First published in 2013, this remains a favorite recipe. Reposting today so everyone has it handy for Thanksgiving!
It took me two and half years to make Ranch dressing and it has also been that long since I ate a casserole that was made with a can of cream of mushroom soup. I guess I did not miss it that much, as my cooking has changed and evolved into a healthier diet since those days.
However, my sudden desire to make the classic Tater Tot Casserole had me hunting for a recipe to make my own “can” of condensed cream of mushroom soup. I found these steps and customized them from a Living Without magazine. I thought it would be difficult and time consuming, but it really was not. I first made the “can” of soup and then proceeded to use that “can” of soup in my Tater Tot Casserole. It was quite delicious. It was also fun to eat something “from the old days.”
I took pictures as I went along to show you just how to make it yourself. Keep in mind that I took the pictures in the early evening on a snowy day so lighting was terrible; but I did my best under the circumstances.
Start by gently washing the mushrooms and place on a paper towel to dry.
Secondly, chop the mushrooms into little pieces.
You will want 1 1/2 cups finely chopped mushrooms.
Third, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan.
Add the chopped mushrooms and saute them.
Cook and stir them until they turn brown and shrink in size. Set them aside.
Next, take out a saucepan and add 3 T. olive oil, heat a little, then add 3 T. tapioca starch.
Cook and stir the oil and starch until it combines. Use medium high heat.
Cook and stir until it gets bubbly.
Measure out one cup rice milk.
Slowly pour the rice milk into the bubbly mixture.
Add your salt and pepper.
Keep stirring the mixture while cooking.
Cook, stirring constantly, until it gets thick.
Add the cooked mushrooms.
Lastly, stir to combine sauce and mushrooms.
So there you have it. A nice “can” of condensed cream of mushroom soup for any of your old favorite casserole recipes. If you like this, be sure to like my Facebook page, follow me on Pinterest and/or subscribe to this blog to keep informed of new things here at Allergy Free Test Kitchen.
Also shared at Gluten Free Friday , Make Your Own Monday and Allergy Free Wednesday.
“Can” Of Condensed Cream Of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 3 T. olive oil
- 3 T. tapioca starch (or any starch)
- 1 cup rice milk
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
Directions:
- Saute the chopped mushrooms in 1 tsp. oil. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, place oil, heat a little, and then add starch.
- Cook and stir until bubbly over medium high heat.
- Slowly add rice milk.
- Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.
- Add cooked mushrooms and stir until combined.
- Use in your favorite casserole recipes.
Thank you for this! Brilliant!
You are welcome. I hope it comes in handy for you.
Will be trying this out soon! I can’t want to make green bean casserole! YUM! 🙂 Thanks for doing this and linking up at Gluten Free Fridays! Got this pinned and tweeted 🙂
Cindy
Ah yes…green bean casserole. I kind of forgot about that oldie!
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
Thank you for posting this. I plan to make allergy free cornbread dressing for Easter and this will be perfect in the recipe. I’ve been looking for a recipe for Dairy Free Cream of Mushroom Soup for a couple of months (since Christmas). THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!
You’re very welcome. Thanks for being a reader!
MMM! This sounds yummy! Can it be made ahead and frozen? ~Linda~
Funny you ask….I just tried that. I made 3 “cans” of soup and froze them. Last night was my first experiment using the frozen variety. I poured it over pork chops and baked them for an hour. It was much thinner/runnier, but still tasted as good. For this application it worked well, but I’m thinking for a casserole it may not work as well.
Funny you should ask. I made three ‘cans’ of soup and froze them and just last night I tried it over pork chops that I baked for an hour. It was rather runny and/ or thin, but tasted just as well. I’m not sure it would work for a casserole though.
I can’t wait to try this. I make a mean Shepard’s pie but I don’t enjoy it much these days due to the dairy. I’ve eliminated the cheese for my portion but of course it calls for cream of mushroom. Question- can I use almond or soy milk instead of the rice or does it need to be rice for a reason? Thanks so glad I found this!
Hi! Glad you found it. Almond or soy milk will do just fine. And just so you know….you will probably want to use the soup as soon as you make it or at least the same day. I’ve tried freezing it and used it in a casserole a few days ago. It didn’t work out from frozen very well. Thanks for coming by.
