My Raw Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup is an easy and healthy recipe made with only 6 basic ingredients. It's the perfect no-cook plant-based recipe for a quick lunch or dinner, needs only a blender to make, and is ready to enjoy in about 5 minutes!
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- It's A No-Cook Recipe - No Stove-Top or Pots Needed!
- Is Ready to Enjoy in About 5 Minutes
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients
My Gluten-Free Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup just doesn't get any easier than this!
It can literally be ready in about 5 minutes using a Vitamix and is full of fresh flavor from the mushrooms and thyme.
The creaminess from this recipe comes from the healthy fats from avocado and pine nuts.
I guess one reason that people would use canned soup is for the convenience, but when it's just a matter of putting all the ingredients into your Vitamix and turning it on until it's mixed, there just isn't any excuse 🙂
And the trade-off for that convenience in the form of processed ingredients just isn't worth it.
My healthier plant-based version is made with clean, real food ingredients and it's raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, lectin-free, soy-free, oil-free, no-cook, paleo-friendly, and Medical Medium® Compliant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This Recipe Healthy?
In my opinion, yes!
Here are the ingredients from a can of a popular highly processed store-bought cream of mushroom soup:
- S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup Ingredients: Water, Mushrooms, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, and/or Soybean), Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Contains Less Than 2% of: Salt, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Dehydrated Cream (Cream [Milk], Soy Lecithin), Yeast Extract, Flavoring, Dehydrated Garlic
It contains GMO ingredients (corn, cottonseed, soybean, milk), monosodium glutamate and isn't vegan or gluten-free.
And it's a processed product with basically no real food ingredients except maybe the mushrooms.
What Kind of Mushrooms Can I Use?
In this recipe, I used a combination of organic portobello and organic shitake mushrooms, but feel free to use any variety or combination that you prefer.
Can I Heat the Soup?
Yes, you can!
Just keep in mind that if you heat it over 115 degrees, it will no longer be considered "raw".
If that is not a concern to you, just transfer the soup from your Vitamix to a small saucepan and warm it to your preferred temperature.
In addition, depending on the Vitamix model you own, you can "warm" the soup on the "Soup" or "Warm" setting and still keep it "raw".
Can I Make This Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup Without a Vitamix?
Yes! You can make this with a high-speed blender and you ~should~ be able to use a regular blender.
The only "hard" thing in the recipe is the pine nuts, and they aren't as bad a trying to use cashews in a regular blender, since they are smaller.
You can try to soak them for maybe 15-30 minutes to soften them up, but as long as your blender can blend mushrooms and garlic, I think you should be ok.
The texture may not be as smooth and creamy as with a Vitamix, but the taste should be the same.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Water: Can be substituted with organic veggie broth in the same amount if you don't need the recipe to be 100% raw.
Mushrooms: I used 1 ½ cups of organic portobello + 1 ½ cups of organic shitake mushrooms, but feel free to use any variety or combination you prefer.
Pine Nuts: Can be substituted with organic raw cashews if you didn't need the recipe to be 100% Lectin-Free. Just soak the cashews in filtered/purified water for about 30-60 minutes before making your soup so the mixture will be creamy and smooth.
Red Onion: I like to use this variety, but you could use white or yellow onion as well. However, I don't recommend a sweet onion since this is a savory recipe.
Garlic: Freshly crushed garlic will give the best flavor and health benefits.
Thyme: Fresh thyme will give the best flavor, but you could also use dried organic thyme.
Himalayan Pink Salt: This is my salt of preference, however, it can always be substituted with sea salt.
Warming The Soup: You can warm the soup of the "Soup" setting of your Vitamix and blend it for an additional 2-3 minutes and still keep it "raw". If you didn't need the recipe to be 100% raw, you could transfer it to a small saucepan and warm it on low heat on the stovetop.
Serving Size: This recipe will make approximately (4) cups. Nutritional information is for (1) cup which is (1) serving.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Soup Recipes?
Check out these:
- Creamy Red Lentil and Kale Soup
- Spicy Chickpea and Tomato Soup
- Creamy Vegan Tomato Basil Soup
- or my Real Food Vegan™ 14-Day Meal Plan Program with 42 plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Raw Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup
Equipment
- Vitamix or high-speed blender
Ingredients
- 3 cups water (filtered/purified)
- 3 cups organic mushrooms (any variety)
- 1 cup organic pine nuts
- 1 organic avocado (pitted)
- ½ cup organic red onion (diced)
- 2 cloves organic garlic
- 1 teaspoon organic fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon organic ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a Vitamix, or high-speed blender, and blend until everything is well combined.
- Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference.
- Depending on the Vitamix model you have, you may be able to use the "Soup" or "Warm" setting and blend the mixture for an additional 2-3 minutes to "warm" up the soup and still keep it "raw".
- Optional: Garnish with extra sliced mushrooms, fresh chopped red onions or organic ground black pepper.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The notes, instructions, and photographs for this recipe are copyrighted material and are protected under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). They cannot be used legally without my written permission.
Blair says
This was soo delicious and luxurious! Thanks so much for the recipe. Can't wait to make it for others.
Differences from the recipe: I used veggie broth, no garlic (didn't have any) and added a little bit of lime and salt to diced onions to get rid of the strong taste of a freshly cut onion.
