*3 cups fresh mushrooms, your choice
*1 oz. dried mushrooms, your choice
2 cups boiling water
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 cloves of garlic, minced fine
1 quart chicken broth, homemade or bought
2 sticks butter, no substitutes
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh or dried parsley
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
water or broth to thin consistency if needed

*NOTE:  You may use any kind of mushrooms you like, including all fresh mushrooms, in which case increase the fresh mushrooms to 4 cups and omit the dried mushrooms and boiling  water, and add an additional 2 cups of broth or water when you add the quart of broth. You should have a total of 8 cups of broth and water and heavy cream, with more broth or water to thin to your liking if needed. The more varieties of mushrooms you use,  the better the soup, but even with all white button mushrooms this soup is delicious!

If using dried mushrooms, add them to the boiling water to reconstitute for 30 minutes. Remove soaked mushrooms and chop or slice, reserving soaking water.

Finely chop one cup of the fresh mushrooms and slice the remaining mushrooms. 

In a large skillet, melt one stick of butter and add onions and mushrooms over medium heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir constantly until lightly browned. Add garlic and remove from heat. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or soup pot, add remaining stick of butter and melt over medium heat. Add flour and mix well. Mixture will be thick and pasty. Do not brown! Add 1 quart of chicken broth and reserved mushroom soaking liquid, reserving last few drops of liquid in case of debris left from mushrooms. Discard the last few drops.

Remove from heat momentarily and working quickly with a whisk, whisk out any lumps until smooth. Place back over heat and whisk until just beginning to bubble and thicken.

This will scorch and burn quickly! Be very careful to whisk and stir constantly!


Add 2 cups of heavy cream, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking and whisking until thickened and barely boiling, adding more broth or water to reach the consistency you like. Add the parsley and serve hot in bread bowls, or with hearty bread on the side.