Traditional Polish Mushroom Soup for Christmas

Oh, my beloved Christmas dish- Mushroom soup. It is a traditional Polish culinary treasure. Every time I make this soup, it feels like it is Christmas at home and takes me back to my childhood memories. 

The tradition of Mushroom soup doesn’t start with Christmas in Poland. It goes back to fall, when is the time for mushrooms hunting in the forest for mushrooms. Mushroom hunting is a huge custom tradition in Poland that no one wants to skip! 

It was also my favorite time of the year, where all Poles couldn’t wait for the mushroom season to start. After we picked the mushrooms, the entire family spends long hours cleaning, sorting, and drying them over the stove so we can use them in the wintertime. The smell of the house was amazing! The beautiful aroma stayed afloat for days. The flavor of dried forest mushrooms is part of the Polish culinary heritage.

My version of the soup is made from dried forest porcini mushrooms (the best ones are boletus), and it is vegetarian.

Mushroom soup is very aromatic, full of flavors, and dark. It doesn’t require lots of time for preparation, but the result is outstanding. Traditionally the soup is served on Christmas Eve with small dumplings filled either with meat or sauerkraut.

This version is Vegan and Paleo but traditionally, whipping cream is used and sour cream for garnish. I used vegetable broth because historically, that’s what we use (because there is no meat allowed at Christmas Eve dinner), but you can use chicken stock if you wish. Garnish with chopped parsley. You can find the mushrooms at the Polish store if you have one close by, but dried boletes, porcini, and cepes are pretty close, and you can find them year-round at the regular grocery stores. Enjoy!