Do you have things in your head like the look of your dream house? Your dream wedding dress? Do you have the names of your nonexistent children all picked out?
I don’t have that. Like… at all.
Sometimes I feel like there’s a strange void in my girlbrain. But… I dunno.
I do have things in my head like… my dream pancake breakfast. My dream shopping website. My dream kitteh. And now… my dream winter soup.
So. At least there’s that.
I didn’t even like mushroom until a few years ago…. now here I am cooking down a whole pot of them.
They’re so pretty…. and they’re about to turn into a delicious brown gray mush.
This soup is creamy but vegan. Get with the program.
I blended raw cashews with water creating a rad Cashew Cream.
See what’s happening here? Divine.
Blended cashews help create a creamy, but still earthy soup. The soup doesn’t taste like mushroom and cashews blended up. Nope. The cashews disappear and just add a creaminess and very subtle sweetness.
The soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce in the soup really compliment the earthiness of the mushrooms. This soup is very simple and I think it’s just delicious.
Soup sucks without bread. I mean… come on.
Because I’m not actually vegan, I made a ridiculous herby garlic bread to go with my perfectly vegan soup.
So wrong. I know.
It was crazy good and I don’t feel bad at all.
Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cashew Cream
Makes about 6 cups
For the Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tablespoons soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Amino Acids)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (vegan please)
about 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
salt to taste
For the Cashew Cream:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
*Substitute Cashew Cream with 3/4 cup half and half or 8 ounces of silken tofu
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions to hot oil and saute until translucent and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook until mushrooms are cooked and broken down, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add cracked pepper and vegetable stock and cook at a simmer until mushrooms are completely soft. This took me about 10 to 15 minutes.
While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream. In a blender, combine raw cashews and water. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into a measuring cup and set aside. Don’t worry about washing the blender… we’re going to use it to blend the soup.
When mushrooms are cooked through, add about one third of the soup to the blender. Hot soup rises high in the blender so definitely be careful how high you fill the blender. Blend soup on low, increasing the speed to high, until no large mushroom chunks remain. Pour blended soup into a clean pot or large bowl. Blend the remaining soup in batches. *If using silken tofu instead of cashew cream. Blend the silken tofu in with the mushrooms and broth.
Add the cashew cream to the blended soup and stir to incorporate.
Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot that you cooked the soup in. In batches, pour the blended soup into the fine mesh strainer and work the soup through the strainer with a rubber spatula. Don’t use a wooden spoon… you could get splinters in your soup… seriously. Heat and serve the strained soup. Or place in a freezer safe container for a few weeks down the road.
Not So Vegan Herb Bread
1 fresh baguette
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste.
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
On a clean cutting board, use a fork to mash together softened butter, garlic, and chopped parsley. Once incorporated, drizzle the olive oil over the butter mixture and work in the olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and incorporate with the fork.
Slice baguette into thick slices, not slicing all the way through the loaf, but keeping the slices connected. Spread parsley butter in between bread slices. Wrap baguette in foil and bake for 10 minutes, or until butter is melted and fragrant.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Brenda from the 'hood
Not a vegan, but have been looking for substitutes for the dairy that isn’t agreeing with me much, anymore. Playing with cashews has opened a new world to me. I blend fruit with cashew cream and use it with granola for breakfast, instead of boring nut milks. Since our last trip to NOLA, I’ve been experimenting with satsuma-flavored cashew cream. Yum!
Marcy
As a vegan I was thrilled to read your soup recipe, but really disappointed to see a non-vegan bread choice. With so many great options for vegan bread —including cheese alternatives, it would have been wonderful to have a complete meal recipe.
shipleye
I became acquainted with cashew cream when reading Tal Ronnen’s–The conscious cook, making the tomato bisque which was a WINNER! Since then, I have been using cashew cream for just about anything. So tomorrow I am taking a cream soup, either mushroom or sweet potato, to a friend’s home to share a vegan mean together since my partner of 40 years has passed away.
betsy shipley
CHERYL
Just found your blog…I’m slow! Made this soup just now and am loving it! so easy and tasty. Had everything on hand but had scarfed down the last of my cashews precisely 2 days ago and so made a pecan cream! SO GOOD WHAT YOU DON’T EAT YOU WANT TO RUB IT IN YOUR HAIR! I also confess to being a soup and bread addict, so plan on trying ALL of these recipes!
marie
Best mushroom soup ever!!!!!
joythebaker
it really is!
Dani
Made this on a whim for my boyfriend and I, and we both agree.. One of the BEST mushroom soups we have ever had! We were going to have grilled cheese with it, but the SO couldn’t wait.. By the time the sandwiches were ready his bowl was empty and he was eyeing my carefully preserved serving!
We’re thinking about making a tuna/green bean casserole and using this soup for the base- will be sure to let you know how it turns out.
In regards to what I have been known to plan… Everything! But mainly the farm I want to have someday- Morningside Acres with themed animal names.. The goats will be named after apples (think Granny Smith, Rambo and MacIntosh), the chickens named after citrus (Ruby Red, Clementine, etc) and dogs named after my favourite herbs (Rosemary and Basil).
Thanks so much, Joy!
Mary Whitmire
Thank you for this fabulous recipe! My family loved it! My Carnivore son (age 17) whom I am trying to “flip” asked me to make it again for dinner again tonight! Yay! Can’t wait to serve this to dinner guests!
joythebaker
that is amazing!