This homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup is rich, flavorful, and easy to make. A mix of fresh mushrooms, thyme, heavy cream, and a splash of sherry creates a luxurious soup that’s as cozy as it is elegant.
Before You Start Cooking
- Mushrooms: The flavor of this soup will depend on the fresh mushroom varieties you choose at the market (more on this below). Try different combinations to find your perfect blend!
- Make-Ahead Friendly: This soup is great for prepping ahead, making it ideal for stress-free entertaining. I often serve it as a starter for dinner parties or holiday meals like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
- Not a Substitute for Condensed Soup: The proportion of liquid to flour in this soup is not a good stand-in for recipes calling for condensed cream of mushroom soup, even when calling for it to be reconstituted. Try my Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup as an alternative.
How to Make Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
Step 1: Prep Your Mushrooms
For the best Cream of Mushroom Soup, use a mix of fresh mushroom varieties to create a balance of more robust and delicate flavors. Here are some of my favorites:
- Shiitake: Deep, umami-packed flavor with a hint of smokiness.
- Cremini or “Baby Bellas”: Slightly more mature than white button mushrooms of the same species, these brown mushrooms have a richer, earthier flavor. (Portobellos, their fully mature form, are even more savory and meaty.)
- Chanterelle: Earthy and buttery with a hint of fruity, peppery flavor.
- Oyster: Delicate, meaty, and slightly sweet flavor.
- White Button: Mild, neutral flavor that’s subtly earthy, nutty, and blends well with other flavors.
The mushrooms you pick will also determine the color of your finished soup. Using more brown mushrooms will will give the soup a slightly deeper color than varieties like white button.
For maximum freshness, I recommend buying whole mushrooms instead of pre-sliced. Clean them before removing any tough or dry stems and cutting the caps into 1/4-inch slices (aim for bite sized pieces if using chanterelles).
Check out out How to Clean Mushrooms the Right Way from Kitchn for tips on cleaning different mushroom varieties.
Step 2: Sauté and Deglaze
Grab your favorite soup put (I like to use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven) and melt unsalted butter over medium-high heat. The butter will foam up as it heats–wait until the foaming lessens and add chopped yellow onion.
Cook the onion for 5-8 minutes, just until it’s soft. (No browning here; we’re going for tender, not caramelized.) Next, add your mushrooms and season them with salt and pepper.
As the mushrooms cook, you’ll notice them releasing their liquid. Let that liquid evaporate almost completely and sauté until the mushrooms are tender and starting to brown around the edges. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
Now it’s time to thicken things up. Stir all-purpose flour into the mushrooms to coat them and make a roux. Let this mixture cook for just a minute or two to eliminate the taste of the raw flour.
Here’s where the flavor magic starts for this soup base: deglaze the pot with dry sherry. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up those golden brown bits stuck to the bottom—they’re flavor gold!
Tip: If you don’t have dry sherry on hand you can swap it for a dry white wine, like Pinot Grigio.
Step 3: Simmer the Soup
After the sherry has evaporated, stir in chicken or vegetable stock and fresh thyme leaves. If you’re using store-bought broth, keep in mind that saltiness can vary. I recommend buying low-sodium stock and adjusting the seasoning with kosher salt once the soup has simmered.
At first, the soup might look a little “gloppy” when you add the liquid—don’t worry! As the soup heats, give it a good stir, and the roux coating the mushrooms will dissolve, creating a smooth base.
Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away for about 20 minutes, giving it an occasional stir. As the soup simmers, it will thicken slightly and the broth will infuse with the flavors of the mushrooms and thyme.
Step 4: Finish the Soup
After simmering, I like to puree about 1-1/2 cups of the soup in a blender or food processor after simmering, and then stir it back into the pot. This gives the soup base a velvety texture and concentrates the mushroom flavor, while still preserving the texture of some of the sautéed mushrooms.
For safety, let the soup cool slightly before blending to avoid accidents.
Texture Tip: Prefer mushroom soup with a smooth, bisque-like consistency? Puree the entire recipe in batches and add extra broth if needed to reach your desired thickness.
Once the puree is incorporated into the soup, stir in heavy cream for a rich, luxurious finish, and season with salt and pepper to taste. The amount of salt you’ll add will depend on the broth or stock you used and your personal preferences.
If adding the heavy cream leaves the soup too cool for serving, gently reheat it over low heat until it’s warm and steamy. Be sure to avoid boiling, which can cause the cream to curdle.
Make-Ahead Tip For Entertaining
Hosting a holiday dinner or dinner party? You can prepare this Cream of Mushroom Soup soup a couple of days ahead of time. When making it in advance, I recommend leaving out the heavy cream and storing the soup in the refrigerator.
When it’s time to serve, reheat the soup over moderate heat on the stove—no need to worry about cream curdling while juggling other hosting tasks. Once it’s hot, stir in the cream just before serving for the best texture.
Serving Suggestions
- Ladle the soup into bowls and finish with a few grinds of freshly-cracked pepper.
- For a pretty presentation, sauté some extra mushrooms in butter and use them to garnish each serving with a sprig of thyme.
- Pair it with crusty artisan bread for dipping, or take it up a notch with a batch of my Buttery Garlic Croutons—bread and soup are a match made in heaven!
Storing Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove to preserve the creamy texture.
- Freezing: This soup freezes well for up to 3 months if you skip the heavy cream, which can separate in the freezer and create a grainy texture. After defrosting and reheating, stir in the cream before serving. Be sure to leave at least an inch of space in the container for expansion.
