Learning to make Cream of Mushroom Soup will be a fantastic tool to have in your real food kitchen tool belt!
Just in case you lose count while reading the following sentence, I used the word “cream” or “creamy” six times, because apparently I like these words and like to overuse them. And also because once I realized I was doing it, I exaggerated on purpose:
When I shared my Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole recipe, I told you that I don’t usually make cream soups to replace the canned cream soups called for in many creamy recipes, but instead substitute straight cream to make the dish creamy.
(Someone give me a synonym for “creamy” to enhance my future sentence writing creativity.)
However, I have a great recipe for an easy one dish meat and potato meal that I hadn’t made for years because I wasn’t sure how to make it without the cream of mushroom soup. For this, straight cream just wouldn’t cut it. I need to make the soup.
Therefore, for all one of my recipes that need cream of mushroom soup, here is how I make it:
Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
- ½ cup sliced mushrooms
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
- 4 cups milk, divided
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- pepper to taste
- Begin by sauteing mushrooms and butter until mushrooms are tender.
- In the meantime, shake the cornstarch or arrowroot powder in a jar with 1½ cups of milk.
- Use a whisk to mix the milk mixture into the sauteed mushrooms, stirring constantly at medium heat.
- Slowly add remaining milk, salt and pepper.
- Stir with a whisk until smooth and thick.
You probably could have figured out how to do this step without a picture, but when have I ever missed a chance to take a great photo of a jar?
Ooh, Ahh
This recipe will make around three cans worth of cream soup. I haven’t done it before, but I would imagine you could substitute celery for the mushrooms to make cream of celery soup instead. If you have extra soup that you don’t need, this can be frozen.
This recipe tastes great in my One Dish Meat and Potato Casserole!
What recipes do you make that require cream of mushroom soup?
If I only needed one can of cream of mushroom, how would I store the rest (I’m talking long-term storage–freezer?) Or should I only make 1/3 of the recipe?
The only recipes I can think of that use cream of mushroom soup are Green Bean Casserole (I make it like once a year!), and Shepherd’s Pie.
Yes, thank you. I meant to mention that in the post. The rest can be frozen for future use!
What about Cream of Chicken? For some reason I imagine there is a slightly difference process with this one than mere substitution? I would love to know how to do this one…it’s my go-to soup for many things….and I don’t want to do the can anymore!
I would love to know about cream of chicken too! It’s the one cream soup I buy, but I would love to make my own.
I make cream of chicken soup using recipe very similar to this one
and substitute half the milk with chicken broth. You can put little
pieces of chicken in it if you want, but I don’t feel the need. I make
a big batch and freeze them in pint boxes for future use. Works great!
I was thinking the same thing about replacing half of the liquid with chicken broth (homemade of course), but using heavy cream for the other half to keep it thick and creamy! Synonyms for creamy: velvety smooth, luscious, rich.
Ooh, great synonyms!
Suzanna – where do you get pint boxes?
I found them at the grocery store with the canning supplies. There are usually 4-5 containers in a pack for around $3.
oh thank you! my dish to bring for Thanksgiving is green bean casserole and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy a can of msg soup for it but didn’t know what to do! This is perfect timing! it is also really good with periogies. And I have a slow cooker stew recipe that uses it!
I made cream of celery soup by a similar recipe this past Sunday so that I could use it in turkey tetrazini.
This is great! :o) I have several recipes from friends that include cream of mushroom soup, but I’ve held off from making them,….now, I can! :o) *The one my children request most that they had at a friend’s house is:
1 ‘can’ cream of mushroom soup
1 can tuna
1 lb. frozen peas
Pour over rice, egg noodles, or toast. They call it, Tuna Wiggles. :o)
That sounds similar to a recipe we used to make when I was younger. It was “Creamed Tuna on Toast” only we made a white sauce and added tuna and then poured that over toast. Yummy!
Thank you for posting! I’ve been wishing for a homemade version for quite a while now. I will definitely be trying this out!!!
