This is the best vegan cream of mushroom soup ever! It's dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut-free too. Combining 3 delicious things- creamy food, mushrooms, and soup! How can you go wrong? When I was a kid, my favorite thing to eat was Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup. It has been over 20 years since I have had a can, but I can easily say this dairy-free alternative is much better than Campbell’s!
If you are a mushroom lover like I am, you won’t be able to get enough of this recipe! I am the only one in my house that loves mushrooms, so I usually make this for lunch when I am the only one home. It makes about 6 servings, but I have to stop myself from eating the whole pot in one sitting.
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🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Mushrooms - Any mushroom that you like will work well - white, button, and portabella mushrooms are all good choices. My favorite ones to use for this recipe are crimini, also known as baby Bellas.
- Oil - any neutral-flavored cooking oil will work well.
- Salt - for flavor. Feel free to decrease for a low sodium option.
- Garlic Powder - for flavor. You can use a clove of fresh garlic instead if you want.
- Paprika - for flavor.
- Black Pepper - for flavor.
- Plant-Based Milk - for creaminess. Any plain flavored vegan milk like oat milk, soy milk, Ripple, or cashew milk will all work well.
- Starch - to thicken the soup. You can use potato starch, corn starch, or even white flour dissolved in water.
🥄 Instructions
- Start by washing and cutting up mushrooms into small bite-sized pieces.
- Add them to a soup pot with some oil and sprinkle them will salt. (The salt flavors the mushroom and helps it to release its juices to flavor the broth).
- Saute the mushrooms for about 5 minutes until they release their juices.
- Then add the plant milk and spices. Heat until it just begins to boil.
- Mix potato (or corn) starch with cold water and pour it into the soup. (This will thicken it quickly).
- Stir consistently for about 1 more minute until your soup is thick and creamy.
🥣 How to thicken the soup
This vegan cream of mushroom soup can be thickened one of 2 ways. The easiest way is to use corn starch and cold water. (This method also makes it gluten-free). The other way it to make a rue out of a ¼ cup of oil and a ¼ cup of flour. Heat the oil and flour in a saucepan until it gets bubbly and starts to brown slightly then slowly add the broth to the rue, stirring constantly, until it thickens. The method using the rue adds, gluten and fat, but it also adds a rich creaminess to the soup!
👩🏻🍳 Pro tips
- Potato starch gives it a slightly better texture and flavor than corn starch, but if you don't have it corn starch will work well too.
- If you are using thicker soy milk to make this like Silk brand or equivalent, use 2 cups milk and 2 cups water.
- You can also use unsweetened plant-based milk in this recipe.
- Do not use vanilla flavored plant milk.
- You may also thicken this soup by adding 1/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of flour to the bottom of a second soup pot. Heat the flour and oil for a minute then slowly ladle in the hot broth stirring with a whisk between each scoop of liquid until all of the soup is added and it begins to bubble.
- If using the method with oil and flour, still add the extra cup of water, just don't add the cornstarch.
🥗 Serving suggestions
Serve it with these delicious vegan cheddar bay biscuits, or vegan beer bread, and you have a hearty meal!
🌟 More creamy vegan soup recipes
- Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
- Vegan Cream of Celery Soup
- Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Bean Soup
- Vegan Cream of Chicken Soup
Looking for a vegan substitute for condensed soup? Try my canned vegan cream of mushroom soup!
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
This is a creamy dairy-free soup packed with mushrooms. It can be made gluten-free and soy-free too!
- 8 oz. package of mushrooms (I use cremini)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or other neutral-flavored oil
- 4 cups PLAIN soy milk or other plain milk of choice or 2 cups plant milk 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup potato starch or corn starch
- 1 cup cold water
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Chop 8 oz of mushrooms into small bite-sized pieces.
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Add 1 tbsp of oil and mushrooms to the pan with the salt and sauté the mushrooms at medium heat until they get darker and release their juices.
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Add 4 cups of milk, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
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Heat until the soup just barely begins to bubble then reduce the heat to low.
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In a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup potato or corn starch and 1 cup of water. Stir until it dissolves completely.
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Pour the starch mixture into the hot soup stirring constantly.
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Continue to heat the soup on low until it thickens and just starts to bubble.
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Turn off heat and serve hot.
- Potato starch gives it a slightly better texture and flavor than corn starch, but if you don't have it, corn starch will work well too.
- If you are using thicker soy milk to make this, like Silk brand or equivalent, use 2 cups milk and 2 cups water.
- You can also use unsweetened plant-based milk in this recipe.
- Do not use vanilla flavored plant milk.
- You may also thicken this soup by adding 1/4 cup of oil and 1/4 cup of flour to the bottom of a second soup pot. Heat the flour and oil for a minute then slowly ladle in the hot broth stirring with a whisk between each scoop of liquid until all of the soup is added and it begins to bubble.
- If using the method with oil and flour, still add the extra cup of water, just don't add the cornstarch.
* Updated 1/21/20 to include new photos.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Did you make this recipe? I would love to hear from you! Please take a minute and leave a quick comment and a star review below. Thanks!
When using for condensed cream of mushroom, for green bean casserole, do you omit all the milk/water, except for 1 cup milk?
Hi Vanessa, to make this into condensed soup, follow the recipe as written except only use 1 cup of milk, and mix the starch with 1/2 cup of water. This will yield about 2 cans of condensed soup. I hope that helps.
For recipes calling for condensed cream of mushroom soup, how would you use an equivalent of this?
You cut the recipe in half and then only add 1 cup of plant-based milk. This will result in a thick condensed soup with a similar volume to a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Can I use vegan butter instead of oil to make the rue?
Yes, you can. I hope you enjoy this soup as much as I do! I make it at least once a week! 🙂
Can you make a larger batch and freeze it?
It should work fine to freeze. I always eat in it the first day or two, so I've never needed to do that, but my other cream soups freeze well, so I think that this one would too. Enjoy! 🙂
Yum! I only had coconut milk on hand and it still tasted amazing. Next time I make it will be with a little different milk.
Yum! Coconut milk is delicious too! I do that some times as well and add green curry to it. Glad that you liked it! 🙂
This soup is absolutely delicious! I was so excited to find a vegan and gluten free cream soup! Thanks for the recipe!
I'm so happy that you liked it! Sometimes you just need a good creamy soup! 🙂