Easy Dairy Free Mushroom Soup
Dairy free mushroom soup is a must for any mushroom lover. Easy to make, ready in 30 minutes and cooks in just one pot! This recipe uses simple ingredients but is full of deep savory flavors. It’s sure to become your go-to favorite.
If you your go-to comfort food meal is soup, you should check out my favorite soup recipes, including Greek Lemon Chickpea Soup and Butternut Squash Soup.
Here, you’ll find simple, gluten free recipes that are easy to make, quick and and packed with the best ingredients. I love sharing easy, from-scratch meals that fit into busy lives. To get to know more about Bites of Wellness and my fresh take on food, head over to the About page!
Why you will love this recipe
- Simple ingredients that let mushrooms be the stary
- Quick and easy
- 30 minute meal
- Better than store bought
- No canned soup
- Thick and creamy without any dairy!
- One pot meal
- Great for entertaining – this recipe is perfect for entertaining because its not only flavorful but also vegan, dairy free, gluten free and Whole30 friendly.
Spotlight on key ingredients
- Sliced mushrooms – I recommend a combination of white mushrooms and baby bella mushrooms (cremini mushrooms). You could also use all white mushrooms or all baby bella mushrooms.
- Shitake mushrooms or larger portobello mushrooms cut down into bite size pieces can also be used..
- Fresh Thyme – fresh thyme is what really gives this recipe its fantastic flavor. You can make this with dried thyme, you will only need 1 teaspoon.
- Vegetable broth – vegetable broth helps the soup taste like it’s been cooking all day on the stove.
- Arrowroot powder – arrowroot powder helps to thicken the soup, helping to create a creamy mushroom soup texture without being too thick. You can also use tapioca starch or cornstarch.
- Dairy free milk – dairy free milk helps create that creamy mushroom soup consistency and flavor without using any dairy. You can use almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, canned coconut milk (full fat coconut milk), or whatever your favorite nondairy milk is.
How to make dairy free mushroom soup
Chop the onions and slice the mushrooms. Bring a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions until slightly softened.
Add the mushrooms to the onions in the pot and cook mushrooms and onions for 5-6 minutes.
Add the fresh thyme, salt, garlic powder, bay leaves and coconut aminos to the mushroom and onion mixture.
Mix the arrowroot powder into the vegetable broth (or vegetable stock) and stir well until completely combined. Pour the arrowroot powder and vegetable broth slurry and the dairy free milk into the mushroom and onion mixture and allow it to come to a simmer for 15 minutes to thicken.
After 15 minutes, serve hot or you can blend up some of the soup with an immersion blender to thicken the soup a little more to create a creamy mushroom soup.
Top tips
- Time saving tip – You can buy pre-sliced mushrooms (white baby mushrooms or cremini mushrooms) in most grocery stores. This can help save you time on the prep of this recipe.
- Double or triple the recipe – As written, this soup only makes 2 large bowls, which disappears quickly. You can double or triple the ingredients to make a larger batch of soup. Just note that it may take longer to sweat out the mushrooms. Also be sure to use a large pot.
- To prepare the mushrooms, use a dry paper towel to brush off any soil/dirt you see.
- Wait to salt the mushrooms until after they have cooked down for some time. Adding salt too early can cause the mushrooms to not fully release all their water, which can give them a spongy texture.
Serving suggestions
This soup is creamy and hearty but not super filling since it’s mostly just mushrooms. Therefore, I recommend serving it as a starter/appetizer or served with salad and/or bread.
- Salad – Soup and salad go together so well (add a hunk of bread and call it a meal). Some great options would be Shaved Brussel Sprouts Salad, or Cruciferous Crunch Salad
- Bread or crackers –Homemade Seed Crackers, pita bread, or crusty bread warmed up in the oven.
- Grains – To make the soup more filling you could add 1 cup of cooked grains (rice, quinoa) to the soup.
Topping Ideas
Give the soup more texture by adding a topping. Some great options include:
- Croutons
- Fried onions
- Parmesan cheese (regular or vegan)
- Microgreens (broccoli, kale, arugula, radish)
- Fresh thyme leaves
Common Questions
What if you don’t have fresh thyme?
- Dried thyme – Dried herbs are much stronger, so you will want to use about 1 teaspoon.
- Herbs de Provence – add about 1-2 teaspoons
- Dried Italian seasoning – add about 1-2 teaspoons.
When using dried herbs, I recommend to rub them through your fingers, this helps release some of the natural oils in the herbs, giving them more flavor.
How to thicken soup without heavy cream
Arrowroot (or tapioca flour or cornstarch) is used to thicken the soup.
It’s important that you fully mix in the arrowroot powder into cold or room temperature liquid before adding it to the heat. This is to ensure the arrowroot doesn’t clump in the soup.
To make the soup even creamier, blend half of the soup with an immersion blender or high-speed blender to help thicken it more. You could also add pureed white beans or mashed potatoes to the soup to help thicken it without cream.
Can this soup be made ahead of time?