Seems to be a theme in the comments but the traditional Thanksgiving green bean casserole would not be the same without it. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. Love cream of mushroom soup. :)
I am stopping over from the Homeschool Blog Awards – saw your nominations and wanted to check out some new blogs =-) This looks delicious! If you have an Christmas baking coming up I’d love for you to link it up to my Holiday Baking Linky – http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/2011/11/holiday-traditions-3christmas-cookies.html – I am your newest follower. I’d love for you to follow me back, if you want to!
Beth
Thanks for reminding me to get some ready for the green bean casserole. We sometimes add pre-cooked chicken (or whatever small bits of leftover meat we have)and pour it over toast for chicken (or whatever) a la king.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Most of the meals I have not been able to make with creamy soups, I have not really missed. But I miss Mexican Chicken Casserole (nacho cheese Doritos,chicken, cheese, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and rotel.) Now, if I can just find a nacho Doritos recipe LOL. Thank you also for the cream idea, so simple yet I hadn’t thought of it before :)
I googled and found this nacho cheese Dorito recipe using sprouted corn tortillas:
http://thepeacefulkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/02/vegan-nacho-cheese-chip-recipe-nacho.html
Do you mind posting your Mexican Chkn Casserole recipe? Sounds good! I would probably just use organic tortilla chips and sprinkle the spices or maybe make the chips ahead. For cream of chicken I just add pre-cooked diced chicken. Since I try to steamline, for this recipe I would probably just add the chicken to the mushrooms in the first step of the recipe since you need both. Does that make sense?
Here’s the Mexican Chicken Casserole recipe(from what I remember,I
don’t think we ever wrote it down.)
1 can cream of chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom, 1 can rotel, 2-3
cooked chicken breasts, shredded cheese (maybe 1/2-1 cup?), nacho
cheese doritos.
Mix soups, rotel,diced chicken in a bowl(Sometimes I do this a day
before to really let the flavors mix). Layer some crushed doritos
in a casserole pan(the more chips,the less soupy so you just have to
play with it the get the consistency you like). Add the chicken soup,
top with more chips and cheese. Bake at 350 till the cheese is nice
and golden.
Thanks for the chip recipe link! I will have to try it. I usually
just live without chips since I know they are not healthy, but
sometimes it would be nice to indulge. And I just happen to have a
pile of leftover corn tortillas, but not sprouted :) And now that I
can make the creamy soups homemade I will be set!
Mmmm, homemade Doritos, wouldn’t that be too wonderful?
I have not missed junk food very much, and I’ve lost 35 pounds by
eating more whole foods. Now with this Doritos recipe, and the
homemade Oreo recipe my sister just sent me, I could be in big
trouble! LOL
please post homemade oreos-that sounds AWESOME!!!
Crockpot Beef Stroganoff is one of my family’s absolute favorites, and the Cream of Mushroom is a must!
1 1/2 to 2 lbs of stew beef
1 can/box of cream of Mushroom mixed with a bit of sugar and garlic powder (1 teaspoon each)
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is falling apart. 1/2 hour before you’re ready to eat, add 8 oz. of sour cream to the crockpot and stir it together with the meat and gravy. Cook on low for remaining 30 minutes.
Serve over egg noodles. Delicious!
For some reason, I think the homemade version may not work as well. There’s a reason you add teh sour cream at the end – I’m not sure a milk/cream product will work the same in the crockpot.
Looking forward to trying this…
Is this a substitute for CONDENSED cream soup? That is really thick and not soup-like at all. (I substitute 2 cups sour cream with sauteed mushrooms for condensed cream soup, but think your version would taste better.) Just curious.
Good question – it’s been so long since I used a can I forgot how thick those are. I’d say this is not quite as condensed as the canned.
We make our own too, and use it in our crawfish etouffe and chicken and rice. I like it just alone, as well.
Laura,
What kind of mushrooms did you use or do you recomend using?
