Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Velvety creamy mushroom soup! So cozy, comforting, hearty. A 30 min recipe, truly weeknight-dinner worthy!
Don’t mind me as I drown myself in this epic creaminess in the middle of winter. A fun spin on chicken soup, this is made even creamier with a quick roux, along with all the little cremini mushrooms, tender carrots/celery/onion, garlicky-thyme brothy-goodness.
With pantry staples like chicken stock, this comes together lightening fast (definitely weeknight worthy). All you need is some crusty bread off to the side to dunk into this cozy pot of earthy, wholesome comfort food.
Feel free to add a splash or more of that half and half, giving that luscious creamy texture we all love and need sometimes (definitely fewer calories than cream). If freezing, omit the dairy completely to avoid graininess and separating, adding it in right before serving.
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the half and half (dairy soups tend to separate when frozen) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding half and half when serving.
Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup half and half, or more, as needed*
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Melt butter in the stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock, bay leaf and chicken, and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in half and half until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more half and half as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I am going to make this recipe. I have a question, can I use Baby Bella Mushrooms instead or the Crimini Mushrooms? I love love love Mushrooms. t/y
Yes, absolutely.
I made this tonight and was highly impressed. I’m not usually a fan of mushrooms, but this is one dish that makes them great.
This is a great recipe! I added cilantro instead of parsley to finish and my family loved it! I think lemon grass could be could and make it Thai style. So many possible variations. I freezes well too. I made a triple batch!
Thanks!!
Made this for dinner tonight. The best I have tasted in a long, long time. My husband even ate some and he is not a soup eater. Will definitely be cooking this again.
Made this for dinner. Forgot to chunk up the chicken before browning- no worries, cut it up after taking it out of dutch oven. My problem was I should have cut the carrots into a smaller dice- they didn’t cook enough and I ended up simmering the soup an extra 15 minutes before adding 1/2 and 1/2 . Also added the red pepper flakes for a little zing. Loved the buttery goodness from the mushrooms- was a lovely fall meal!
All I can say is “Damn. Delicious!”
I can’t miss with your recipes, I pin things on Pinterest that look delicious, and half the time they’re your recipes. Keep up the amazing work!
If I were to use heavy cream instead of half & half, would I use the same amount?
Yes, it would be the same amount.
I made this exactly as posted…delicious! Thank you for sharing!
So husband and I are trying to eat a little healthier without sacrificing the yummy and the budget, and bumped into this recipe and it was delicious!! But we did add some extras, we needed a little more flavor and tickness so we threw in some mozarella grated cheese, a little bit of cilantro sauce and a “pow”of cayenne pepper… outcome: beautifullllll, so yes thanks for the idea, this is definetly for mushroom lovers and soup lovers. Thanks for the recipe!
could this possibly be done in a crock pot?
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to be used in a slow cooker without further recipe testing. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide: http://www.thekitchn.com/5-tips-for-converting-recipes-to-the-slow-cooker-189343.
I recently made a chicken vegetables soup (crockpot) similar to this one, minus the mushrooms and cream. I think if you add the mushrooms in the last hour or two then stir in the cream at the end, it might work.
This came out sooo damn delicious. I did add cooked wild rice to it 5 minutes before serving.My new favorite soup.
Can you put this in the freezer?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I made this for a small dinner party the other night and it went down so well! Absolutely delicious. My friend even took the recipe I printed out. I will definitely be trying your other recipes.. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
12 grams of fat??? Typo?
The numbers are correct.
Just made this. Added some homemade flour dumplings. Delicious.
This soup tastes amazing best soup I’ve had/made in a long time 🙂
Can’t get enough of mushrooms and love all of your recipes!
Great recipe! Of course, all your recipes look awesome. Made this as per instructions the first time. The most difficult part was cutting up the raw chicken thighs and hoping I had cooked them enough. Second time I bought pulled dark meat from my local deli which made it much easier. Our local steak house serves an excellent chicken mushroom soup, but I think this recipe is much better. I did use 1½ cups of half and half to match the creaminess of their soup! Even my wife, who does not like mushrooms, raved about this soup!
Just made a variation of this for my family and it was a resounding success! Instead of thighs, I used chicken and apple sausage. I also used a variety of fresh carrots and mushrooms we got from our local farmers market. Everything came out just perfect! This was my first time trying one of your recipes, but I don’t think it will be the last!
Glad to see that you use chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts in your recipes! So much more flavor, and there’s no risk of their drying out!