The beauty of this easy mushroom soup is that it’s almost better the next day, so if you are having company, this would be a great make ahead meal. Just give the soup a few minutes to come back up to temperature over medium low heat before serving.
Note: This recipe only makes 2 servings, so if you are making it for company, you will want to double the recipe.
If you love this recipe, you should try
Dairy Free Mushroom Soup
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion - diced
- 1 package white button mushrooms - 10 oz sliced
- 1 package baby portobello mushrooms - 10 oz sliced
- 10 stalks fresh thyme - leaves removed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder - optional
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour - or arrowroot or cornstarch
- 1 cup dairy free milk - unsweetened
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook for 5-7 minutes while you slice the mushrooms..
- After 5-7 minutes, move the onions to the sides of the pot and add the mushrooms, allow to cook 5 minutes.
- Stir the onions and mushrooms together. Add fresh thyme leaves and continue to cook, at least 10 minutes.Note: You will notice a substantial amount of water has come out of the mushrooms, and they are reduced in volume by half.
- Add the bay leaf, salt, coconut aminos and garlic powder (optional) to the mushrooms.
- Add the tapioca starch to a bowl with the vegetable broth and stir well to combine. Add the vegetable broth mixture and dairy free milk to the mushroom mixture and stir well.
- Allow to cook for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Equipment
- 1 Immersion Blender Optional
Recipe Notes
- This soup is amazing the next day as well and can easily be doubled or tripled.
- To make the soup creamier, you can blend half the soup in a high speed blender (be careful, it’s hot).
- To thicken the soup even more, you can add a can of drained white beans or boiled potatoes.
- A mixture of cremini (baby portobello) and white button mushrooms are best. However you can use all cremini or all white button mushrooms if you need to.
- If you don’t have fresh thyme, you can use 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.
- Dairy free milks that this works well with include: unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk or oat milk.
- Substitutes for tapioca starch include arrowroot powder or cornstarch.
- Fridge – Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove!
- Freezer – If needed, you can also freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container. However, arrowroot powder can get a little gritty after freezing. so I recommend that you don’t freeze it unless absolutely necessary.
Wow ! Excellent recipe. EXACTLY like in picture and the taste was super delish.
This soup is excellent!!!
Thanks for the great recipe!! I made the soup using 16 oz. baby bellas mushrooms and it worked well. I actually mis-read the recipe prior to going shopping and thought it was just calling for one package of mushrooms vs. two. The mushrooms here generally come in 8 or 16 oz sizes so next time I think I would still use the 16 oz baby bellas. I used almond milk and would use the same again.
Delicious mushroom soup. East to make.
Excellent soup!! Our new go to…
This truly is the BEST Mushroom Soup, and also healthy. I have made it before, making it again and will surely continue to make it many times over. I have also shared it with a number of family members and friends!! It is easy and tastes creamy, yet no cream was used.
Delicious. I used the white beans to thicken and blended half
Of the soup. I also didn’t have fresh thyme so used rosemary. Thank you
Best ever soup! The fresh thyme adds so much flavor to the soup. I also added sliced carrots and celery to my soup.
I don’t have a non-stick saucepan. Directions don’t mention using olive oil or butter. Should I use one or another ? Or none at all?
Typically I will spray the pan with a little olive oil spray but I don’t usually add a large amount of oil or butter for cooking my veggies. Hope this helps!
Made this for dinner and it was delicious. I used baby bellas since we had a big package of that from the wholesale club. I used mashed potatoes as thickeners, since someone else suggested that, as well as using an immersion blender. I also added just a bit of white wine to up the flavor. I could tell that even if I stuck completely to the recipe it would be delicious.
@Krista, i have been trying to cut as much oil out of my diet as possible so i learned in an oil free vegan video that adding little bits of vege broth at a time works instead of oil and it did work pretty well!
What a tasty dish!!!. Thanks for sharing. I think your dish is very delicious. I will make this recipe for my family and my friend. I hope you have more recipe like this.
This has been a winter staple and family favorite for years. Asian market mushrooms make every bite a fun experience. Many mushroom soup recipes are heavy to eat and low in flavor. This one is just the opposite. Delicious!
Can i use 2% milk instead of coconut milk?
Yes! Any milk you have on hand will work!
Seriously the best Mushroom soup ever!
My soup tasted fine, but it was more gray in color than brown which was a turnoff. I used veg broth with cornmeal, almond milk, baby portabella and white button mushrooms. Any ideas on how to make it more visually appealing or what I did wrong?
Hey there Cathleen! It’s likely due to the broth you are using. Often vegetable stock will have a more deep brown color (in comparison to broth), which can help make the sauce look more brown. Also I cannot comment on how cornmeal will change the color of the soup at all (although that is likely not the issue).
Delicious and for those of you who don’t have all the super healthy ingredients….I used dried thyme, I mashed Leftover potatoes into 2% milk. I also reconstituted dried bistro mushrooms in hot water then mixed the cornstarch with that water minus mushrooms. I did not use any aminos and used homemade beef broth. The basics of the recipe must be good because even with all the changes I made it was delicious. BTW, throw away the reconstituted mushrooms because they are too chewy!