This recipe for Hungarian Vegan Mushroom Soup creates a rich, creamy soup that makes the perfect healthy lunch or light dinner. Gluten free and delicious, it is also a lighter, dairy-free and vegan friendly version of cream of mushroom soup. Even better, it’s packed with healthy nutrients!
Y’all have made it known to me in emails and in our Facebook group that you want recipes for healthier versions of your favorite comfort foods with SIMPLE ingredients; vegetarian and/or lower carb options as well! 😉 Because cream of mushroom soup is a popular ingredient in comforting meals like tuna noodle casserole and Swedish meatballs, I think the soup deserves a healthy makeover!
Why You Should Skip the Canned Mushroom Soup!
One peek at the red and white label on a popular brand can of condensed cream of mushroom soup is usually all it takes to realize that it’s not the healthiest choice. At least, for most people. Aside from being loaded with sodium, most of the cream of anything soups lack essential healthy nutrients.
For the most part, they are nothing more than roux (equal parts fat and flour) with flavored broth and a lot of salt and preservatives added to them. Depending on the flavor, you may find tiny amounts of the base ingredient in them too, like mushrooms or chicken.
If you want to make condensed soup ready to eat, you need to stir in a couple of cups of liquid to it. Most people use water. When you buy ready-to-eat mushroom soup or you order it at a restaurant, it is usually made with all purpose flour, salted butter, salted broth or stock, plus heavy cream and/or milk.
What makes this Hungarian Mushroom Soup recipe healthy?
Just to clarify, this recipe isn’t for condensed soup – it’s for ready-to-eat soup. It’s a healthier recipe because we make simple swaps for ingredients that include healthy nutrients!
- Chilled coconut milk (solid) plus a little lemon juice instead of sour cream or heavy cream. A much healthier fat choice, y’all.
- Almond milk versus dairy milk.
- Greek yogurt (if you can handle dairy) for heavy cream. Give some extra love for those probiotics!
- Tamari sauce or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. Gluten free and much lower in sodium.
- Tapioca flour vs all purpose flour. Which makes the vegan mushroom soup paleo, gluten free, and grain free too!
Step by step instructions to make vegan mushroom soup
Although it uses quite a few ingredients, making this homemade mushroom soup recipe is easy peasy.
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Or, if you would rather, you can use refined avocado oil or olive oil instead of butter. Saute the onions in the pot for 5 minutes. Add your mushrooms to the pot saute on high for 5 more minutes.
- I like to add in a splash of white wine (use a dry white wine, like chardonnay), into this next step, but it is optional. You may leave it out. Let’s get to that next step now, eh?
- Next, stir in the wine, dill, paprika, tamari sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the soup simmers, whisk the milk and arrowroot flour together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk this into the soup and stir well to blend. Cover and simmer everything for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Finally, stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, parsley and sour cream. Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat, about 3 to 5 minutes but don’t allow it to boil. Serve immediately.
The soup is filling and SO delicious! I like to serve homemade gluten free naan with my vegan mushroom soup. Serving it with a healthy salad is a good option, too. Or, think outside of the box and stir some cooked quinoa or brown rice into the soup. Extra yum!
If you want to see how I made this, check out the IGTV video!
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Creamy Hungarian Vegan Mushroom Soup (Dairy Free)
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Description
This recipe for vegan mushroom soup makes a rich, creamy dairy free soup that’s perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Gluten free and packed with nutrients!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter* (I used plant-based butter. See notes for vegan option)
- 1.5 cups chopped onions
- 1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced. (~3 to 4 cups sliced). Cremini or white button mushrooms.
- 1/3 cup dry white wine, OPTIONAL. Can be left out.
- 2 teaspoons dried dill weed or 1.5 tablespoons fresh (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon hot paprika and pinch of smoked paprika (smoked paprika is optional)
- 1 tablespoon tamari sauce or coconut aminos
- 2.5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 cup non dairy milk
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour (tapioca starch may be subbed but texture will vary).
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt or full fat coconut milk (*canned and chilled for vegan option)
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Place butter* in pot and melt, coating the pan.
- Place your onions in the pot and saute for 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute for an additional 5 minutes until mushroom are browned and coated in butter. Onions will brown as well.
- Stir in the wine, dill, paprika, tamari sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk the thickening mixture; non dairy milk and arrowroot flour. Pour the flour milk mix into the soup and stir thoroughly to blend. Cover pot and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Finally, stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, parsley and yogurt (or solid coconut cream). Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil.
- Garnish with extra chopped parsley and cracked pepper. Serve immediately or let it cool and store in airtight container in fridge.
- May be placed in freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- 3 tablespoons refined avocado oil or olive oil may be substituted for butter
- To lower carbs, use full fat coconut cream versus yogurt. For solid coconut cream or milk, be sure to keep the can in the fridge to chill.
