Sneaking in with the easiest, cutest, and tastiest little appetizer today–vegan stuffed mushrooms!. If you move quick and with focus, you can have these done in about 20 minutes. These heavenly bites are warm, extremely cheesy (in that vegan air quotes “cheesy” way), creamy, crunchy, garlicky, and satisfying to eaters of all dietary persuasions. Added bonus: it’s nice to see something a little bit green on the holiday appetizer table!
The key to speed here is making pesto ahead of time or using a store bought pesto that you love. For my Ontario people, I’m a huge fan of Sunflower Kitchen’s pesto (and hummus, salsa etc.). Their whole line is nut-free, vegan, and incredibly fresh-tasting. The whole point of this recipe is that it’s fairly simple to execute in the crunch of the holidays, so don’t worry about making pesto if that sounds like a step you’d rather not tangle with. I am personally all about simplicity in any way I can get it this time of year.
Some more holiday appetizer inspiration for you: pepperoncini artichoke and kale dip, creamy kale pesto and white bean dip, and super fresh papaya salad rolls.
I quickly toss the mushroom caps with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tamari, salt, and pepper. Is there anything less appetizing looking than a shrivelled up and dried out baked mushroom? They need a little fat and flavour to shine before they hit the oven. While they bake, I fix up the pesto cream in the blender, sauté up the breadcrumbs, and get my serving plate/possible garnishes out. We can do this!
I know that a lot of stuffed mushroom recipes have diced up and sautéed mushrooms in the actual filling as well. I skip that here and opt for extra pesto cream because WHY NOT. The cream is cashew based with a little punch of miso, nutritional yeast, and lemon. Once you swirl the pesto in, you have a sauce that’s equally fitting on mushrooms as it is with pasta, mashed into potatoes or spread into lasagna layers. I think you guys are going to love this one.
The shower of crunchy bread crumbs at the end is my favourite part though. I make little batches of breadcrumbs (from stale bread) in my little spice grinder all the time. I just tear the bread into little bits, pulse a few times, and it’s done. You could certainly use a gluten-free bread if you need to, and if you’re avoiding bread entirely, you could do my cheesy chickpea crumble or even a hefty sprinkling of my pine nut “parm.”
Also, don’t limit yourself to little mushrooms. This combination is incredible in a super-sized portobello mushroom as part of a plant-based dinner spread. You would bake the portobellos just the same, maybe for a few extra minutes, or keep an eye on them until they’re tender. I personally prefer to scrape the gills out of portobello mushrooms before tossing with oil etc. and cooking, but some people are fine with them. Up to you if you decide to try this variation!
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms with Pesto Cream & Garlicky Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
PESTO CREAM:
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour, then drained
- ¼ cup vegan pesto
- 1 teaspoon light miso (I used South River's chickpea miso)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
MUSHROOMS AND ASSEMBLY
- 24 cremini mushrooms, stems removed
- 5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon tamari soy sauce OR coconut aminos
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used whole grain sourdough)
- 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
Equipment
Notes
- You could certainly use a gluten-free bread if you need to for the breadcrumbs, and if you’re avoiding bread entirely, you could do my cheesy chickpea crumble or even a hefty sprinkling of my pine nut “parm” on top.
- I would say that my cremini mushrooms were of the average size. I know that someimes you can get those mega ones that are almost like a mini portobello. I’d say you could get about 12 of those with the amount of pesto cream and breadcrumbs here.
- I make fresh breadcrumbs out of stale bread in my spice grinder. I just tear up bits of bread into the grinder, close the lid, and pulse a few times. Easy!
Instructions
- Make the pesto cream. In an upright blender, combine the drained cashews, pesto, miso, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Blend the mixture on high until you have a smooth, pale green cream. Scrape the cream into a bowl and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with 4 teaspoons of the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, tamari, salt and pepper. Once evenly coated, place the mushrooms face down on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the mushrooms for 15-17 minutes, or until tender and deep brown. Keep warm.
- While mushrooms are baking, prepare breadcrumbs. Heat the remaining teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the breadcrumbs to the skillet. Stir and toast the breadcrumbs until they are deeply golden brown in spots and slightly “crisp” sounding, about 4 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and season the breadcrumbs with salt and pepper. Keep toasting the breadcrumbs for another minute.
- To serve, flip the baked mushrooms over and fill the caps with dollops of pesto cream. Top the vegan stuffed mushrooms with a hearty sprinkle of garlicky breadcrumbs. Serve warm.
I received soooooo many compliments for this recipe. I made them 3 separate times, one day after the next, for three social events we were invited to. They flew off the dish! I will say that 1 cup of breadcrumbs for even 60 mushrooms proved too much. Next time I’ll use 1/2 cup versus 1 cup. So grateful for this delicious recipe!
Hi Laura –
I’m looking to do some prep on these in advance while I still have basil in my garden. Do you think I could freeze the filling?
Thanks for any advice!
Cant wait to make this tomorrow for rosh hashana dinner at my moms.
We dont have miso, anything else I can sub for ?
Thanks a lot for everything you do!
A dash of tamari/soy sauce of any kind will do it!
-L
This recipe is awesome. And I love the photos, excellent photography.
What’s the cocktail in the photos?? It looks so festive!
Just some ginger kombucha with a few pomegranate seeds thrown in :)
These mushrooms look yummy! Going to try them on the weekend :) Thanks for the recipe :)
That green color is sooo pretty! I personally never minded the shriveled-up mushroom look you describe but tossing them in oil certainly adds extra pizazz :)
Garlicky breadcrumbs had me hooked!
These mushrooms are incredible. Going to make them again as an appie for next Wednesday’s dinner party.
Ohh I love these little chill additions to the holiday table! Cashew cream has been my LIFE lately, so I’m 100% all of over these! xo
These look crazy good and any recipe dubbed “very chill” is pretty much perfect for this season. I always put so much gusto into holiday desserts that I totally forget about the “real food.” Definitely gonna be whipping them up at some point this month! :)
I’ve never tried mushrooms with pesto but it sound like a good idea… I’m going to try your recipe!
Perfect bite sized appetisers for a party! Love them. Don’t have access to nutritional yeast, can it be left out?
Should be fine without it if you’re including the miso and lemon ;)
-L