I’m not very mushroom savvy, so I don’t know specific names – I just use the regular white mushrooms?? :)
Thank you so much for sharing this!!!! My son has to be gluten and dairy free, and I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. I’ve figured out subsitutions for most of our meal, but had not been able to figure out the green bean casserole. You’ve posted this early enough that I can try making this with his dairy-free butter and either almond or soy milk. If it totally crashes and burns, I still have time to try something else as well. Thank you!!!!
If he can have coconut, you might try it with that unsweetened coconut milk from So Delicious. I think that would give it more of a milk flavor that almond milk.
Thank you Laura for the recipe! Can’t wait to it!!!
I made a cream of potato soup (great by itself with sour cream, cheese, and pieces of bacon!) last week. I may have to try your recipe with the celery I have in the fridge!
Do you think rice milk or coconut milk would work?
thanks
Linda
Yes, I think it would!
Thanks!
I am so excited to try this! I love creamy soups (especially in recipes) but hate the mainstream ones with the yucky ingredients. I had purchased 2 expensive containers at a popular health food grocery but I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Thanks, Laura!
I always add a dash of nutmeg to the soup and some minced garlic. It adds flavor and dimension that is oh so good. I am lucky if I get enough to freeze as my husband usually eats a bowl while I am making it to use in our casseroles.
I use cream of mushroom soup when making stroganoff and chicken pot pies.
Oooh Thanks!
Cream of Chicken is so easy to make!
3 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of flour ( I use whole wheat)
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup of chicken broth
couple of pieces of chicken
salt
pepper
Melt Butter
Stir in flour
Heat it for a minute
Slowly add milk
Slowly add broth
Add chicken pieces
Add salt and pepper
stir until thick and creamy
Depending on how hot your stove is I turn mine to 4, but if yours is really hot do 3
Thanks for sharing this! I have a non-recipe-related question; where did you get the lids for your jars?
I have found them at Walmart, and I have ordered them through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VYAGWE?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwheavenlyho-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B003VYAGWE
just a helpful hint…for regular mouth jars, I save the lids off of my salad dressing containers (check with some water to make sure they won’t leak)! It’s much cheaper than buying them, plus, less to throw away…obviously, this won’t make a shred of difference if you don’t buy salad dressing/mayo!! :)
Yes, I have made cream of celery in a pinch, and we liked it so much better than the can that I may never buy another can of soup.
I made apple butter this past Saturday, and it was so nice pulling my little jars out to re-use them. I love my jars. And that is a really nice one you have there.
About the apple butter – I am going to make my husband some homemade poptarts using that instead of the jelly. Yum!
I use COM soup to make Chicken/Turkey Pot pie as well.
Just made this for dinner tonight and the family loved it! My 11-year-old stick of a daughter ate so much her belly hurt! I used it with chicken and rice. Since we have lactose issues in our family, I made it with 3 cups of coconut milk and 1 cup of cream (I find the cpheavy cream doesn’t bother me as much as cow’s milk, cheese, and ice cream and I also use it make my own butter.). Laura, also wanted to thank you for your devotional about what other people think about you. It was a gentle reminder that I really needed.
Just in case you do not know, you do not have to use corn starch or arrowroot powder as a thickening agent – flour works just as well. Melt butter in a pan, whisk in flour, and when you have a paste, whisk in your liquid. This is the same way to make gravy or any roux or white sauce.
I just created a cream of mushroom soup for a recipe last week since we don’t use the canned stuff either (ewww, MSG!) I used it in a crock pot meal with 2 tbsp of french onion soup mix (thanks for the recipe) and cream of mushroom soup on pork chops. I let it sit for 4 hours, and it was great!
I am so excited about this recipe and everyone else’s recommendations! I also have held out making recipes with cream-of-anything soups because I used to make my own but frankly have not gotten around to looking up the recipe again! And there is no way I am buying those MSG laden canned products either! Someone mentioned homemade chips, and while they are not doritoes, we make homemade corn chips by cutting corn tortillas in fourths and frying (about five at a time) in coconut oil, and then draining. Add a little salt and cheapo and delic! :) We make these a lot. And save the coconut oil I dried in for later use making chips again!
