All I want in life is to have an excuse to eat stuffing all year long. I mean, why are we not?? Is it because bread is not considered a food group? Because I would like to disagree. And in my disagreement, I developed this soup that tastes JUST like a Leek and Mushroom Stuffing, but has all the elements you need to call it a full meal. A ton of vegetables? Check. Enough vegetarian protein to sustain you? Check. More flavor than you can count, plus ingredients that will make you feel like you’re all cozy by a holiday fire? CHECK.
This soup has it all, it just wants you to come make it this holiday season!
PS, cover it in croutons. You won’t regret it!
Leek & Mushroom Stuffing Soup
This vegetable-filled soup tastes exactly like a wild mushroom stuffing, but a stuffing you can eat all season long! Which is exactly what I thought we should always be doing, by the way. It's a crime stuffing isn't a more popular year-round food. Here you can get all the flavors of mushroom leek stuffing, but filled with all the nutrition you need for a full meal. It's a favorite dinner of mine, full stop.
Equipment
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 rasp-style grater
- 1 large stock pot
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound of button mushrooms or any mushroom of choice
- 1/2 pound of celery
- 1 1/2 pounds of leeks green tops removed
- 1 pound of fennel fronds and stalks removed
- 1/3 cup fresh rosemary
- 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable base
- 2 14-ounce cans of white beans
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano
- 1 lemon for juicing
Optional, for serving
- 6 large slices of sourdough bread torn
Instructions
- First, begin your mise en place. Clean and stem the mushrooms. Dice them and set them aside. Thinly slice the celery, leek, and fennel and set aside. Finely chop the rosemary and sage leaves. Grate the garlic with a rasp-style grater.
- Set a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup of salted butter and 1/4 cup of olive oil. Let the butter fully melt, then add 1/4 cup of all purpose flour and mix it into the fat. Toast for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until they are a shade darker in color. You will see them immediately soak up the fat in the pot, and then release it a few minutes later.
- When the fat is starting to sizzle around the mushrooms again, add the rosemary, sage and garlic and stir for only a minute. Then add the sliced celery, leeks and fennel. Cook for 10-15 minutes, letting the vegetables sweat out and reduce in size by half.
- Season with salt, pepper and the 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
- Whisk together eight cups of water and two tablespoons of Better than Bouillon vegetable base. Add this to the pot.
- Cover and let this simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as preferred.
- Drain and rinse your two cans of beans and add them to the pot. Add 1/3 cup of cream. Cover and let this simmer for another 5 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, finely chop the parsley and oregano.
- Taste the soup again and season to taste, then add the parsley, oregano and juice from half a lemon. Remove the soup from the heat but keep it covered until you are ready to serve!
- Optional before serving: tear up six sourdough bread slices into large croutons. Add them to a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F until golden. When serving, cover each bowl of soup with the croutons.
Does this freeze/thaw well?
Absolutely! It’s great for freezing. It can keep for up to four months, and I suggest freezing in individual portions 🙂
What would you recommend in place of fennel for some who has an allergy (to liking fennel)? 😁
Even if you don’t like fennel I really recommend trying it in this recipe if you can! It doesn’t taste fennel-y, it more just rounds out the stuffing flavor of the soup. However if you are allergic, an onion is a more muted, but totally fine sub!
I had fennel and slightly stale sourdough on hand, so this was a no-brainer. Holy cow, but this was delicious!! My 16 yr old was on his way out to eat w friends, but stopped at the pot of soup and dipped croutons after croutons into it, then begged me to save him a huge bowl. I used chicken broth instead of veggie and added celery also. The croutons and a thick grating of Gruyère are non-negotiable for this one! I LOVED this soup!
So so SO happy you liked it!
I have a bit of a winter cold and this soup is exactly what I needed. It’s as cozy as a giant hug but has the vegetable density of a giant salad. I sprinkled grated cheese on top of the croutons and stuck that under the broiler for a minute and was delighted.
I’m so so thrilled you liked it, please feel better and thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind review!
This soup is amazing! Followed the recipe as written and will definitely be making it again. Really flavorful and easy to make.
So so SO glad you liked it!
This soup is so incredible.
I do not like beans, so I browned some sausage (just like for stuffing!) and used the rendered fat for the roux, adding the sausage back in when the beans are added.
I used a leftover multigrain sourdough for croutons and sliced provolone (it’s what I had) and this is so hearty and herbal, I really am obsessed.
I am so SO glad you like it. This comment made my day!
You have single-handedly turned my husband into a fennel-obsessed soup-loving freak with your soups!! He was never really a soup person before, but now we have had at a minimum one soup on hand all winter long and it has been so wonderful. This is a great add to the rotation when looking for something slightly more involved (lots of chopping) but with a ton of reward! Croutons and cheese non-negotiable, personally.
Do you weigh the fennel and leeks with the greens on or after you cut them off?
We really enjoyed the flavor. It did take me a long time to chop everything. I have been sharing your recipes with my friends!
Thanks
I weigh them before! It’s just a good benchmark to know how much to buy at the market/store. So glad you liked the recipe!
Delicious. Love stuffing. Love soup. Making this was a no-brainer, and did not disappoint!
You came up on my YouTube shorts with this video and I had to look it up. Made exactly as instructed and it was everything I dreamed it would be. Thank you for this!
Your new sub!
Linda
I am a soup gal and this is definitely going in my Top 10 favorite soups and will be on regular rotation. It is so comforting and flavorful. I left out the fennel only because I couldn’t find any and it was still amazing. 1000/10.
So so thrilled you liked it! And glad to know it works without the fennel as well!
This is the best soup I’ve ever made and ever even had! Thank you so much!
Wow this is high praise! Thank you so much and happy New Year!
Thanks for another great recipe! Delicious.
absolutely loved it. I replaced the beans with barley, cause i don’t like beans, and it was great! I was kind of surprised i liked it so much cause i don’t normally like soups, but think it was because it had just the right amount of solids in it.
So happy you liked it!!
Made it today and it was awesome! We only used one can of beans and it still turned out amazing.
I’m so sick, and this was so good. Thanks for making this cold suck a little less with this bowl of cozy healing.
Now this is what I think of when I say I want vegetable soup. Stuffing is my most favourite dish at Christmas and this hit all the right notes. I sadly had no cheese to top it with but it will be added every time now. I had it for lunch and dinner the next day!
I’m so happy you liked it!
i made this for my parents tonight and they loved it! i ordered your cookbook earlier this week and it should be here by monday, and i’m so excited to cook my way through the rest of your recipes. 🙂
for this recipe, the prep took me way longer than 20 minutes, but i don’t have the best knife skills. otherwise, it was such a great weeknight dinner. i’ll just brush up my chopping skills before making it again ❤️