Roasted and pureed cauliflower gives this soup its silkiness, making it a better-for-you version of cream of mushroom soup. 
It’s been a few weeks now that my husband has been craving and requesting a mushroom based dish. While I know he likes sautéed mushrooms with a good steak, this was a surprising request and I loved the challenge! 
I knew I wanted to make a hearty, earthy soup, but I just couldn’t get into the soup season with all the heat we still had. So, I avoided my husband’s request for weeks…
Until now. It finally feels like soup weather and Bill is going to be so satisfied with this dish!
With a little inspiration from my Creamy Coconut Curry Cauliflower Bisque, I decided to lighten up a classic cream of mushroom and cook a won’t-stick-to-my-hips-type version.
First, the mushrooms. The key to getting the rich mushroom flavor is to use a mix of wild mushrooms. I roasted white buttons, shiitake, crimini, and portobellas. Roasting them brings out their earthiness even more making this a soup of mushroom lover’s dreams.
The secret weapon in making this a lighter version of a classic is pureed cauliflower. 
This roasted cauliflower and half of the mushrooms get tossed into a mushroom broth that had been simmering away with shallots, garlic, thyme and sherry. All these ingredients perfectly compliment the woodsy flavor of the mushrooms
Then I let my immersion blender do all the work to turn this into a decadent and thick soup.
The taste of the cauliflower was not evident, but it certainly was the reason this soup was so silky and creamy.
And we all agreed that the best spoonful was a meaty bite from the reserved mushrooms that were stirred in. 
I did it! I conquered Bill’s mushroom craving with this fall soup. 
Wonder what his next food craving will be? I can’t wait to hear!
Have you ever substituted pureed cauliflower for cream in a soup?
Roasted cauliflower gives this soup its silkiness, making it a better-for-you version of cream of mushroom soup.
- 6 cups Mushroom Broth
- 2-2.5 lbs mushroom variety sliced
- 1 medium head of cauliflower roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 shallot roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp thyme chopped
- 1/2 cup sherry
- fresh parsley for garnish
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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To a parchment lined cookie sheet, add the mushrooms, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.
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On another parchment lined cookie sheet, do the same thing with the cauliflower.
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Please the mushrooms on the bottom rack and the cauliflower on the middle rack of the oven.
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Roast for 30 minutes or until the cauliflower is beginning to turn golden brown and both vegetables are fork tender.
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Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven pot, melt the butter.
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Add the shallot and cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the garlic and the thyme and cook for about 1 minute.
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Add the sherry and bring to a low boil, cooking about 5 minutes and stirring occasionally until reduced by half.
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Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
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Remove cauliflower from the oven and add to the pot.
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Remove mushrooms from the oven.
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Add half the mushrooms and all its juices to the pot. Reserve the rest of the mushrooms for adding to the soup later.
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Puree the soup in the pot using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender and puree in batches, then return to the pot.
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Chop the reserved mushrooms and stir into the soup, keeping some for garnish is desired.
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Ladle into bowls and top with more mushrooms (optional) and fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Use a variety of mushrooms like cremini, shiitake, and portabellos for more richness.
Use vegetable broth as a substitute.
Goodness, this looks delicious! I had a fav mushroom soup recipe from years past that I have been actively avoiding because, although delicious, the heavy cream was pretty heavy. Using cauliflower is genius! Will try this!
I’m with you. I love a rich soup, but the cream tears up my belly. Bill totally thought there was cream in this one!
Oh my goodness this looks delicious!!
Thanks, Erin! There were not any leftovers. lol
I just made cauliflower soup the other day and now I’ve come across this recipe! I love that the veg are roasted in this recipe. Now I need to go out and buy another cauliflower (and some mushrooms)!! It looks delish and perfect for fall. Can’t wait to give it a try.
Thank you for the awesome feedback, Yolanda! Isn’t it amazing what the cauliflower does in a soup!? So filling without the guilt!
This looks SO yummy! Def trying it this fall 🙂
I’m glad you are a fan of mushrooms too and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
I just shared this with a colleague and had to double check that there is no cream in this because it was so good! I’m actually ready for more this week.
That’s why you are allowed more than one bowl of it! Did you tell your colleague how spoiled you are? 😉