Gwen's Nest

Recipes, remedies, and reflections from my neck of the woods.

Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

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This is a great cream of mushroom soup recipe!  I’ve been looking for a healthy, quick and easy replacement for canned mushroom soup concentrate that I could sub in some of our family favorite recipes.

I scanned several homemade techniques, including canned, and even attempts at freezing (which is my preference) but there are several issues with preserving homemade cream of soups.

You can’t can them or freeze them because the thickeners break down. Well…crud.

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BUT WAIT!  What if we can JUST freeze the essence of cream of mushroom soup? Yes!?!!  I devised this method, which really worked out great.  These mushroom concentrate cubes have amazing flavor, and take up just a tiny space in my freezer.

I’m always minutes away from fresh, homemade cream of mushroom concentrate.  Plus, it’s a great way to use up extra mushrooms and it makes me feel good knowing that I’m making healthier choices for my family.

And if you’re into trim & healthy eating, each cube only contains 1/2 t. of fat, and I’ve included a recipe with gluccomannan as your thickener in the printable Cream of Mushroom soup recipe below.  Now you can make all of your favorite casseroles on plan with these awesome Fuel Pull soup cubes!

Here we go…you’ll need:

2 T. butter
1 pound mushrooms- any variety
2 t. lemon juice (fresh or from the bottle)
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. minced shallots or onions
1 T. chopped fresh thyme or 1 t. dry thyme
1 bay leaf
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

First, I diced up the mushrooms in my Pampered Chef Chopper.  I love this thing.  It’s my sous chef during soup season.

Next, I dumped them into the frying pan with the butter that I was supposed to have melted first.  Oops!

Melt the butter, and then dump in diced mushrooms.

Then add your herbs and Worchestershire Sauce,

lemon juice…

salt…

pepper…

AAkkkk!  And shallots!  I almost forgot to add these beauties.  (peel and chop them first, of course!)

I freeze them whole when I can find them at the grocery store, and then dice them up as needed.

You want to mix everything in well and let it saute over medium heat.  The mushrooms will start releasing water, and they’ll shrink, but they’re absorbing all that wonderful flavor.  MMmmm…smells SO good!

Cook them down until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the mushrooms are very fragrant.
Like this:

At this point, my fungi-phobic husband walks in the door and sees the frying pan.  He gets a somewhat terrified look on his face and says “What are we having for dinner?”

“Beef Stroganoff,” says I

“WHAT is THAT?”, still eyeing the frying pan.

What can I say.  It’s not beautiful, but it smells wonderful, and it works great for making cream of mushroom soup recipes.

So, back to the story…
This amount will make 12 Mushroom Soup Cubes.  You can spoon them into ice cube trays and freeze them.

Or, you can mound them up on a piece of wax paper lined pan that will fit into your freezer.  Smish it into a brick, like so…

and divide in half…

and into quarters…

and then each of the quarters gets divided into 3 equal parts.

You’ll get 12 cubes.

Freeze overnight, and voila!!!  Almost instant cream of mushroom soup cubes!  Now, I’ll be the first to admit that these are ugly little buggers.  But I can’t wait to show you how beautifully they transform into real cream of mushroom soup concentrate!

Tomorrow, I will post my easy Hamburger Strogranoff recipe and show you how easy it is to use these cream of mushroom soup cubes.
Store your homely little cubes in an airtight container, and label with the recipe.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe
 