I made this using plain almond milk and King Arthur Flour gluten free all purpose flour blend And t worked great. Thanks!
I’m glad it works for you! Thanks for the feedback!
I tried this because as I say ” dairy doesn’t agree w/ me” and liked it very much. I made a hamburger & noodle dish that used this cream of mushroom soup. I used soy milk instead of the rice milk, it tasted very good(maybe a little sweet bc of the tapioca starch or it could have been the soy milk). I’m very interested in try it again with maybe corn starch instead.
I’m glad it worked out for you! Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate feedback.
Can you substitute chicken to make Cream of Chicken Soup and if so how much? I am new to cooking from scratch as well as just recently diagnosed Gluten Sensitive. I’ve been dairy sensitive for years and had found that vegan and gluten free items worked well for me. I truly appreciate all of this love and help from you and others that choose to do so. <3
Funny you should bring up cream of chicken soup! I actually have pics all ready to go for a cream of chicken soup tutorial. I was just waiting for cooler weather because a lot of people don’t use soups in the summer. I’ll try to get that up soon now that I know people are looking for it. But before I do, yes, you can make cream of chicken soup the same way. I believe I used about a cup or cup and a half of cooked chicken although I’m not sure as I’m not by my kitchen right now. Thanks for coming by!
Thank you. I will keep a look out for the Chicken recipe
Got the cream of chicken recipe up. Hope it helps!
Got the email for it and saved it. Thank you….
I blended tapioca as I cannot find the starch in our shops, I am thinking of using this in Asparugus Chicken,making it with lightly suated Asparagus..Thanks for your ideas
Asparagus chicken sounds delish! Thanks for sharing your comments.
Sorry I spelled Saute wrong in my previous email
No biggie…that is always a tricky word.
I made this with coconut milk and it came out great. Thanks for the tutorial. I needed it to make this meatball casserole so I was pretty excited to find this!!!
I’m glad it worked out for you. I also have a cream of chicken tutorial if you are interested. Thanks for coming by.
Thank you ! Thank you! Thank you! This was delicious. I used it in a stroganoff recipe, and it was perfect! My daughter can’t have dairy and I can’t have gluten so this made us both HAPPY!!!
Oh I’m so happy! You’re welcome. Thanks for coming back to comment. I love to hear from readers.
My daughter can’t have dairy, and she loves savory recipes made with cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. A friend sent me a link to another blog’s recipe for cream of mushroom soup, and it had waaay too many steps for a mom cooking with kids at her feet. I did my own search, and loved the simplicity of your recipe.
I just made it, but with soy milk instead of rice. I also used Lawry’s seasoned salt, the official salt of Tennessee. Since we don’t use soy milk regularly (and the mushrooms were on manager’s special at the store and needed to be used right away) I wanted to make more than one “can” of soup. So I canned the extra! I have some for tonight’s green bean casserole, and two more jars will go in the fridge for casseroles. Maybe a tater tot casserole, like you? Care to share the recipe?
I’m glad it works for you. This post continues to be a reader fav! My tater tot casserole is simply 1 pound ground beef browned with one onion. Add about 1 1/2 cups frozen peas and a “can” of cream of mushroom soup. Top with tater tots and bake for 35-40 min. at 375 F.
Thanks for letting me know how well this worked for you. Make sure to find my other dairy free goodies, like ice cream, popsicles, ranch dressing etc.
What happened??!! Everything was looking good, was slowly adding my rice milk and WHOOSH—my tapioca clumped into a ball and separated from the oil. I’ve never had this happen when making a roux. Thoughts? Didn’t pour milk fast enough? Heat was medium.
Anybody need a wad of greasy tapioca Playdough?
Boy, I really don’t know. Were you stirring it constantly?
Thank you so much for this recipe! My baby is very sensitive to dairy protein and I’ve had to adjust not just my eating but my family’s. (I’m not making two meals for dinner!) I’ve successfully tried this using celery or onions when I don’t have mushrooms. I also use corn starch and have used almond milk. I love it’s versatility! Tuna casserole, green bean casserole… so many family favorites being revamped and emerging as dairy free, healthier end products. I was going to try freezing it next. I’m sad to see it doesn’t freeze well 🙁
So glad you like it. I bet cream of onion is delicious. Thanks for coming by! I hope you stick around. 🙂
I love you so much for making this recipe.