More Soup Recipes to Try
- Split Pea Soup
- Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup
- French Lentil Soup
- “Mexican Street Corn” Soup
- Wonton Soup
- Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup
- Crockpot Hashbrown Potato Soup
Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound mixed fresh mushrooms (I use a mix of cremini, shiitake, and oyster or chanterelle)
- 1 large yellow onion , chopped (about 2 cups)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock (see note)
- 1/2 to 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (see note)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Clean mushrooms and discard any tough stems. Cut mushrooms into 1/4-inch thick slices. Set aside.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium to medium-high heat until foaming subsides. Add onion and cook until softened but not browned, about 5-8 minutes.
- Add mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the released mushroom liquid is mostly evaporated and the mushrooms are tender and starting to brown around the edges, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add flour and stir to coat the mushroom mixture. Cook for 1 minute. Add sherry and cook for an additional minute, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in chicken or vegetable broth and thyme leaves. Bring to a boil, stirring. (The soup may look, for the lack of a better term, “gloppy” at this point. This is normal! As you stir and the liquid heats, the roux will dissolve.)
- Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before proceeding.
- Transfer 1-1/2 cups of soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth (see important note about pureeing, below). Stir pureed soup back into the pot.
- Stir in heavy cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently warm over low heat, if needed, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published on Striped Spatula in October 2017. We have updated the blog post with process photos and improved copy to address reader questions we’ve received.
I make this roughly once a month and it’s absolutely incredible. I love the rich flavors from the various blends of mushroom. I was on a quest to get as close as I could to the wonderfully dense, mushroom filled soup I used to order at my favorite bistro back home in Ireland and this is as close as I can get without airfare. I adore this recipe.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Cream of Mushroom soup is one of my favorite soups on the planet just barely below Broccoli Cheddar.
This soup was so easy to make, but so nice to take my time and cook it with love.
This is my new favorite recipe for soup!
I just made this soup for the second time and I love it just as much as I did the first time ????
Wonderful recipe, thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it as much as we do, Karen! Happy Holidays!
I was craving mushroom soup and wow it’s so easy and yummy as hell
I can’t wait to make this recipe. The video is what drew my attention in, and then it sounds so yummy. Thank you for sharing.
Love this recipe! Making it again for the 2nd time this week. Quick & easy to make & tastes absolutely lip smacking delicious.
Easy to make and I have gotten rave reviews from anyone to whom I have served it!
Haven’t tried your recipe yet, but have a question- your soup is so white looking, which is good. Every time I make mushroom soup, it’s browner than I like. Help!
Hi Judy,
I find that the color varies a lot by the proportions of mushrooms I’ve used. I’ll get a browner soup if I’ve added more creminis, and more ivory if my mushroom mix has a greater proportion of chanterelles or oysters. (I noticed that the batch of soup I photographed for the still photos in this post was lighter even than the soup I made for the video!) I do find with this recipe that since only part of the soup is pureed, you have more of an opportunity for the dairy to create that creamy-colored with the broth, than if the whole pot were to be blended.
Hope that helps!
Has anyone attempted to freeze this? If so, did it freeze well, and how did you heat it back up? Thanks
Hi Henri,
Freezing instructions are provided in the article above, in the section: “How to Make This Recipe Ahead”.
Happy cooking!
I tried this cream of mushroom recipe and it is amazing delicious! I tried it a couple of months ago and making it again tonight. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I had a mushroom soup at a resort in Mexico (of all places) and I’ve been chasing down a recipe as good as that one.
This is it. I cannot believe how easy it was to make, how little ingredients it takes and how insanely DELICIOUS this soup is!!!
So delicious! My whole family loved this (one of my children doesn’t like mushrooms, so I made it while she was away :) ) This will be one of my regular family meals…thanks for sharing this!
Made this and added white wine instead of sherry…it was delicious! Thanks!
I made this about a month ago using fresh oyster and Baby Bel mushrooms. Tomorrow I will be making it again. I can’t imagine a more scrumptious mushroom soup—it could star at a dinner party. Her tweaks of a mix of mushrooms and pureeing some of the mushrooms are what make this my go-to recipe. So easy!
Absolutely delicious recipe. Used dry red wine instead of Sherry. 5 cups of cremini, bellas, white mishrooms. Added dry porcini and liquid after soaking overnight. Served woth fresh made Dark Rye Bread with butter. Comfort on this cold winter day! Thanks for a “Go to recipe” Amanda!!
My favorite cream of mushroom soup so easy and very tasty love it
Thank you
This was an awesome recipe definitely will make again… I put to much salt though. I got fresh mushrooms from a friend who works at a mushroom factory and she gave me a mixture of it. Its sooooooo yummy
Ladies. FYI
It is non-productive to say it looks delicious.
You should only post if you made it and it was either successful and delicious and rave about it…
or
You made it and it did not get right and you wonder what went wrong and need help.
Hi Dawn, thanks for your comment. As a blog and a community of home cooks (and not strictly a recipe catalog website), our readers are welcome to leave comments about any aspect of our posts they find interesting, regardless of whether they’ve made the recipe. We, of course, love hearing reader reviews after making the recipes as well! Our audience often comments about the photography, the backstories shared, and even just that they think the recipe sounds like something they’d enjoy making. We encourage friendly dialogue amongst our readership. Thank you for visiting Striped Spatula, and Happy Cooking!
wow
What a fantastic recipe! Our northern California winter seems especially cold this year. This is the one that warms you to the bone from the inside out. Awesome! Made even better with the bolete and agaricus mushrooms I picked tbis morning. Wild and yummy from nature’s bountiful offerings.
This is a great recipe. I found a blend of dehydrated mushrooms at Costco which has Bella, Oyster, Slippery Jack and Black Trumpet. It will make 4 recipes when rehydrates and costs $12 for a large container. They worked great, lots of rough texture addd to the soup. I could not always find a wide variety of mushrooms at the grocery and this dehydrated blend stores a long time on the shelf.