Russian Mushroom & Potato Soup

A friend of mine, Michelle, sent me this recipe with a glowing, neon sign, electric recommendation that 'she loved it'. Ok then, it's a must-try!

When I went to the recipe site, I was then surprised to see that it had 5 stars. Some of my favorite recipes on the various cooking sites only have 4 stars. It actually seems kind of hard to get a recipe rated at a 5, since reviewers have differing opinions. This led me to be even more intrigued about the soup.

Since it still feels like winter, and is ridiculously cold (I hate when I walk outside and my ears start to ring after a couple minutes because they are so cold, ugh!), seems like there's no time like the present to make this comfort soup.

Verdict: 5 stars. It is very deserving of it's ranking. It's potato soup kicked up a notch.

Based on reviews though, I did make some changes. Especially where the calorie content would be the highest... I lessened the butter (use margarine if you can), and got rid of the half-and-half. I read through the reviews to get some additional ideas, including adding the celery. I've made my changes to the recipe below, as I cooked it. If you want to see the original recipe, click here.

I also halved the soup, which made 2 main dinner portions and 1 leftover lunch. Perfect.


So come along, travel with me to Russia. You're going to like it over there, I promise!

Russian Mushroom and Potato Soup
adapted from Allrecipes

3 tablespoons butter (or margarine), divided
2 leeks, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
6 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1 teaspoon salt (if your vegetable broth includes salt, omit this)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
fresh dill weed, for garnish (optional)


Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Mix in leeks, carrots and celery, and cook 5 minutes. Pour in broth. Season with dill, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Mix in potatoes, cover, and cook 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender but firm.

While the potatoes/soup is cooking, melt remaining butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

When the potatoes/soup is done, remove from heat and discard the bay leaf. Using a hand blender, blend half the soup to create some thickness/texture. If you don't have a hand blender, you can pour half of the soup into a regular blender, then return blended soup to the pot and stir to combine. (You can omit the blending portion if you prefer the soup chunkier)

Stir mushrooms into the soup.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream and flour until smooth. Stir into the soup to thicken. Garnish each bowl of soup with fresh dill to serve (optional). Serves 6, as a main course.

More foods from Russia:
- Russian Pirozhkis, from 5 Star Foodie
- Blinchiki (Russian crepes), from Beyond Salmon
- Russian Tea Cookies, from Albion Cooks (are these really russian or a made up american thing?)

Guten appetit!