You’re welcome. This post continues to be an all time fav!
This looks great! I need to stay away from lactose so canned soups are a no-go for me. What I’d like to know is may I use canned mushrooms? I figure if I need to make something quick I’d have all the other ingredients on hand, but not mushrooms (rarely buy them). I know it won’t be as healthy, but my main concern is having a lactose free alternative.
I think it would work if you drain them really well.
I am going to try this soon. I want to make some casseroles that my 3 yr old can eat with us.
thanks!
You are welcome. I’m sure you’ll find it works well.
Made this for Thanksgiving green bean casserole. It turned out perfect and tasted just like the “real” thing. Having this recipe has opened up all kinds of possibilities in the kitchen. I did modify a little bit, what cook doesn’t? I used earth balance butter instead of olive oil. I added a some onions in with the mushrooms. I also added a teaspoon of “Better than Bouillon” veg base- If you don’t have this in your kitchen, I highly recommend, makes great stock for soups!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
I use that same soup stock base…it’s delish! Got to be careful though…the regular chicken (not lo-salt one) has milk in it.
I’m dying laughing because I found your recipe after deciding to make tater tot casserole for my kiddos and realizing i needed a milk free condensed cream of mushroom soup so my youngest could eat it! guess this is the perfect recipe for me tonight!! thanks!
I’m glad it will work for you.
I was hoping to make the Green Bean casserole for a neighborhood dinner but with 2 of the 5 persons attending being lactose intolerant, I was wondering what to do to compensate for the creamed soup – we already use almond milk on a regular basis but the soup component had me stumped. Then I found your website and you made my day.
I made the Cream of Mushroom recipe – was so glad to find one so we can have casseroles that call for soup once again!! However, I found it rather bland – any suggestions for spicing it up a notch! Thank you.
I’m glad you found the recipe and that it works for your needs. It remains one of my most popular posts. Maybe adding a bit more pepper would spice it up a bit. Thanks for reading.
Audrey, Commercial canned foods are often WAY over salted. People are used to it and so in comparison foods that are seasoned with a normal amount of salt can seem like they are “not quite right”. That is probably why your homemade soup tastes a little bland. I’m not sure why this is done, but I assume it is because sale it a preservative and it is added to canned foods as double insurance against spoilage.
There are several ways you can compensate for the flavor loss when you use less salt in fresh, homemade foods. In addition to extra pepper, you can boost the flavor profile by adding a clove of pressed garlic or a bit of garlic powder to the mix . You could also add a small amount of finely chopped onion to round out the flavor and give it some extra depth. I would add the onion into the recipe when you are sautéing the mushrooms. If you add pressed garlic, it should be added toward the end of cooking – about the time you add your sautéed mushrooms to the rice milk mix.
Or you could increase the salt content to match what you are used to in the store, but I’d rather re-train my taste buds to know what a reasonable amount of salt is. For some reason, increasing the salt content doesn’t always match the taste of commercial foods, so I am guessing that there is something else besides salt in play here – MSG maybe?
The good news is that if you phase out canned foods from your diet and replace it with freshly made recipes like this one, you body eventually “forgets” the taste of commercial foods and you will start to appreciate fresh food.
Hope this helps! 🙂
My daughter is allergic to rice can I use her almond or coconut milk in place of rice milk
Yes, as long as it is plain and not vanilla flavored.
Very good! I used almond milk and potato starch and it was creamy and amazing!
The only problem was that mine turned out lumpy… Is it supposed to be like that or was I not doing something right?
It should be thick, but not lumpy. Maybe you didn’t stir the oil and starch well enough before adding the milk? Just guessing here.
This is fantastic! Thank you for the wonderful recipe that opens the door again to old-time favorites!
You are welcome!
Hi…
Can we use Coconut Milk instead of Rice Milk?
I think unsweetened, non-vanilla coconut milk would work.