A cozy, thick and creamy mushroom soup made with fresh portobello mushrooms, non-dairy milk and raw macadamia nuts that can be enjoyed as is or substitute cream of mushroom soup in your favorite casserole recipes. It’s also vegan, gluten free and keto friendly with 7g net carbs per serving!

overhead image of a bowl of cream of mushroom soup with a spoon and seed crackers

One Pot Wonder

I am all for minimal cleanup when it comes to cooking. This cream of mushroom soup recipe only requires the use of one pot. Okay, you’ll need to dirty a blender, too, but all things considered, a low-mess menu option.

What are Baby Bella Mushrooms?

Baby bella mushrooms are Italian portobello mushrooms, smaller in size than the portobello mushrooms we have in the US. Technically, baby bellas are cremini mushrooms that have been allowed to mature longer. They have a deeper earthier flavor when compared to white button and have an added richness.

This recipe calls for the large portobello mushrooms and the baby bella mushrooms. However, if you cannot find the baby bellas, you can substitute with white button mushrooms.

overhead view of ingredients for soup including mushrooms, onion, thyme, milk, lemon, macadamias and balsamic

Better Blending

This recipe, like many creamy soup recipes, requires a blender. Any blender will work fine here. However, something like my Vitamix adds a whole new level of creaminess to the soup. High performance blending (what they call it) means you won’t end up with any little bits of nuts or mushrooms floating around after the blend. Too, it kicks in natural emulsification. Extra creaminess is brought out of the ingredients and you won’t believe this recipe is dairy-free because of the decadent texture.

Also, as far as blending, be sure to follow my instructions about dividing and adding the non-dairy milk a cup at a time. This method is intentionally crafted to give you the best, creamiest results.

My Favorite Non-Dairy Milk

Feel free to use whichever non-dairy milk you’d like for this recipe. Do make sure that it’s unsweetened and plain. Adding a vanilla milk to this would end up in a weird flavor combination.

I personally like using Ripple Original Unsweetened milk from a nutritional standpoint. It has a clean list of ingredients and the added bonus of 8 grams of plant-based protein per serving.

Chunky or Smooth?

You can make this soup chunky or smooth. If you follow the directions as prescribed on the recipe card, it will be chunky. If you’d prefer it be completely creamy, no chunks of mushrooms, just chop all of the baby bella mushrooms and sauté them together with the garlic and onions and portobellos instead of reserving half to be sauteed and tossed in later. It’s tasty either way, so it’s all about your desired texture.

Side view of a bowl filled with cream of mushroom soup with a spoon and topped with microgreens

Garnish

I can’t resist adding a bunch of random “decor” to my soup, particularly if this is my main dish for a weeknight dinner or easy lunch. I like to add things like a drizzle of olive oil, Maldon sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, spicy microgreens, pepitas, toasted seeds or even fresh chopped mushrooms.

Cream of Mushroom Soup (vegan, keto, gluten free)

Author: Joanie Simon
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 bowls 1x
Category: soup
Method: saute
Cuisine: American

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Description

Ingredients

Scale

3 oz raw macadamia nuts
1 cup water
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large portobello mushroom caps, chopped
16 oz baby bella mushrooms, divided, half of them chopped, half of them thin sliced
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups unsweetened plain non-dairy milk
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

Place the 3 oz raw macadamia nuts into 1 cup of room temperature water (or enough to fully submerge the nuts) and soak for 2 – 4 hours, then drain, discard the liquid and set the nuts aside.
Heat 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (or your favorite neutral flavored oil) in a dutch oven or other large pot that can hold at least 3 quarts, over medium-high heat.
Add the 1 small chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 2 large chopped portobello mushrooms and the 8 oz of chopped baby bella mushrooms to the heated oil and saute, stirring occasionally for approximately 15 minutes until all of the vegetables and very soft and fragrant.
Next, add all of sautéed mushroom mixture , 1/2 tsp salt and the macadamia nuts that were soaked and drained to a blender and pulse several times to begin the blending process. Then, pour in a cup of the non-dairy milk and start to blend the mixture. Keep the blender on, adding another cup of the non-dairy milk and blend for at least sixty seconds to get a very smooth, velvety mushroom soup base. There should be no chunks of nuts or mushrooms left. Once blended, leave the mixture in the blender while you complete the next step.
Going back to the pot that cooked the mushrooms and other vegetables, don’t clean it. Just return it to the stove over medium heat and add the 8 oz of sliced baby bella mushrooms and 2 tsp fresh thyme sauté the mushrooms for 5 minutes until softened and they have released some of their water.
Next, pour the soup base mixture from the blender into the pot with the sautéed mushrooms and then add the remaining 2 cups non-dairy milk, 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar, and juice of 1 lemon.
Bring the soup to a simmer over medium high heat and then reduce the heat to low allowing it to simmer at least another 15 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve hot with your favorite bread or crackers.
This soup can be kept refrigerated up to three days or frozen up to three months.

Notes

If you can’t find baby bella mushrooms, feel free to sub with white button mushrooms
For non-dairy milk and keto consideration, I use Ripple original unsweetened pea protein milk but you can use your preferred non-dairy, unsweetened plain milk.
This recipe can be used as a substitute for canned cream of mushroom soup in casserole recipes. Just take note of if the casserole recipe calls for condensed. If it does call for condensed, prepare this recipe with half of the non-dairy milk (2 cups instead of 4)

Keywords: mushrooms, portobello, mushroom soup, vegan, gluten free, keto, onion, garlic, thyme, soup