Cream of mushroom soup is a great shortcut ingredient in a lot of baked recipes. I love shortcuts, but sometimes I wonder whether I could make those shortcut recipes completely from scratch so I can call the dish my own. That’s what I was trying to do when I looked for this recipe, so I could use it in some casseroles — but I ended up having it on its own and discovered it’s simply a delicious, comforting soup. I haven’t even used it as a recipe ingredient yet.

Credit for the recipe goes to Culinary Hill, which has more beautiful pictures of this soup than I could ever take.

1 Tbsp. butter
8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add mushrooms and cook until they have released most of their liquid, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in chicken broth, onion powder, and garlic powder and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and flour.

Stir in milk mixture and cook until soup has thickened, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Stop here if you want condensed soup. To make this into a soup on its own, add water — the recipe suggests 3 cups, but I prefer it with less. So add a cup at a time until it’s the consistency you like.