Creamy Mushroom Chowder with Couscous
with Spinach, Croutons & Lemon
- Wheat
- Milk
This isn’t your mom’s chowder—nope, no seafood here. Instead, it’s loaded with veggies but still creamy as all get out (plus it’s ready in just 15 minutes!). We’re talking about a steaming bowl of herbaceous broth studded with meaty mushrooms, fresh spinach, and scallions. And to beef up the texture, Israeli couscous plays its springy part, as do crunchy croutons. This lunchtime bowl is finished with a bright squeeze of lemon for a veggie chowda even your mom would be prouda!
Ingredients
2 unit
Scallions
4 ounce
Button Mushrooms
1 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
2.5 ounce
Israeli Couscous
(Contains: Wheat)
1 unit
Lemon
1 tablespoon
Cornstarch
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 tablespoon
Italian Herb Paste
2.5 ounce
Spinach
1 unit
Croutons
(Contains: Milk, Wheat)
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce.
• Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. Thinly slice mushrooms (skip if your mushrooms are pre-sliced!).
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add scallion whites, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are slightly softened, 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in 2 cups water, stock concentrate, and couscous. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook until couscous and veggies are tender, 5-7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, quarter lemon.
• In a small bowl, combine half the cornstarch with 1 TBSP water (all the cornstarch and 2 TBSP water for 4 servings).
• Once couscous and veggies are tender, add cream sauce base, Italian herb paste, spinach, and cornstarch mixture to pot. Stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 2-3 minutes more.
• Divide chowder between bowls; top with croutons and scallion greens. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The lemon, Italian herb paste, and creamy broth create a comforting, well-balanced chowder; some found it mild and boosted depth by adding an extra stock concentrate or a splash of chicken bouillon.
- Ease of prep: This comes together quickly in one pot, making cleanup a breeze — though a few noted it took longer than the 15 minutes suggested on the card.
- Suggestions: Add more mushrooms for a heartier bowl 🍲; red pepper flakes, garlic powder, or a sprinkle of Parmesan on top also helped elevate the flavor. Some swapped the croutons for garlic bread on the side and loved the result.
- Leftovers: Reheats reasonably well, though the couscous absorbs liquid overnight and the texture thickens considerably — add a splash of broth when warming up.
- Protein: Adding chicken sausage, chicken breast, or shrimp was a popular move that made the chowder feel more substantial as a dinner.
- Thickness: Some found the chowder thinner than expected; cooking it a little longer or using the full cornstarch amount helped achieve a creamier consistency.
Reviews from our home cooks
This cream-based soup is nourishing, healthy, and delicious! It's also a perfect soup for summer, because it doesn't feel heavy. We really enjoyed all the veggies (spinach, mushrooms, and scallions, plus the vegetable stock), the robust and fragrant mix of Italian herbs, and the tangy finale of fresh-squeezed lemon!
Love the flavors and it was easy and quick to make. I do wish that the croutons were homemade- like the croutons that you make for the creamy dreamy potato mushroom soup.
This is amazing! Incredible flavor from the Italian herb paste and squeeze of lemon to bring out the umami flavors. I didn't include the spinach because 🤢 but the texture with the couscous and creamy base and sautéed mushrooms was next level. I'm definitely ordering this again.
It tastes absolutely delicious, it is more flavorful and rich than the creamy dreamy mushroom soup. You could go a little lighter on the spinach. Also, I had the 4 servings and it said to only add 2 cups of water, that looked very little so I added another 1-1.5 cups. You might want to double check that because 2 cups would not have yielded a lot of servings
I did add extra mushrooms to the recipe. The soup/chowder had great flavor. The spinach that came was very fresh.
Great flavors in this one. We just love the lemon in here. Always add more spinach and mushrooms, and nutritional yeast as well as mixed soft silken tofu for extra protein.
The flavors and textures were flat and could've used more herbs and spices and maybe a heartier vegetable that can withstand a chowder. The texture of the mushrooms in the chowder was rubbery, even though they were sauteed before adding any liquid, and the spinach was slimy. Also, there was too much couscous, making it more of a pasta dish. It was very heavy and maybe would've been better with less chowder servings and include a side salad, panini, or grilled cheese with it.
I like neither mushrooms nor cooked spinach. But this soup was delicious! I chopped the mushrooms up super small to hide them in the soup and the thick creamy chowder hid the spinach perfectly. Nutritious and Delicious! Although cream of mushroom soup might be a more accurate description.
I'd recommend the recipe have the mushrooms be cooked longer so they're crispy. It also needs more salt, pepper and lemon than what is called for. After adding those, it was much better than I originally thought it would be.
I did lemon zest in the broth and did the lemon squeeze on top of the croutons, as well as half a lemon in the broth. The bursts of acid were lovely against the rest of the soup. More croutons!!
