Cream in pasta sauce? No way, this cheap ingredient is all you need
Of all pasta dishes, pasta with cream sauce may be the ultimate comfort food. I’m mainly thinking of pasta carbonara, or (also a great option if you’re looking for the vegetarian version) pasta with mushroom cream sauce. With the latter, you naturally think of mushrooms and cream. But wait: those two can easily be replaced by one simple, dirt-cheap ingredient.
What do I mean, easily? Very easily, actually. We got the tip from The Kitchn. How did we not think of this sooner…
Check your pantry
Take a look in your pantry. Do you still have some canned soups in there? You can admit it—our cupboards are packed with them too. Sometimes, quickly heating up soup is simply all you feel like doing and have time for. Right, take another look at those cans. Do you see a can of cream of mushroom soup? Jackpot, that’s the one you need. You may have to dust it off, but today it’s getting a great new purpose.
The ultimate substitute for mushroom cream sauce
Yep, a can of cream of mushroom soup is the ideal substitute for mushroom cream sauce. Of course it is! It has exactly that creamy texture and is already fully seasoned. If you don’t have smooth cream soup, you could even strain out the mushrooms and use the liquid as a base.
As I just wrote: as a base. You can obviously keep it simple with just canned cream of mushroom soup, but we think it tastes even better with onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese and some bacon stirred through it. And of course: extra fresh mushrooms. Your sauce will have more texture once you add these ingredients, which makes the whole thing just that little bit better.
Watch the salt
As you may have guessed, canned soup contains a lot of salt. That means your sauce won’t need much more salt either. Finishing it with some chopped parsley, for example, is always a good idea—and even recommended. Is it not thick enough, or would you actually prefer a thinner sauce? Add some flour to the sauce if you want to thicken it, and a little extra water if you’d rather thin it out.
Maybe you’re looking at me through your screen now with a murderous expression… But believe me: try it, and you’ll soon be singing a different tune.
Also read:
