Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
We are mushroom lovers in this house, and we both forage and grow our own mushrooms at times. And one of our favorite ways to enjoy them is in cream of mushroom soup. We also like to have healthy, homemade meals ready to eat on days when there’s no time to cook. I do freeze this soup, but right now freezer space is at a premium. That’s why I also can cream of mushroom soup base.
Cream of mushroom soup contains both cream and a thickener like flour or arrowroot, but neither of those items can be safely canned. But you can safely home can the soup base and when it’s time to heat just quickly thicken and add cream. So easy!
Is Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe Healthy?
When is the last time that you read the ingredients on a can of store bought cream of mushroom soup? Below are the ingredients of a very popular brand:
WATER, MUSHROOMS, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, CANOLA AND/OR SOYBEAN), CREAM, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, SALT, MODIFIED MILK INGREDIENTS, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, TOMATO PASTE, FLAVOUR, YEAST EXTRACT, DEHYDRATED GARLIC.
Half of those ingredients are not something that we care to have in our real food diet.
I found the cream of mushroom soup base recipe in Angi Schneider’s new book Pressure Canning for Beginner’s and Beyond which I recently purchased.
I’ve been canning for years, but I learned so much here and reading this really encouraged me to have more home canned ready-to-eat meals on hand.
Real Food Cream of Mushroom Soup Ingredients
When I spotted the cream of mushroom soup base recipe in Pressure Canning for Beginner’s and Beyond I immediately contacted the author and asked her permission to reprint it here for you. This recipe is destined to become a family favorite.
So, what ingredients are in this soup recipe? Just simple, real food ingredients like:
- butter
- onions
- garlic
- mushrooms
- white wine
- bone broth
- sea salt
- pepper
- thyme
- pepper
- cream
- arrowroot powder
All ingredients that I can feel good about serving to my family and guests.
Is it Ok to Use Wild Mushrooms?
You can certainly use any mushroom in this recipe if you are eating it immediately. The USDA does not recommend canning mushrooms or using them in any home canned recipe like this soup base. It is difficult to determine their reasoning, but many have surmised that someone may incorrectly identify a mushroom and become ill.
So, use your own discretion. I personally will use the wonderful harvest of wild mushrooms we forage each year because we are 100% sure of their identification. And I hope to do a post on canning wild mushrooms sometime in the future.
How to Can Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
Start by preparing your pressure canner, jars and lids. You’ll need eight 1-pint jars. It is not recommended that quart jars be used for any recipe with mushrooms.
Fill the pressure canner with a few inches of water, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and put the canner on the stove over low heat with the jars inside to stay hot. This is a hot-pack recipe, so the water needs to be about 180°F (82°C).
Make your homemade soup according to the directions in the recipe card below.
Remove the soup from the heat and ladle it into the prepared jars. Ladle the solids into each jar first so that each jar has about the same amount. Then divide the liquid among the jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
Remove the bubbles with a bubble removal tool and recheck the headspace. If you end up short of liquid, top the jars off with boiling water. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth. Put the lids and bands on the jars and load them into the pressure canner.
Process the jars, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, at 10 psi for 45 minutes for 1-pint jars, adjusting for altitude if necessary. Please see the chart below for altitude adjustments.
After processing, allow the canner to depressurize naturally, then remove the jars and let them cool on the counter for at least 12 hours. Check the seals and store the jars for up to 1 year.
More Posts You’ll Love
Beginner’s Guide to Pressure Canning
Book Review: Growing Mushrooms for Beginners
Book Review: The Scout’s Guide to Wild Edibles
Wild Ramp Salt Recipe (with tips for foraging)
Homemade Hot Pepper Sauce with Instructions for Canning
Step-by-Step Guide to Pressure Can Dried Beans
How to Can Cream of Mushroom Soup Base
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 cups minced onions (approximately 2 1/4 pounds)
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 6 cups beef or chicken broth
- 4 teaspoons sea salt or other non-iodized salt
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
For Serving Per 1 Pint Jar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot or flour
- fresh parsley or thyme to garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the pressure canner, jars and lids. You’ll need eight 1-pint jars. Fill the canner with a few inches of water, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and put the canner on the stove over low heat with the jars inside to stay hot. This is a hot-pack recipe, so the water needs to be about 180°F (82°C).
