A rich, creamy and super healthy mushroom soup which uses only 5 main ingredients, the mushrooms are truly the star. Dairy free “cream” of mushroom soup is quite simply divine.
Mushroom soup is one of those meals that I crave often. I have made many iterations over the years, including a wild mushroom soup for Christmas last year that took me well over 3 hours. A labor of love, yes, but a labor nonetheless.
Have you ever made a really long and complicated recipe, which turned out delicious, but then it stopped you from ever making it again because the process was just too much? That's me and mushroom soup. I'm glad my family loved it last Christmas because I was never going to make it again.
Then a few months ago I was visiting my nephew (who is 9 by the way) he has been talking about making me his mushroom soup for years. I am, naturally, all about getting kids in the kitchen and letting them cook and prep and interact with food in any way, but I was a bit hesitant to let Jonah make me his mushroom soup. I thought for sure he was going to add sand or soap or chocolate or something “tricky” because it would be funny. My nephew, as a very good friend once said, is a shock jock. He loves a good joke.
Well, there we were alone in the kitchen, I was watching him while his Mom was at the grocery store and he said, “Auntie come on, it's time to make my mushroom soup. We have all the ingredients here.”
Ok, Jonah, let me just call your mother to make sure it's ok… stalling…stalling… I don't feel like eating terrible sand soup right now…stalling… she didn't answer. Well…um…I guess maybe we can buddy…
How bad can it be? Alright Jonah, go for it, show me your stuff kid.
So he went about his business, I was the sous chef while Jonah gathered all of his ingredients and bossed me around the kitchen.
He was a smooth little chef, confident and calculated. He knew exactly what he wanted and how he wanted it done. Mushrooms sliced but stems reserved, pacific organic veggie stock (that's the only one I ever use, Auntie), a very generous pinch of salt (Mom lets me, she says salt is good).
I had my doubts, I'm not going to lie. I watched him like a hawk to make sure he didn't add anything dubious. He didn't. His soup couldn't have been simpler; mushrooms, stock, salt, and pepper.
It was DIVINE! His trick, he declared, was letting the mushroom stems cook in the stock, then the soup really tastes like mushrooms. Well that, my perfect little nephew, is a trick I can get behind.
Why did I doubt this little kitchen master? His soup was rich and luscious. The mushroom flavor was front and center and not muddied by anything else. I loved it.
When my sister, Jonah's mom, came home she added heavy cream to the soup. She's a chef, 'nuff said, (this also explains the very generous pinch of salt). Clearly, he got the gene. Honestly, the soup was great without the cream too!
Jonah's mushroom soup was awesome, and he is such an awesome little dude and I am so so glad I was able to be his mushroom soup sous chef.
I wasn't allowed to post his exact recipe, Jonah's orders. So I recreated it, added a few things like leeks, because leeks and mushrooms are BFFs forever and ever and ever, and I also added a creamy element, an ode to my sister that created this awesome little human 🙂
Simply soak cashews while the soup is cooking and then blend them with water and a scant amount of lemon juice. Cashew cream stirred into the soup at the very end is heavenly.
Now that I have seen Jonah's mad kitchen skills I always try to sneak in some cooking time with him. I have used him as a kid taste tester for years, like when we made green juice together (epic video), or when he tasted and then drank an entire kale-a-colada, or more recently when I made a batch of chia chocolate avocado popsicles as a test to see if kids would like them (he ate 3 in one sitting). In my most recent visit Jonah helped me develop a new recipe that “kids will love” (his declaration, not mine) that one is coming soon and it is 100% Jonah approved 🙂
Thanks for reading Abra's Kitchen! To see what goodness I'm whipping up be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. If you make this recipe tag #abraskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation 🙂
Dairy Free "Cream" of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup sliced leeks
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 lb. crimini mushrooms sliced, stems removed and reserved
- 4 cups veggie broth
- 1/2 cup cashew cream see below
Cashew cream
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- small pinch of salt
Instructions
Cashew cream
- Soak cashews in a bowl of water for 30 minutes. Discard water, straining cashews in a colander.
- Next combine strained cashews with 1 cup of fresh water, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until well combined and resembles heavy cream, about 2 minutes. Set aside. Do not oversalt the cashew cream, a very tiny pinch does the trick.
Soup
- In a small stock pot, over medium-low heat combine veggie broth and mushroom stems, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 7-10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large soup pot, over medium heat add olive oil and leeks. Saute for 7 minutes.
- Add fresh thyme, mushrooms, a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Saute for 2 minutes.
- Using a fine mesh sieve, pour veggie broth into the pot with leeks and mushrooms, straining out the mushroom stems (you can discard them now).
- Cook on medium-low for 35 minutes.
- Blend half of the soup with 1/2 cup cashew cream. Return to pot, stir together. Serve with a bit of fresh thyme on top and a grind of black pepper.
Nutrition
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