Easy Cream of Mushroom Soup
This super easy cream of mushroom soup is made from scratch with fresh mushrooms, sautéed onion and garlic, dry sherry and fresh herbs. It has complex homemade flavors, but is ready in only 30 minutes!

I originally shared this recipe on March 25th, 2014. I have updated the recipe, text, photos and added a video today.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Healthy Cream of Mushroom Soup
For me, cream of mushroom soup is one of those entities that will always bring me back to my childhood. Although I do love a decadent and super creamy soup, today I have a homemade healthier version of the classic mushroom soup.
Dry sherry is added for classic comfort food flavor, then it’s thickened with flour, and finished off with broth and milk. Before you know it, viola, you’ve got a simple, delicious and creamy mushroom soup that is ready in 30 minutes start to finish!
I love serving this on cold winter days, and since it’s a fast recipe, it’s perfect for workweek dinners. Just pair it with a chunk of warm homemade whole-wheat bread, a garden salad or enjoy it all on its own for a comfort food meal that will warm you up from the inside out.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegetables: All you need is garlic, onion and mushrooms. They all help to build lots of flavor.
- Unsalted butter: I like the flavor of butter in this recipe, but you could also use olive oil if you prefer.
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper and dry thyme are the classics for cream of mushroom soup.
- Dry sherry: If you’ve made my Chicken a la King or my Green Bean Casserole, you know dry sherry has got a special place in my pantry when I am making over old classic recipes! If you are in a pinch you can sub in dry vermouth or white wine.
- Flour: To thicken the soup I used all-purpose flour. To make this gluten-free use cornstarch instead. See notes below.
- Vegetable broth, such as Imagine “No Chicken”: I dislike pretty much every vegetable broth on the market except Imagine no chicken, so if you can’t find it and you eat poultry you can use chicken broth instead.
- Reduced-fat milk: To make this creamy but keep the fat calories in check, I opted for 2% milk. If you have whole milk feel free to use that instead.
- Herbs: I amped up the flavors in the recipe with fresh herbs such as chives and fresh rosemary. Fresh rosemary is far superior to dried in taste and texture.
- Truffle oil for drizzling: This is an expensive ingredient and not available at every store, so feel free to use butter or olive oil if you prefer. A little bit of fat on top helps to make the flavors better.
Chefs Note: This will seem like a lot of mushrooms when you add them to the pot, but within a few minutes, they will cook down to a much more reasonable amount. Adding in the salt and seasoning will help them release their juices and wake up the flavors in the dry thyme.
Step-by-Step Instructions To Make This Low-Calorie Cream of Mushroom Soup
Step 1: Sauté garlic & onion
Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring until starting to brown and soften, 4 to 6 minutes.
Step 2: Cook Mushrooms and Season:
Add mushrooms salt, thyme and pepper, and cook stirring often until the mushrooms have released their juices and the juices have evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sherry and rosemary. Sherry is very strong in flavor and the alcohol needs to be cooked off before the flour and other liquid is added. Simmer until it is dry or au sec.
Step 3: Add Flour To Thicken
Sprinkle flour over the vegetable mixture and stir to coat.
Step 4: Add Liquid
Stir in the broth, and stir it immediately to help the flour dissolve into the broth. As it comes up to a simmer, keep stirring to ensure the flour doesn’t clump or stick to the bottom of the pot. Once it comes to a simmer the starches in the flour will gelatinize and the soup will appear thicker. Add milk and return to a simmer, stirring often.
Step 5: Finish and Serve
Remove the creamy mushroom soup from the heat, stir in chives. Ladle into large soup bowls and drizzle with truffle oil, if using.
FAQs and Expert Tips
To make this gluten-free you can omit the flour and make a slurry with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of broth. Add the slurry in after the broth simmers but before adding the milk. Stir as it comes to a boil.
For a richer soup instead of 1-1/2 cups milk, use 1 cup milk plus 1/2 cup heavy cream for a luxurious creamy texture.
If you like, feel free to use a variety of mushrooms. Or you can use regular white mushrooms for an affordable option.
If you don’t have chives, you could use scallions instead.
You can use a non-dairy milk or unsweetened unflavored non-dairy cream instead of the milk and use olive oil instead of butter to make the recipe vegan.
This soup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
This soup can be frozen up to 2 months. Defrost and reheat until simmering hot.
Chefs Tips on How To Serve
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top with chives and drizzle with the truffle oil.
- If you are using butter, you can simply drop a pat of it onto the surface. It will float on top and slowly melt into the soup.
- Sprinkle with the chives.
- For a fancy presentation, you can also sauté a couple of sliced mushrooms in oil and lay them on top.
What to Serve This Soup With
- To make this a meal, make my Classic Garden Salad for a complete comfort food dinner.
- Slice baguettes, make homemade croutons, or open a box of oyster crackers for an easy option.
- For company, this would be a nice first course, followed by Brown Rice Risotto and Overnight Kale Caesar.
More Classic Soup Recipes To Try This Season
- My Minestrone Soup is probably one of my most popular soup recipes of all time. It always wins rave reviews.
- This Creamy White Chicken Chili is also a meal prep recipe for the slow cooker!
- This Italian Wedding Soup is also a comfort food favorite around here.
- If you love creamy soup this Instant Pot Cream of Cauliflower Soup would be a top one to try too.
- For a Mexican flair try this Healthy Taco Soup to mix it up!
- Want more soup ideas? Try these 15 healthy soup recipes.
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintEasy Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Here is how to make homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup from scratch with fresh mushrooms. Serve with a drizzle of truffle oil to make it extra special!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cups sliced mushrooms, any variety or mixed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups vegetable broth, such as Imagine no chicken
- 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk (*see note for creamier soup)
- 3 tablespoons chopped chives
- Truffle oil for drizzling, optional
Instructions
- Sauté: Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring until starting to brown and soften, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Cook Mushrooms and Season: Add mushrooms salt, thyme and pepper, and cook stirring often until the mushrooms have released their juices and the juices have evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sherry and rosemary, bring to a simmer and let sherry evaporate until dry.
- Add Flour To Thicken: Sprinkle flour over the vegetable mixture and stir to coat.
- Add Liquid: stir in broth, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, stirring continuously until the soup has thickened slightly. Add milk and return to a simmer, stirring often.
- Finish and Serve: Remove from the heat, stir in chives. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with truffle oil, if using.
Notes
To Make It Ultra Creamy
For a richer soup instead of 1 1/2 cups milk, use 1 cup milk plus 1/2 cup heavy cream for a luxurious creamy texture.
To Make It Gluten Free
- To make this gluten-free you can omit the flour and make a slurry with 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 cup of the broth.
- Add the slurry in after the broth simmers but before the milk.
- Stir as it comes to a boil.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cup soup
- Calories: 179
- Sugar: 9 g
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 23 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
I’m making this recipe for the first time.
I followed the instructions as written, but nowhere do I see how you “cream” it.
Do I use an immersion blender?
Is it not supposed to be a “Cream of Mushroom” soup?
Maybe it is supposed to have a cream type base but have all the mushroom pieces be whole.
I don’t know.
Please advise.
Thanks.
If you like a pureed soup you can do so in step 5 with an immersion blender or carefully in a blender. Enjoy!