Hearty Portobello Mushroom Soup

Recipe Update: This longtime Inspector Gorgeous recipe has been updated and retested in August 2026 with more mushrooms, hearty vegetables, beef broth, fresh thyme, and cooking sherry for a fuller, more flavorful soup. It’s still the savory, brothy mushroom soup I originally loved—just better.

I remember when I first posted this recipe, I had recently discovered something shocking: apparently everyone loves mushrooms.

I had always assumed they were one of those polarizing foods reserved for a small group of fungi enthusiasts, but every time I shared something mushroom-heavy, you guys were into it.

Which worked out beautifully because I was, too.

This Hearty Portobello Mushroom Soup is my kind of mushroom soup. It’s not thick, creamy, or trying to disguise the mushrooms under a blanket of dairy. It’s brothy and deeply savory, with lots of slow-cooked mushrooms, tender carrots and celery, fresh thyme, and a splash of sherry.

Basically, if you really love mushrooms, come sit by me.

A Quick Recipe Update

This recipe has been hanging around Inspector Gorgeous for years, and it was time to give it a little attention.

The original was good, but I’ve learned a lot about cooking since I first started sharing recipes here. I’ve updated this longtime favorite with more mushrooms, hearty vegetables, fresh thyme, and cooking sherry for a fuller, more flavorful soup.

It’s still the brothy mushroom soup I originally loved.

Just better.

Take Me to Fungi Town

The most important part of this soup is also the most obvious:

The mushrooms.

And we’re using a lot of them.

I like baby bella or cremini mushrooms here because they’re easy to find but have a deeper, earthier flavor than white button mushrooms. Portobello mushrooms are simply mature creminis, so we’re very much in the same delicious mushroom family.

The real trick isn’t just which mushrooms you use, though.

It’s how you cook them.

Take Your Time Browning the Mushrooms

If there’s one thing I’ve learned since writing the original version of this recipe, it’s that mushrooms deserve some patience.

Instead of adding them to the pot for a few minutes and immediately covering them with broth, we’re giving them time to cook in butter first.

Mushrooms release a surprising amount of water as they cook. Let that moisture come out, continue cooking until it evaporates, and then let the mushrooms actually begin to brown.

That’s where we start building the deep, savory flavor that eventually ends up in the broth.

So don’t rush this part. Your soup will wait.

What You’ll Need

Baby bella or cremini mushrooms: We’re using a full 24 ounces because a mushroom soup should contain an unreasonable number of mushrooms.

Butter: Helps brown the mushrooms and adds richness to the broth without making the soup creamy.

Onion, carrots, and celery: Our classic soup situation. They add sweetness, texture, and enough substance to make this feel like a proper bowl of soup.

Garlic: Obviously.

Beef broth: I love the deeper flavor of beef broth with mushrooms. It gives this soup a much richer, more savory base than vegetable broth.

Cooking sherry: Just a splash adds another layer of flavor and works beautifully with mushrooms and beef broth.

Fresh thyme: Earthy mushrooms and fresh thyme belong together.

Salt + freshly cracked pepper: Season to taste, especially since both beef broth and cooking sherry can already contain salt.

Why This Mushroom Soup Isn’t Creamy

Because I don’t want it to be!

There are plenty of creamy mushroom soups in the world—and I’ll probably add one of my own eventually—but this recipe is for the people who want a big bowl of savory mushroom broth filled with actual mushrooms and vegetables.

Browning the mushrooms, deglazing the pan with sherry, and letting everything gently simmer gives the broth plenty of flavor without adding cream or thickener.

It’s cozy without being heavy.

And sometimes that’s exactly the soup I want.

A Note From Me! This Recipe Has Been Refreshed

I mentioned that above but incase you weren’t reading, I wanted to clarify that I have tweaked this recipe based on some reviews, and some growth in my cooking skills, to have a deeper flavor with more mushrooms and vegetables in each bite.

The re-testing of this recipe is why there are things like celery and carrots in the recipe and not in all of the images! I hope you try this new, updated version and love it as much as I do.

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