Polish Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup is a delicious vegetarian mushroom soup made with dried porcini mushrooms and fresh cremini mushrooms. It´s full of mushroom flavor and although is traditionally served for Christmas in some regions of Poland, it can also be enjoyed all-year round!
Polish Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup
The first day of Polish Christmas – December the 24th, is traditionally meatless – just vegetarian and fish dishes are being served. The most popular soup/entree on this day is a beet soup (barszcz wigilijny) that is also meatless and clear (meaning: no chunks of vegetables or meat in it), it´s served with uszka dumplings (small pierogi filled with mushrooms). In some regions of Poland, instead of barszcz soup, this mushroom soup is being served.
This recipe for mushroom soup recipe is really the best – I worked so hard on it to ensure that it´s really packed with flavor. It was not easy to do – according to tradition, it must be meatless. So there´s no flavorful chicken or beef broth in this soup. It´s all vegetarian with a touch of cream added at the end. To ensure it really tastes amazing we´re using dried mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and then we´re going to blend some of the mushrooms with the cream to infuse the soup with even more mushroom flavor!
Even if you´re not looking for Christmas Eve recipes and just want a great vegetarian mushroom soup recipe – give this recipe a go!
See all our Polish Christmas recipes.
Ingredients
Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Here´s what you need to make this easy recipe:
- Dried porcini mushrooms – dry wild mushrooms are a must for this soup – they have the best flavor.
- Fresh cremini mushrooms – they also add great flavor to the soup and do not taste as heavy as dried mushrooms, please use cremini (baby bella) mushrooms and not regular, white/button mushrooms.
- Vegetarian broth – I really recommend making your own, it´s really easy and tastes far superior to what you can buy at the store. You have to cook mushrooms anyway so you can cook them at the same time as you´re cooking vegetables for broth.
- This vegetarian broth recipe calls for ingredients that are traditional for Polish broth – a bundle of vegetables, available in all grocery stores, called “włoszczyzna”. It includes carrots, celeriac (not celery), parsley roots, leek, parsley leaves. I know that not all of these vegetables are easy to get in many countries, but I wanted to stay true to the original recipe. If you´re having a hard time finding all these ingredients, you can simply omit parsley roots and use celery ribs instead of celeriac. Your soup will still turn up fine. The key to a great vegetable soup is burned onion – this is something very traditional in many Polish soup recipes, such as rosół. The onion is burned in an open flame – from a gas burner or a torch (creme brulee torch works great!). Alternatively, you can just cook it in a dry pot until dark brown.
- Spices – allspice berries, bay leaves, and black peppercorns are traditional Polish spices that are always added to soups. If you don´t have allspice berries, you can omit them or add just a tiny tiny pinch of ground allspice or nutmeg.
- Heavy cream – just a touch to make the soup creamy and cut through the heaviness of the mushrooms.
- Lemon juice – a must ingredient for this soup – it cuts through the richness and adds an amazing flavor – it can not be omitted! Make sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice and add it to your taste, I like to add 1 tablespoon (=3 teaspoons).
- Pasta, to serve – in Poland, a small pasta called “łazanki” is most often used. It is similar to egg noodles but a little bit shorter. You can use egg noodles or bow ties for this recipe. I like bow ties.
Step by step instructions
STEP 1: The day before: Add dried mushrooms to a large bowl with 3 cups of water (720ml). Leave to soak overnight (this is an important step, don´t omit it, you could pour boiling water over the mushrooms and soak them just for 30 minutes to soften them then they won´t have as much flavor as overnight-soaked mushrooms).
STEP 2: The next day: strain the mushrooms, reserve the soaking water! Chop the mushrooms into smaller (bite-sized) pieces (if they´re already small/chopped, leave them as they are).
STEP 3: Make vegetarian broth: Peel carrots, parsley roots, and celeriac. Cut in half lenghtwise (don´t cut them into small pieces or it may be difficult to take them out off the broth later). Peel garlic cloves.
Peel the onion and cut in half, place it on the open flame of the burner and brown on all sides (it should be dark brown in color). If you have an electric stove, just place it in a dry pot that you will use for cooking the soup and heat until the onion is dark brown on all sides (when one side is browned, flip the onion on the other side). You could also use a creme brulee torch to brown the onion – it works very well.
STEP 4: Add all these vegetables, spices (black peppercorns, allspice berries, bay leaves), parsley and thyme to a large pot. Add 5 cups of water (1200ml) and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add chopped dried mushrooms and mushroom soaking water (add the water slowly – very often at the bottom of the bowl there are some debris from the mushrooms and you don´t want to add that to your soup).
Bring the soup to a boil then simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
STEP 5: Chop fresh mushrooms, onion, and garlic: Dice the onion, finely chop garlic (with a knife, and not a garlic press), cut the mushrooms into slices.
STEP 6: Sautee fresh mushrooms and onion: Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. When hot add the mushrooms, don´t stir for about 2 minutes letting the mushrooms brown, then start stirring and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and add onions. Cook for a couple minutes until onions are soft. Add garlic, thyme, marjoram, and flour. Cook for a minute. Deglaze the pan with a small amount of soup, scraping with a spatula all the browned bits at the bottom of the pot.