Nickole
We do the same thing and they are always a huge hit! It’s amazing how it transforms a corn tortilla.
Thank you soooo much for this post! I have searched for a homemade cream of mushroom soup recipe for along time. They all say to use water – YUCK!! Definatly trying this one!! :0) Blessings! Janet
My mom always made our “favorite chicken and rice” with cream of mushroom soup, and it’s my favorite go to yummy, easy and cheap meal!
First, wrap bacon around boneless, skinless chicken breast
Then mix 1 part cream of mushroom soup and 2 parts sour cream. (I use two cans, but I’ll definitely try making my own!!)
Put two cups of rice and 2-3 cups of water in a pan, then pour in soup mixture and stir all around then put bacon covered chicken in.
Cook for 2 hours at 350.
It’s sooooo good and sooo yummy, I’m alsmost embarrased to tell guest how easy and few ingredients there are.
I’m excited about this!
Thank you so much! My twins are allergic to all traces of soy ex: margarine, shortening, reg vegetable oil, soy lecithin in chocolate and MSG. Your website has been God-sent to help me make from scratch because store bought items are not usable for me. Cream of mushroom soup is one of those I’ve needed to figure out. Questions: what is the proper way to thaw the leftovers when you’re ready to use them? How long do they last in the freezer? Is there a best way to reheat so it doesn’t turn grainy(usually my problem with milk/cream when reheated).
I’m a young mom so I need your expertise so badly. I’ve had so many attempts at scratch cooking/storing/reheating not work.
They would last for several months in the freezer. I would probably thaw them by putting them down into hot water, which would thaw them more quickly and also help them not be grainy – hopefully!
I’m so glad you shared this recipe. And it looks so easy! There are so many family type casseroles that list a can of cream of mushroom soup for an ingredient!
This is so much better for you and I bet it tastes better too!
I am so making this and using it in my modified GAPS green bean casserole. I was wondering how we would do our GBC on thanksgiving. Thanks for posting this :)
Just made this “SOUPER” YUMMMY! I cube up some chicken breast put in the soup mixture and put it on rice or pasta.Usually have no leftovers.
Oooohhh! I just made this but used onion for cream of onion soup and then I did a batch with celery! It tastes sssssoooooo good!
Thanks again Laura!!!
I made this tonight and it was delish! and so EASY! thank you!
We have milk allergies in the house – can this be made with rice milk or coconut milk instead of regular milk?
Thanks
I’ve never tried it, but I don’t know why that wouldn’t work!
I used this for our green bean casserole at Thanksgiving, and used almond milk. Everyone loved it!
I use a lot of old cookbooks (Fannie Farmer, Toll-house Cooking (reprint of the 1940’s edition), Joy of Cooking (reprint of the original) and these cookbooks have a wealth of recipes for non processed foods (minus soy etc). My son is also allergic to all things soy and making my own broth/soups changed how I cook. I never buy processed soups anymore. Joy of Cooking has a lot of great references to storage time, equivalents, information about foods in general as well as a ton of great recipes. I make my soups with chicken broth (homemade) and cream, I’m curious to try it with just milk. And so interchangeable with other styles…use chicken, asparagus, celery, broccoli, cauliflower…to the base (with the butter for a smidge) and it totally changes the flavor. Great website! I love truly homemade foods! So much healthier for us.
Hi I was just wondering if this has to have whole milk. Thanks
I think it will be fine with any kind of milk.
Marvelous! Thank you for this!
Just found your site. Sweeeet!
Ancient homeschool mom here and now all the grand kidlets are hometutored!
Q: Does anyone know how to make that ‘beans w/ bacon soup’ from campbells ?
Hubby loves the stuff.
Thank you so very much. Vonn
This is the BEST cream of mushroom soup I’ve ever had. I did thicken it with a bit more flour than the recipe called for as I like a thicker cream of mushroom soup, but other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing. Definitely making this again and again.