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After looking at a lot of different methods for making healthy, homemade cream of mushroom soup, I finally landed on a method that works really well. This recipe yeilds a concentrate equal to one can of cream of mushroom. The make-ahead part is the frozen mushroom cubes, which blend together with the thickened milk quickly when you need it. Yields: one dozen mushroom cubes = 1 dozen cans of cream of mushroom soup. If you're into trim & healthy eating, these cubes only contain a half t. of fat each, so they're a great fuel pull option to add to any dish!
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2T butter
  • 1 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
  • 2 t. lemon juice (fresh or from the bottle)
  • 1 t. worcestershire sauce
  • 2 T. minced shallots or onion
  • 1 T. chopped fresh thyme or 1 t. dry thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 t. salt
  • ½ t. pepper
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a large frying pan.
  2. Stir in mushrooms, lemon juice, Worcestershire, shallots, and spices.
  3. Sauté over medium heat until liquid is evaporated and mushrooms are fragrant. Divide into 12 parts or spoon into an ice cube tray and freeze.
  4. Store frozen cubes in an airtight container or freezer bag; label with recipe for using.
To Use Cubes as Cream of Mushroom Concentrate:
  1. One T. butter
  2. ¼ c. flour
  3. One c. milk (or ½ c. broth and ½ c. milk)
    Melt 2 T. butter and stir in ¼ c. flour. Add a frozen cube of mushrooms, and 1 c. of milk. Stir and heat through until thickened. This process can be done in the pan with the rest of the recipe.
Trim & Healthy Cream of Mushroom Concentrate:
  1. One half to 1 t. glucomannan thickener
  2. One soup cube
  3. Half c. unsweetened almond milk (FP version for E or FP dishes); or use half & half or heavy cream (S version)
  4. Half c. ff chicken broth
    Melt mushroom cube in small saucepan. Add the one cup of liquids of your choice, and warm to a low simmer. Carefully and lightly sprinkle the glucomannan over the surface of the liquid while whisking to prevent clumps. When thickened, add to your dish, or dilute with an additional 1 cup of broth or liquid of your choice to make a yummy cream of mushroom soup.
Notes
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  2. Julie Scott says

    May 7, 2015 at 8:07 PM

    You are brilliant! I had almost a full pound of sliced mushrooms just ASKING to be made into Mushroom Soup Cubes. I used some to make strogranoff, and I’m freezing the rest. Thanks for your creative “takes” on so many recipes and basics.

    Reply

  3. JoAnne Stanley says

    June 3, 2015 at 9:24 AM

    Love the cubes…..love the stroganoff….hubby love tuna noodle…so please…need how you turn cubes into soup!

    Reply

    • Gwen Brown says

      June 3, 2015 at 2:57 PM

      Easy peasy! For true soup consistency (like you’d get it you *actually* made soup with that can of cream of mushroom), you’d add one cube to 2 cups of milk (plain unsweetened almond milk for low carbers) and stir in some thickener. I would use gluccomannan or xanthan gum if you’re watching your carbs. Thicken to the consistency that you like and taste and adjust seasonings.

      If you want to go classic (non-healthy), then you’d melt a T. of butter and stir in a Tablespoon of flour until it’s a paste, then stir in your mushroom cube. Then you’d add 2 cups of milk to the pot, and heat until thick and creamy.

      If you just want to use a cube to sub for a can of cream of mushroom soup (which is SUPER thick), then here are the instructions:
      Low carbing:
      -At the point in the recipe when you’d add your cream of soup, add in one mushroom cube. Sprinkle your thickener (gluccie or xanthan gum) while whisking over one cup of unsweetened almond milk. You want it to be pretty thick, but it will thicken more as it heats. Pour your thickened milk over the recipe, whisking to combine with the cube.

      Regular version:
      Follow the soup directions above, but only add in one cup of milk to your mix. Add to your recipe when it calls for one can of cream of mushroom soup.

      Reply

  5. Kristie says

    May 25, 2016 at 12:57 PM

    Hurray!! Stroganoff was my all time favorite growing up and is now my teenaged sons favorite as well. Can’t wait to try this! Cream of mushroom soup was always a staple in my pantry before THM. So happy to have a replacement. Thanks Gwen

    Reply

  6. Lindy Schaffnit says

    July 7, 2016 at 12:20 PM

    Hi Gwen,

    I am very new to THM, less than a week. I panicked when I realized that cream of mushroom soup was not on plan, so I will definitely be trying this recipe.

    My question is, does one mushroom cube along with the wet ingredients equal 1 can of cream of mushroom soup?

    Thanks so much!

    Lindy

    Reply

  7. Katie says

    March 16, 2018 at 12:56 PM

    Hi Gwen! I love this idea! My question: I am not big on mushrooms (consistancy) but like stroganoff and want to make it healthy. If I add a tiny bit of water or something to the mushrooms and cream them in the blender or food processor would they still keep/ taste good? Would this work? I cannot stand chewing them but I don’t mind the cream of mushroom soup in recipes. TIA!

    Reply

    • Gwen Brown says

      March 16, 2018 at 2:40 PM

      I dice them so fine that it’s very similar to the commercial cream of soup. I use a hand chopper, but a FP should work too. If you want to turn them more into a paste, then I’d do that after the cooking process. 🙂

      Reply