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    Creamy mushroom soup with Shiitake

    By Julia | Updated: Oct 15, 2021 | Published: Dec 10, 2012 | 159 Comments

    126.8K shares
    • Facebook1.3K
    Jump to Recipe Print SaveSaved!
    This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our affiliate policy.

    Creamy mushroom soup with Shiitake - made completely from scratch! So easy and delicious! If you haven't tried shiitake mushrooms yet in a soup - make this recipe and you'll love it!

    Creamy wild mushroom soup

     

    In between the Christmas cookie recipes, I have to fit in this cream of Shiitake mushroom soup I made last week from scratch without using any heavy cream, and using only 1.5 cups of half-and-half. And, by the way, you can use any type of wild mushrooms in place of Shiitake. I've made this soup years before, with different types of mushrooms, and it's always been popular with the family, and I thought it would be nice to make a rendition of it during the holidays this year. Warm and hearty creamy mushroom soup is so welcome on cold winter nights, as a prelude to any dinner. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, a bowl of this wild mushroom soup with shiitake or a carrot-lentil soup always awaits me and my husband as a warming appetizer before dinner. And I wholeheartedly recommend the same for you: fill yourself up with soup before dinner, and you won't be as hungry and will probably eat less for dinner.

    mushrooms by the bowl

    I know many people use store-bought cream of mushroom for gravies, but this is a SOUP! This recipe doesn't use any heavy cream and uses only 1.5 cups half-and-half, majority of creaminess in the soup comes from pureeing mushrooms, carrots, onions and vegetable stock (which you make yourself by boiling water with vegetables) into a wonderful thick concoction that looks like it's full of cream. The thick density of pureed mushrooms is easily solved by adding a bit of half-and-half. Or, if you're a purist and don't want any cream, you could even get away by substituting half-and-half with lesser amount of milk. Then, right before serving, sprinkle the soup with freshly ground black pepper and salt and enjoy your quiet winter evening warmed by a comforting homemade mushroom soup!

    creamy wild mushroom soup with shiitake

    Step-by-step photos: how to make creamy mushroom soup with shiitake

    Scroll down for the recipe, but these photos will help you to make this soup.

    Start with preparing beautiful Shiitake mushrooms

    shiitake mushrooms

    Slice them up!

    sliced shiitake mushrooms

    Chop up onions and carrotschopped onions and carrots

    Cook mushrooms, carrots, onions

    cooking mushrooms, carrots, onions

    Add 2.5 cups water to vegetables

    adding water to vegetables

    Use food processor to puree vegetables and vegetable stock you just made

    pureeing in food processor

    pureeing vegetables and vegetable stock in food processor

    pureeing vegetables and chicken stock in food processor

    pureed vegetables and vegetable stock

    pureed vegetables and chicken stock

    Put puree back in the pan - see how thick and rich in color it is! Just a little bit of half-and-half will make perfect! No need for heavy cream.

    cooking the soup

    Green onions are optional but I highly recommend using them!

    green onions

    Chop up the green onions!

    chopped green onions

    Soup with added half-and-half. Nice cream of mushroom color!

    soup

    creamy mushroom soup with shiitake
    4.79 from 91 votes

    Creamy Mushroom Soup with Shiitake

    Make this creamy shiitake mushroom soup from scratch!  This recipe doesn't use any heavy cream and uses only 1.5 cups half-and-half, majority of creaminess in the soup comes from pureeing mushrooms, carrots, onions and vegetable stock.  So good! 
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save RecipeSaved!
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 50 minutes mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Servings 8 people
    Calories per serving 109 kcal
    Author: Julia

    Ingredients

    • 10 oz shiitake mushrooms , large whole
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon butter
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 1 carrot chopped
    • 1 teaspoon thyme
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    • 2.5 cups water
    • 1.5 cups half-and-half (or heavy cream)
    • 3 green onions chopped (OPTIONAL)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions 

