During our time in Budapest, we were super impressed with the city, and especially the great food scene we experienced.  We learned about two very important aspects of the Hungarian diet, soup and paprika.  Soup is an important part of a meal, and they do soups really, really well here.  In honor of our time in Budapest and the great food we ate there, we’re cooking a Hungarian mushroom soup to share with you today. Check out our video below, or keep reading to learn how to make this hearty and healthy soup at home!

To make our hungarian mushroom soup you’ll need

• About one pound of mushrooms
• One onion
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 tablespoon paprika, ideally Hungarian paprika if you can find it
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• A handful of fresh dill
• 2 vegetable stock cubes for 4 cups of vegetable stock 
• And 1 cup of sour cream

Begin by dicing your onion and chopping your mushrooms.  I like to slice them and then cut them into smaller chunks.  Chop your fresh dill and set it aside for later.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a pot on medium-high heat.  When the butter has melted, add the onion and mushrooms to the pot.  Cook these at medium-low heat until all of the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates, this will take about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally while you’re waiting for all of the liquid to disappear.  

Once the liquid has cooked off, add the flour and stir.  Then, add your paprika.  Add stock cubes and 4 cups of water, or your 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer.  Next, add the soy sauce, this gives the soup just a little bit more depth of flavor.  Allow the soup to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Turn down the heat and add the fresh dill. Now, we’re going to temper our sour cream before adding it to the soup to make sure that it doesn’t curdle.  To do this, add a small spoonful of the soup to the sour cream and stir it together.  Repeat this 1 or 2 more times, then add the sour cream to the soup and stir it through.  This makes the soup extra hearty and creamy.  

Serve the soup with some additional fresh dill and some nice crusty bread.  This soup is light, yet hearty and the paprika and soy sauce adds tons of flavor.  It’s perfect for when you want something comforting, yet healthy and definitely reminds of the flavors we tasted in Budapest.   We hope you enjoy it!