Mushroom Soup Without Cream (Vegan & Healthy)

This ultra-creamy mushroom soup is made without cream or flour and super quick and easy to make (ready in 30 minutes). It's also dairy-free (even vegan) and contains a huge variety of veggies making it a super nutritious and healthy soup. 

With the weather getting colder, there’s nothing better than some comforting soup! Just like our Instant Pot Potato Soup, this homemade mushroom soup incredibly thick and creamy even though there's no heavy cream involved.

Why You'll Love This Recipe 

• It's a light meal that's low in fat and dairy-free.
• It's packed with nutrients and high in fibre (it includes more than 10 different types of plants!). 
• It's also vegan as well as gluten-free.
• It comes together in no time making it the perfect, easy weeknight meal!

Ingredients & Substitution Notes

• Mushrooms: If you had the opportunity, I would highly recommend using wild mushrooms (maybe even handpicked yourself J). Their texture is amazing for a soup recipe and they add some additional earthy flavor. Otherwise I recommend using oyster of shiitake mushrooms. You could also use white mushrooms or cremini mushrooms but I don’t find them very suitable for this recipe due to their texture. I’d also try using a couple of different types of mushrooms since it enhances the flavour of this recipe.

• Dried Mushrooms: You can buy different combinations of wild dried mushrooms in most stores; I opted for a mix of different ones.

• Celery Stalk: Adds some additional flavour (as well as nutrients) to this recipe. Could be replaced by green onions or leek. 

• Veggie Broth: Personally, I use store bought veggie broth powder in all my recipes that contain veggie stock. I make sure that it contains almost no additives like sugar or oil. With the veggie stock powder that I use, 1 tablespoon of powder is enough to produce 2-3 cups of veggie stock. In addition, mine is a bit salted so I usually don’t need to add a lot of additional salt but that might be different in your case.  Alternatively you could also use chicken stock if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan.

• Nutritional Yeast: Is essential for this recipe since it gives the cashew cream its cheese-like flavour and can’t be replaced by any other ingredients. Nutritional yeast can be bought in most health food stores.

• Plant Milk: I used almond milk in this recipe but feel free to use any (plant) milk you like such as soy or oat milk. You could also use coconut milk but keep in mind that this will also change the overall flavour of this soup. I also wouldn’t use coconut milk if you’re after a low – fat milk.  

• Brown/ Wild Rice (Optional): Adding rice to this recipe is totally optional. If you decide to add some, I prefer using brown or wild rice instead of white rice simply due to its nutritional value. It contains more nutrients as well as fibre. For this specific recipe I use it because of its texture, I find that white rice can become too mushy. You could also omit the rice as a whole if you want this soup to be lighter.

How To Make Mushroom Soup Without Cream

This delicious creamy soup requires only a couple of easy steps and simple ingredients. The best part is that the cream added to this soup is made of a few simple wholefood ingredients.

Step 1: Soak cashews and dried mushrooms

In case you don’t use store bought veggie broth and prefer using your own, you will need to prepare the vegetable stock first. Then soak the dried mushrooms in your veggie broth as well as the cashews in very hot water & set aside. 

• 

• 

Step 2: Cook rice (optional)

Continue with cooking the rice if you want to include it in the recipe. You could either use a traditional pot or also a pressure cooker. Wild rice can take quite a long time to cook. I recommend soaking the rice for a couple of hours before using it. This will decrease cooking time a lot! 

Step 3: Prepare mushroom broth

Now it's time to prepare your mushroom broth. In a large pot fry onion, garlic and celery in some olive oil over medium-high heat, before adding the fresh mushrooms. Let them cook for a couple of minutes.

Then add carrots and veggie stock and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Once most of the water has evaporated, it’s time to add some creaminess to this soup. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Put all the ingredients for the cashew cream into your high speed blender and blend until smooth. You will need a fairly strong blender to blend the mushrooms. An immersion blender might not be able to do the job. 

Then add it back to the mushroom mixture. This will create a delicious cream of mushroom soup. Taste and add more veggie broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.

The last steps involves adding your rice. You could also completely skip this step if you prefer a lighter version of this soup.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Side Dish & Serving Suggestions

Below you'll find a couple of meal ideas that go best with mushroom soup.

• Bread: I love having some (toasted) bread. Mushroom soup with garlic bread or naan tastes absolutely amazing. 

• Sandwich: Instead of plain bread you could go for a delicious sandwich. Try our Green Goddess Sandwich for example.

• Potatoes: Especially if you don’t include the rice in this recipe, potatoes can be a great side dish for this soup. Both sweet potatoes or white potatoes would taste great. I prefer making wedges as a side dish.

• Salad: Any mixed salad would go well with this soup. Enjoy it as either a starter or accompanying the main course.

Expert Tips

• Mushrooms with texture: I prefer using mushrooms with a bit more texture such as shiitake, oyster or wild mushrooms. They result in a chewier, thicker soup. 

• Clean mushrooms: Mushrooms have the ability to absorb water so don't give them a proper wash. Simply use a brush or a paper towel and wipe off any traces of dirt. 

• Save time: There are some steps that could be done the evening before, that save even more time the next day.

  • Presliced mushrooms: using presliced mushrooms will save some prep time.
  • Mushroom broth: The mushroom broth could be prepared the evening before and put in the fridge overnight.  As for the cashew cream, I would not recommend preparing it the evening before but shortly before serving the soup.
  • Wild/ brown rice: Whenever I know that I will be using some brown rice in my recipe the next day, I usually soak the amount needed the evening before. This reduces cooking time dramatically and saves time.

Variations & Add-Ins

• Legumes: like white beans or chickpeas would make an amazing add-in. They provide some additional plant protein as well as fiber. 

• Leafy Greens: Feel free to add a handful of leafy greens such as baby spinach during the last 5 minutes of cooking (before adding the rice). 

Storage & Freezing

• Fridge: Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. 
• Freezer: Freeze in a freezer-friendly airtight container for up to 3 months.  Let it thaw in the fridge or on the counter overnight before consuming it.  
• Reheat: Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top. You might need to add a splash of water or veggie broth before when reheating it.

FAQs

Other Healthy Soup Recipes To Try

• Creamy Tomato Soup
• Vegetarian Instant Pot Potato Soup
• Mexican Bean Soup
• 15-Minute Broccoli and Pea Soup
• Vegan Curried Pumpkin Lentil Soup