My family used to eat the popular canned version of cream of mushroom soup often. As an adult, I still love the simple soup, but it’s much more appetizing when made from scratch. The soup is creamy, and the tarragon really accentuates the earthiness of the fresh mushrooms. I love that it’s effortless to make in the slow cooker, so I don’t have to trade convenience for all that extra flavor.
Cream of mushroom soup is a hearty, rustic dish, so we served it with a loaf of pumpernickel bread. It doesn’t get more satisfying than this when it comes to late winter comfort food.
If you can’t find tarragon, you can substitute thyme, and if you want to add extra depth, you can replace the vegetable broth with chicken broth. Add in some wild mushrooms (such as shiitake or portobello) and blend the soup more or less depending on how you like it. There are many ways to make this cream of mushroom soup recipe your own.
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 6 cups sliced mushrooms about 24 oz.
- 1 package vegetable broth 32 oz.
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until onions are clear.
- Add mushrooms and cook until tender. Add wine and cook 2 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to slow cooker crock. Add vegetable broth, tarragon, salt and pepper.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or LOW for 3 to 4 hours.
- In a small bowl, whisk cream and cornstarch until smooth. During last 30 minutes, stir cream mixture into soup in crock. Stir until smooth. If using LOW heat, turn to HIGH. Cover and cook until thickened.
- Remove half of soup mixture with sliced mushrooms. Transfer remaining mixture to a blender or use a hand blender to blend mixture in crock until somewhat smooth. Combine with reserved mushroom soup mixture and serve.
If you have a slow cooker with stove-top safe cookware, substitute the cookware for the skillet in the directions above. After sautéing, place cookware in base, cover and cook as directed in recipe.
For the cook who is busy all day but wants a home-cooked dinner at night, a slow cooker is the answer. And with the Set & Forget® Programmable Slow Cooker, technology takes a big leap forward from the outdated slow cookers found in yesterday’s kitchens.
TAGS: mushrooms, slow cooker, soup
CATEGORIES: Everyday Recipes, Healthy Eating, soup & stews
This was absolutely delicious. I added a drizzle of truffle oil on top for serving, and it was sheer heaven.
I used cooking wine, and it was fine, however is the soup supposed to have a little spicy taste to it? It was also a little watery, I probably should have added a little more corn starch. It still doesn’t have the right taste I’m looking for. Even though it was a good turn out. Looking for the taste like Mellow Mushrooms soup. Any body have another recipe.
can u put this in smaller batches and freeze to replaced the canned stuff. I am curious to find something that does not have lots of crud and salt.
Hi Virginia, that’s a great question. I agree it’s nice to have something quick and easy on hand without the added preservatives and salt many convenience foods contain.
Yes, you can make this recipe and freeze it in smaller batches. (For the best way to do this, I recommend checking out our Slow Cooker Chicken Stock post.) The trick is to pause the recipe before adding the cream, freeze it, and then add the proportionate amount of cream and cornstarch mixture upon reheating. You can even do the blending step before freezing, and it won’t harm a thing. I hope that helps.
Is there something than can be substituted for the heavy cream? It causes my husband’s stomach to bloat and makes him miserable!
Donna, those who suffer from lactose sensitivities may want to try a lactose-free substitute that has worked for them in the past. Others will prefer to leave out dairy altogether. The soup is still quite delicious without dairy added at all, or an unsweetened soy milk or creamer could be substituted.
Virginia, try using silken tofu. Here are instructions from the Nagoya website on how to replace cream with tofu.
So next time you want to make your favorite creamy soup, or add “creaminess” to any soup for that matter, grab a pack of silken tofu before reaching for the cream. Just follow these simple steps to substitute in tofu.
1. For every cup of cream or whole milk in the recipe, use 8 oz. soft silken tofu instead. For example, if the recipe calls for 1.5 cups of cream, use 12 oz. of soft silken tofu instead.
2. Prepare the tofu for the soup by rinsing it and then pulsing it in a food processor until smooth. Consider seasoning it with salt, pepper, and your favorite spices for added flavor.
3. Then simply whisk in the tofu in place of the cream in the recipe. Taste and season the soup if necessary since tofu doesn’t have as much natural flavor as cream.
Note: If you are planning on blending the entire soup, you can add any type of tofu in cubes during the cooking process. When you blend it, it will ensure a creamy outcome.
Sorry-typo-that should read from the Nagoya website…
OK..looks like I can’t stop the autocorrect! N-A-S-O-Y-A
Silken tofu has a very creamy texture when blended. Do be sure to season to taste, as it doesn’t offer much in terms of flavor. Thanks for the idea, Beatrice!
Please recommend a couple of wine varieties
Rose, any dry white wine works well in this recipe. When testing this recipe, we tried both Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Pinot grigio would also work well here.
What could be substituted for the corn starch which has too many carb? Thanks
Petra, the cornstarch acts as a thickening agent in this soup. You may be able to substitute arrowroot starch for the cornstarch at equal quantities, but please note we have not tested this substitution.
What to use instead of wine for those that do not consume alcohol?
You can substitute the white wine for a white cooking wine which is non-alcohollic
I would not use cooking wines, as I think they taste terrible. You can always replace wine with chicken or beef stock in ANY recipe. I would use one of those.
For those looking to avoid the alcohol in the recipe, we’d recommend subsituting chicken stock and a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to add some acidity.