Creamy Vegan Chanterelle Soup

If you love mushrooms, this creamy and earthy soup is for you.

I make soup often in the winter and rarely find recipes that are worthy of posting. I adore this one and have made it a few times. The recipe works well with some modifications such as gluten-free flour, vegan butter, vegetable broth instead of chicken and a mix of mushrooms. Fresh chanterelles aren't always available so I re-hydrate one package of dried chanterelles and use whatever fresh mushrooms I can find.

Ingredients

• 1 pound chanterelle mushrooms, sliced (about 5 cups of fresh mushrooms. You can also use a mix of available mushrooms - fresh and dried)
• 6 cups low-sodium homemade or store bought vegetable broth
• 6-7 tablespoons vegan butter, divided (e.g., Earth Balance)
• 1 1/2 medium shallots, thinly sliced (about 1 cup), plus a couple of minced green onions for garnish
• 3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon gluten-free flour
• 1 cup dry sherry or white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 thyme sprigs, plus 1/2 teaspoon picked thyme leaves (or substitute dried thyme if that's all you have)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Optional: TB cornstarch mixed with small amount of cold water

 

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, add veggie stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and keep warm.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter in another medium saucepan over medium heat (olive oil could be used if you prefer). Add shallots and garlic and cook for about 8 minutes. Stir constantly until very soft but not browned.
3. Add mushrooms to saucepan with garlic and onions, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. You want excess liquid to evaporate and mushrooms to sizzle.  
4. Add flour and stir for about 30 seconds. Add sherry or white wine, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of saucepan until it is thick and syrupy, about 1 minute.
5. Combine contents of two saucepans: Add veggie broth to the saucepan containing onions, garlic, mushrooms, flour and wine. Add bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Discard bay leaves and thyme and transfer soup to a high speed blender and pulse for about a minute. On full speed, add 4 TB of butter – one at a time until soup is completely smooth.
7. Depending on the flour and mushrooms you have used, you might want to add a slurry of cornstarch to thicken the soup a bit. 
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper or extra dried thyme
9. Ladle soup into bowls and add green onions for garnish. If you are not serving soup immediately, the original instructions suggest that you heat oil in a medium saucepan over high heat until lightly smoking. Add 2 tablespoons water and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Ladle soup into bowls, add garnish and serve immediately.

Note: I've cut out some steps and tried to clarify the original instructions but feel free to follow all the steps listed by the author, J. Kenji López-Alt.