These Italian Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms are simple, fresh, and bursting with yummy, savory flavor from fresh herbs, shallots, garlic, and parmesan cheese. They’re easy to assemble ahead of time and great as a vegetarian dinner paired with a salad and crusty bread, or served as a party appetizer.
I just love mushrooms. I love the earthy flavor and the texture. When I was little, I didn’t like them, so I feel like I’m making up for lost time as an adult. And I’m trying my hardest to get my toddler to like them, too (so far, so good- she loved these!).
I especially like mushrooms as an alternative to meat in vegetarian recipes. They’re “meaty” and hearty, so they’re the perfect substitute.
Chop them up finely to use instead of ground beef (I do this with Greek Spaghetti). Grill up a large portobello mushroom in place of a burger and throw it in a bun. Make stuffed portobello mushrooms as an elegant vegetarian entree. Or, substitute half of the meat with chopped mushrooms in things like meatballs, burgers, or bolognese sauces. Yum!
Plus, mushrooms are SUPER good for you– they have vitamin D (so they’re great to eat in the winter when you don’t get a lot of sunshine) and all kinds of important vitamins and minerals.
I used small portobello mushrooms for this, but you can use any kind of “stuffable” mushroom you want. Mushrooms that are about 2 inches in diameter work best- anything smaller will be hard to stuff. Oyster mushrooms and the like won’t work, since you can’t stuff them. And although I’ve never tried it, I don’t think this is the right recipe for larger portobello mushrooms, since they will take a lot longer to cook.
Be sure to get mushrooms with the stems attached. You’ll actually remove the stems from the mushroom caps, cut off and discard the tough end, and chop up and use the rest of the stem as part of the stuffing.
It’s super easy to make the stuffing for these vegetarian stuffed mushrooms. Just sauté the chopped mushroom stems with some finely diced shallots (or onions), minced garlic, and fresh parsley. Don’t turn the heat on too high- you don’t want the garlic to burn or the shallots to brown. You just want the ingredients to soften and their flavors to marry together.
After sautéing, mix the mushroom shallot garlic parsley mixture with some breadcrumbs (just a half a cup of either plain or Italian seasoned bread crumbs), oregano (fresh or dried is fine), parmesan cheese (omit if you are making this vegan), and some salt and pepper. It won’t seem like a lot of filling, but since the mushrooms are fairly small, it should be more than enough.
Stuff each mushroom as full as you can- press the mixture into each cap and make sure it’s completely stuffed. You might have a bit of extra stuffing, or some might fall out the sides of the mushrooms. Don’t worry about it- any extra that falls off bakes in the pan with everything else, creating deliciously crunchy bits! You won’t want to waste ANY of this delicious stuffing.
After stuffing the mushrooms, drizzle them with some olive oil. At this point, you can bake them (covered at first, then uncovered so the stuffing gets nice and toasty). OR – and this is my favorite part about this recipe! – you can throw the assembled vegetarian stuffed mushrooms into the fridge and cook them up to a day later. I love things that can be made ahead of time!
One thing I forgot to mention- when you are prepping the mushrooms, there are two ways to clean them.
- If you like, you can get a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and gently wipe off any dirt.
- Contrary to popular belief, mushrooms won’t absorb a lot of water if you wash them with water. It’s OK to give them a rinse in a colander in the sink!
If you choose to wash with water, I do recommend patting dry with a clean towel to get the best roasted texture possible.
If you aren’t vegetarian, you could easily add a bit of sausage to the stuffing mix. I’d swap out the breadcrumbs for the sausage and keep everything else as is!
If you like this Italian Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms recipe, you’ll love these other vegetarian recipes with mushrooms: Mushroom and Cheddar Omelettes, Mushroom Brie Soup, and Quinoa, Mushroom, and Zucchini Veggie Burgers.
I recommend using a deep baking dish for this, and using a high quality extra-virgin olive oil.
Here’s the printable recipe! Enjoy :-)
Italian Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 12 whole mushrooms about 2 inches in diameter (I used small portobello mushrooms)
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 1/4 cup shallots finely diced (or onion)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese fresh grated, see notes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Gently wipe off any excess dirt from the mushrooms with a clean kitchen or paper towel. Don’t wash them with water, as this will affect their texture.
- Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Cut off and discard the tough ends. Finely chop the stems.
- Heat a skillet (I used nonstick) over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Add the shallots, garlic, mushrooms, and parsley to the skillet with a pinch of salt. Cook until ingredients are softened, stirring occasionally, about 5-7 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, mix the sautéed mushroom mixture with the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, oregano, and salt + pepper to taste.
- Place the mushrooms in a baking dish. Stuff them with the mixture, pressing down to get as much in as possible. Use ALL the stuffing- some of it may not fit and fall off the sides, this is OK!
- Drizzle the remaining two tablespoons olive oil on top of the stuffed mushrooms.
- Cover the baking sheet with foil. (At this point, you can refrigerate the mushrooms for up to a day to be baked later.)
