This Mushroom Brie Soup is earthy, rich, and decadent. Want to impress a date? Make this. It’s a very impressive recipe, but it’s also an easy, one-pot meal to throw together. Browned butter creates an amazing depth of flavor in addition to the pound of fresh mushrooms and brie cheese melted into every creamy bite of this vegetarian soup.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: there’s no way that this is healthy. Well, if you are talking about using real, unprocessed, whole ingredients as healthy… then yes, it is! Besides a nominal amount of white flour used to thicken it (that can easily be omitted), this recipe is made from 100% real ingredients. If you’re talking about healthy as low-carb, then yes! Barely any carbs here. But if you are talking about “healthy” as in low-fat or low calorie… this recipe is not it. HOWEVER. I have a few things to say about this before you go running away.
First: I don’t recommend eating this soup as a meal on its own. Even though it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted (seriously), I think it’s far too rich and heavy to be an entire meal. Pair it with a side salad and a good piece of whole grain bread, or enjoy it as a first course in a small portion.
Second: if you are really concerned about the fat or calorie content of this recipe, fear not- I have a solution! Just cut the amount of butter in half and use whole milk or half and half instead of heavy cream. Problem solved. (Also in recipe notes below.)
Let’s talk about browned butter for a little bit. It’s one of those things that’s worth talking about.
If you don’t know what it is, or if you’ve never made it before, you’re in for a treat. First of all, don’t be scared of it- it’s very easy to make. You just have to pay attention to it. Second of all, and fair warning, you’re going to want to put it on EVERYTHING.
Some of my favorite browned butter recipes are pasta dishes, like Butternut Squash, Browned Butter, and Rosemary Fettucini Alfredo and Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Wilted Greens.
It goes extremely well with earthy flavors, like squash, potatoes (try using it in place of regular butter in your next batch of mashed potatoes), and – you guessed it – mushrooms. Which makes it a perfect candidate for this soup.
Butter consists of two things: fat and dairy solids. When it melts, you’ve probably noticed that it tends to foam up and the bright yellow fat separates from the white dairy solids. Browned butter is butter that has been heated past melting so that the dairy solids get cooked more and browned. It creates a toasty, rich, nutty flavor that is oh so delicious.
When making it for this soup, just melt the butter in the pot and continue heating and stirring until it turns a brown color. At this point, immediately add the onions and mushrooms- the liquid from the vegetables will stop the browning process.
It is possible to burn butter if you let it brown for too long, so just keep an eye on it. Deep breath: you’ll be fine. It’s worth the extra couple of minutes and attention it takes.
Here’s a great tutorial for how to brown butter if you want to learn more.
After browning the butter and adding the mushrooms and onions, this recipe is nothing more than adding some flour (to thicken it) and chicken broth (vegetable or mushroom can also be used for 100% vegetarian), melting some brie directly in the pot, pureeing, and adding heavy cream. It’s seriously simple, especially if you have an immersion blender.
I cannot recommend this product enough. If you don’t have one, consider adding it to your vital kitchen supplies. Just plug it in, submerge it directly in the pot of soup, and press on- it will puree the soup without the need for you to drag out your standing blender (and consequently do tons more clean-up).
I use to it puree soups like this or like butternut squash soup, or to just thicken soups by pulsing for a bit. Go get you one!
If you follow my blog, you know that I’m a huge fan of soups. Here are all my other soup recipes if you want to take a look.
If you like this recipe, you’ll also like this creamy mushroom, chicken, and wild rice soup.
And make sure you cook the mushrooms correctly to get the most flavor out of them!
Recipe for Mushroom Brie Soup below, including notes for making a gluten-free and a lower fat version. Enjoy!
Mushroom Brie Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion diced
- 1 lb. cremini mushrooms sliced or chopped (baby portobellos)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock/broth or vegetable or mushroom broth
- 8 oz. brie rinds removed and cut into small wedges or cubes*
- 1 cup heavy cream
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- croutons and/or parsley for garnish (if desired)
Instructions
- Melt the butter (4 tablespoons) in a medium or large pot over medium high heat. Once it's melted, continue heating until foamy and beginning to turn brown.
