Dairy-Free Cream Of Mushroom Soup (Vegan, Paleo, Whole30)

This dairy-free cream of mushroom soup is one of my favourite healthy soup recipes. Made with lots of mushrooms and veggies plus a sneaky creamy ingredient, this delicious, velvety soup is perfect for a light dinner, lunch or as a starter dish. It’s gluten-free, paleo, Whole30 and vegan-friendly.


Dairy-Free Cream Of Mushroom Soup (Vegan, Paleo, Whole30 Recipe)
 

There is something very comforting about a bowl of creamy, rich mushroom soup. I love the umami flavour of mushrooms: savoury, salty and hearty taste. While it’s easy to pop open a can of ready-made cream of mushroom soup from the store, it’s much healthier to make your own.

In this recipe, I am making a dairy-free cream of mushroom soup made with all-natural ingredients and some sneaky nut butter to add that desired creaminess and body to the finished pureed soup. As it is made with all plant-based ingredients and no dairy, gluten, sugar or additives, this healthy soup is perfect for those following a vegan, paleo, or Whole30 diets.

Vegan Mushroom Soup (Dairy-Free Cream of Mushroom Substitute)

Cream Of Mushroom Soup Ingredients

To add that real forest mushroom flavour to the soup, I am using some dried porcini mushrooms. They can be purchased in most supermarkets and delis, although they are a little pricey, they are totally worth it. I love to have some on hand to add to stews, casseroles and sauces as they add a lovely woody and forest taste and aroma.

You can use a variety of fresh button mushrooms but I prefer Swiss Brown or crimini mushrooms to the blander white button mushrooms. You can also throw in some meatier Portobello and exotic oyster and shiitake mushrooms for a more complex flavour. Basically, use this as a base recipe and adapt it as you please.

Peeled white potato can be used instead of sweet potato for those who are not avoiding nightshades…or white potatoes. I used the white sweet potato (the one with purple skin) and that’s why the soup of my colour didn’t go yellow or orange.

A lot of the flavour also comes from the leeks, garlic and thyme, which are easily accessible and really make this soup.

Finally, instead of using heavy cream, I blended the soup with some nut butter. You can use cashew or almond butter (unsweetened), which will make your dairy-free cream of mushroom soup feel like the real deal. The starch in the potato also adds a lot of body and creaminess.

Can You Freeze Mushroom Soup?

Yes, you certainly can! You can make a bigger batch and freeze the soup in small portions to pull out and warm up whenever you need a quick meal or a dinner starter. 

Dairy-free Cream Of Mushroom Soup (Paleo, Vegan, Whole30 Recipe)
 

Readers’ Comments On This Mushroom Soup

I just made this and it is delicious! It’s actually much better than I was even expecting it to be. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

★ – Jackie

A beautifully balanced recipe that avoids the common mushroom soup flavour profile of bacon-cream-mushroom-garlic with a much richer flavour. I made mine with chicken bone stock and also only blended half the mix (at the step where I added the nut butter) to keep some of the lovely texture. A great recipe! Officially now my go-to mushroom soup recipe.

★ – Annie 

More Healthy Soup Recipes


Full Recipe 

Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.

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Dairy-free Cream Of Mushroom Soup (Paleo, Vegan, Whole30 Recipe)

Dairy-Free Cream Of Mushroom Soup (Vegan, Paleo)

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Author: Irena Macri
Servings: 3
Course: Soup
Cuisine: European
Print Pin Save
4.84 from 6 votes
Calories: 395kcal
This gluten-free, vegan and paleo friendly mushroom soup is made without any dairy. It's a tasty and healthy substitute to cream of mushroom soup that is loved by so many.

Ingredients 

  • 10-15 g dried porcini mushrooms 1/2 oz.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large leek pale part diced (make sure to rinse the leek well)
  • 1 celery stick finely diced
  • 3 garlic cloves diced
  • 10 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves only (dried thyme can be used as well, about 1 tablespoon)
  • 15 whole Crimini mushrooms or Swiss brown, roughly diced
  • 1 medium sweet potato I used the purple skin with white flesh sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 3 cups vegetable stock good quality
  • 1 tablespoon Tamari wheat-free soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard or yellow mustard
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons cashew butter or almond butter, unsweetened
  • For garnish: 4-5 button mushrooms sliced and pan-fried fresh sprigs of thyme, black pepper

Instructions

  • Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl with boiling water and soak for 10-15 minutes. Once softened, strain but reserve the liquid, and dice the mushrooms.
  • While the porcini mushrooms are soaking, heat oil in a large heavy saucepan and sauté the diced leek and celery over medium heat until soft and golden, about 5-7 minutes.
  • Add the garlic, thyme, fresh mushrooms and sweet potatoes and stir for a minute until slightly golden as well.
  • Add the soaked porcini mushrooms together with about half a cup of the reserved mushroom-infused liquid. Follow that with the stock, Tamari sauce, mustard, bay leaf, pepper and lemon zest. Add a little bit more water if the saucepan is overcrowded or if you like your soup on the thinner side.
  • Stir, cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmering and cook the soup with the lid on for about 15 minutes. After that, remove the lid and cook uncovered for a further 5 minutes.
  • Finally, transfer to a blender or food processor or use a hand-held immersion stick blender right in the saucepan (off the heat though). Add the lemon juice and nut butter and process until well pureed. Taste and season with extra sea salt if needed (depends on the type of stock you used). You can also add a little extra lemon juice, if you like a bit more zing. If the soup is too thick, you can dilute it with a little warm water.
  • One last step! Slice the remaining 4-5 mushrooms and panfry them in a little coconut oil or butter until browned and season with a little sea salt. Use those and the fresh thyme sprigs to garnish the soup when served.

