Watery Mushroom Soup? Use Everyday Ingredients To Thicken It

Mushrooms add earthy flavor to whatever dish they're incorporated in, but since they're 92% water, they can also release a ton of moisture when you cook them. If you fail to factor that in, you might end up with mushroom soup that's far more watery than you wanted. Luckily, there are many easy ways to thicken up your mushroom soup with everyday ingredients you probably have in your pantry already.

One of the simplest ways is to incorporate a few tablespoons of either flour or cornstarch, which work like magic to thicken liquids. In order to avoid lumps, though, you'll want to combine the flour or cornstarch with a few spoonfuls of warm soup in a small bowl before adding the mixture into the larger pot of soup. If your mushroom soup has a creamy base, another way to thicken the consistency without changing the flavor profile too much is to add a few tablespoons of cream. You'll just want to be aware of how much extra dairy you're incorporating so that you don't dilute the soup's flavor. (Speaking of, we've broken down 17 different types of mushrooms, so you can determine which combination would best suit your ideal mushroom soup.) Finally, a surprising ingredient you can use to thicken soup is potatoes — as they cook, they release some of their starches, achieving roughly the same results as you would by adding a starchy mix-in like flour.

Ingredients like flour, cornstarch, cream or potatoes effectively thicken mushroom soup without introducing too many additional flavors or components — even if you opt for the potato route, you can mash them up in your soup, essentially leaving them undetectable. However, there are some other options to consider. If you don't mind some mix-ins, you could add some uncooked rice into the pot. This trick does take a bit of time — you need to wait about 20 to 30 minutes for the rice to cook — but once it does, it'll release those helpful starches that will thicken your mushroom soup. You don't need to incorporate too much, but all those rice grains will remain, so it may not be the best option if you're making a silky smooth pureed mushroom soup where that would matter.

Or, to craft a truly decadent mushroom soup, you can thicken your soup by emulsifying some fat. What does that mean? To reap the benefits of this tip, stream your preferred fat, such as olive oil, into your soup pot while using an immersion blender, and it'll all combine to create a thicker, richer soup. The only caveat with this is that if you want to avoid blending out all the mushroom pieces, you may want to remove some of them from the pot prior to blending and reintroduce them once the soup is your desired thickness.