Mystic Mushroom and Quinoa Chowder

A great soup for mushroom lovers! We made a few changes to make it healthier...no heavy cream, just milk, and Un-chicken broth to make it vegetarian. And no creme fraiche either. Had to use portabello instead of shiitake, but tasted fine...even used extra mushrooms. Added garlic too, and honey for molasses. Made a complete meal with salad and bread. A great way to add a new whole grain to your diet!

I'm an avid soup-lover, and I could eat soup all day... And this is hands-down one of the best soup recipes I've ever had! A few substitutions I made: honey for the molasses, Rapunzel Sea Salt and Herbs veggie stock for the chicken, and I was out of cream, so none of that. Mmm mmm mmm! Try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

I made it vegan, and it's still good! I'm currently on an elimination diet which means I can eat virtually -nothing.- So, I replaced the butter with olive oil, the chicken stock with Repunzel's Sea Salt & Herbs, and the heavy cream with rice milk. It's not really your usual "chowder" consistency, but it doesn't taste like it's missing anything. Recommended, even for vegans and vegetarians, or for those watching their weight.

I love mushroom soups, but wanted to try this since it was healthier and less fattning. I liked it. I did not puree the vegies because I like my soups chunkier. After it was done, it seemed to miss something so I also added 1/8 cup of dry sherry. That was the trick, but then sherry is a wonderful addition to ANY mushroom soup recipe.

first time using quinoa and this is great :) substituted molasses with honey, cream with low fat milk, no creme fraiche.

Our whole family likes this soup. We add shitake mushrooms, try to use shallots when we have them, use a bit of yogurt to thicken it, and skip the food processing entirely. It's easy to make and my kids, ages 2 and almost 4, eat it up!

Loved it, subed milk for the cream. It wasn't a child pleaser though, but just the more for me!

I was very disappointed in this recipe. Followed the directions exactly and the result was not good. Since the quinoa I have requires rinsing before using I had to rinse an hour before beginning to cook. I spread the cleansed grains in a skillet to dry then toasted. The quinoa was the best part of the recipe. Will go back to my old recipe which includes leeks, ginger, soy sauce and red wine. I will include the toasted quinoa however, that is a nice addition. This recipe tasted too bland and too much like the cream.

This is pretty darn good. Used criminis and some white mushrooms I had on hand, milk instead of cream (reduced to 3/4c) and added about a tsp of concentrated chicken base for a little more flavor.

We loved this soup. It is very thick and the flavor is awesome. Will probably try fat free half and half next time, but could even go without as the soup would be very creamy without it.

This was very good. I did make a few changes. I used honey instead of molasses and I tossed in some fresh thyme at the end just before serving. No need to use cream, milk works just fine. I used vegetarian stock for chicken stock and olive oil for butter. I cooked a few extra mushrooms to stir in if anyone wanted them for texture. Great protein soup without meat and finished with a tossed green salad

Loved this soup and so did my husband. Threw in a few extra portabellos that I had in the house and added 1/8 cup dry sherry.

I followed all the directions except honey instead of molasses, and thought it was wonderful. The only problem was that it didn't really make 6 servings for me and my friends, who are probably big eaters. Plus it is so good, we all wanted more!

In my opinion, any mushroom soup needs white wine and some thyme to make it spectacular... This one although nice tasting was a little on the dull side. I did however love the idea of the quinoa- it gave the soup a nice hearty texture

I made this recipe with high hopes due to the high rating here. I was VERY disappointed. None of my family would eat it, and we are all big Quinoa and mushroom soup eaters. I thought that I might have done something wrong, so I remade the soup, to the same disappointing results. It is bland, too thick and did not have any real mushroom flavor. I did not even see a way to change it to make it better. I will not be trying this recipe again.

I substituded milk for creme and the quinoa gives it a nice nutty flavor. However I found it to be a bland soup.

Very good and hearty. perfect for a cold winter night. I did use half heavy cream and half whole milk. I also mixed sour cream into soup. It was thick. My boy friend loved it. Will make again.

This soup is wonderful exactly the way it is presented. Those of you who complain about the cream ( 1 cup for six servings) I can only surmise that you are eating more than you should! I was at first hesitant about adulterating the true mushroom soup with quinoa, but I gave it a try and I'm hooked. I make a soup for every night of the winter months, 90 days, and I never repeat the same soup more than 6 times (twice a month) I think this is our favorite. "Hogwilds".........Thanks for sharing! We do finish up the left over soup in subsequent meals, it only makes up part of our meal, at lunch it will be with 1/2 a sandwich, at dinner it will be accompanied with salad or vegetable with a meat course........cream and all we are still skinny at 70+, we just don't snack.....period! Bravo to a wonderful submission.

this did not taste good to me AT ALL. glad i only made a half recipe. my first time making a mushroom soup--maybe it was quinoa i didn't like? am going to try another mushroom soup without quinoa.

the best taste of my life!!!!

I used millet instead of quinoa. I was out of stock so I substituted some cooking wine and water. I also added a tablespoon each of Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and lemon juice. I used soy milk instead of cream, and it was still plenty thick. I think what really brought this to the next level was adding a touch of truffle oil at the end and garnishing with basil. Delicious!

Delicious! This recipe has great flavor.