- Immediately add the diced onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Stir, turn heat down to medium, then allow to sauté untouched for approximately 5 minutes, or until liquid has mostly evaporated.
- Add flour (1/4 cup); stir to coat.
- Add chicken broth (4 cups), stir, bring to a boil.
- Turn heat down to simmer. Add cubed brie (8 oz.) and continue simmering until melted (if there are a few chunks that won't melt, don't worry about it).
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to desired consistency (alternatively, you can use a standard blender in batches).
- Add the heavy cream (1 cup) to soup and stir in. Turn off heat, and taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve hot, garnished with croutons and/or parsley, if desired.
Notes
- Don't worry about removing every speck of rind from the brie- it won't melt into the soup but since you are pureeing it anyway, a little bit here and there won't matter.
- For a lower fat version, reduce butter to two tablespoons and use whole milk or half and half instead of heavy cream.
- For a gluten free version, substitute cornstarch for the flour (or omit the flour).
- For a more intense mushroom flavor, add some dried porcini mushrooms.
- Freeze the leftovers or an extra batch in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Gayle Patterson
I have made this recipe several times and have begun to add fresh rosemary. I honestly couldn’t say how much for sure, because as with garlic, I measure with my heart. :)
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I love the idea of adding rosemary, I bet that flavor combination was great!
Christine
One of the BEST soups I’ve ever made! My family couldn’t get enough…Thank you for such a great recipe!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Dale
I’ve made this a few times; always turns out great! The only thing I do differently is that I don’t blend the entire pot of soup. I keep a cup of so aside, blend the rest well, then mix the un-blended portion back in. Just adds some texture to the soup!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Love that idea! So glad you liked it!
Renea
I have made this recipe twice. Both times the taste is awesome but it is not think. I do not have an immersion blender but not sure that is my issue. Taste wonderful just not thick…help my family love the taste and are willing to hang while I learn. I am new to cream soups….
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! This is not a super thick soup, but the flour should thicken it. It would be very easy to turn make it thicker by adding a cornstarch slurry in when you’re done or by using more flour in the beginning. Hope that helps!
Dipika
I made this soup today and it was really delicious loved it l did add white wine and bit of garlic. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you so much.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Uwe Brandt
Awesome recipe!
Please double check the calorie count – I came up with 2900 calories for the entire 6 servings. Not 381000 calories.
Elizabeth Lindemann
It’s 381 calories per serving, not 381000! I use an automatic nutrition calculator and the information is my best estimate. 2900/6 is more like 483 calories per serving. Also, kcalories is interchangeable with the “calories” when referring to nutrition, if that part was confusing (I’ve been confused by that before!).
Claudia
I made this soup today, mostly as written, except that I didn’t have quite 4 cups of homemade chicken broth, so I added some white wine. Also threw in a small chopped shallot in addition to the chopped onion and garlic, and added one slice of pepper jack cheese sliced with all of the brie. It tastes fantastic. My husband didn’t think he would like it because the only cream of mushroom soup he’s had is of the canned variety (ugh). But he loves this! And so do I. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it and I love the idea of adding pepper jack cheese too!
Robin
I would die for this soup. This recipe is so easy to make and so delicious!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Suzanne
Delicious soup but a bit salty, just a little. Next time I will not add salt until the very end. I did add 2TBL of dried porcini mushrooms that I pulverized in a mini food processor before adding them, I did this because I did not have creamini mushrooms and used white mushrooms instead, the dried porcini added a bit of depth. I will definitely make this again and share the recipe with friends.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Good call about seasoning with salt at the end- cheese and chicken stock can both be salty, and that varies with brand.
Bill Tucker
My recipe is very similar to this one, but has sherry. A little sherry really kicks it up (1/2 cup +).
