This easy vegan cream of mushroom soup is rich, savory, and packed with mushroom flavor, plus 14g protein per serving! Made with simple ingredients and ready in just 30 minutes. Perfect with crusty bread for dipping! With a side of whole grain bread – 18g Protein. (gluten-free, soy-free with easy nut-free option)
This recipe was originally posted March 6, 2013. It has been updated with modified recipe, pictures and video.
This cream of mushroom soup is a recipe that my friend Somer McCowan shared on my site over 10 years ago. Somer passed away from cancer months ago, and I’ve been thinking about her a lot, which got me thinking about this soup .
I tweaked Somer’s recipe a little bit, reducing the cashews, and changed a couple of the steps in the cooking method to make it simpler.
The original recipe called for adding all of the stock to the mushroom mixture and boiling it and then blending some of that soup, but it’s not as easy when you have to transfer boiling liquid into a blender. So instead, I’m blending part of the cooked onion and mushroom mixture with the cashews and adding that back into the pan, then adding the remaining stock.
This is just such a simple and delicious soup! You can change up the flavors to preference, deepen the flavors by adding some miso, add some fresh herbs for additional flavor, and some pepper flakes for a little bit of heat, if you like. If you don’t have wine, you can use balsamic vinegar instead.
Somer was just an amazing person, and her recipes were always incredible. When I was dealing with health issues, she pitched in with this recipe to help keep my blog going. She was just an absolute superwoman. She wrote for Forks Over Knives, co-hosted the Virtual Vegan Potluck, and was just the sweetest, most beautiful, compassionate person.
Somer’s cream of mushroom soup recipe is simple, yet it’s so creamy and flavorful with herbs and plenty of umami! She said, “I’d like to think if I was able to go to Richa’s house and bring her some lunch, that I’d bring her a big bowl of this soup. Feel better soon, girl.”
Why You’ll Love Cream of Mushroom Soup
delicious, creamy soup with amazing herb and mushroom flavor
easy to make in 30 minutes with simple ingredients
gluten-free and soy-free with nut-free and oil-free options
Smoky Moroccan harira soup with chickpeas, red lentils, and quinoa is a budget friendly, 1-pot meal! Bring crusty bread to dip. (21g protein, 21g fiber, 8 mg iron. Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free. Oil-free option.)
This is such a hearty, delicious, and easy one-pot soup. Today, we’re converting pantry staples into a rich, deeply flavored, hearty, and satisfying harira. This Moroccan chickpea and lentil soup is budget-friendly, one-pot, meal prep-friendly, and packs 21 grams of protein and 21 grams of fiber per serving, and 8 mg Iron. It is cozy, and it tastes like it has been simmering all day, but it really only simmers for about 30 minutes!
Often, harira has either pasta or grains added in it. I am using quinoa in the soup along with the chickpeas and lentils. That makes the soup gluten-free. It is also nut-free and soy-free, if you use nut-free and/or soy-free non-dairy yogurt for the topping, or just skip the yogurt topping altogether. Harira is rich and hearty, even without it.
Serve this with a side of toasty bread, garlic bread, or pita bread, and topped with some creamy non-dairy yogurt and lemon juice. It’s also great over a baked potato or over roasted veggies.
This recipe is rich in folate, iron, potassium, and magnesium from the lentils. It also has vitamin C and lycopene from the tomato. It is very budget-friendly, about $6.50 to $7 for the whole pot!
Why You’ll Love Harira
1-pot soup packed with veggies, protein, fiber, and FLAVOR!
easy to make with simple, budget-friendly ingredients
flavors of cumin, smoked paprika, cinnamon, and black pepper paired with hearty chickpeas, lentils and quinoa
naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free with an oil-free option
I’ve made plenty of lentil soups, but this lentil potato soup is the one I keep coming back to. It always wins on flavor and nutrition, and I’ll tell you the simple techniques that make it unbelievably flavorful every time. Each serve packs 20g Protein 14g Fiber 8mg Iron (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free)
This pot of lentil potato soup, including the toasted seed topping, has 75+ grams of protein, 56 grams of fiber, 24 milligrams of iron(8 per serve is 44% dv), about 700 milligrams of magnesium, 12 milligrams of zinc, plenty of omega fats, and lots of vitamins A and C, along with calcium.
