Hungarian Mushroom Soup

This soup exists because of two things:

1. Our Hungarian chicken recipe

2. Winter doing what winter does best — making me crave warm, slow, comforting food

If you’ve ever made the hungarian, well this is its vegetarian and more culturally accurate cousin. It’s rich, cosy, paprika-heavy, and the kind of dish that makes you slow down halfway through eating just to appreciate what’s happening in the bowl.

This soup is very much cut from the same cloth — just a little more… Hungarian.
(And by that I mean: yes, there is more paprika.)

From Chicken to Mushrooms

I love reworking familiar flavours into new formats. Sometimes that means changing the protein. Sometimes it means changing the vibe entirely.

Here, the idea was simple:
What happens if you take everything you love about Hungarian-style cooking — onions, butter, paprika, cream — and let mushrooms do the heavy lifting instead?

Turns out, mushrooms are very happy to step up.

Between button mushrooms for body and shimeji mushrooms for texture, this soup ends up deep, savoury, and almost meaty without actually being heavy. Add slow caramelisation and a good deglaze, and suddenly you’ve got a bowl that tastes like you worked a lot harder than you actually did.

Why This Soup Works

• Low heat, long patience: letting the onions and mushrooms sweat slowly builds real depth

• Paprika does the talking: it’s warm, earthy, and unmistakably Hungarian

• Deglazing matters: those stuck bits on the pan? That’s flavour, not a mistake

• Cream at the end: not too much, just enough to soften everything

It’s the kind of soup you make when it’s cold outside and you want dinner to feel intentional — but not exhausting.

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Recipe

Ingredients (Serves 2–3)

• Olive oil – 1 tbsp

• Butter – 2 tbsp (divided)

• Onion – 1 large, finely sliced

• Garlic – 3 cloves, minced

• Button mushrooms – 250 g, chopped

• Shimeji mushrooms – 150 g, trimmed and separated

• Salt – to taste

• All-purpose flour – 1 tbsp

• Paprika – 1½–2 tsp (use a good one)

• Water or vegetable stock – 500–600 ml

• Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

• Cream – 60–80 ml

• Fresh parsley – a small handful, finely chopped

Method

1. Start with the base
   Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a stockpot over medium heat.
   Once the butter foams, add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook till soft and lightly golden.

2. Build the mushroom flavour
   Add the garlic, followed by all the mushrooms.
   Lower the heat and let everything sweat and caramelise slowly. This takes time — don’t rush it.

3. Remove, don’t clean
   Once the mushrooms are deeply cooked, remove them from the pot and set aside.
   Don’t wash the pan. Those browned bits are exactly what you want.

4. Make the roux
   Add the remaining butter to the pot. Sprinkle in the flour and paprika and whisk well.
   Cook for about a minute to remove the raw flour taste.

5. Deglaze and build the soup
   Slowly pour in the water or stock, whisking constantly to deglaze the pan.
   Add the soy sauce.

6. Bring it together
   Add the mushroom mixture back into the pot and bring to a gentle simmer.
   Cook for 5–7 minutes.

7. Finish
   Stir in the cream and chopped parsley. Adjust salt if needed.

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Serving Notes

Serve this soup hot, in your prettiest bowls.
With crusty bread if you have it.
With people you like — ideally ones who appreciate paprika.

And if you’re feeling generous, feed it to a friend named Ravish.

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Final Thought

This soup feels like a natural extension of our Hungarian chicken — familiar flavours, slightly different format, just as comforting.

It’s winter food.
It’s slow food.
And it’s proof that mushrooms, butter, and paprika can solve most problems.

As always, happy cooking 💫