Elizabeth Lindemann
Oh wow, that sounds delicious! I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks for sharing this tip :-)
Benjamin
Something went wrong. I had a delicious Mushroom Brie Bisque at a cafe and wanted to reproduce it. Your recipe came out too creamy, more like a chowder or cream soup. Do you have a suggestion for reducing the cream and replacing it with something else?
Also, in this and future recipes, can you give an idea of how big the onion should be and of what type? Is the default: white medium sized onion?
I look forward to making more of your recipes.
Benjamin
Of course… It could have been the fact that I didn’t know what Brie husk was and just threw the whole thing in. Ouch…
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yes, this is definitely a very creamy recipe! You can certainly cut down the cream a bit. I suggest using as little as 1/4 cup heavy cream instead of 1 cup. You could also use whole milk instead of cream to make it a bit lighter. I have another suggestion as well. Use 2 tablespoons of brown butter to sauté the onion and cook the soup as directed. Turn off the heat before using an immersion blender to blend it. While you are blending it, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the 1/4 cup of heavy cream (or milk). When butter is added without high heat, it helps thicken and emulsify what you’re making (whether it’s a soup or a sauce). As for the onion- thanks for the suggestion! I’ll try to be more specific in the future. I tend to be less specific when it doesn’t matter very much- a large, medium, or small white or yellow onion would suffice in this recipe :-) Hope that helps!
Tom and Cathie Spencer
made this with smoked gouda and used fat free half and half instead of heavy cream. (my nod at trying to reduce calories). It was some of the best soup i’ve ever had. words cant describe!!!
Elizabeth
Wow smoked gouda sounds AMAZING for this! So glad you liked it, thanks for the comment!
Linda
I recently had lunch at our local country club, and the soup served that day was Mushroom-Brie. I had never had it before, but love both mushrooms and brie, so ordered it. It was fabulous. Planning a Christmas day brunch, when soup, salad and crispy bread would be appropriate, I Googled recipes and came upon this one. I made a batch, following the recipe exactly. It was very good, but lacked a little something compared with what I had eaten. Don’t hate me here, I don’t like it either when people totally change a recipe and comment on it – which I am absolutely not doing. I simply looked at other soup websites that were unnecessarily complicated in my opinion, and stole their suggestion of minced garlic and a little thyme with the sauted mushrooms. I also removed some of the mushrooms from the saute and coarsely chopped them, adding after I blended the remaining. Bingo…that duplicated the soup I had at the restaurant. Everyone at brunch loved it, asked for the recipe. This is such an easy recipe, thank you so so much for sharing it.
Elizabeth
So happy you and your guests liked it! It’s funny- the reason why I left out the garlic is because I was pregnant when I wrote this and HATED garlic at the time. I bet it was delicious with it in! Thanks so much for the comment :-)
Anne Louise
I was excited to try this recipe and it was as delicious as I imagined! The soup was very easy to prepare. I purchased all the cremini mushrooms at Trader Joe’s and sliced them. I would think that you could successfully make this soup a number of consistencies depending on how long you used the immersion blender. After mixing in the heavy cream, ,it was fine to let the soup sit for 15 minutes with a cover on the pot (I used a Le Creuset pot) and it was hot and read to serve when the crusty baguette was ready. My guests loved the soup!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your guests liked it!
Danielle
Amazing! Tastes very luxurious. I put a lot of pepper–like two entire spoonfuls and pureed some parsley in it as well. I will make this again and again.
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it! I love lots of pepper in creamy soups like this- I added quite a bit as well. Thanks for the comment!
Chris
I make a very similar soup using a milk creamy blue cheese instead of brie. That’s lovely too.
Elizabeth
Oh yummmm. I had a tomato blue cheese bisque at a restaurant a little while ago- absolutely delicious. I bet it would be great with mushrooms as well- I’ll have to try it!
Jen Klyse
Psst–it isn’t vegetarian if you’re using chicken broth! I presume a mushroom or chik’n broth (veggie) would work as well?
Elizabeth
I forgot to add that note to the recipe! Thanks for catching that :-) Yes, mushroom or veggie broth would work great. Fixing now.
Jen Klyse
:)