    How to make creamy mushroom soup with shiitake

    • Slice mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large pan, add sliced mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes until mushrooms soften. Remove half of cooked mushrooms to a separate plate.
    • To the other half of mushrooms, remaining in a large pan, add chopped onion, carrots, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste. Continue cooking vegetables for 10 more minutes, until onions and carrots soften a bit.
    • Add 2.5 cups of water to vegetables (mushrooms, carrots, onions) in the pan, bring to boil and boil on medium heat for 20 minutes. Some liquid should visibly evaporate, leaving reduced stock, but don’t let all water evaporate. add more water if that’s the case.
    • Remove from heat and add the stock you just made (water with mushrooms, carrots, onions) into the food processor. Process the mixture until it achieves puree consistency.
    • Put puree back into the same cooking pan, add reserved cooked mushrooms that you removed to the plate earlier. Add 1.5 cups of half and half. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer (low heat) and cook covered for 5 minutes, constantly stirring. Add more salt and pepper if desired. Your soup is done at this point, or you can add chopped onions towards the end or use them as garnish, or skip them altogether (depends if you like green onions in your soup).

    Notes

    • What can you use instead of half-and-half?  You can heavy cream instead.  It will work just fine! Or, even better, use half milk and half heavy cream.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Information
    Creamy Mushroom Soup with Shiitake
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    109
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    8
    g
    12
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    4
    g
    25
    %
    Cholesterol
     
    20
    mg
    7
    %
    Sodium
     
    335
    mg
    15
    %
    Potassium
     
    223
    mg
    6
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    6
    g
    2
    %
    Fiber
     
    1
    g
    4
    %
    Sugar
     
    1
    g
    1
    %
    Protein
     
    2
    g
    4
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    1535
    IU
    31
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    3.1
    mg
    4
    %
    Calcium
     
    59
    mg
    6
    %
    Iron
     
    0.3
    mg
    2
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition Disclaimer:

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Jeanette Blonski

      May 10, 2025 at 11:52 pm

      Absolutely our favorite Mushroom soup. Have made it so many times and our guests all love it too! Thank you for sharing such a delicious mushroom soup recipe. We love it!

      Reply
      • Julia

        May 11, 2025 at 11:38 am

        Thank you, Jeanette, I am so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your wonderful review! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Debora Hadeen

      February 23, 2025 at 10:32 am

      This soup was good. I only added 1/2 yellow onion as I’m not fond of that flavor. I also added 1 T of brandy but next time will use sherry or Madeira instead. I will also add some red pepper flakes for a bit more spice. I also used an immersion blender instead of a food processor. I used fresh shiitake.
      I’d love to make this with chanterelles.
      In the books for me.

      Reply
      • Julia

        February 25, 2025 at 3:40 pm

        I am so flattered, Debora! Thank you for sharing your feedback and the delicious adjustments you made! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Lara P

      November 05, 2024 at 5:08 pm

      So delicious! I only had milk, and it was perfect. I suspect coconut cream would work well, too, to make it vegan (if you omit the butter). I can't wait to get more shiitake mushrooms and make it again! Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe. I dropped some fried onions on top, and sprinkled some green onions for flair. This is going on my make-it-monthly list!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 09, 2024 at 11:29 pm

        Thank you, Lara, for your wonderful review! I appreciate you sharing that milk worked perfectly. I love that you added fried onions and green onions on top—it sounds delicious!

        Reply
    4. Linda

      January 19, 2024 at 5:07 am

      Delicious easy to make!!

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 19, 2024 at 6:36 pm

        This soup is such a winner - I love it! ❤️

        Reply
    5. Chefyl

      January 16, 2024 at 7:03 pm

      I'm confused by step 5: "cook covered for 5 minutes, constantly stirring" -- it seems i can do one or the other, not both. Which should it be?

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 17, 2024 at 6:52 pm

        Stir initially, and then stir once every minute for about 5 minutes total. Enjoy! 🙂

        Reply
    6. Maryse Bricault

      November 09, 2023 at 7:43 am

      j adore cette creme ,( et toute les autres recettes essayer ) peut on la mettre congeler la preparation avec la creme ?

