Look no further than this Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Soup to spice up your holiday table. It’s a vegetarian and gluten-free soup that everyone will love.
In this recipe
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Recipe tips for chestnut and mushroom soup
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Exchange and substitution of ingredients
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Chestnut and mushroom soup variations
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serving suggestions
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Storage Instructions
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More wonderful mushroom soup recipes
Rich, luxurious and with a touch of sweetness, this creamy chestnut and mushroom soup is an ideal dish to spice up a holiday meal or turn a weeknight dinner into a special occasion.
Being vegetarian and gluten-free will allow you to satisfy many of your holiday guests, whatever their dietary needs. It’s an easy and fun way to prepare a dish that requires no modifications for special dieters and that anyone who likes mushrooms will love – no matter what else they do or don’t eat. You can even make this soup dairy-free by omitting the cream before serving.
Chestnuts are underused in savory dishes and this soup highlights them perfectly. Their texture is sweet and nutty, so they pair particularly well with cremini mushrooms, which have a slightly stronger and earthier flavor than button mushrooms.
Cooked entirely on the stovetop, this soup is quick to make. It serves up to eight people as a side dish, keeps well for leftovers, freezes well and reheats easily. are you already sold
Recipe tips for chestnut and mushroom soup
Follow these tips for a chestnut mushroom soup that everyone will enjoy.
- Because only Part Once the soup is mixed, it is advisable to cut your mushrooms, onions and chestnuts into equal pieces as some will be visible when you scoop them into the bowls.
- A yellow or white onion works best in this recipe due to the sweetness of the chestnuts.
- If you don’t often cook with mushrooms, here’s a guide to cleaning and prepping mushrooms, plus a few tricks for even faster prep.
- You can puree the soup once it’s finished cooking if you use an immersion blender, but if you’re using a stand mixer, let it cool slightly. Five minutes should be enough.
If you don’t have everything available for this soup, try one or more of these swaps or subs.
- If you don’t have cremini mushrooms available, regular button mushrooms work well. You can also make this even tastier and more varied by adding shiitake, maitake, morels, or other wild mushrooms. When cooking, remove any tough stems.
- You can also use chicken or beef broth for this recipe. It will result in a richer soup.
- Do you love roasting your own chestnuts? This is an excellent use for them after they’ve been roasted and peeled! Store the cooked chestnuts until you are ready to make the soup, then proceed as you did with the bagged chestnuts.
- Use roasted garlic instead of fresh for added caramelized flavor. If you fry it, double the amount added to the soup.
- If you don’t have white pepper on hand, regular black pepper works well.
- For a different quality of herb, try sage or rosemary instead of thyme. Follow the same process, simmering the soup with the fresh sprigs and then discarding them before mixing.
- Instead of chestnuts, you can also use raw hazelnuts or cashew nuts. Be sure to cut the nuts smaller, otherwise they will take longer to cook. I would recommend about 1/4 inch pieces.
Chestnut and mushroom soup variations
Try one of the following variations for a new twist on this chestnut soup.
- To make this a main course soup, add 2-4 ounces of diced and sautéed tofu or shredded cooked chicken to each bowl.
- If you prefer a completely creamy soup that has no lumpiness at all, you can puree it completely. Passing it through a sieve or food grinder after mixing will result in a thinner, more delicate texture.
serving suggestions
Serve this soup with a side salad and crusty bread for a light meal, in a mug or bowl as a side for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, or in a sourdough bread bowl for an entree.
Storage Instructions
This chestnut mushroom soup keeps for days and freezes well too. Store unused portions in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator.
To freeze the soup, store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator until cold, then place in the freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge or on the counter until pliable. Once thawed, heat on stovetop until gently simmering. If you’re looking for more soup freezing tips, this guide to freezing soup, beans, and broth is a great resource.
More wonderful mushroom soup recipes
- Wild Mushroom Cream Soup
- Vegan Mushroom Barley Soup
- Chicken soup with ginger and shiitake mushrooms
- Farro, mushroom and spinach soup
Creamy chestnut and mushroom soup
This soup requires 6 cups of broth. If you want a thicker soup, start with 5 cups and adjust from there.
ingredients
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1 1/2 tablespoon butter or oil
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1/2 yellow onionrolled
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1 big clove garlicchopped
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1 lb Cremini mushroomscut into 1/2 inch pieces
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5 ounces prepared chestnutsquartered
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3-4 branches fresh thyme
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48 ounces (6 Cups) vegetable broth
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3/4 teaspoon Salt
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1/8 teaspoon floor White pepper
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1/4 Cup fat whipped cream
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thyme leaves, for garnish
method
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Stew the aromatics and chestnuts:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once melted, add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic, mushrooms and chestnuts and sauté for a further 2 minutes. The vegetables will appear soft and the mushrooms will have shrunk considerably.
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Add remaining ingredients and bring soup to a boil:
Add the thyme sprigs, stock, salt and white pepper and bring the soup to a boil. It should have full bubbles around the edges toward the center.
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Cook a soup:
Reduce the heat to medium-high to allow the soup to simmer, uncovered, with little bubbles, until the chestnuts are slightly tender, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, carefully remove and discard the thyme stalks.
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Puree the soup in a blender:
Turn off the stove and let the soup cool for about five minutes. For this recipe, you only blend half of the soup.
Scoop out half of the soup with a ladle or glass measuring cup and carefully pour into a blender carafe. If the soup still feels very hot when you put it in the blender, remove the center cap from the blender lid and place a clean tea towel over it to allow steam to escape while you puree the soup.
If using a low-speed blender, blend on medium for about 15 seconds, or about 5 seconds if using a high-speed blender, until creamy.
The 1/2 portion of soup should fit in a standard sized blender, well below the “Fill To” line. However, if you have a small blender, you may want to do this in two batches.
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Return the blended soup to the pot:
Add the mixed soup and cream to the saucepan with the rest of the soup on the stove, stirring to combine. The appearance should be thicker and more vegetable than a cream of mushroom soup. It will also be slightly darker than a cream soup due to the minimal amount of cream used. The overall color will be a shade of brown, similar to a very light milk chocolate.
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Puree the soup in a hand blender:
Alternatively, use an immersion blender directly in the pot and let it run until half of the soup is mixed. You want a mix of small and large pieces of mushrooms and chestnuts. You should add the cream after running the hand blender through the soup.
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Surcharge:
Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with additional salt and pepper to taste and a few thyme leaves. Surcharge.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 118 | calories |
| 6g | Fat |
| 15g | carbohydrates |
| 3g | protein |
