Mushroom soup must be among the tastiest soups out there. If you’ve ended up with more mushroom soup than you can eat, you’re probably not the only one. This is often because mushrooms come in large packages, and they often don’t really keep that well in the fridge. So what does one do then? Use them all in the soup! More often than not, though, you end up with a huge pot of mushroom soup.
No matter if this happened to you, or you simply want to freeze the soup for convenience, or perhaps you are making a meal plan and don’t want to cook every day – this guide is here to help you enjoy delicious mushroom soup straight from the freezer.
Is Freezing Mushroom Soup A Good Idea?
As we mentioned, ending up with too much mushroom soup is really a common problem! When we asked our readers to send over their unresolved questions about freezing, we got a couple of messages asking about mushroom soup. I mean, who would not want to freeze something that delicious?
Here is what one of our wonderful readers sent us:
My husband knows a lot about wild mushrooms, and with autumn coming around we often go picking wild mushrooms (we don’t recommend this to anyone who is not sure about what they are doing, though!). The forest nearby is abundant in mushrooms, and we often end up with quite a large pile.. Wild mushrooms really don’t keep well for more than 2 days, so I ended up making way more mushroom soup than I needed. This batch ended up sitting too long on the counter and I had to throw out half of the pot, which is something I hate! Next time, I’d like to be able to preserve the mushroom soup. Do you think it’s a good idea to freeze it? I’ve heard that mushrooms shouldn’t be frozen, but I’m not sure if that’s a myth? In addition, my soup contains heavy cream, so I wonder if freezing it will make my soup look terrible upon thawing?
Well, to our dear mushroom-pickers and all other readers – we have some good news! It’s definitely ok to freeze mushroom soup (see also How To Freeze Lentil Soup). However, if you do intend to freeze it, it might be a good idea to take some precautions regarding the rest of the ingredients you put in the soup.
We’ve found that cream can be fine. Yes, we are aware that heavy cream can separate when frozen, but we’ve found that reheating the soup usually takes care of the problem. Worst case scenario: the soup might not look as pretty as the frist time around, but it will still be equally tasty.
Everything You Need To Know About Freezing Mushroom Soup
Freezing mushroom soup (see also How To Freeze Potato Soup) is really not difficult. You pretty much just need to place it in a freezer-safe container and freeze. Still, here are some tips to help you:
- Make sure the soup is completely cold before starting. If you want the soup to cool faster, place it in the fridge first for half an hour.
- Use a plastic freezer-safe container or a freezer bag.
- Make sure to leave about 1 inch of space in the container (depends on the shape of the container really). The soup will expand as it freezes. This is the same for all types of soup, including vegetable soup.
- Don’t fidget to label the container with the date of freezing.
Tips For Making Your Mushroom Soup Last Even Longer
Mushroom soup is fairly safe in an airtight freezer container. This is the important part – make sure it’s airtight.
One thing that can help you get a better airtight seal is a vacuum sealer (often also called a food saver). The machine will extract the air completely out of the container which in turn ensures the soup keeps all of its flavour.
Thawing Mushroom Soup
The best way to defrost mushroom soup is by transferring it to the refrigerator first. Depending on the size of the container, it will need 3 to 12 hours. As soon as the soup is liquid again, you can add it to a pot and reheat it.
