Gordon Ramsay’s mushroom soup is earthy, rich and silky, made with chestnut mushrooms and dried porcini cooked until the pan is completely dry, then blended with crème fraîche and a knob of cold butter for that restaurant-smooth finish. It takes about 40 minutes and serves 4.
I built this recipe from how Ramsay handles mushrooms across seven of his cookbooks and his MasterClass series. His mushroom duxelles in the Beef Wellington, his wild mushrooms on toast in Great British Pub Food, his shiitake broth in Quick and Delicious: the same principles appear every time. Cook mushrooms at high heat until every drop of moisture is gone, because as he says in MasterClass, “browning means the water has had time to cook off, intensifying the mushroom flavour.”
The dried porcini are the secret layer. They go into boiling water for 20 minutes, and that soaking liquid becomes part of the stock. So you get three hits of mushroom in every spoonful: the fresh chestnut, the dried porcini, and the liquid they soaked in. It’s the same umami principle Ramsay uses with dried shiitake in his chicken noodle soup, just applied to a different mushroom.
Gordon Ramsay Mushroom Soup
Course: Soup, Starter4
10
minutes30
minutes285
kcal40
minutesEasy
Creamy mushroom soup built from Gordon Ramsay’s mushroom techniques across seven of his cookbooks. Chestnut mushrooms and dried porcini cooked until the pan is dry, blended with chicken stock, creme fraiche and a knob of cold butter for a silky, earthy finish. Serves 4 in about 40 minutes.
Ingredients
20g (¾ oz) dried porcini mushrooms
200ml (scant 1 cup) boiling water
1 tbsp olive oil
30g (1 oz) butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
500g (1 lb 2 oz) chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Few thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
750ml (3 cups) chicken stock
100ml (scant ½ cup) crème fraîche, plus extra to serve
15g (½ oz) cold butter, for blending
Squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Soak the porcini: Pour 200ml boiling water over the dried porcini and leave for 20 minutes. Chop the porcini, strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve to catch any grit. Reserve both.
- Sweat the base: Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Cook mushrooms until dry: Turn the heat to high. Add the sliced chestnut mushrooms, chopped porcini and thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture has evaporated and the pan is completely dry. You want colour on the mushrooms. If your pan is not large enough, cook in two batches.
- Add stock and simmer: Pour in the chicken stock and strained porcini soaking liquid. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Reserve the garnish: Spoon out 4 tablespoons of mushrooms and set aside for topping.
- Blend with butter: Stir in the crème fraîche. In batches, ladle the soup into a blender, filling it only halfway each time. Drop a piece of cold butter on top. Blend until completely smooth. Pour into a clean pan.
- Finish and serve: Add a squeeze of lemon juice, taste and adjust seasoning. Reheat gently. Ladle into warmed bowls, top with reserved mushrooms, a spoonful of crème fraîche, a few thyme leaves and a grind of black pepper.
FAQs
Why cook the mushrooms until the pan is completely dry?
Most home cooks add stock before the mushrooms have released all their water, which dilutes the soup. Ramsay’s approach in his Beef Wellington is to cook mushrooms “over a high heat for about 10 minutes until all the excess moisture has evaporated.”
Once the pan is dry, the mushrooms caramelise and their flavour concentrates. That’s what makes this taste intensely of mushrooms instead of mushroom-tinted water.
What do the dried porcini actually add?
Three things: umami depth that fresh mushrooms alone can’t reach, a concentrated soaking liquid that works like mushroom stock, and a darker colour. Ramsay uses the same principle with dried shiitake in his chicken noodle soup for “wonderful savouriness and depth in no time.”
Soak 20g in boiling water for 20 minutes, strain through a fine sieve to catch grit. Both the chopped porcini and the liquid go into the soup.
Why crème fraîche instead of double cream?
Crème fraîche has a slight tang that cuts through the earthiness and stops the soup tasting heavy. Double cream is richer but flatter, and in a soup this concentrated it would feel claggy. A hundred millilitres across four servings is enough.
The second hit comes as a cold dollop on top when you serve. If you want this before a steak au poivre, the lighter base keeps it as a starter rather than a heavy meal.
Why blend with cold butter on top?
Ramsay’s pumpkin soup trick applied here. He calls it “a bit of a naughty chef’s trick.” Cold butter dropped into hot soup before blending emulsifies into the liquid for a silkier texture without flour or potato.
He also half-fills the blender so the soup gets aerated. The same mushroom method from his Beef Wellington applies: let the mushrooms do the work, don’t mask them with starch.
Can you freeze this soup?
Yes. Cool completely, portion and freeze for up to three months. The crème fraîche and blended mushrooms hold their texture well.
Add the lemon juice after reheating, not before freezing, because citrus can taste metallic once frozen. Reheat gently and stir in a splash of stock if it has thickened.