Does anyone know how to rid that burn from the onion without adding lime?
This is definitely a recipe to try! Loved using pinenuts and fresh thyme--flavors I don't use, so it was a unique flavor. Thanks Karielyn!
Blair
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Blair! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and LOVE the idea of adding the lime (yum!).
If you didn't care if the recipe was 100% raw, you could lightly saute' the onions in a little veggie broth until they are soft and clear and that should help with the strong "burn" flavor from the raw onions. Same with the garlic if you add it again and it's a little strong.
Thanks so much for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know how much you liked it...I sincerely appreciate it 🙂
Jenny Rilmore says
Hi Karielyn
I really liked this recipe and made mine with a kitchen aid blender and it came out good. My blender didn't have a warm option so I ate it at room temp and it was perfect. THANKS!!!
Karielyn says
Hi there Jenny! I'm so glad to hear that you were able to make the soup with your blender! Thank you for trying out the recipe and for letting me know you liked it 🙂
Sade says
Wow! This was amazing and unbelievably easy to make!! I used all portobello mushrooms and heated my soup on the stove because I like my soup hot and it was delicious! Thanks =)
Karielyn says
Hi there Sade! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe and that you liked it heated up as well! Thanks for giving the recipe a try and for letting me know you liked it 🙂
Angie says
I just bought a blendtec to make exactly these types of super meals LOL 🙂 Beautiful pics & a super easy recipe. Thanks so much for this!
Karielyn says
Hi there Angie! This is a good one to make with your new blender because it's so easy! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe and for letting me know you liked it 🙂
Scott says
Made it tonight. Very easy and good. My 1 year old enjoyed it as well.
Karielyn says
Hi there Scott! I'm so glad to hear everyone enjoyed it! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it...I really appreciate it 🙂
Corinna says
Hey Karielyn, thanks a lot for the recipe – it was exactly what I was looking for! I made this recipe a few days ago when a vegan friend came for dinner and I wanted to surprise her with a (raw) vegan 3 course menu. This course was everybody’s favorite!
I tweaked the recipe a bit: I used button mushrooms and added some lemon juice and pepper to taste. Sooo creamy, mushroomy and simply wonderful! Perfect for the German summer heat 🙂
Just so you know: I wrote a blog post on this soup and linked your page. Feel free to check it out – it’s in German though. Cheers, Corinna
Karielyn says
Hi there Corinna! I so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and I love the tweaks you made to it...especially the lemon juice!
Thank you for trying out the recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it, I really appreciate it 🙂
Lavinia says
Hiya, I just made this and use all the ingredients apart from the tyme, as I didn't have any but used oregaro instead. I made it in a vitamix, and it was really bitter, I tried seasoning it with various things and then heating it, which made it less bitter. But I actually can't face eating anymore.
Any advice on why it went bitter?
Karielyn says
Hi there Lavinia! I'm sorry to hear the recipe didn't work for you 🙁
Let's see if we can troubleshoot.
If you try it again, I wouldn't add oregano for a substitution. Thyme will give it a "rustic" flavor and the oregano is a kind of strong seasoning that is primarily (but not always) used in Italian dishes. But I still don't think that would have given it a bitter taste. Maybe an "off" or "odd" taste, but not bitter.
There are only two things I would think it could be. One is possibly the type or variety of mushrooms you used. I use a very mild version (either Baby Bella or White) and to me they don't have a very strong or mushroom-y flavor. Maybe the variety you used was strong or had a bitter taste?
Another might be the onion. I have messed up many a recipes using an onion that was old or going old and it gave the dish a very bitter taste (almost to where I couldn't eat it, much the same as what you described).
If you were to try it again, I would definitely not use oregano, use white or baby bella mushrooms and use a fresh onion (and maybe even reduce the amount of onion to 1/4 instead of 1/2).
Thanks for your question and I hope you do try it again because it's really good 😉
Bonnie M says
This soup was SOOOO good I'm going to make it for the second time this week! Where do You get all these incredible dishes? So beautiful! So artfully arranged! And Your camera must be the best! YOU ROCK!
Karielyn says
Hi there Bonnie! Thanks so much! I am a bargain shopper so I am always on the look out for unique and cheap dishes. Believe it or not, I find most of mine at garage sales and thrift stores...those are my favorite places to find them.
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for letting me know you liked it 🙂
Daniel says
I just found your website and have been salivating over some of these recipes! I love different types of mushrooms so I used a blend of cremini, shitake, and white button . . .came out perfect!
Karielyn says
Hi Daniel! I love the blend you used...I might try that combo next time I make it!
Thanks for trying out the recipe and for letting me know you liked it 🙂
Mushrooms Canada says
Homemade soups are always SO much better than canned, especially after you breakdown the ingredients in canned soups. Thanks for sharing a soup that truly is simple, convenient and AMAZING!
-Shannon
Karielyn says
Hi Shannon! You are so right...you just can't beat fresh, wholesome ingredients! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Leigh Anne C. says
I am always looking for non-dairy versions of some of the basic soups for my dairy free daughter and she LOVED it. This one is definitely a keeper and I will add it to my collection!
Karielyn says
Hi Leigh Anne! I'm glad you found a recipe for your daughter that's super easy to make too. Thank you for trying out the recipe and for letting me know you liked it 🙂