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10-15 more minutes, until mushrooms are golden and bubbling.
- Serve hot or warm.
Notes
- Make it vegan: omit the parmesan cheese and add a little more salt, or use a vegan cheese.
- Make it ahead: Assemble the stuffed mushrooms without baking up to 24 hours in advance, then bake as directed when you are ready.
- Parmesan cheese may not be suitable for strict vegetarian diets, since it traditionally uses animal rennet as an ingredient. You can sometimes find vegetarian suitable parmesan cheese (or gruyere) that uses microbial enzymes or vegetable rennet- just make sure to read the label on the package.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Katie
Please do not call something “vegetarian” if it includes Parmesan cheese. That is not a vegetarian cheese and so is misleading.
Elizabeth Lindemann
There is a recipe note about this exact topic. There are plenty of vegetarian friendly “Parmesan” cheeses out there and this is addressed thoroughly in that note. Thanks for the concern.
Demetri
I think you mean vegan. Vegetarian means not eating something that lived, not something that was produced by an animal. Hence vegetarians eat dairy and eggs, but vegans, who avoid anything produced by an animal as well, do not.
Elizabeth Lindemann
They do actually mean vegetarians don’t eat parmesan cheese in this case, not vegans (though I’ve seen those two terms confused many times before!). Even though vegetarians DO eat cheese made with dairy (and vegans do not), cheese can be made a few different ways, and one of the ways is to use rennet that is derived from the stomach lining of an animal. This means the animal must be slaughtered in order to get that rennet, which is how authentic parmesan cheese is made. This is what makes authentic parmesan (and some other cheeses) not strictly vegetarian (though I know plenty of vegetarians who still consume these types of cheeses). There are lots of vegetarian parmesan cheese alternatives out there, which will still use dairy but will NOT contain the animal rennet.
Michelle
This isn’t vegan but it sure is vegetarian. Geeze. Probably gen z
Elizabeth Lindemann
Your comment about “gen z” is irrelevant. Katie is correct. Authentic parmesan cheese is not vegetarian and this objective fact has nothing to do with any perceived annoyances at generational differences. However, I am of the mindset that a recipe that suggests using parmesan cheese can still be called vegetarian since it’s easy to find substitute.
As I mentioned in previous comments, cheese can be made a few different ways, and one of the ways is to use rennet that is derived from the stomach lining of an animal. This means the animal must be slaughtered in order to get that rennet, which is how authentic parmesan cheese is made. This is what makes authentic parmesan (and some other cheeses) not *technically* vegetarian (though I know plenty of vegetarians who still consume these types of cheeses). There are lots of vegetarian parmesan cheese alternatives out there, which will still use dairy but will NOT contain the animal rennet. Usually, someone who is a strict vegetarian will know that this substitution is necessary for them (and it’s why I included the recipe note as well).
Hope that helps clear things up.
Laura
Fun treat for the Super Bowl! I was liberal with the olive oil finish so they weren’t dry at all. Also, sprinkled with paprika for color. And panko bread crumbs work beautifully!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I approve of the liberal olive oil finish 😉 love the idea of adding paprika!
Mylene
I have lots of mushrooms and found your blog so I will try and make it thanks for your recipe and sharing have a great day
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hope it turned out well for you – one of my favorites!
Tom
I made 1/2 of this tonight to use up some leftover mushrooms I had. It was very good. Most recipes call for some cream cheese but I didn’t have any on hand so I was glad to find this recipe. I did not have to cook them as long as directed in the recipe. My mushrooms were rather small.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
MO
I tripled the recipe for an appetizer at a bridal shower and turned out really good! I assembled them the night before and thought I should wait until ready to bake them before drizzling the olive oil on top. I then forget all about adding the oil but they were still good. I also baked them a little too long so they weren’t quite as pretty as the pics (browned too much) but taste was great. These were really popular and all were eaten. I didn’t make any adjustments to the recipe other than forgetting the oil and over-cooking them lol. I’ll make these again and imagine they’ll be extra delicious if I get all the steps right.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jan Hayes
So dry, way too much bread crumb. It overwhelmed all the flavors and made this dish a huge disappointment. 1/2 cup seemed like a lot of bread crumbs but I trusted the recipe. I should’ve followed my instincts and used 1/4 cup instead it would’ve come out a lot better. Not sure if I will ever bother making that adjustment and trying it again tho. Will probably just look for a different stuffed mushroom recipe next time
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hi! Thanks for this feedback. You can certainly take down the amount of breadcrumbs if you like! My other suggestion is to use panko breadcrumbs, which are lighter and airier and may be better for the taste you’re going for. That said, don’t forget to also drizzle that remaining olive oil on top of the mushrooms – and feel free to use more than 2 tablespoons here. Olive oil will make the breadcrumbs crispy and golden – and you shouldn’t get a “dry” texture from them. Hope that helps, for you or anyone else reading this!