These Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms are an easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer that doesn’t require a bunch of extra steps. Just stuff mushroom caps with a savory spinach and sun-dried tomato mixture, then top with crispy panko breadcrumbs and bake until golden!
As a former personal chef who spent over a decade creating elegant, make-ahead dishes for parties and family gatherings, I’ve perfected this kind of recipe. The kind that impresses without the stress. So skip the fussy steps like pre-cooking your filling, and enjoy the applause when you bring this out of the kitchen. This recipe includes variation ideas if you want to include options for vegetarians or meat-eaters too. And they can all be prepped hours before, so you can focus on other pre-party priorities!
Why You'll Love These Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
Super easy to make: None of the filling ingredients needs to be pre-cooked, so you can just chop and stir together in a bowl. Stuff the mushrooms, top with breadcrumbs, then bake. Plus, only 6 ingredients!
Special diet friendly: Yummy appetizers aren’t just for meat-eaters! This is a vegan stuffed mushrooms recipe, and you can easily adapt the recipe for a vegetarian version or even a gluten-free version. More information below in Expert Tips.
Great for make-ahead: These stuffed mushrooms are easy to prep in advance, so you don't have to assemble them at the last minute before guests arrive.
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe Ingredients
- Mushrooms: I like to use white button or cremini mushrooms for this recipe, since they are the perfect size for a 1- or 2-bite appetizer. But, if you’d like to serve this as a main course or large starter, you could use portobello mushrooms as well. In that case, you may need a little extra bake time.
- Frozen spinach: I love fresh spinach as much as anyone, but this recipe really does work better with frozen spinach. If fresh is all you have, you’ll need to sauté it in advance and drain out the liquid it releases.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: I generally prefer to use jarred sun-dried tomatoes, since they are nice and soft. If you have fully dried tomatoes, soak them in water to soften them a bit before using (then pat them dry with paper towels).
- Garlic: If you are not a garlic person, feel free to leave this out of your mixture. Also, make sure you finely mince or even grate the garlic so that you don’t end up with large chunks in your mushrooms. That way, you’ll get a more even, light garlic flavor in every bite.
- Panko breadcrumbs: Panko breadcrumbs are a Japanese type of breadcrumb, so you can often find them in the Asian section of the grocery store. They have larger flakes than traditional breadcrumbs, which helps them stay crispier as a topping.
How to Make Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Pop stems out of mushrooms and wipe mushroom caps clean with a damp paper towel.
Put mushrooms in a bowl and toss gently with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon paper.
Then space out on a parchment paper- or foil-lined sheet pan.
Squeeze all liquid out of thawed spinach and chop. Finely chop sun-dried tomatoes, and finely mince garlic clove.
Mix spinach, tomatoes, and garlic in a small bowl. Combine panko breadcrumbs, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in another small bowl.
Divide spinach mixture evenly between the mushroom caps, then top with panko mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until mushrooms are tender and topping is crispy and golden brown.
How to Make Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms in Advance
Follow the steps of the recipe through filling the mushroom caps with the spinach mixture, then put the mushrooms in the refrigerator. Prepare the panko breadcrumb mixture as well, but wait to top the mushrooms until just before baking. For best results, bake them the same day you assemble them. If you do want to make them 1-2 days in advance, I would recommend prepping the spinach mixture and panko mixture in advance, but waiting to clean and stuff the mushrooms until the day you want to bake.
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe Variations & Substitutions
Feel free to substitute frozen kale for the spinach or regular breadcrumbs for the panko crumbs. You can even make your own breadcrumbs with a food processor and some stale bread. For a vegetarian version of this recipe, cheese is a great addition. You could stir softened cream cheese into the spinach-tomato mixture, or stir grated cheese into the panko breadcrumb topping. Or, try topping the stuffed mushrooms with crumbled feta cheese before baking. Have meat-eaters around too? Brown some ground sausage and stir into the filling. For a gluten-free version of this recipe, just leave off the breadcrumb topping.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
For best results, choose mushrooms that are around the same size. That way they will all cook in the same amount of time. For this reason, you may want to buy them loose, where you can hand-pick your mushrooms, rather than buying prepackaged. Also, you can choose perfectly-sized mushrooms for a 1- or 2- bite appetizer.