Funny Story: I had some broccoli and chicken, and no parmesan cheese for alfredo sauce (bummer), but I thought I’d do a Cream of Broccoli instead. So I get all my ingredients together and saute/steam the broccoli, pour my milk mixture into the pan, and immediately it starts frothing. I think to myself, “Boy, that’s weird. Cornstarch has never done that before. Maybe the broccoli is making it do that.” Pretty soon it’s frothing so much that it’s bubbling over the sides so I transfer it to a stockpot. This tones it down a bit, but starts frothing a bit when it heats up. No big deal, I add the remaining milk, s & P, and stir until thickened. I stir and stir and stir, but it’s not thickening like I think it should. “Hmmmmm, ok, well let’s just add the chicken b/c maybe I haven’t given it enough time”. Add the chicken, stir for awhile, turn off the heat, and…it’s still really liquidy(sp?). “Why isn’t the sauce thickening up? I thought I added enough cornstarch….” GASP! I didn’t add cornstarch!! I added baking powder!!! Agh (while slapping my forehand with my palm). I guess I use baking powder so much that I automatically grabbed it without thinking. It took me over 5 minutes to realize my mistake. Talk about absentmindedness! And I’m not even pregnant! LOL
I was able to salvage the recipe by straining the mixture and adding the CORRECT ingredients, but my husband and kids laughed and laughed when I told them what happened. :) It was a good sauce though!
I loved making this and just got done and I think it was great with the pinch I am in and use all of it tonight, but my only thing is…the mushroom taste is not really there! My dad tasted this and was like cream cream…of somthing…
Great recipe! Can also be promoted as Gluten Free as long as the corn starch is processed in a plant that does not process wheat.
I was wondering, if you make bulk of this. How long can you freeze this for without it going bad?
If you froze this, I would imagine it should stay good for several months.
Thanks for this recipe! It’s the only one I can find that is vegetarian friendly. No beef or chicken stock! I’m excited to try it.
Was wondering if anyone has tried to pressure can this recipe? At, say, 75 minutes and 10 lbs for pints, 95 minutes and 10 lbs for quarts? I’m thinking about trying it, maybe with one or two pints to see how it goes.
If you try this, would you let us know how it works out? I haven’t had very good luck trying to can milk or cream-based things in the past, and I would be interested to know if you have any success.
Thanks!
on another website i go to regularly has instructions for pressure canning cream of mushroom soupl
here is the link
http://chickensintheroad.com/forum/just-recipes/cream-of-mushroom-soup/
I love her blog! I’m surprised I haven’t seen that before. Note — she doesn’t add the milk when pressure canning, but when she opens the jar. That makes total sense.
Thanks for the link!
Does this make “condensed” soup? I use cream of something soups in many recipes, but I never dilute them first.
Mmm, good question. It’s been a long time since I’ve used canned soup. I’d say this is thinner than what would come out of a can, but should work the same in most recipes.
Genius! Thank you for sharing!
I found this recipe for Cream of something soup and it good. It’s a mix you can keep in the freezer.
http://1orangegiraffe.blogspot.com/2011/07/anything-you-wanna-call-it-casserole.html?showComment=1310864846151#c3489139395376988271
and here’s one for homemade condensed tomato soup. This one is awesome!
http://premeditatedleftovers.com/substitute-for-condensed-tomato-soup/
Hi Laura, I found this recipe from Stacy Makes Cents. I made it without the mushrooms and put it in the crockpot with the cubed venison. I think it will work just fine! Thanks for sharing! Blessings from Bama!
Better late than never: a good synonym for “creamy” might be “velvety” or possibly “luscious”!!
Hi, Laura! I made this recipe yesterday and tossed it in the crockpot with 3 T. of your onion soup mix and a frozen roast. It cooked on low for 8 hours and it was delicious! The cream soup turned into a wonderful gravy for the roast. Thanks for your recipes!
