Creamy Italian mushroom soup with black garlic & porcini (2024)

This creamy mushroom soup with black garlic and porcini can be made with any mushrooms you love and is served with crispy onion rings.

This creamy mushroom soup with black garlic and porcini is my latest obsession! Probably this has something to do with the season, and that’s because every fall I start to crave comforting, earthy recipes and dishes that smell like fall!

Yes, it’s not only pumpkin and squash that smells like fall (though if you’re head to toe into the fall spirit you may also want to check this butternut squash risotto). And I promise you this: once you smell this velvety and ultra creamy soup, you’ll think you’re in the forest!

If you happen to visit this blog often, then you know about my latest obsession, black garlic! Using black garlic in a recipe is the perfect way to get all the benefits of garlic (or more accurately twice the health benefits) plus a sweet and earthy taste without the strong smell of raw garlic.

Until now I have used black garlic in a tzatziki sauce (you can find the recipe in this juicy Greek pork skewers post) and in a Mediterranean chimichurri (recipe in this juicy fried meatballs post) and I have totally loved it! The only obvious next choice was to use it in a mushroom recipe since both mushrooms and black garlic have an earthy taste, full of umami, and complement each other.

What’s my simple trick for a thick, creamy mushroom soup? A small potato. At first, I thought about making a béchamel sauce to thicken the soup, but this would mean extra trouble, an extra dirty pot, and this recipe no longer being gluten-free (though you can make béchamel with cornstarch instead of flour). The potato option is a lot easier and simpler because all you have to do is to cook it with the rest of the ingredients.

For better presentation, I needed some very dark onion rings. To make them, I cut an onion into thin slices, put them in a zip log bag with some flour and shook well until fully coated. Then I deep-fried half of them until very dark in color, and almost (but not) burned.

These are the onions you see on top of the mushroom soup. For the onions served on the side I just dipped the rest in a simple flour slurry and deep-fried them until golden brown. Easy and not complicated things! They are delicious both ways!

Some notes/tips:

• Pair this soup with an Italian Sangiovese wine and check this helpful guide to Chianti vs Sangiovese.
• I guess that you want ALL the mushroom flavor! To achieve this, sauté the mushrooms until they water out, and then continue sautéing them, stirring frequently, until all the juices are evaporated and the mushrooms are deep brown in color and very fragrant.
• You can make this soup with any kind of fresh mushrooms you like. I made this soup using 2 parts white button mushrooms, one part Portobello, and one part oyster mushrooms. White button mushrooms are used as “body” and the other varieties add extra flavor.
• You can play with different types of herbs, but thyme is mushroom’s best friend!
• Substitute almond milk for regular milk, if you are vegan.
• Beforet using the water in which the porcini were soaked, you may want to strain it, to catch any dirt.

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