Name: Saffron Milk Cap Mushroom Squash Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3 lb red kuri squash; 10 oz saffron milk cap mushrooms; 1 onion; 4 garlic cloves; 4 cups water (or vegetable/chicken stock); 6 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsp sea salt; 2 tsp black pepper; 1/2 tbsp dried marjoram; 6 tbsp sour cream; 3 tbsp fresh parsley; 1 bay leaf

A creamy mushroom squash soup with saffron milk cap mushrooms, kuri squash, and sour cream. Sweet squash, earthy mushrooms with a cheesy bite, and a handful of ingredients you probably already have at home. Ready in 30 minutes, super comforting, and simply delicious.

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You almost don’t need a recipe for saffron milk cap mushroom squash soup

Every wild mushroom season I wait for the saffron milk caps to pop up. These are my favorites. I love their cheesy taste, their color makes them impossible to miss, and once you find one, there are many more around.

Saffron milk caps (Lactarius deliciosus) have been on the science table a lot lately, with new studies on their beneficial effects. I always wonder if I should turn a few into powder to capture all that magic.

So far, they’ve all ended up in the pan.

The young ones are especially tasty. My favorites, the ones I never skip in fall, are breaded saffron milk caps and saffron milk cap pâté. They also make a great appetizer in these saffron milk cap tartlets.

This soup is on the healthier side, and if you have a squash in the garden, you’ll be delighted with this combination. The sweetness of the kuri squash blends perfectly with the cheesiness of the saffron milk caps. It has no flour, only sour cream. Toss a few bread croutons on top (or skip them to keep it gluten-free), and holy crap, what a wonderful dinner this is!

And you almost don’t need a recipe for this creamy soup; it’s so easy to make. The squash cooks in 20 minutes while you sauté the saffron milk caps and fry a handful of croutons. If you’d like cornbread on the side, this polenta bread recipe fits perfectly.

Top view of a mushroom squash soup in a bowl with sautéed saffron milk caps and bread croutons on top.

The ingredients and the swaps

SAFFRON MILK CAP MUSHROOMS – Freshly foraged, if possible. If your basket holds other wild mushrooms, you can swap them in. Lactarius salmonicolor and Lactarius deterrimus also work well in this soup. As always, only cook mushrooms you’ve identified with 100% certainty.

SQUASH – I used a red kuri squash from the garden, but butternut squash or any other variety you have will do. Red kuri has a wonderful taste, though, and it pairs great with saffron milk caps.

SOUR CREAM – A few tablespoons go into each bowl right before serving. You can swap it for cooking cream or heavy cream, as long as there’s little or no sugar in it.

DRY BREAD – A couple of slices of old, dry bread make delicious croutons, simply fried in olive oil. Skip these if you’re gluten-free, or use gluten-free bread.

Key ingredients needed for saffron milk cap squash soup: saffron milk cap mushroom, red kuri squash, garlic, black pepper, sour cream, onion, bay leaves, salt and dried marjoram.

ONION & GARLIC – One large onion goes in the pot before the squash, and four garlic cloves go in the pan with the saffron milk caps. Garlic powder works too.

OLIVE OIL – Sunflower oil, butter or lard work just as well. Use cold-pressed and organic if you can.

MARJORAM & BAY LEAF – Besides salt, black pepper and parsley, these are the only herbs and spices in the recipe, and the soup doesn’t need more.

SALT & BLACK PEPPER – A couple of teaspoons each. The squash and the mushrooms both get salted, so taste before adding more. Fresh ground pepper works even better.

FRESH PARSLEY – Just a handful, sprinkled on top before serving.

Spoonful of saffron milk cap mushroom squash soup.

How to make saffron milk cap mushroom squash soup in 30 minutes

STEP 1: Use a dry brush to clean the mushrooms and remove dirt and debris. They’re usually pretty easy to clean, but if debris is really sticky, give them a quick rinse too. Then chop them into small pieces. They’ll shrink while cooking, but not as much as porcini do. Dice the onion and crush the garlic, too.

Sliced mushrooms and onions with a red kuri squash in the background.

STEP 2: Remove the seeds from the squash (dry and save for next year) and dice it into cubes, small enough to stir easily in the pot. Red kuri squash doesn’t need peeling. If you’re using another squash, like butternut squash, you might want to peel it, especially if you’re not sure where it was grown.

Diced kuri squash in a bowl with bay leaves in the background

STEP 3: In a medium pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the diced onion until it’s soft and lightly golden.

How to sauté the diced onion for the soup.

STEP 4: Add the squash and cover it with 4 cups (950 ml) of water. Vegetable stock, chicken stock or chicken broth can also be used. Add the salt, marjoram and a bay leaf. Bring it to a boil, then cover the pot and let it simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes. The squash is done when a fork slides right through the cubes.

Kuri squash in a pot, cooked, with a bay leaf on top.

STEP 5: While the squash cooks, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Once it’s hot, add the saffron milk caps and garlic, and season with salt and a little black pepper. Go easy on the salt, because the soup is already seasoned. Sauté the mushrooms for about 10 minutes, until they shrink and the moisture cooks off. No need to add any water here, the mushrooms release enough liquid on their own.

Frying the mushrooms together with garlic in a saucepan.

STEP 6: When the mushrooms are done, cut two small pieces of old, dry bread into small cubes. Heat some olive oil in another pan and fry the cubes until they soak up the oil and turn golden brown and really crispy.

STEP 7: Once the squash is cooked, fish out the bay leaf and blend the soup right in the pot with a hand blender. No food processor needed. Then gently stir in the sautéed saffron milk caps, saving a handful for the top.

STEP 8: Pour the soup into bowls and stir a spoonful or two of sour cream into each. The soup is thick enough to hold the croutons, so add them first. Then top with the saffron milk caps you saved and a sprinkle of fresh parsley. Serve with fresh bread or toast.

Saffron milk cap mushrooms and bread croutons on top of a bowl of red kuri squash soup.

Tips and variations for a great mushroom squash soup

Saffron milk caps’ flesh turns green. That’s natural, and it doesn’t make them inedible. The orange milk turns green wherever they’re bruised, but it all disappears once they’re cooked.

Use vegetable stock or chicken stock. Water is enough for this soup, since it gets plenty of flavor from the squash and the mushrooms themselves. But if you want to deepen the aroma, swap in vegetable stock or chicken stock.

Roast the squash in the oven. Roast the cubes at 400°F (200°C) for about 25 minutes before they go in the pot. This gives the soup a bit of caramelized aroma. You can also add parmesan cheese for an extra cheesy version, although saffron milk caps taste cheesy all by themselves.

Don’t blend everything. A smooth squash soup sounds great, but a few pieces of squash left in the pot next to the mushrooms make it even tastier. Rustic, not baby food.

Mix in other wild mushrooms. Chanterelles, parasol mushrooms, black trumpets or any other wild mushrooms work too. Use whatever’s in your basket.

Add carrots. Want a sweeter flavor? Add a few diced carrots to the soup. Mind you, carrots need a longer cooking time than squash, so cook them first, then add the squash cubes.

Storage and reheating

The proteins in wild mushrooms break down really fast, so don’t leave the soup at room temperature for long. Store it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap or a tight lid. It will stay good for a day.

Reheat it only once, on the stove or in the microwave. Saffron milk caps are among the most easily digestible wild mushrooms, but reheating still speeds up the protein breakdown, so once is the limit.

Don’t freeze the soup. Instead, blanch the saffron milk caps, freeze them, and make a fresh pot when you need it.