Made the soup today for a crockpot roast tomorrow.
How long will it keep in the fridge? This close to Thanksgiving, I want to use it for my green bean casserole!
I love this idea. Can’t stand all the ?@#&% ingredients in canned soup. The list for this basic recipe is endless like chowder for instance.
To save even more money, could you use milk made from powdered milk? Has anyone tried that?
I believe that would work in this recipe, but I prefer the health qualities of actual milk and typically avoid powdered milk. :)
Don’t like mushrooms but I poked around on other sites and it looks like you could dice celery instead of mushrooms or use a little chicken broth instead of all milk perhaps. I put in a teaspoon-ish of seasoning (a mix from Trader Joe’s called 21 season salute). It was delish with porkchops in the crockpot on high for 4 hours (which Lori told me about doing). Used 2/3 of what I made and put the other 1/3 in the freezer.
I was wondering if you could use whipping cream instead of the milk?
Should work just fine!
If you freeze this, do you have to let it cool completely? I have never froze anything with milk.
Thank you for your time.
Yes! Let it cool completely. :)
Why did my soup turn out sticky, like gak? I used arrowroot…it was like one big blob. When I cooked it with meat, I added more milk and that seemed to help. Ideas???
Oh shucks, sometimes arrowroot powder causes that. Glad adding extra milk seemed to help!
I am lactose and gluten free :( Do you think this would work with lactose free milk? Have you heard of anyone trying it?
I haven’t tried it, but I would imagine it would work. :)
This will work nicely for Swedish Meatballs!
Think i could do half the milk for “condensed” and to save on freezer space?
I am sure that would be fine!
You can also substitute chicken in place of the mushrooms for cream of chicken soup!
First, thank you Laura, for the time you put into this blog–I love your stuff!!
Second, I had started freezer cooking several months ago (inspired by you!) and wanted to make a giant batch of homemade cream of mushroom soup to add to our spoils. I have heard bad things about freezing cream soups, though–is there a trick to it? I have made broccoli-cauliflower cheese soup and frozen it, but it doesn’t have much cream in it, proportionally. The texture of it when it comes out of the freezer isn’t the same as freshly-made, but it tastes just as yummy. Any hints or thoughts??
You might try heating it up after it has thawed out and add more milk or cream if needed to get it back to the texture you like. Hope that helps!
Update: My version of your recipe freezes and thaws beautifully!! Also, cutting half the liquids and freezing it “condensed” style works perfectly, too. It actually helps thaw it more evenly when you add the other half of the liquids during thawing. I used my homemade soup in our green bean casserole for T-day (we ate early due to DH’s work schedule) and it was a HUGE hit! Thanks, Laura! :)
When we were kids mom browned hamburger patties and then put them in the crock pot with mushroom soup and let them be for several hours.(or in the oven). She also used flank steak when it was cheap in those days. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or noodles. We had it with broccoli, mashed potatoes and scratch biscuits last Saturday.
Just used this for our Thanksgiving Broccoli Cheese Dish I usually serve but have given up on due to the cream of mushroom soup issue. It turned out AMAZING! Thank you!
You are a genius! Thank you for this recipe.
I am making this as we speak because I had a “Cream of Soup” emergency! Only I didn’t have mushrooms, so I used onions… I like onions better anyway. :-) Thanks so much for posting this!
Just for fun, my Thesaurus lists “milky, oily, rich, smooth, thick, velvety” as alternates for creamy!
Thanks, Laura! With this easy recipe (easier than others I have tried), and all the great tips from the other comments, I can now make a GF version of an old family recipe without skimping on the flavor of the condensed CoM and CoC soups that went into the topping. It totally changes the flavor when they are omitted. I can’t wait to try this and taste the memories! Thanks again, so much. Blessings!
Can you eat this as soup for a meal?
Or does it have to be diluted?
It doesn’t have to be diluted, you can eat it as is. :)
Its the dairy the cream the sour cream is there anything left u can make it with without the lactose you can email at [email protected]