Cream of Mushroom Soup - No Cans Allowed!

Okay, we all know there are tons of recipes calling for a can of cream of mushroom soup. Just google it. There are tons! But, I am not so excited about plopping a can of soup onto or into dinner for my family. Around here I try to make things from scratch, so why not mushroom soup? It might make it a little healthier... at least it will cut way back on the sodium content!
What did I learn from this experience? Well, that although it isn't as easy as opening a can... it is really simple! So, when a bag of sliced mushrooms made their way unexpectedly into my kitchen, I knew what their fate should be.

What You Will Need:
1 lb of mushrooms (slice and chop as you like. I like a real rustic chop)
1/4 c. unsalted butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion -chopped fine
1 c. milk1/4 c. flour
salt & pepper to taste

Clean & chop your mushrooms. Mine came sliced, so I just gave them a rough chop. I like my soup to have recognizable chunks of mushroom. Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the mushrooms and cook down till all the liquid is evaporated. To speed this up, I add just a little bit of salt. It helps the mushrooms to give up their moisture. Add the flour and stir into the mushrooms. Cook till slightly fragrant, then start whisking in the broth. Then add the milk and whisk well. Bring this all up to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. As it reduces, it will have a tendency to burn on the bottom and form skin on top. So please stir.

When you are done, let it cool slightly and then store with plastic wrap touching the top and put a lid over that. This helps keep it from forming a film on top. Film is bad.


You know this is healthier because it only last 2-3 days... not months as a can of soup would. We enjoyed this over breaded chicken and mashed potatoes one night... and then baked with rice the next. Yum. Enjoy!