Mushroom Cheddar Soup Recipe

Mushroom Cheddar Soup elevates the already flavorful homemade cream of mushroom soup with the richness and tang of Cheddar cheese. This delicious, luscious soup is quite filling on its own, but if you want to make it a meal, add some diced cooked chicken or turkey and steamed broccoli. This is incredibly easy to make.

This recipe calls for a mixture of fresh mushrooms, but you may use just one variety if you wish. Choose your favorite and run with it! To make the mushroom flavor even more bold, remove 1/2 cup of the soup with mushroom chunks and run it through a blender. Return to the rest of the soup and stir it in.

I suggest grating Cheddar cheese from a block, rather than buying the pre-shredded packages. (I prefer extra-sharp Cheddar.) However, if you are pressed for time, the packaged stuff will do. Feel free to experiment with other cheese varieties.

4 Tablespoons butter
1 pound mixed mushrooms (portabella, oyster, shiitake, cremini, enoki, etc.), sliced thick
1/2 medium sweet onions, sliced 1/2-inch thick
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cream, half-and-half, or milk
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
Freshly ground pepper to taste

In a heavy saucepan, gently saute mushrooms, sweet onions, garlic, and salt in the butter until mushrooms have released their liquid and onions are soft.

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Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 1 minute. Add chicken broth while stirring. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and nutmeg, and return to a simmer. Add Cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Season with freshly ground pepper to taste. Remove from heat and serve. Warm artisan bread goes perfectly with this rich soup.

Yield: 4 servings