- This recipe was inspired by one of my favorite ALL RECIPES!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: Soups
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Hungarian
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 189
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 791.1 mg
- Fat: 14.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 8 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.2 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 6.9 g
- Cholesterol: 37.3 mg
Keywords: vegan mushroom soup, gluten free, paleo, vegetarian, dairy free, healthy soup recipe
Alright my friends! Grab a spoon, dig in, and let’s celebrate a cozy weekend with soup for soul. 😉
P.S This is a great recipe to make for the last week of the anti-inflammatory kickstart challenge. Hint Hint!
Cheers,
LC
This soup is amazing! This is definitely going into regular rotation! I left out the wine and smoked paprika – might add them next time just to see, but even without them, this is a 10-star recipe! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
I’m so glad! Thanks for the feedback Nicole. Did you use yogurt or non dairy yogurt to thicken as well?
Excellent!
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Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
In terms of technique, I recommend browning onions alone, then browning mushrooms separately. I made my X-1 version as outlined above, but mushrooms take up moisture from onions and don’t brown quite as well in their company. Once the combo was browned in a frying pan, I transferred to a saucepan for the rest of the cooking.
I reduced the smoked paprika to 1/2 T and was happy w the result.
(I had no arrowroot, and I’m ok w gluten, so I used coconut milk and wheat flour to good effect. I used an immersion blender to make the mixture lump- free, and it thickened the soup immediately on adding.)
Had coconut aminos on hand, and finished the soup w unsweetened coconut yoghurt.
The result was a rich, deeply flavorful soup with a good bit of spiciness, even with the changes imposed by my pantry, so I’d call this a forgiving recipe w room for reasonable substitutions.
Love your tips! Thank you for feedback
Yum me. I used vegan butter and almond milk. Other than that I followed the recipe and was awesome. Being Vegan it’s an amazing soup.
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Oh I am so glad! Thanks for the feedback Austin!
Have made it twice, so good!
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Found your recipe when my husband requested mushroom soup. I can’t eat mushrooms (AIP). After his first taste, he said “this is DELICIOUS!!!” And “you can make this soup ANYTIME you want!” THANK YOU Lindsay for this recipe. I made big batch and will freeze small portions in freezer bags. It will be a regular staple in this house.😁
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I’m so happy to hear this, Mary Anne! I’m sorry that you won’t be able to enjoy the soup with your husband, though.
Can I please remind you that if you use butter, chicken broth, greek yogurt or sour cream, it is NOT VEGAN. Vegan means there are NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS USED AT ALL! NOT ONE. You can call it Vegetarian, but NOT IF YOU USE CHICKEN BROTH!
I understand your concerns, Chelsea. There are vegan options in the recipe card. For example, vegetable stock/broth can be used. We list chicken stock for people who aren’t on a vegan diet. Likewise, we list coconut or nut milk products to use.
It IS misleading, though, when you title something VEGAN and proceed to list a plethora of non-vegan ingredients. People often adjust according to their own desires, and a vegan ingredient won’t stop a non-vegan from using a non-vegan alternative. Promoting a recipe as vegan and then listing dairy ingredients will, however, stop a vegan from trusting your recipes.
We can certainly retitle it with vegan options instead.
I definitely am not trying to confuse or mislead anyone. I recreated this recipe with vegan ingredients first and then dairy ingredients as another option, per reader request.
I made this soup today and it is wonderful. Didn’t use any dairy and even my husband loved it.
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Yay for husband approved! 🙂
I made this tonight and it was a hit! Easy to make and satisfying to eat. You know it’s a hit when a teenager has 2nds! I’ll make it again and again!
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Oh I am so glad. Thanks for feedback with the teenagers too! YAY!
This soup was absolutely AMAZING! Soo delicious, the whole family loved it, even the 2 picky kids. 🙂 I omitted the white wine, and used almond milk, then at the end added coconut yogurt instead of greek yogurt. I followed everything else in the recipe, and it was the best mushroom soup I‘ve ever had! And even Vegan! I give it 2 thumbs up! 😉
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I’m so glad! Thanks for the feedback Melissa!
Fantastically delicious!
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Thanks, Kelly! Glad you loved it!
Great recipe! I love Dill but hardly ever get a chance to use it. It went so well with the mushrooms, it’s a wonder I’ve never tried them together before!
I added some garlic after the mushrooms began to brown (love love love garlic) and added about 2 cups of chopped collard greens with the vegetable broth (for a little color and fiber) it turned out beautifully. That’s the cool thing about soups, you can really tweak the recipe, add in a little if this or that.
Thank you for sharing!
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So glad you enjoyed it! Love the extra greens you added.
Very easy to make and very delicious.
★★★★★
Thanks, Olivia! Glad to hear that!
This soup is delicious!!! So happy I tried it.
★★★★★
Yaayy! Glad to hear that Sherri!
Hello, I love making your recipes but I was wondering if I could do this in a pressure cooker to make the process faster. Thank you so much.
Good question! I haven’t tried it. The milk might burn on high so I would sautee mushroom and onion, then add the everything but the last few ingredients; salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, parsley and yogurt (or solid coconut cream). Maybe pressure cook manual 10 minutes. Slow release, then stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, parsley and yogurt (or solid coconut cream). Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat/warm for an additional 10 minutes until thickened. That’s my best guess. Haha, doable!
