Mushroom
Mushrooms bring earthy depth and satisfying umami to everyday cooking with almost no calories to worry about.
In a nutshell
Mushrooms are the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi, prized in kitchens for their rich, savory flavor and meaty texture. They soak up heat and fat beautifully, concentrating their flavor as they cook. With notable protein for a non-animal food and minimal fat, they’re one of the most nutritionally efficient ingredients in the produce aisle.
Nutrition
≈ 3 Calories and 0g fat per tablespoon.
Mushrooms punch well above their weight nutritionally. At just 22 calories per 100 grams, they deliver a surprising amount of protein — nearly as much as carbohydrates — making them unusually satisfying for a plant food. They’re one of the only non-animal foods that naturally produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight or UV light, and they’re a solid source of B vitamins including riboflavin and niacin that support energy metabolism. They also provide selenium, an antioxidant mineral, along with potassium and copper. Their cell walls contain beta-glucans, a type of soluble fiber linked to immune support and healthy cholesterol levels. Nutrition per 100g via Spoonacular.
Culinary uses & pairings
Mushrooms are endlessly versatile in savory cooking. Sauté them in butter or olive oil over high heat until golden and their moisture has cooked off — that’s when their flavor is deepest and most concentrated. Toss them into pasta, stir-fries, omelets, grain bowls, or risotto, or layer them onto pizza. Larger caps like portobello are substantial enough to grill whole or stuff and roast as a vegetarian centerpiece.
Dried and powdered mushrooms are a secret weapon for adding umami without any visible mushroom pieces — stir the powder into sauces, soups, meatloaf, or burger patties. Whole dried mushrooms like shiitake or porcini rehydrate beautifully in warm water; always save that soaking liquid to use as a deeply flavored broth. Raw mushrooms work in salads when sliced very thin, though most varieties develop far better flavor and digestibility with heat.
Pairs well with
Substitutions
Buying & storage
Look for mushrooms that are firm, dry, and smooth with no slimy patches, dark bruising, or off smell. The caps should be intact or only slightly open — very open caps aren’t bad but signal they’re older. Pre-sliced mushrooms are convenient but deteriorate faster, so buy whole when you can. At farmers markets you’ll often find varieties unavailable in supermarkets; those are almost always worth seeking out for superior flavor and freshness.
Varieties
- White Button: The most common supermarket mushroom; mild flavor that intensifies when cooked; works in virtually any recipe
- Cremini (Baby Bella): A more mature, brown strain of the white button with deeper, earthier flavor; the everyday upgrade
- Portobello: A fully mature cremini with a large, meaty cap ideal for grilling, stuffing, or using as a burger stand-in
- Shiitake: Rich, smoky, and intensely savory; excellent fresh or dried; remove the tough stems before cooking
- Oyster: Delicate, fan-shaped, and mildly sweet; cooks very quickly and is wonderful pan-fried until crispy at the edges
- Maitake (Hen of the Woods): Feathery clusters with a woodsy, complex flavor; roasts beautifully and holds texture well
- Enoki: Thin, long-stemmed, and mild with a slight crunch; popular in Asian soups, hot pots, and salads raw
- Porcini: Prized in Italian and French cooking for bold, nutty flavor; most often found dried in the US
- Chanterelle: Golden, fruity, and delicate; a seasonal specialty best kept simple with butter and fresh herbs
Recipes using mushroom
344 recipes across our recipe sites use mushroom. A few favorites:
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History & origin
Mushrooms have been foraged and eaten for thousands of years across cultures worldwide. Ancient Egyptians considered them food of the pharaohs, and Romans called them cibus deorum — food of the gods. In East Asia, shiitake have been cultivated for over a thousand years and revered as much for medicine as for flavor. Intentional cultivation in Europe began in France around the late 17th century, when button mushrooms were grown in the caves and quarries near Paris — which is why they’re still sometimes called champignons de Paris. Commercial mushroom farming took off in the United States in the late 19th century, centered in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, which remains the self-proclaimed mushroom capital of the world.
How it’s made
Commercially grown mushrooms start as spores or mycelium — the thread-like root network of the fungus — which are introduced into a carefully prepared substrate. For button, cremini, and portobello mushrooms, that substrate is typically composted manure and straw. The mycelium is allowed to colonize the substrate in a warm, humid environment over several weeks, then a layer of peat or casing soil is applied to trigger fruiting. Once pinheads form, temperature and humidity are carefully managed until the mushrooms reach harvest size. The entire process from spawning to first harvest typically takes six to eight weeks. Specialty mushrooms like oyster and shiitake are often grown on hardwood sawdust blocks or logs rather than compost.
Good to know
- Mushrooms are more closely related to animals than to plants — fungi are their own kingdom of life.
- A single large portobello mushroom cap can be a good source of potassium, delivering a comparable amount to a medium banana.
- Mushrooms placed gill-side up in direct sunlight for 15 to 30 minutes can generate significant amounts of vitamin D — a trick that also works with already-dried mushrooms.
- The largest living organism on Earth by area is thought to be a honey fungus mycelial network in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest covering over 2,000 acres (about 809 hectares).
- Umami, the fifth basic taste, was first identified in 1908 by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda studying kombu seaweed, but mushrooms are one of its richest sources thanks to naturally occurring glutamates.
