Cashew Cream of Mushroom SoupJune 20th, 2012 69 comments
Did you think vegan creamy soups couldn’t get any better than Pistachio Cream of Broccoli Soup? Me too! Oh, we were both so very, very wrong. I finally perfected the quantities for this soup (making much mess along the way) and it was so worth it! It is incredible! Seriously. And my Year 10 Home Economics teacher told me I’d better marry well so I could hire a personal chef. Hmph. If only she could see me now… 
This recipe makes enough for two large servings but if you’re wise you’ll make a double batch. It smells so amazing during all that bubbling and infusing time that your neighbours are sure to drop in ‘just to say hi’ and you don’t want to be the meanie who keeps all the delicious vegan food to themselves now, do you? Of course not.
- 400g fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used a mix of Portobello, swiss brown, and button mushrooms)
- 1/2 small brown onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp vegan margarine
- 4 cups vegetable broth/stock
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- Place cashews in a bowl of water and leave to soak.
- In a large pot, sauté the mushrooms, onion and garlic in vegan margarine for 3 – 5 minutes, until onions are translucent.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add the vegetable broth. Cover and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.
- Drain and rinse cashews and add them to a blender with half a cup of water. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Add the cashew cream and dried herbs to the soup pot, stirring well to combine. Allow to simmer for another 20 – 30 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper, serve with crusty bread, and prepare for a flavour sensation.
Guaranteed to bring all the boys to your yard.
69 Comments
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That soup looks incredible! Thanks for sharing the recipe, it’s definitely soup weather here at the moment. I bought some lovely portobello mushrooms yesterday with the intention of making the Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup by Joy the Baker, but I think I’ll try your recipe instead.
I have rosemary, thyme and oregano growing in my herb garden, so I’ll have to venture outside to collect some.
I also bought some truffle oil yesterday (and some fancy dried mushrooms) as I’m planning on making a mushroom risotto later in the week; do you think a little truffle oil drizzled on top of the soup would be a tasty addition, or would it be too much?
Ooh, fresh herbs straight from your garden could only make it better! I’m not sure about the truffle oil – the soup is quite rich in flavour already but it’s worth a try. Let me know how you go.
Thanks, it was delicious! My boyfriend loved it and has been raving about it all week… and he isn’t even vegan.
Besides using fresh herbs instead of dried herbs, the only alterations I made was to use shallots instead of onion, EVOO instead of margarine and pine nuts instead of cashews (it was what I had on hand). I decided against drizzling any truffle oil over the soup as it was rich enough as is. This recipe is definitely a keeper! 
Oh YAY, I’m so glad to hear you both enjoyed it and I’ll have to give it a try with fresh herbs one day too.
Oh WOW! Dreamy creamy YUMMO! Perfect for Winter, no?
Yep, perfect! It was a dark, stormy day here and this soup made everything better.
YUM!
oh dear your creamy soups make me wanna eat soup for the rest of my life! this look samazing! i just got a vitamix to test for the next 3 months and will try this in a raw version! amazinG!
Ohhhh, you won’t want to give that Vitamix back! Have fun and I’d love to hear how you go with a raw version.
oh believe me i am already in love with my vitamix after day 3! haha
This looks incredible! And the pictures are gorgeous. How did you know I wanted all the boys to come to my yard? Psychic!
hehe
Lovely photos! And that soup- holy lord, is there anything more comforting than cream of mushroom soup? I love that you made yours with cashews- totally one for the recipe book!
Definitely, and ‘infusing time’ aside, it’s super easy. I plan to roll it out at least once a week until winter is over.
Oh my, this looks delicious! Thanks for perfecting this so we get to enjoy it.
hehe, my pleasure! You might come up with some even better additions, in which case let me know so I can try too.
This is perfect for one of those summer days when it’s raining sideways in 5 different directions here in South Florida. We get quite a few so we’ll be trying this soon.
It’s the perfect ‘that rain is too crazy for me to leave this house’ meal.
This looks ridiculously good! I jump at any opportunity to use mushrooms and this is looking like dinner tonight
Loving the ‘sparkles’ by the way! x
haha, ditto! Sparkle on, sista. x
Cashews are apparently the key to making everything taste good. What a great recipe! Love that it’s gluten free too, I find often making this kind of soup requires flour, so it’s nice to see the taste isn’t compromised and the texture looks great.
I nominated you for an One Lovely Blogger Award: http://veganbloggersunite.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/one-lovely-blog-award/
L
PS. Would love this recipe for VBU. Fantastic!
Ohhh, thank you so much, Lidia!
And I’d LOVE to share this recipe on VBU. I’ll send you the HTML right meow! xx
This looks gorgeous! ♥
Thank you and it tasted gorgeous too!
MMMMM,..I also love soaked & drained cashews a lot,..It makes everything so creamy & smoother! Your soup looks divine!
They are just the BEST, aren’t they, and I’m only just beginning to experiment!
VBU brought me here! So tell me how you made the bread on the side….I must know!
haha, oh I WISH I was that talented. Maybe one day! I found this bread in my local supermarket – already herbed up and crispy and accidentally vegan! Win!
