What’s cooking? Homemade cream of mushroom soup

This holiday season leave the cans of condensed soup on shelf at your local grocer. Here is a quick and easy recipe for making creamy soup that will spruce up any meal. Whether you’re using it as an ingredient in your favorite holiday dish, like green bean casserole, or if you just need a warm, comforting cup of soup while you’re waiting for dinner to come, this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1 container of baby bella mushrooms (whole or sliced)

32oz of chicken broth

1 pint of heavy whipping cream or half and half

3 Tbsp of butter

1 tbsp ground black pepper (or to taste)

1 tsp of Italian seasoning (or to taste)

3 tbsp of corn starch (add more as needed)

Instructions:

1. Spilt the packaged mushrooms. I dice half of them up real small and then I slice the other half so there is a variety of mushroom through the soup. You can really mix it up by chopping some of them into quarters.
2. Start melting the butter in a large cooking pot over medium heat. Drop all your mushrooms in a put a lid on the pot for about 5 minutes. Then stir to make sure that all the mushrooms are soft.
3.  Add in ¾ of the chicken stock, followed by the cream and seasoning. Give it another stir to make sure it is all mixed together.
4. Put the remaining ¼ of broth in a measuring cup or small bowl. Add in the corn starch and whisk it until all chunks have been dissolved. Then pour it into the pot and begin stirring slowly. It is best to add the starch this way so you don’t get little bubbles of starch in the bottom of your soup.
5. Keep stirring until it has reached your desired thickness. Add more starch if needed. I just mix an additional tsp with some milk or water. Better to add a little at a time so your soup doesn’t get overly thick or gummy.
6. Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Once that it is finished it is ready to be added your favorite or your favorite cup or bowl.

This will make about 8-12 servings of soup depending on whether it is cup or bowl. We used this recipe in our green bean casserole last Thanksgiving instead of the can and what a difference that made. We will never be going back to the can.