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 09, 2023 at 10:17 am

        Maryse, I generally do not recommend freezing cream-based sauces, but this soup will freeze well!

        Reply
        • Hana

          December 24, 2023 at 3:32 pm

          This soup is amazing!!!

          Reply
          • Julia

            December 28, 2023 at 1:50 pm

            Hana, I am so glad you enjoyed it. Happy Holidays! ❤️

            Reply
    7. Bean

      March 11, 2023 at 1:44 pm

      I added celery to the puréed vegetables and I added cubed potatoes and cooked pearl barley to the soup. Delicious! Didn’t know it was so easy to make a creamy mushroom soup!

      Reply
      • Julia

        March 18, 2023 at 5:59 pm

        Bean, I am so glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Love that you added potatoes and barley to the soup - delish!

        Reply
    8. Keya

      February 19, 2023 at 7:26 am

      Loved this recipe —used it as base. I’m certain it is delicious as is but I made some adjustments to my personal liking. I added celery, green onion and used a full pound of shiitakes, I seasoned a bit with smoked paprika too. I also used lactose free whole milk at the end bc I’m lactose intolerant and I’ve yet to find lactose free half/half. To be honest, it was already creamy without it but I added it anyway to thin it out a bit. Great recipe, thank you!

      Reply
      • Julia

        March 18, 2023 at 9:37 pm

        Keya, thank you for such a detailed comment - so helpful to me and other readers who want to make this dairy-free and add more veggies. I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe and shared this positive feedback! ❤️

        Reply
    9. wendi washburn

      December 03, 2022 at 3:17 pm

      Deglaze with 1/2 c. marsala wine before adding water and add 1/4c. chopped parsley at the end. So Good!

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 05, 2022 at 10:13 pm

        Wendi, I love your recommendations! I love sherry in mushroom sauces!

        Reply
    10. Ami Lotka

      November 13, 2022 at 5:45 pm

      Julia, I loved this recipe! I added garlic along with the onion at the start. I used my handheld blender to save time so it was a little chunky but still really good. A squeeze of lemon on top brightened the flavors. So good. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 14, 2022 at 11:55 pm

        Ami, thank you for trying this recipe and taking the time to share such a positive comment! I love a squeeze of lemon on top - what a nice touch! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Cindy

      September 11, 2022 at 12:02 pm

      I loved this soup! My husband has been growing shiitakes on logs for many years, but I never found a way to cook them where I liked them. I think it has as much to do with the texture than the taste. He is now selling to a local market, so I was hoping to find a soup recipe that we could share with others who are new to preparing the mushrooms. I'm sure this recipe will be a hit! My only complaint is that the recipe made so little soup. I will definitely need to double the recipe. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Julia

        September 12, 2022 at 2:40 pm

        Cindy, I am so happy you loved this recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to share such a wonderful comment and the 5-star rating. I really appreciate it! Yes, doubling this soup is a good idea.

        Reply
    12. Mary

      June 14, 2022 at 11:41 am

      Making it for teh second time! Thanks for introducing me to shitake mushrooms. Very popular with my guest

      Reply
      • Julia

        August 22, 2022 at 8:34 pm

        Mary, I am super flattered by your comment! Glad this shiitake soup was a success!

        Reply
    13. Miriam

      March 24, 2022 at 8:52 am

      Thanks for this delicious soup!!!

      Reply
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    Julia is the author of JuliasAlbum.com (a food blog focused on easy dinner recipes, pasta dishes, salads made with seasonal ingredients). In this photo, Julia is pictured wearing a yellow sweater against an Autumn background.

    Hi, I'm Julia!

    I am a full-time food blogger living in beautiful Colorado. I focus primarily on savory recipes (protein-based & fiber-rich main dishes, pasta, salads) using fresh & seasonal ingredients. A food blogger since 2012, I help home cooks create well-balanced and visually appealing dinners (many of which are 30-minute ONE-PAN meals). Find out more about me and my cooking philosophy. 

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