Thick and warming Vegan Mushroom Soup with Buckwheat packed full of nutritious ingredients and a flavoursome broth.
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I’ve been in the mood for light soups that will won’t leave me hungry half an hour later. That’s how I came up with this Vegan Mushroom Soup with Buckwheat.
It has some of my favourite ingredients together for a savoury and filling soup we can eat guilt free.
Why you’ll love vegan mushroom soup
We know that a soup always goes down well for lunch. But the golden standard for soup is one that can be a substantial meal all on its own.
That’s why I’ve left the ingredients in this soup pretty chunky. Chunky soups take a bit longer to digest, which means we are left satisfied for longer.
Soups made with such a wide range of vegetables and other ingredients also come with additional nutritional benefits. Because each ingredient brings something different, you get a soup that hits lots of notes at the same time.
As well as being substantial, the soup carries an incredible range of ingredients as well. Nutty buckwheat and mushrooms, fresh vegetables and a flavourful broth. Perfect!
Ingredients
It’s hard to say which is the real star of this soup – the mushrooms or the buckwheat. Or perhaps it’s both together?
Buckwheat is having a bit of a revival, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s an ancient grain that has key place in the cuisines in places like Eastern Europe and Japan but was unfortunately forgotten in many other places.
Buckwheat groats are the hulled seeds left whole, and in this recipe I’ve chosen the roasted variety. Buckwheat has a natural nutty flavour that adds depth to anything it touches, making it perfect for a savoury soup.
The soup also has two different types of mushrooms to really let them shine. The dried porcini mushrooms are specially important as they have a concentrated earthy flavour and carry an extra depth.
Using porcini mushrooms with buckwheat means that we’ve leaned hard into savoury, nutty flavours in this soup. The vegetables, and especially kale, are not to be ignored, but the mushrooms and buckwheat are the really stars!
Storage and leftovers
Soups are a great choice for batch cooking, where a large quantity is made and saved for later. I often double soup recipes like this one so I can enjoy some now and freeze the rest for later.
Whether storing in the fridge or freezer, let any leftover soup cool to room temperature then place in an airtight container. It’ll store for a week in the fridge and a couple of months in the freezer.
Recipe tips and notes
- Dried mushrooms add a lot of flavour to this vegetarian soup. If possible, do not omit them. If they are unavailable in your local supermarket, look online. They last forever if kept in an air tight container.
- I used roasted buckwheat, which is sold in many Eastern European shops as well as online. Roasted buckwheat is brown and has a firmer texture than unroasted buckwheat. It also has a nice nutty flavour.
- You can use other grain in place of buckwheat, such as barley, wild rice, or brown rice. Adjust cooking time according to package instructions.
- Feel free to replace kale with spinach. Frozen spinach will also work.
Vegan Mushroom Soup with Buckwheat Groats
A thick and warming winter soup packed full of nutritious ingredients and a flavoursome broth.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 22g/1/4 cup dried porcini or mixed mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 300g/2.5 cups button mushrooms
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 85g/1/2 cup roasted buckwheat groats or pearl barley
- 1.4L/6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon soup seasoning mix of your choice
- Salt to taste
- 3 kale leaves, stalk removed
Instructions
- Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 1 cup/250 ml boiling water for 30 minutes. Dice the carrot and chop the onion. Slice the mushrooms and set aside till needed.
- In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and carrot for 7-10 minutes over low heat. Then add the sliced mushrooms, 1 tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt, turn up the heat to medium and cook the mushrooms until golden on the outside., then add the minced garlic. (Cooking mushrooms till they are golden will contribute to the flavour of your soup.)
- While the mushrooms are cooking, remove the reconstituted dry mushrooms from the water and keep the liquid. Strain the liquid to get remove the sediment. Chop up the mushrooms and add to the pot together with the vegetable stock and the liquid you saved. Then add the roasted buckwheat groats or barley and a soup seasoning mix. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or 25 minutes of using pearl barley. Add the chopped kale and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add more salt to taste before serving.
What soup mix should I use with this? You said any kind. No clue what would be good.
The seasoning mix I used was from a local Polish shop, and had a selection of herbs, dried carrot and onion flakes. Depending on where you live, pre-made mixes from Mrs Dash or Knorr will do the trick. If you don’t want to go with a pre-made mix, dried parsley or dill can be added or even Italian herb mix. Or this step can be omitted completely, if you don’t feel the soup needs extra flavour.