This lentil soup has so much flavor from the way we build up the flavor profile and spices. It is hearty with plenty of veggies and kale, and then we level it up with a toasty seed topping that not only adds amazing texture but also boosts the nutrient profile of the soup.
The lentils bring protein, fiber, iron, and folate. Kale adds vitamins K, C, and A, along with calcium. Pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds bring magnesium, zinc, calcium, omegas, and even more protein. The potatoes add vitamin B6 and potassium, while the carrots contribute beta-carotene. This lentil soup is truly a powerhouse of nutrients.
To level up this lentil potato soup, 1. we first toast the garlic in the oil. Toasting the garlic releases its flavor into the oil, and then we add the onion. The onion stops the garlic from continuing to cook, so you get perfectly golden garlic without burning it. Next, we toast the tomato paste with the onion. This caramelizes the tomato paste and builds even more umami into the soup.
2. The flavors: we build layers of flavor with herbs and spices. I use oregano, but basil or thyme work just as well.
Then, I make a quick harissa-style spice blend with ground coriander, cumin, onion powder, and smoked paprika. You can also use a prepared harissa blend, sumac, shawarma spice blend, baharat, curry powder, or Cajun seasoning. All of these work wonderfully here. I also add black pepper to deepen the flavor and add a gentle heat.
These layers of herbs and spices create an incredibly flavorful broth for the lentils and potatoes to cook in.
3. The potatoes are added midway through cooking, so they become perfectly tender while still holding their shape. They soak up all of the delicious broth without falling apart. If you prefer a thicker soup, you can add the potatoes at the beginning, so they break down into the broth.
Toward the end of cooking, we stir in plenty of kale to make the soup even more nutrient-dense.
4. We make a quick toasted seed topping. This adds to much texture and flavor, it’s surprising and incredible! We use pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds. The seeds are toasted with lemon zest, which adds a bright, zesty flavor that pairs beautifully with their nutty richness. We finish the topping with Aleppo pepper flakes for a smoky, gentle heat. If you don’t have all three kinds of seeds, use one or two instead, but definitely make the topping!
Why You’ll Love Lentil Potato Soup
nutrient-packed pot of soup with tons of amazing flavor
easy to make with simple ingredients
versatile! Use different spice blends and additions to change the flavor profile to preference.
crunchy seed topping adds even more flavor, an incredible texture and nutrient boost
This Dense Bean Salad keeps you full for hours! Black beans, lentils, veggies, kale, seeds and a creamy, lemony dressing. High Protein, High fiber, anti-inflammatory (17 grams Protein, 14 grams fiber per serving. Gluten-free, Nut-free, option for soy-free)
This is my anti-inflammatory dense bean salad. Dense bean salads have been trending, and they are just amazing hearty meals with tons of beans and so many different combinations of flavors, textures, and veggies that you can add to them.
Beans, along with all of the vegetables and other ingredients in this salad, are a great source of fiber, protein, iron, and zinc.
The whole bowl has 65+ grams or more of protein, 50+ grams of fiber, 20+ milligrams of iron, and loads of vitamin C from the tomatoes, peppers, and lemon to help your body absorb all of that iron. There are omega-3s from the hemp seeds, along with pumpkin seeds, making this an incredibly nutrient-dense meal.
This is a great, budget-friendly, easy-to-put-together salad. There is no cooking involved. You just have to chop everything, make the dressing, toss it all together, and it’s ready. It’s also perfect for meal prep because the flavors enhance as the salad sits. The next day, it’s even more flavorful because the beans absorb all of that delicious dressing.
Serve this dense bean salad with tortilla chips, toasted sourdough or garlic bread, added to wraps or tacos, or served over grains, such as quinoa or farro. There are endless possibilities with this salad!
Why You’ll Love this Dense Bean Salad
easy, no-cook meal, perfect for hot weather!
packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, Antioxidants and minerals in every bowl
Anti-inflammatory ingredients
creamy lemon yogurt dressing sends the flavor profile over the top
naturally gluten-free and easy to make nut-free and soy-free
Over the last decade, global food brands have shifted from selling in India to manufacturing there, and those that moved early are seeing margin and supply chain advantages. Whether it is PepsiCo installing a flavor manufacturing plant in Ujjain or General Mills establishing a new production and distribution line in Nashik, global brands are keen to invest in and explore opportunities in food manufacturing in India.