- In a large stockpot, melt the butter and sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat, until the onions are translucent; this should take about 15 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, wine, broth and the spices to the stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and ladle it into the prepared jars. Ladle the solids into each jar first so that each jar has about the same amount. Then divide the liquid among the jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
- Remove the bubbles with a bubble removal tool and recheck the headspace. If you end up short of liquid, top the jars off with boiling water. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth. Put the lids and bands on the jars and load them into the pressure canner.
- Process the jars, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, at 10 psi for 45 minutes for 1-pint jars, adjusting for altitude if necessary. There are no recommended times for canning mushrooms in quarts; therefore, this recipe must be canned in pints.
- After processing, allow the canner to depressurize naturally, then remove the jars and let them cool on the counter for at least 12 hours. Check the seals and store the jars for up to 1 year.
- For serving, empty a jar of Cream of Mushroom Soup Base into a medium stockpot and heat over medium heat for 10 minutes, until bubbling. Add the cream and an arrowroot or flour slurry to thicken the soup. Bring the soup back to a boil and boil for another minute or two to let it thicken. Be sure to stir it while it’s thickening. Garnish with parsley or thyme and serve with toasted or fresh bread.
- Reprinted with permission: Schneider, Angi. Pressure Canning for Beginners and Beyond (pp. 429-430). Page Street Publishing.
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Vladka says
I love the idea of preserving mushrooms in a form of mushroom soup. With thyme and wine, it sounds like a yummy combination.
Tessa Zundel says
I really needed this recipe, thank you! Do you know if I can replace the white wine with anything – maybe vinegar? I don’t want to throw off the chemistry.
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Tessa, I talked this over with Angi Schneider, the author of the book this recipe came from. The wine is just there for flavor, not safety. It can be left out, or a white wine vinegar could be used, but I would probably only use a tablespoon or two.
Tessa says
Aha, thank you!!
Shelby Bergsma says
Hello!
How much did this yield for you!?
Thanks
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi, the recipe yields approximately eight 1-pint jars.
Bonnie Martin Norman says
Thank you so very much for posting this recipe! A few months ago I was out foraging for mushrooms as we had had lots of rain (and humidity being in coastal Alabama) and I came across a motherload of Chanterelle Mushrooms. Over the course of several weeks, I harvested 4 gallons of these wonderful delicious beauties. It had been several years since I had even SEEN Chanterelles in my 40 acres of woods. I had wanted to make cream of mushroom soup & pressure can for my pantry as we use lots of “CREAM OF” soups. Unfortunately, I found no approved recipes so to preserve this bounty I ended up dehydrating them & vacuum sealing them in jars. Now I can rehydrate the Chanterelles and make this wonderful cream of mushroom soup base. I have homegrown onions & garlic stored, just bought ingredients to make bone broth last night so I am set. One question I have in regards to the availability of having cream/heavy cream in the uncertain times we are facing with shortages, could I use the powdered heavy cream (Hoosier Hills Farms) if no cream is available for purchase when I need to make the cream of mushroom soup? I’m 65 yrs old and I’m not able to tend nor have pasture for raising cows/goats in order to have milk or milk-based products readily available. I understand it may not be of the same quality of your recipe by using the powdered heavy cream but in hard times coming, at least it may be close enough in taste to suffice our needs as well as our palates. I do garden almost year-round (in zone 8b, almost 9) and have a heated greenhouse with grow lights to continue gardening veggies & temp-sensitive herbs thru the winter months, successfully. I also raise chickens & rabbits for eggs/meat as well as hunt deer & other small game to supplement our meat stores (which are pressure canned). I am in the process of building a much larger greenhouse to house all my tropicals such as temp-sensitive ginger, turmeric, horseradish, citrus, mango, papaya & dragon fruit. This will be their permanent home as it will be heated & have grow lights, a dedicated filtered water catchment system with sides that can be raised in the hot summer months. I did an experiment last winter and took some rooted sweet potato vines from my harvest earlier and actually grew a small crop of sweet potatoes. I have a small wood-burning heater that is vented for heat & a small solar generator to run the timer & grow lights (if a grid down situation occurs).
