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Simple Roasted Mushrooms |  |
Whole Food, Simply Prepared. "Plain" But Perfect. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Great for Meal Prep. Scales from Small Batch to Large Batch. Easy DIY. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free.
Learning from Other Good Cooks.
At Thanksgiving, my sister organized an impressive spread. And it was so fun, not only having our first Thanksgiving together in way too many years but also to cook with her, following her lead, learning from her own tastes and experience. I came away with three!!! recipe!!! ideas!!! that I couldn't wait to repeat in my own kitchen.
Remember that burst of color and texture and flavor, that Festive Kale Salad with Apple & Pomegranate? Yep, that was hers.
But the meal's big surprise was the big bowl of earthy mushrooms, largely unadorned, no butter, no cream, no spices, both at once altogether simple but remarkable.
"I just love 'em," my sister laughed, saying that she usually roasts a tray of mushrooms while roasting other vegetables for meal prep, her Sunday routine.
Her mushrooms – I can't help but think of them as "Adanna's Mushrooms" – held such a welcome place in that holiday meal but boy, was I ever glad she'd roasted extra because that meant an extra spoonful or two as we re-feasted on Thanksgiving leftovers for a couple of days.
So good!
And sure enough, as soon as we got home to St. Louis, I started buying twice as many mushrooms as usual, enough for roasting plus our usual recipes recipes that include mushrooms.
So now there are two of us roasting mushrooms more weeks than not. Won't you join us?!
PS And oh, Kitchen Parade readers. Wouldn't it be fun to share a kitchen for a few hours?! I would love to learn from you!
About This Recipe
- Simple Roasted Mushrooms are a serve-it-now or make-ahead side dish, just firm, earthy mushrooms oven-cooked until just soft with small touches of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce for added umami, that savory deliciousness "fifth sense of taste". (The first four tastes? Sweet. Sour. Salt. And Bitter.)
- Distinctive Umami Ingredients = mushrooms + soy sauce + Worcestershire
- Short Ingredient List = cremini mushrooms + soy sauce + Worcestershire sauce + olive oil + optional shallot, garlic, fresh ginger & sesame oil
- A dish of Simple Roasted Mushrooms is quite pretty, especially if you're successful finding enough small mushrooms that don't need cutting up. A small sprinkle of a fresh herb like parsley or cilantro does add!
- This is a time-friendly recipe, it takes about 10 minutes to prep the mushrooms, after that it's all hands-off while the mushrooms roast.
- This is pantry-friendly recipe: aside from mushrooms, all the other ingredients are common pantry ingredients.
- This is a calorie-friendly recipe: all the ingredients except the oil are very low in calories, and even the oil is used in a small volume, just one tablespoon for every full pound of mushrooms.
- This is a budget-friendly recipe: mushrooms are inexpensive (especially at club stores like Sam's Club and Costco) but filling and the remaining ingredients may already be on hand.
- Mushrooms do shrink while roasting, concentrating flavor and texture. A full pound of fresh mushrooms yields about 2 cups of roasted mushrooms.
- If you like this recipe, you'll love this Easy Easy Grilled Mushroom Appetizer, it's just two ingredients and a real crowd pleaser.
Which Mushrooms Are Best for Roasting?
Wild Mushrooms Mushrooms found or foraged in the wild may well be good for roasting but please, only do so if you are experienced with identifying wild mushrooms. I have zero expertise with wild mushrooms except to know they can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
Cultivated Mushrooms So for this recipe, I recommend only mushrooms purchased in grocery stores.
The most common mushrooms in supermarkets are the white-colored "button" mushrooms but for this recipe, I recommend the brown-colored mushrooms some times labeled "brown" or "baby bella" or "cremini" mushrooms.
Why? Flavor. Texture. Appearance.
Cremini mushrooms are harvested slightly later than button mushrooms, this makes them slightly more mature with deeper flavor and greater firmness that can withstand high heat.
In addition, that natural brown mushroom color further deepens when paired with dark-colored soy and Worcestershire.