India has changed from being a large consumer market into a global manufacturing powerhouse that can fundamentally change a brand’s COGS, supply-chain risk, and speed to market. This can be observed in the way multiple consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands view this tropical nation.
As the global supply chain rewires for resilience and cost efficiency, India has emerged as a strategic production base that improves profit margins for global brands without compromising product quality, safety, or consistency. This rare combination is transforming India from the “World’s Farm” into the “World’s High-Tech Kitchen.”
While we will discuss the reasons behind why global brands are opting to manufacture food in India, government policies such as 100% Foreign Direct Investment under automatic routes and the development of Mega Food Parks for contract manufacturing are significantly lowering the entry barriers into manufacturing.
5 Reasons Why India is the World’s Rising Food Manufacturing Capital
India is no newcomer in food processing. From refining sugarcane juice into granulated sugar crystals and executing the historic White Revolution, India has historically been at the forefront of food innovation and industrialization. Today, the Indian market is the primary focal point for CPG brands, food innovators, and private-label entrepreneurs due to its strong domestic demand and export capabilities.
Reason 1: The Source of Abundance
With almost 15 unique agro-climate zones, India offers consistent sourcing availability of diverse high-quality raw materials right at the factory door. From spices and vegetables to pulses and dairy, India’s agricultural scale is unmatched, bypassing import dependency drastically.
Capitalizing on this advantage and sourcing directly at the origin eliminates international freight costs for raw ingredients, mitigates seasonal supply disruptions, and guarantees farm-to-pouch freshness.
#1 Producer: Milk, Pulses, Spices, and Sugar.
#2 Producer: Fruits and Vegetables (F&V), Rice, and Wheat.
Global Millet Leader: India produces over 40% of the world’s millet, leading the “superfood” consumer race.
Few countries offer this level of vertical integration from farm to factory. Whether an innovator plans to make a global flavor profile or develop snacks, cereals, and health foods, manufacturing closer to the source can mitigate a large share of total production costs.
Food production often requires a mix of automated processing, quality control, manual handling, packaging, cleaning, maintenance, and warehouse operations. Amidst all these processes, India’s biggest food manufacturing advantage lies in its skilled and semi-skilled labor.
Manufacturing Food in India provides a real opportunity with lower wages when brands are increasingly looking for reliable productivity at competitive cost. With a large workforce, expanding technical training, and growing experience in modern food processing environments, brands can take advantage of lower per-unit costs, dramatically reducing the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for food processing.
Here is a table explaining why food manufacturing in India often reaps benefits that are found nowhere else in the world.
By processing at the origin, brands can realize better pricing for processed goods. Food manufacturers in India have favorable conditions for areas like;
Facility Operations
Secondary Packaging
Warehousing Support
Quality Inspection Labor
Maintenance and Plant Services
Certain Back-Office and Compliance Functions
These savings compound across the value chain and collectively create a major margin impact.
Reason 3: The Logistics Miracle: Retort Packaging:
The food supply chain in India has historically been fragmented. With a heavy reliance on road transport and underdeveloped port infrastructure, logistics cost as high as 14% of GDP, which is approximately 30% to 40% higher than global benchmarks. A significant factor in these rising costs was post-harvest wastage and under-optimized cold chains and storage infrastructure.
Under the latest initiatives, the Indian government has focused largely on reducing logistics costs to less than 10% of GDP with the introduction of new rail lines, highways, ports, and sea protocols. Furthermore, advanced technology like high-pressure processing, modified atmosphere packaging, and retort technology is reducing wastage significantly.
Retort technology in particular is turning out to be an ultimate logistics advantage for cross-border trade. With a three-step process, the retort packaging ensures food remains shelf-stable for 12–24 months without a fridge.
Clean Label Advantage: Because the process sterilizes the product within the package, no preservatives or artificial additives are required, meeting the global demand for “Clean Label” ingredients.
No Cold-Chain Dependency: Eliminating the need for refrigerated shipping and storage removes the highest risk and cost factor in global logistics.