Looks so good and comforting! Cream of mushroom soup is one of my favorites!
It’s definitely one of my faves now too! Soooo very comforting.
Delicious!!!
Looks yummy. Will definitely try this recipe! Thanks!
My pleasure! I hope you love it as much as we do!
OH MY GOODNESS! I have spent many many many moons being apprehensive of cashew cream (mainly bc i have been too cheap to buy cashews), and have never attempted it until i saw your recipe… This soup really does bring all the boys to the yard!This soup is so on point its not even possible!
haha, ohhh thank you so much, Anita, and I’m so glad you loved it! (and have cuties in your yard)
Making this for vegan thanksgiving today, only I’ll be using it in a green bean casserole. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me.
haha! Ooh, a green bean casserole with creamy mushrooms sounds divine! I’d love to hear how it turned out and might have to try it for myself!
I was never a fan of canned mushroom soup, so we haven’t eaten a family favorite casserole that called for mushroom soup in years. Made your recipe today. Oh, my goodness! IF there is enough left to make the casserole, it will be the best ever! I didn’t make any adjustments, other than finely chop the mushrooms–it was perfect!
Ohhh I’m so happy to hear that, Lilly! I hope the casserole was a hit!
Mmmmmmm! Wonderfully filling and delicious on this rainy San Francisco day! Good call on the crusty bread! Mine didn’t come out as creamy, probably because my blender isn’t so powerful, but the flavors are great! I used fresh herbs and homemade chicken broth as I am not vegan but don’t eat dairy or soy. Thanks!
My pleasure, Bubbliki, and so great to hear you enjoyed it! You could try soaking the cashews overnight for a creamier base without a high-speed blender.
I made this soup last night for my family and doubled it but didn’t double the mushrooms because I didn’t think they would all fit – so 1.5′d the shrooms. Wish I had doubled.
I too used shallots and fresh herbs and it turned out amazing!
My husband asked about caloric intake – do you ever do nutritional breakdowns?
Hi Julie! SO glad to hear it was amazing! Definitely squeeze those extra mushrooms in next time – the more the better!
No, I try to stay away from the ‘calorie mentality’ and just concentrate on eating wholesome, plant-based foods in controlled portions – although it’s tough to do when it tastes this good!
I’ll be using this recipe for my Christmas Green Bean Casserole. OK, the half that i don’t DEVOUR myself beforehand… I am that greedy neighbor…
hehe, I don’t blame you with this dish!
I’d love to know how it works in a casserole – it sounds delicious!
Just made this dish with some fresh organic mushrooms from Whole Foods. It was amazing! As a pretty new vegetarian (since April 2011), I love finding dishes like this that I can make all the time. Thanks!
My pleasure, Kevin, and I’m so happy to hear that you loved it as much as we do! Enjoy!
Thanks for the recipe. My 5 and 3 y/o don’t like mushrooms but like mushroom soup from the can. Since we are trying to go meat/diary free, I found your recipe and made this. The kids loved it and so did my husband. I added some non-diary milk, a touch of tamari sauce, and a little flour to thicken.
Oh, fantastic news, Jenny! I’m so glad they loved it and it’s so much healthier than the canned stuff. Great way to sneak some veggies into the children.
I made this and loved it. I have been missing creamy soups so much since going vegan.
Thank you
My pleasure, Sharon! Glad to hear you loved it.
So I made this twice. The first time, amazing, the second not as amazing. For some reason the cashew cream was very clumpy. Any ideas?
If you get a particularly hard batch of cashews, they might need a longer pre-soak, Mel. Try soaking them in a bowl of water in the fridge for about 8 hours, then drain and rinse right before you add them to the blender.
Any chance this could work in a crock pot (make the cashew cream first). Full time lawyer gig + toddler = sleep is a precious commodity. Either way, this looks ridiculously good!
Oooh, now I don’t have experience with crock pots but I’m thinking it could work quite nicely on the lowest setting. I’d love to hear about it if you try it.
So I put everything but the cashews in the crockpot before bed and turned it on low. I didn’t use margarine. I also added a table spoon of port, because we had a bottle we should finish on the counter. I soaked the cashews in cold water in the fridge overnight too. In the morning, I drained the the cashews and dumped them and some of the cooked stuff into my “travel” blender (it’s one where a travel cup is the container and I got it to make quick smoothies), blended that up, dumped it in with the rest and whisked. My co-worker (we take turns bringing non-processed vegan lunches for the sake of time and variety) and I both really enjoyed it. I will definitely make this again, and am really looking forward to trying it with a bit more planning, which would allow for a trip to the mushroom stall at the Sunday farmers’ market.
Will also need to start following this page more.
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for letting us know. I have a couple of friends with crock pots and limited time, so I’ll be sure to pass it along. LOVE the idea of you and your co-worker taking turns to bring vegan lunches too.
xx
Just tried your cream of mushroom and featured it on my blog. It was soo good. THanks for sharing this! Here’s the link to my post: http://wp.me/p1defE-1YP
Oh FAB, Richgail! I’m so happy you love it as much as I do!