Notes

Two medium white potatoes can be used instead of the sweet potato.

Nutrition

Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 1363mg | Potassium: 2461mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 11855IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 151mg | Iron: 5mg
Keywords: Gluten-Free, Mushroom Recipes, Side Dishes, Dairy-Free, Soups
Tried this recipe?Mention @cookedandloved or tag #cookedandloved
 
Irena Macri
By Irena Macri

About the author: Hi, I’m Irena Macri. I share delicious recipes that I have cooked and loved. I am a published cookbook author, have been food blogging for over 10 years and have a Diploma in Nutrition. You will find many healthy recipes as well as my favourite comfort food. More about me here | Subscribe to my newsletter and freebies

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Comments

24 Comments
  1. I followed this recipe to the letter today (less the garnish) and this soup is mmmm mmmmmm great! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I didn’t even know what a paleo diet was when I stumbled upon it, but the combination of ingredients lent some mystique and made me wonder. This is the best mushroom soup I’ve ever had. Great ideas on adding the cashew butter and lemon at the end. Great balance of flavors overall! I looked up “paleo diet” as a result of trying this recipe and it’s a noteworthy concept.

  2. Um.. mouthgasm! I don’t usually comment on recipe sites, so this is where I break the rules. Thank you Irena. This recipe was imaginative with a beautiful harmony of complex flavors. Even my fussy boyfriend couldn’t get enough. I am making a double batch tomorrow! Holler!!

    1. It’s widely used in paleo as it’s 95% fat with most of the milk solids removed so it doesn’t cause the same reaction as say butter.Even butter, being so high in fat and much lower in lactose, is frequently used in paleo cooking these days.

  3. 5 stars
    I just made this and it is delicious! It’s actually much better than I was even expecting it to be. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

  4. This recipe was amazing! All I did differently was I left the ingredients as is rather than blending everything together. The ingredients all together are delicious, so thank you for the recipe! Will be making this more often!

    1. Thanks Erin 🙂 I’m glad you liked this. I sometimes leave the ingredients whole as well, for a bit of a stew feel 😉

  5. 4 stars
    I made this but in the end, during the cook time, I added a package of onion soup mix, then during the puree process I added a cup of whipping cream. Completely changed the recipe for the better. My girls were in soup heaven.

  6. 5 stars
    A beautifully balanced recipe that avoids the common mushroom soup flavour profile of bacon-cream-mushroom-garlic with a much richer flavour. I made mine with chicken bone stock and also only blended half the mix (at the step where I added the nut butter) to keep some of the lovely texture. A great recipe! Officially now my go-to mushroom soup recipe.

  7. Can you give me a rough estimate of the mushroom weight? I have king oyster and shiitakes to use. Thanks.

  8. I have been trying mushroom soup recipes of late and was attracted by the unusual ingredients in this one. As I had a mixture of king oyster, enoki, shitake and button mushrooms, I took a guess at 500g (1lb) of mushrooms based on other recipe quantities. It was delicious and and definitely a keeper for us. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.

    1. Thanks Donna! Sounds like the soup would have been upgraded by using so many exotic mushrooms. I personally love king oyster as it has such a meaty texture and savoury flour.

  9. 5 stars
    I used had orange yam and chives and green onions. It turns a very yellowish color. But it was fantastic! Best recipe I’ve used in a long time! Thank you so much for putting it on Pinterest! And I used only shiitake’s because that’s what I had! Cashew butter super delicious! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  10. 5 stars
    I have made this soup several times, and it is by far the best mushroom soup I have ever had! When I couldn’t find the Asian sweet potato, I used Yukon gold potatoes which worked fine. The Asian sweet potato is better though. I would not recommend using the typical orange sweet potato. The color is really unappealing as mentioned in the recipe tips. (And the taste is different). The dried porcini mushrooms are a must for this recipe in my opinion. I have used different varieties of mushrooms for the fresh ones. All are pretty good.

    1. Thanks, Kim. I agree, the porcini mushrooms really make a big difference here so I always encourage people to splurge on those. They do go a long way, so can be used in multiple dishes. Irena

  11. 5 stars
    Superb! This is my all time favorite mushroom soup. It’s so very delicious! I love trying it with different types of mushrooms. Definitely using an Asian sweet potato as described is the way to go. That’s my favorite. I use almond butter instead of cashew and love it.

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