Reason 4: Global Regulatory Compliance
Today, food manufacturing companies in India are building for global shelves, not just local markets. Top-tier Indian manufacturers adhere to “gold standard” certifications, providing the safety proof required for Tier-1 global retailers.
BRCGS & US FDA: Compliance with the world’s most rigorous safety and quality benchmarks.
Halal & Kosher: Essential certifications for capturing global ethnic and specialty markets.
Reason 5: Agility in Innovation & Government Backing
Fast-growing brands are trapped. The market demands agile innovation and healthy options, but traditional Western manufacturing penalizes agility with prohibitive costs and rigid structures. Launching a new SKU in the U.S. can easily take more than 6 months. However, India works with agility.
The modern food manufacturing landscape in India offers low minimum order quantities (MOQs) for rapid R&D and market testing. This innovation is fueled by unprecedented government support, including the ₹10,900 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and 25 operational Mega Food Parks, providing the physical and financial infrastructure to support global scaling. Ultimately, government support lowers barriers to entering India’s manufacturing ecosystem.
These five advantages make India a strategic food manufacturer. For brands looking to reduce manufacturing costs without compromising on quality, safety, or scalability, partnering with the right food manufacturer in India can create a significant long-term competitive advantage. The shift is already happening. The only question is: who moves first?
Why Contract Manufacturing is the Way Forward
Choosing India for manufacturing is just the beginning for global food brands; the main challenge lies in leveraging India’s advantages without the complexities of facility ownership. Here, contract manufacturing serves as a strategic solution, allowing brands to partner with established manufacturers rather than investing in infrastructure, equipment, and regulatory compliance.
A collaboration enables brands to concentrate on marketing and market expansion while their partners handle product development, production, and logistics. This allows access to experienced capabilities without the responsibility of factory ownership. For brands seeking a reliable food manufacturer in India, with speciality in Ready-to-Eat and Ready-to-Cook products, Regal Kitchen Foods brings the expertise to the table.
Partnering With Regal Kitchen Foods: A Global Shelf-Stable Convenience Platform
For food innovators and entrepreneurs, matching authentic regional flavors with Western palates is a real challenge that can only be solved with partnership. Here, Regal Kitchen Foods does not serve merely as a manufacturer; it functions as a global brand platform that leads brands that are looking to navigate India’s manufacturing engine.
Institutional Expertise: Regal Kitchen Foods is a private label food manufacturer in India, specializing in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Cook (RTC) solutions.
With a presence across 50+ countries, we blend authentic flavors with advanced food innovation. Regal Kitchen is a trusted RTE contract manufacturer for mainstream retail, private label, and food service.
Global Flavor Profile: Mastery in Mexican, Spanish, Italian, Thai, and Indian Cuisines
Clean Label Promise: No artificial flavors, additives, or preservatives
Rapid Prototyping: Translate kitchen concepts into commercial realities swiftly and accurately.
Turnkey Private Labeling & Multi-Niche Brands: Regal Kitchen’s portfolio demonstrates its versatility across categories:
Eat Regal: Global convenience staples.
Regganic: Organic and “better-for-you” solutions.
Pasta Zing: Fully cooked pasta convenience.
Grainico: Specialized grain and pantry staples (rice, lentils, and pulses).
Meals Delight: Indian ready-meals and meal kits.
Packaging Scale: With multi-line retort capacity, Regal Kitchen Food offers industrial scale across pouches, trays, and cans, reducing the risk for brands to test new concepts without spending millions of dollars on their own sterilization infrastructure.
The 5-Step Strategic Roadmap for Contract Food Manufacturing in India
Launching a cross-border line with RKFL eliminates the complexity of international business through a five-step strategic roadmap:
Concept Brief & Benchmarking: The first step is to align taste profiles, nutritional targets, and shelf-life requirements with specific target markets.
Innovation Center R&D: Creating small-batch samples with prototyping, recipe matching, and clean-label formulation for approval, ensuring the recipe is perfected before full production.
Agile Test Batching: Low MOQ production rounds for market testing and validation.
Packaging & Compliance: A rigorous “Double Check” of labels to ensure 100% compliance with the regulatory requirements of the destination country
Quality Clearance & Shipping: Final laboratory testing followed by direct delivery to your warehouse, ready for the retail shelf.