Hello, I love making your recipes but I was wondering if I could do this in a pressure cooker to make the process faster. Thank you so much.
I added turmeric and skipped the sour cream to be dairy free. Served with rice and butternut squash zoodles, and a free range egg on top. Delicious.
★★★★★
oh that sounds wonderful Kristen!
I made this today and it was divine! I’m not usually much of a soup person (basically never eat them, make them, order them out, etc) but I wanted to make something seasonal to welcome in the colder months, and this was such a good start to that tradition. I used greek yogurt and the consistency and taste were great. I added a tiny bit more paprika (didn’t have any smoked!) than the recipe called for, which I recommend if you want a slightly spicier/bolder savory taste. I had also used dried parsley instead of fresh, so I added half about 8 minutes into simmering, and the other half as the directions stated. I paired it with some olive bread and have already sent the link to this recipe to basically all my friends and family members lollll will absolutely be making again!
★★★★★
Oh I am so glad! Maybe soup will be your new love. hehe. 😉
For once I followed a recipe exactly, using butter, almond milk, coconut cream and tapioca flour. It is wonderful. What a blessing this is. thank you.
★★★★★
This soup is amazing and rich in flavor. I used coconut milk, and I did use some white wine! Fabulous recipe, will be making this often this winter!
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So glad you enjoyed it Cara! Thanks for feedback .
Soooo good! I was out of paprika, so I added a little cayenne and a tsp of red pepper flakes. It still had a wonderful, complex flavor. My partner and I loved it!!
★★★★★
Thanks, Tom! Glad to hear that y’all loved it!
I made a variant of this since I didn’t have the smoked paprika- and I wound up using basil, parsley and oregano with ghee. I made it will all shiitakes – since I had a ton from my CSA box. Is also used coconut cream instead of milk, and I skipped the yogurt since I am lactose intolerant. It came out soooo good!
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That’s awesome! Glad it worked out for you!
It’s getting colder here in Sweden now and this soup was so cozy and hearty! I didn’t have vegan yoghurt at home so I used oat cream instead, turned out great. Thanks for a great recipe!
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Great idea! Glad the oat milk worked. Good to know!
Surprisingly delicious and light. I’ll definitely make it again!
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So glad! Thanks for feedback Anita
Looks delicious and I can’t wait to try!! But the use of butter makes it not vegan right?
You can use a vegan butter (I’ve used Miyokos or earth balance) or refined coconut oil to make it vegan.
This soup is absolutely amazing. And being Hungarian by heritage, it brought me back to my grandma’s cooking in childhood — except this soup is much healthier! I used plant based milk with a tapioca flour for the thickener – delish, and a plain goat milk yogurt with 2 tsp of lemon juice for the “sour cream” – amazing. It is inspiring me to try to adapt other Hungarian recipes with a semi-Vegan flair! Thank you so much for this version of Mushroom soup. It will be one I make over and over again. Next time I will try with coconut milk. Can’t wait.
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Oh wonderful! Thanks for feedback Janet. ANd I love that you use goat milk! YUM!
This recipe sounded the most flavorful of all the vegan creamy mushroom soup recipes I found, so I tried it. I used tapioca starch instead of arrowroot flour, oat milk, and plant based sour cream instead of coconut milk or yoghurt. It came out great! I cut it in half. I mixed in brown crimini and white mushrooms. All the simmering thickens it up nicely. I also used homemade vegetable stock, and home grown parsely. I didn’t have dill weed, so substituted dried oregano. Great recipe!
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Oh yum! I love that you use oregano! Good call!
The best dish eaten in a long time. We had left over ravioli. Mushroom sauce went over it👍🏻
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So glad to hear that you loved it!! Thanks, Jamie!
This is very, very good!
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Am a huge fan of mushrooms and this soup is healthy, creamy and more comfort food…i can’t wait to try it…Thanks for sharing……!
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So glad! Yes, we loved this. Keep me posted!
Loving your gluten free recipes- so glad I found you! Can you talk a little about arrowroot flour and how it performs in the soup? I have found different flours often work better in different recipes. One thing we don’t love at our house is a gritty mouth feel which some flours produce. I have been able to prevent that by blending certain flours in a recipe vs using just one. Wondering what to expect with arrowroot. Would love to hear why you picked this flour over others if possible too.
sure thing! I have found that arrowroot is less “goopy” that tapioca when you use it as a slurry. I love tapioca in baked good, but sometimes I have a hard time finding the right balance of slurry with tapioca. Arrowroot has been more even and similar to cornstarch when thickening soups and stews. Both work though! Does that make sense?
just the kind of soup I’m in the mood for on a cold winter night, thank you!
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I recently became a vegetarian and such recipes help me integrate into a new lifestyle. Thank you very much for such recipes, today I’ll cook
This is so good! Comforting and really easy to make!
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Thanks, Toni! Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m always looking for new soup recipes! thanks for sharing this!
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This soup is so good! I love how creamy it is and the mushroom add the best flavor!
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This is the perfect, delicious, healthy comfort food! Just amazing!
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thanks Lauren!