I know all of the above is not related to the topic of this blog but could be some important info for other homesteaders looking to prepare for the uncertain times we could face in the very near future. I also have dedicated filtered rain catchment systems set up for my animals & 2nd greenhouse coming. Times are changing from the ways we are accustomed to homesteading in NORMAL TIMES and we must adapt as much as possible to be able to continue to survive and thrive in the future.
Again, thank you for this much-needed recipe for the cream of mushroom soup base! It couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Can the recipe be adapted for other “CREAM OF SOUP” bases by changing out the ingredients to make cream of celery, broccoli, chicken, etc.,? Thank you kindly for your response. HAPPY FORAGING & HOMESTEADING!!
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Bonnie, yes, we too have harvested many pounds of chanterelles and other mushrooms this year. I keep calling it the year of the mushroom. Keep in mind that, as I mentioned, this recipe is not officially approved for wild mushrooms. I have no problem using them, however. I think you will do just fine with the powdered cream once you open the soup and re-heat.
There are no approved methods for canning celery or broccoli as plain ingredients and that’s one of the guidelines for making your own soup recipes. For chicken, you could just use home canned broth and add cream and a thickening agent to it when you serve it. There is a good sections on soups in the book I mention in the post. It really is worth the purchase. https://amzn.to/3c8wljz
Kathy Joy says
The worst recipe I have ever made! Had to ditch a Dutch oven full of ingredients. WAY, WAY, too many onions. I thought 8 cups seemed ridiculous. I should have gone with my gut feeling. Just AWFUL!!!!!
Susan Vinskofski says
Thank you for your feedback. Our family loves this soup as did many other 5 star reviewers. Each person does have different taste, of course.
Kath says
Gosh…what an unnecessarily harsh review. I’m so thankful for the internet and the wealth of opportunities to obtain new recipes. It’s really kind of anyone who takes the time to research, test, and then share their well-loved recipes with the world. This is time-consuming, difficult, and most generous of anyone who chooses to do so. Another alternative to your scathing, rather unkind review would be to simply say that you tried the recipe but did not care for the end result because of the amount of mushrooms, which would have accomplished the same end result without all the venom. Thankfully, responses like yours are the exception rather than the rule when it comes to subjective commentary. If everyone lashed out in this manner, I doubt we’d have so many people willing to share their abundant knowledge so freely. Personally, I have a canner full of this soup just under pressure now, and I cannot WAIT to try it! Thank you, Susan and Angi, for this gift 🙂
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Kath, thank you for your kind words; Angi worked hard to develop this recipe and we think it’s amazing!
Kathy Joy says
I give this a BIG O!
Charity Stock says
This is exactly what I was looking for. I use cream of mushroom soup a lot for cooking and the store bought brands are so yucky. I have found one that I like to use but it’s very spendy. I’m going to give this a try! Thank you and may the Lord bless you indeed!
Susan Vinskofski says
Thank you, Charity; enjoy!!!
Catherine says
do you add the cream into the jar before pressure canning or is it when you are going to eat it ?
Belinda says
When you are going to eat it, you add the milk and cream.
Susan Vinskofski says
Hi Catherine, you pressure can the soup base, and then add the cream and thickener when serving (see #8 in instructions above). 🙂