Conclusion
Scaling a modern food brand no longer requires the liability of owning a factory; it requires a partner with the right certifications, technical infrastructure, and direct access to raw materials. For brands evaluating their next manufacturing partner, the question is no longer simply whether India can manufacture at lower cost. It is whether the right food manufacturing partner can deliver the quality, compliance, and speed required for global shelves.
Food manufacturing in India is the sunrise sector for the global food industry. The ethos here is ‘Zero Effect, Zero Defect ’, which combines rigorous international audits with fully digitized traceability from farm to global shelf.
Partnering with Regal Kitchen Foods provides Risk Mitigation. By leveraging India’s raw material and cost arbitrage along with Regal Kitchen’s retort technology and global quality assurance, new brands can achieve unbeatable ROI.
Ready to scale your packaged food line or bring a new RTE concept to life?
Contact Regal Kitchen Foods today to begin the discovery process and secure your place in the future of the global food economy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an FSSAI state license mandatory for food manufacturing in India?
Yes, every food business needs a license from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to operate legally. A business may also need a “state” license depending on the food and business they make per annum.
What are the benefits of contract food manufacturing in India?
With contract food manufacturing in India, several big advantages like lower costs, fresh and abundant supply of raw materials, and high-tech tools follow. These factors allow a business to focus on marketing and innovation while experts handle the production, making your food supply chain much easier to manage.
Can food manufacturers in India develop products specifically for international markets?
Yes, they can! Many food manufacturers in India are shifting their focus towards Indian food exports. With advanced R&D, modern manufacturers are making products with specific tastes, colors, and health rules of different countries.
Can Regal Kitchen Foods develop customized recipes for international markets?
Yes, Regal Kitchen Foods has a special “Innovation Center” where authentic global flavors like Mexican, Spanish, Italian, Thai, and Indian Cuisines are formulated.
What certifications does Regal Kitchen Foods have for global food manufacturing?
They have many world-class safety and quality badges, including BRCGS, USFDA, Halal, Kosher, USDA Organic, and ISO. They also follow strict “Good Manufacturing Practices” to ensure everything is clean and safe.
Which international markets does Regal Kitchen Foods currently serve?
Regal Kitchen Foods currently serves more than 50 countries. This includes major markets like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Seriously satisfying high protein salad with edamame, crispy tempeh, cabbage, carrots, kale, in a creamy peanut gochujang dressing. 23 gms of protein, meal prep friendly. (gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free options)
This salad is so hearty, crunchy, and delicious. It has a ton of protein, fiber, vitamins, and iron. It packs over 100 grams of protein in the whole bowl, plus 30 grams of fiber, and 19 grams of iron. It’s also a great source of vitamins A, C, and K.
This is a salad that’s going to keep you satiated and satisfy your taste buds because there’s so much flavor in the dressing. I use a peanut gochujang dressing because that flavor combination is just fire. Everybody loves a peanut butter dressing, and we’re going to level it up with some gochujang. It’s so good!
There’s protein from the creamy peanut gochujang dressing, sesame seeds and peanuts, crispy, crumbled gochujang tempeh and edamame! We add lots of veggies for even more fiber, including cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, snap peas, green onion, and kale. You can use whichever veggies you have on hand, and use more or less to taste. If you don’t like cabbage, use lettuce instead. If you’d like more carrots, add more carrots. Just play around with the amounts based on your preference.
Then we’re going to add crispy tempeh which has been toasted and coated in a sticky gochujang and lime zest glaze, which is so amazing in this salad. This is the best way to eat tempeh!
We also add some edamame. I like to cook the edamame a little, then add soy sauce and garlic because that adds another layer of flavor and texture to the gochujang salad. You can also add the edamame as is if you prefer.
Then there are sesame seeds and peanuts for added crunch and even more protein. The peanut butter dressing is very flavorful. If you’re allergic to peanuts, use almond butter or cashew butter instead.
Why You’ll Love Peanut Gochujang Salad
amazing flavors and textures from creamy peanut butter, spicy gochujang, and lots of crunchy veggies, nuts, and tempeh
packed with protein, fiber, and vitamins
perfect for picnics, parties, and potlucks
easy to make gluten-free, soy-free, and even nut-free
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