This may seem like an obvious tip, but remember that mushroom caps are round and like to roll! Once you have stuffed your mushroom caps, move your baking sheet slowly and carefully into the oven. If you move too quickly, your mushrooms will start to roll, and the panko crumbs can fly everywhere. (Speaking from experience here! 😂)
How to Store Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms
Store leftover stuffed mushrooms in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in an air fryer or a 400-degree oven so that the mushrooms will dry out a little and the topping will become crispy again.
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe FAQs
I wouldn’t recommend freezing this dish, whether before or after it is baked. Freezing spinach stuffed mushrooms and then defrosting them will result in mushy and unappetizing mushrooms. And, unfortunately, that is true of freezing unstuffed mushrooms as well. If you have extra mushrooms and want to freeze them for later use in something like a soup, you can do that. But any recipe where the mushroom needs to stand on its own is not a good match for freezing, since the texture will become somewhat mushy when defrosted.
Make sure your mushrooms are dry to start out. Use a damp paper towel to wipe clean rather than rinsing them in water. Then, make sure you squeeze as much moisture as possible out of the spinach. And pat the sun-dried tomatoes dry if they have been stored in oil.
You want a meaty mushroom that has enough room under the cap to stuff. For a 1 or 2-bite appetizer, choose regular button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms. Baby Bella mushrooms work well too. You can also use larger mushrooms like portobellos, but those are better for a main course where you can use a fork and knife to eat them.
Yes, you can make these stuffed mushrooms gluten-free by just leaving off the breadcrumb topping.
I have not tested this recipe in the air fryer, but it should work just fine. I would recommend setting the air fryer to 375°. Air fry for about 10 minutes, then check to see how much more time is needed. They will cook faster than in a regular oven.
Other Vegan Recipes
If you like to eat vegan on a regular basis, I have some other great recipes you may want to try. For a vegan version of a traditionally meat-based dish, my Red Lentil Bolognese is just as delicious as the original. Or try one of these:
If you try these Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe
Materials
- 12 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms about 16 total
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 5 ounces frozen spinach thawed
- 3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes drained and patted dry
- 1 garlic clove
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius.
- Pop stems out of mushrooms and wipe mushroom caps clean with a damp paper towel.
- Put mushrooms in a bowl and toss gently with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon paper.
- Then space out on a parchment paper or foil-lined sheet pan.
- Squeeze all liquid out of thawed spinach and chop.
- Finely chop sun-dried tomatoes, and finely mince garlic clove.
- Mix spinach, tomatoes, and garlic in a small bowl.
- Combine panko breadcrumbs, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in another small bowl.
- Divide spinach mixture evenly between the mushroom caps, then top with panko mixture.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until mushrooms are tender and topping is crispy and golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Judee says
I like the idea of the sun-dried tomatoes in these vegan stuffed mushrooms. Sounds wonderful.
Chef Molly says
Thanks Judee! They really add some great flavor to the dish!
Mimi (Weyer) Cagle says
I'm also 'Mimi', go figure! I planned on making this recipe because it sounded delicious and my husband was grilling steak for Valentine's. But, I ended up substituting all over the place and it still came out well! I discovered we were out of frozen spinach, which never happens, and out of fresh garlic, which also never happens! Spinach still would have been better, but I used frozen mashed cauliflower instead. A bit of diced onion and some chunks of bleu cheese to make up for the lack of garlic (but now it's not vegan, oh well...), and toasted cauliflower 'breadcrumbs' because I'm gluten-free. It was really good, 3 out of 4 family members liked it (and the other one wouldn't try it because he doesn't eat any food that's too complicated so he's hopeless). I still want to try the properly vegan version though, because I'm very curious to see if expert flavor balancing can make up for the lack of an easy win like eggs, cheese, or meat. Thanks, Molly!
Chef Molly says
I loved this comment! Honestly I love when people make my recipes as-is and love them, but I also love when they are inspired by the idea of it and substitute ingredients for fun or necessity. Your cauliflower and blue cheese version sounds yummy too!
Chef Mimi says
My eyes roll back in my head when I see the word vegan. I rarely eat meat, but I couldn’t do without eggs and dairy. Of course these look fabulous and I know they’re wonderful. But a bit of sausage or some grated Parm?!!!! Teasing. I know these are wonderful as is.
Chef Molly says
Oh, Mimi, you crack me up! Yes, I hear you, but I promise I only do vegan recipes that I think are totally delicious without any animal product additions. (Though you are right that sausage or grated Parmesan additions would be excellent too!) I'm trying to eat less meat overall, so when I can make a vegan recipe that I'm happy with, I go for it!