frugal, and delicious soup
Creamy Blender Tomato Soup – an easy delicious soup you can whip up in your blender
Healthy Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound mushrooms (sliced)
- 1 cup minced fresh onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons coconut or avocado oil
- 4 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or other oil)
- 2 tablespoons cassava flour (or other flour as desired.)
- 4 cups coconut milk
- 4 cups broth (chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. See Recipe Notes for options)
- 3 teaspoons salt or to taste
- 16 grinds pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- parsley or other fresh herbs for garnish
Instructions
- Wash, dry, and slice mushrooms.
- Melt oil in large pan, if necessary.
- Add onions and garlic. Cook for approximately 1 minute until softened.
- Add herbs and saute a bit more.
- Add mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes until tender and browned.
- Place vegetables in a medium bowl.
- Add the second tablespoon oil to pan. Melt if needed.
- Once melted, add flour and stir it into a paste.
- Keeping heat at medium, add stock a little at a time to make it blend well, whisking out clumps with each addition.
- Add coconut milk a little at a time and do the same, if needed.
- Turn heat to medium high.
- Return the vegetables back to the pan along with salt, pepper, and red pepper.
- Heat well for about 2 minutes or until soup is heated through and thickened to be somewhat creamy.
- Let cook for 3-4 minutes and then serve into bowls. Garnish with additional mushroom, thyme, and parsley, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Hi! You don’t mention adding the sage or thyme to the soup, you only mention to garnish with extra thyme. Can you update it please? Excited to try this!
Hi there. So sorry about that! Not sure what happened. Thanks for pointing that out–it’s updated now. Hope you enjoy it!
I love mushroom soup made with cashew milk. Trying it coconut milk would prompt me to adapt the spices in a Thai direction. Thanks for the inspiration!
I haven’t used cashew milk since our oldest has a life threatening allergy to them BUT his dairy allergy appears to be gone so wondering what else might be gone now. I am not experienced w/ Thai food but that sounds lovely!
Awesome Thai seasonings need to be fresh ingredients:
Keffir lime leaves (awesome)
Galangal ( ginger is not a replacement as this as a wonderfully unique flavor profile)
Lemongrass stalk (crushed)
You should be able to find all of these in your Asian grocery store and other higher end grocery stores often carry some of these as well! Enjoy! 🙂
Sooo yummy! 🙂
Thank you! I have this on my site but it’s not my recipe – someone else shared it. :). I was just thinking about you – how are you?
Awesome delicious mushroom soup! Had left over for the next day dinner. Will do it again. Broth with coconut milk is so yummy!
Awww thank you! You made my day. Sooo glad you liked it!
I CANNOT-WAIT-TO-TRY-THIS! I’m a mushroom ? LOVER. Have you ever thought to dehydrate leftover mushrooms and make, wait to it……MUSHROOM POWDER! OMG! Umami at your fingertips and endless possibilities….creamy scrambled eggs, marina sauce, Alfredo sauce, pizza topping, omelet, turkey burger, meatloaf, etc…..
Thank you for mentioning this! I avoided mushrooms for a long time due to candida concerns, but I now know that medicinal aren’t an issue and maybe these aren’t as bad as I thought….and I have other thoughts on the topic anyhow….
I had it once and it was really good. Thanks for the reminder!! I so hope you like the soup – please give me your honest thoughts.
Adrienne: I actually take as many culinary and medicinal mushrooms as I can find, dried, and powder them, combine and add to all of my cooked foods. Soups, a ‘spice’ for fried eggs, scrambled eggs, any casseroles or other foods that I make, just like adding Salt and/or Pepper.
I have had as many as 18 mushroom varieties in one powder. If you can’t find the small cello bags of dried mushrooms at your local grocer, you usually can find at least the medicinal ones there (both organic and traditional stores have them)
YUM. Thanks for the tip. Great idea. I have been meaning to add more to my diet so that’s a helpful tip!