STEP 7: Add the content of the pan to the pot with the soup. Bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
STEP 8: Using kitchen tongs, discard onion, carrots, herbs, parsley roots, celeriac, and whole garlic cloves from the soup. Using a small sieve, try to remove the peppercorns, allspice berries, and bay leaves (don´t stress if you can´t take them all out, they will gather at the bottom of the pot).
Note: you could also cook the broth separately then strain it all through a sieve and then cook the mushrooms in the broth, but I prefer to cook it all in one pot at the same time and then just take the ´broth ingredients´ out of the pot when the broth is done cooking.
I like to reserve the carrots, slice them, and add them back to the soup.
STEP 9: In a food processor or using a hand blender, mix heavy cream with about 1/4 cup of the mushrooms from the soup. Add this mixture to the pot.
STEP 10: Season the soup with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Cook pasta separately until al dente (soft, but it should still have a bite to it).
Serve the soup with the pasta. Stir in fresh chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
Storage
This soup keeps very well and tastes even better the next day – it´s a perfect recipe to make ahead. Keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days, reheat in a pot before serving. Keep it separately from the pasta – or the soup will be too thick and pasta mushy.
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Polish Christmas Eve Mushroom Soup (Zupa Grzybowa Wigilijna)
Ingredients
for the dried mushrooms:
- 2 1/2 ounces (75g) dried porcini mushrooms
- 3 cups water
for the vegetable broth:
- 2 carrots
- 2 parsley roots optional
- a piece of celeriac or 2 ribs of celery
- 1/2 leek
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 allspice berries
- 2 bay leaves
- a couple of parsley twigs
- a couple of thyme twigs
- 5 cups cold water
for the fresh sauteed mushrooms:
- 2 tablespoons frying oil
- 7 ounces (200g) cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
- 2 tablespoons flour
additionally:
- 1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream
- 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped parsley to garnish
- 12 ounces (340g) medium-sized pasta (such as bow ties) or egg noodles, to serve with the soup
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Instructions
- The day before: Add dried mushrooms to a large bowl with 3 cups of water (720ml). Leave to soak overnight (this is an important step, don´t omit it, you could pour boiling water over the mushrooms and soak them just for 30 minutes to soften them then they won´t have as much flavor as overnight-soaked mushrooms).
- The next day: strain the mushrooms, reserve the soaking water! Chop the mushrooms into smaller (bite-sized) pieces (if they´re already small/chopped, leave them as they are).
- Make vegetarian broth: Peel carrots, parsley roots, and celeriac. Cut in half lengthwise (don´t cut them into small pieces or it may be difficult to take them out off the broth later). Peel garlic cloves.
- Peel the onion and cut in half, place it on the open flame of the burner and brown on all sides (it should be dark brown in color). If you have an electric stove, just place it in a dry pot that you will use for cooking the soup and heat until the onion is dark brown on all sides (when one side is browned, flip the onion on the other side). You could also use a creme brulee torch to brown the onion – it works very well.
- Add all these vegetables, spices (black peppercorns, allspice berries, bay leaves), parsley and thyme to a large pot. Add 5 cups of water (1200ml) and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add chopped dried mushrooms and mushroom soaking water (add the water slowly – very often at the bottom of the bowl there are some debris from the mushrooms and you don´t want to add that to your soup).
- Bring the soup to a boil then simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Sautee fresh mushrooms: Dice the onion, finely chop garlic (with a knife, and not a garlic press), cut the mushrooms into slices. Heat the oil in a frying pan over high heat. When hot add the mushrooms, don´t stir for about 2 minutes letting the mushrooms brown, then start stirring and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and add onions. Cook for a couple minutes until onions are soft. Add garlic, thyme, marjoram, and flour. Cook for a minute. Deglaze the pan with a small amount of soup, scraping with a spatula all the browned bits at the bottom of the pot.
- Add the content of the pan to the pot with the soup. Bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using kitchen tongs, discard onion, carrots, herbs, parsley roots, celeriac, and whole garlic cloves from the soup. Using a small sieve, try to remove the peppercorns, allspice berries, and bay leaves (don´t stress if you can´t take them all out, they will gather at the bottom of the pot).
- Note: you could also cook the broth separately then strain it all through a sieve and then cook the mushrooms in the broth, but I prefer to cook it all in one pot at the same time and then just take the ´broth ingredients´ out of the pot when the broth is done cooking.
- I like to reserve the carrots, slice them, and add them back to the soup.
- In a food processor or using a hand blender, mix heavy cream with about 1/4 cup of the mushrooms from the soup. Add this mixture to the pot.
- Season the soup with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Cook pasta separately until al dente (soft, but it should still have a bite to it).
- Serve the soup with the pasta. Stir in fresh chopped parsley.
- The soup tastes better the next day. Store it separately from the pasta, combine just before serving.
- Enjoy!
2 Comments
Charlotte
4 August 2023 at 21:23It was bland and spicy
Aleksandra
5 August 2023 at 19:55I’m sorry you feel that way but I can not imagine this soup being spicy. Have you made the recipe exactly as written?