When I posted about switching from boxed and canned goods to homemade alternatives, Heather Anderson, who blogs at A Mother’s Calling, commented:
…The one thing I had a hard time replacing in casseroles and soups was cream of mushroom soup. But I found a great recipe that works great for me, so no more cream of mushroom cans from the store.
Well, you know I had to ask Heather about her substitute. She kindly agreed to share her recipe here as a guest post. Thanks, Heather!
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
I have been on a real food journey for over twenty years now, and I am always looking for ways to make inexpensive, healthy versions of things that sit on many people’s pantry shelves. In the last couple of years I have become even more concerned with where my food comes from. Is it sustainably grown? Is my money benefitting the farmer that produced the food or a bunch of middlemen and marketers? By making my own versions of products, not only do I cut down on packaging, I know exactly what my family and I are eating. One of my favorite and most versatile substitutes is for Cream of Mushroom Soup. This can be used in casseroles, as a gravy or sauce, or as a base in soups. I hope you find this as helpful as I have over the years.
Ingredients:
- 4 Tbsp. butter
- ½ lb. cleaned and sliced mushrooms
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 6 cups (approximately) chicken broth (alternately, 5 ½ cups water mixed with ½ cup Bragg’s Aminos)
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a skillet on medium. When warm add the butter, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute until browned slightly. Add the flour and stir for about 1 minute. Slowly add the broth or water mixture, stirring constantly to avoid clumps. Use less or more liquid according to desired consistency. This is the basic mushroom gravy from which the soup or sauce can be made.
For cream of mushroom soup replace half of the broth with milk or simply add ½ cup of sour cream.
For a very nice mushroom-wine sauce, add ¼ cup white wine. This is excellent over chicken breast and brown rice.
This recipe holds up well refrigerated. I have never tried to freeze it by itself, but I have frozen casseroles using it, and they reheated fine.