The brown mushrooms just taste and feel and look better!
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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If a simple mushroom recipe hits the mark, go ahead, save and share! I'd be honored ...
SIMPLE ROASTED MUSHROOMS
Oven time: 15 - 25 minutes
Time-to-table: 25 - 35 minutes
Makes about 2 cups (easy to scale up for more volume or servings)
- 1 tablespoon oil (including up to 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1 pound fresh mushrooms, preferably brown-colored cremini, some times called "baby bella" or "brown mushrooms"
- 1 clove garlic, sliced thin, optional
- 1 shallot, sliced thin, optional
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced thin, optional
- Fresh chopped herbs for garnish, optional
PREP Set the oven to 400F/200C. If you like, line a baking sheet with parchment, it'll make cleanup slightly easier.
In a bowl large enough to hold all the mushrooms, combine the oil, soy sauce and Worcestershire.
Rinse the mushrooms under running water, rubbing off any soil residue with your fingers. Trim off a thin slice of the stems' gnarly bottoms; if the whole stem is quite woody, snap it off and discard. If all the mushrooms are small or at minimum similar in size, great, otherwise cut the larger mushrooms in halves or quarters so all the pieces are roughly equal in size.
As they're prepped, drop the mushrooms into the bowl, tossing every so often.
If using, add the garlic, shallot and/or ginger.
Turn the mushrooms onto the baking sheet, including the liquid. Arrange them evenly across the baking sheet rather than all bunched up together. If you like, take a moment to upend all the mushrooms so they start off roasting capside down, soaking up the liquid.
ROAST the mushrooms for 15 minutes, check for doneness and decide how to proceed for your own taste and use.
>> At 15 minutes, the mushrooms are still firm and mostly but not completely cooked, we like this best if the mushrooms are going to be used in other dishes, morning omelets say.
>> At 20 minutes, the mushrooms remain firm and plump but are completely cooked, we like this best if the mushrooms are destined as a cold side dish, a salad addition.
>> At 25 minutes, the mushrooms are rich and mushroom-flavored and beginning to shrink, we like this best if serving immediately as a hot or warm side dish.
SERVE straight from the oven (sprinkle with a few chopped herbs first if you like) or let cool, transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to eat within a few days.
TIMING TIP Do try a taste after 15 minutes and then at five-minute intervals, that'll help you find your personal sweet spot for doneness.
MAKE-AHEAD TIPS While some/many roasted vegetables are best immediately after their time in the oven, Simple Roasted Mushrooms stand up to time really well. My sister makes them when she's cooking something else in the oven, using whatever temperature the other dish requires, adjusting the mushroom time up (for a lower temperature) or down (for a higher temperature). This is such a great way to conserve energy, using the oven to work twice as hard while it's on.
EVERYDAY + SPECIAL OCCASION Roasted mushrooms are definitely something that you can make year-round, they're neither summer-y or winter-y. But they're a surprisingly easy addition to festive meals, my sister (again!) served them at Thanksgiving last year and they were such a surprise hit, to me anyway, if not to her.
VARIATIONS Try sautéing the mushrooms with a small thin-sliced onion in a hot skillet with the oil (save the sesame oil for a finishing oil), then adding the garlic and ginger near the end with the soy sauce and Worcestershire. This takes more hands-on time but is especially good for a hot side dish.
Scale the recipe up if you like. I usually roast 1-1/2 pounds mushrooms at a time, it's what's easiest to use up within a few days for our household of two. For larger households, 3 pounds of mushrooms easily fits a standard size sheet pan. If possible, use a baking sheet with low sides instead of a roasting pan or baking dish with higher sides, this helps the mushrooms "roast" in open hot air instead of "steam" in their own juices. That said, if I were planning an oven-to-table side dish, I'd definitely use a baking dish, just to avoid the need to dirty two pans.
FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more.
If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2023/01/simple-roasted-mushrooms.html .
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.
Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.
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2023
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna