Share this:
Mariel here. I recently paid a long-overdue visit to one of my closest childhood friends – a fellow food lover who ferreted me to her favorite spot in the beautiful Black Mountains of North Carolina. We both suffer from eyes-bigger-than-stomach syndrome, so when she insisted I order a full-size portion of Verandah‘s famous Hungarian Mushroom Soup in addition to an enormous Hot-Pressed Panini, I figured, whatever, I can handle it. I could have stopped at the soup.
It was hands-down one of the most delightful bowls I’ve ever dug into. Not typically a fan of creamy emulsions, this rich, brothy brew gets the ratio just right. And it’s incredibly filling – a meal unto itself.
I promised my friend I’d attempt to recreate this soup at home and I think I’ve done Verandah’s version justice. In my opinion, this is just as lip-smacking, bowl-licking delicious as the original, but she’s the real expert, so fingers crossed she signs off on it.
Print This Recipe
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Serves 8
Ingredients:
24 ounces of mixed mushrooms (I went heavy on criminis), sliced – $10.00
4 cups of sweet onion, chopped – $2.00
1 Tablespoon tomato paste – $0.89
14.5-oz can of diced tomatoes (use the fire-roasted variety, if available) – $1.89
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice – $0.25
3 cups LOW-SODIUM vegetable stock – stock
1 cup water – stock
2 Tablespoons paprika (the Hungarian variety, if you have it) – stock
3 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped – $1.59
2 Tablespoons Tamari soy sauce (you can also use low-sodium soy sauce, which I’ve done, but Tamari ups the “umami” factor) – stock
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter – stock
6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour – stock
2 cups skim milk – stock
Salt and pepper to taste (if you use low-sodium soy sauce and low-sodium stock, you’ll need about 2 teaspoons of salt, in my opinion) – stock
Grand total assuming “well-stocked” kitchen: $16.62
Cost per serving: $2.08
Directions:
1. In your largest stockpot, saute the onions in 4 Tablespoons of vegetable stock over medium-low heat until the onions become tender and start to caramelize. About 10 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms, dill, 1 cup of vegetable stock, ½-cup of water, soy sauce, paprika, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 1 minute. Very slowly add the milk and stir frequently until combined. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes until the milk thickens – make sure to continue whisking frequently to prevent the flour from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
4. Pour the cream sauce into the mushroom mixture. Add the remaining ½-cup of water and 1½ cups of vegetable stock and combine well. Season with freshly ground pepper and taste to see if you need to sprinkle with salt. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Just before serving, stir in the freshly-squeezed lemon juice. Taste the soup and adjust the salt and pepper according to your preferences. Serve hot, alongside a crusty piece of bread.
This Hungarain mushroom soup looks really rich and exciting! We just love anything with mushroom already, but your recipe really just divine!
this looks amazing! i’m super into soups right now.
What a beautiful rich and hearty looking soup. For the most part, I am only able to get white button, portobello and brown mushrooms here so I hope they will do the trick!
🙂 Mandy
This sounds delish! To save money, I am leaning towards using the dry mushrooms I have in the pantry. Thanks for posting.
This looks so hearty and delicious! I love soup and so does my Hungarian friend Colleen- I’m going to forward her this link ASAP! She’ll love it! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!
I love the flavours in this soup. And I agree the Hungarian paprika is way much better
Raymund
http://angsarap.wordpress.com
I love soup. I love mushrooms. I love a cheap and hearty meal. This sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My roommate and I just made this. We are now stuffed and satisfied. Perfect soup for a rather stormy day in Portland, OR! This recipe will be a staple in both of our recipe boxes. Thank you!
Wonderful to hear from you and so happy to know you and your roommate were so satisfied! We love soup, rain or snow or even on sunny days. Happy first day of spring! M&M
This is a marvelous soup and I dearly love it. I live in Black Mountain in the heart of the Blue Ridge (not the Black Mountains) and can enjoy Verandah’s soup anytime. The first owner of Verandah used to sell postcards with the recipe on them and told me that more paprika was needed than indicated on the postcard recipe in order to ge the beautiful red color of the soup. I lost the postcard and have grieved over it. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe because it is a truly delectable soup.