Portobello mushrooms

Portobello mushrooms are the largest cultivated mushroom and widely available at grocery stores. They are sought out to showcase their large size, whether it's a mushroom 'steak' or stuffed & roasted for a dinner party.

Jump to:

• Taste
• Selection & storage
• How to clean portobellos
• How to cook portobello mushrooms
• Recipes
• More resources

There are 3 very common mushrooms sold at grocery stores: white button, cremini, and portobello. They are actually the same type of mushroom with minor differences. There are two different strains (white and brown), as well as different harvest times (immature and mature).

• Button mushrooms (white mushrooms): white variety & picked very immature, very mild flavor, very soft
• Cremini mushrooms (baby bella / brown mushrooms): brown variety & picked immature, mild flavor, standard medium-firm texture
• Portobello mushrooms: brown variety & picked when fully mature, which is about 1-2 weeks later. They are more flavorful, firmer, and have less moisture.

Taste

Since Portobello mushrooms are more mature, they are firmer, denser and have more flavor and less moisture than button and cremini. They taste slightly earthy and more savory.

When cooked, portobellos are firm, yet juicy, which makes them a favorable meat substitute. Their flavor concentrates when cooked and works well with high heat applications like grilling.

However, if you're looking for widely available savoriness, consider shiitakes which have double the amount of umami characteristics. If you have access to gourmet mushrooms, King Oysters are one of the most savory mushrooms. They contain 2-3 times more umami characteristics than even shiitake.

Selection & storage

Fresh portobellos should be firm and dry (but not dried out). Check the gills, which should look fresh, firm, and not slimy.

If they were sold wrapped in plastic, remove them and store in a paper bag or a bowl lined with paper towels. The Kitchn tested 7 methods for storing mushrooms and found that keeping them in a paper bag line with paper towels performed the best.

Portobellos are sometimes sold with the stems, but not always. The stems are edible but can be a little tough and woody. If that's the case, you can reserve them to flavor soups or broths. Freeze them until ready to use.

How to clean portobellos

To clean, wipe them down with a damp paper towel. Don't run them under water as they soak up too much moisture. Any mushrooms with exposed gills (like portobellos) should not be rinsed in water to be cleaned, as they absorb a lot of that water, according to America's Test Kitchen:

"In fact, when we weighed batches of white, cremini, portobello, shiitake, oyster, and maitake mushrooms before and after submerging them in water for 1 minute, the mushrooms without exposed gills retained almost no water, while those with them soaked up as much as 25 percent of their weight in liquid."

How to cook portobello mushrooms

Portobellos are more expensive than cremini and button mushrooms, so they are best used for their large size or when their flavor is preferable.

• Stuffed and roasted caps
• Whole, to replace meat on a sandwich
• Whole, to act as a steak substitute
• Sliced into strips to mimic meat for fajitas, stir fries, etc.

Recipes

There's no shortage of portobello mushroom recipes. The most popular are stuffed, whether it's with sausage, crab meat, or cheese. They are also excellent on burgers and sandwiches.

They can be used in place of cremini and button mushrooms in almost any recipe, although because they are more expensive that's not as common. However, if you have some to use up, feel free to toss them in a mushroom risotto, beef stroganoff, or chicken marsala.

Stuffed

Portobello mushrooms can be stuffed with anything, really. The most popular options are crab, sausage, and anything cheesy.

• Crab stuffed portobellos - from Wonderland Recipes (pictured above)
• Caprese stuffed portobellos - recipe from Craving Something Healthy
• Spinach stuffed portobellos - from Healthy Recipes
• Sausage stuffed portobellos (on top of a pesto pasta) - recipe from the Mushroom Council
• Stuffed with cauliflower rice, crispy tofu bits, and poblano cream - from The First Mess
• Mac & cheese stuffed mushrooms - from How Sweet Eats

I also encourage you to think outside of the box - use them to serve thanksgiving leftovers, a twist on a twice baked potato, or used as a base for mini-quiches.

• Spinach feta quiche in portobello shells - recipe from Cooking on the Weekends
• Portobello benedicts - by Home Front Cooking
• Loaded portobellos - recipe from Eating Well
• Turkey & wild rice stuffed mushrooms with pomegranates - recipe from A Farmgirl's dabbles
• Thanksgiving leftover stuffed portobellos - recipe from Lemon Tree Dwelling
• Meatloaf stuffed portobello mushrooms - recipe from Everyday on Occasion

Mini pizzas

With slight adjustments, stuffed portobello mushrooms can be turned into mini pizzas.

The recipe pictured above spreads a generous layer of pesto into the mushroom cap, topped with cheese, tomatoes, and basil. Get the recipe from Life as a Strawberry.

You can also use standard marinara sauce, pepperoni (or sausage), like this recipe from Cafe Delites.

Burgers

Large portobello mushrooms are the perfect size to replace a beef patty on burger buns. They cook up nice and meaty, but let the toppings take the spotlight.

Most often, the mushrooms are marinated before cooking. This adds flavor and makes them extra juicy.

• Grilled cheddar bacon portobello mushroom burger - recipe from Half Baked Harvest (pictured above)
• Portobello classic burger - recipe form Ooh La La It's Vegan
• Spicy miso portobello burger - recipe from Feasting at Home
• Portobello romesco burgers - recipe from Dishing Out Health

Portobello steaks

If you're looking for some vegetarian options for dinner, portobello steaks can be quite tasty. Serve them along with traditional steak sauces or sides and on top of pasta or polenta.

For those of you new to cooking portobello mushroom steaks, check out the article from Strength & Sunshine for detailed instructions. She covers every step from removing the gills to various cooking options. Filled with pictures to help you along the way.

• Grilled portobello steaks with avocado chimichurri - recipe from Minimalist Baker (pictured above)
• A slightly different version of portobello steaks with chimichurri & onion strings - recipe from Hot for Food
• Balsamic portobello steaks with butter bean mash - recipe from Dishing Out Health
• Portobello mushroom steaks with peppercorn sauce - recipe by From My Bowl
• Peppercorn-crusted portobello steaks - recipe by Murielle Banackissa

Fajitas

Fajita meat is cut into strips which sliced portobello mushroom caps mimic pretty well. They soak up seasoning and fry up for a vegetarian alternative, or to add to steak or chicken fajitas.

• Portobello mushroom fajitas - recipe from Wholesome Made Easy (pictured above)
• Portobello fajita tacos with chipotle pecan pesto - from Minimalist Baker
• Portobello and flank steak fajitas - recipe from Canyon Ranch

Portobello Bacon

One of the best options for vegan bacon is... you guessed it, portobello mushrooms. They are meaty and have a similar shape and size. Try adding them to a sandwich, where they'll blend in with the other ingredients too.

Portobello bacon can be roasted in the oven, like this recipe from Minimalist Baker. She tested out several methods and found they crisp up better when roasted on an oven-safe cooling rack.

You can also pan-fry the mushrooms for bacon and the edges will still crisp up. Veganosity's recipe walks you through the process and puts them on a vegan BLT.

French onion soup with portobello "toast"

I love the cleverness of this recipe from Eating Well. Do you need to replace regular toast? No, but it sure is a fun twist on a classic recipe.

Portobello mushrooms are roasted in the oven. Then stuffed with cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs and broiled until crispy. A delicious soup topper!

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