Cooking perfect mushrooms every time isn’t difficult – use these tips and learn how to cook mushrooms without any fuss. You won’t believe the secret to cooking perfect mushrooms!
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It turned out that I have very little experience cooking mushrooms, so I decided to learn how to cook mushrooms with something simple: sautéd mushrooms. I began pan frying mushrooms in a big skillet, painstakingly stirring them with a spatula, reducing the heat as they started to brown, adding very little oil. Time after time I couldn’t figure out why my mushrooms weren’t that good.
During cooking pan would be filled with a lot of liquid from the mushrooms and they’d be steaming and boiling instead of sautéing. I did it again and again thinking that this is just how mushrooms are – they have lots of liquid inside and that’s the way to cook them.
That is until I tried a completely different method and it changed how I cook mushrooms now – there’s no dreaded steaming, there’s even no stirring. It’s just cooking! Mushrooms come out perfectly brown and cooked – no chewy texture, no bland flavour!
Tips for cooking mushrooms
It’s easy! How to cook mushrooms comes to three things: heat, fat, time.
- You need high heat; not the highest that would burn everything, but high enough to actually sear the mushrooms and not steam them. I usually use medium or medium-high, but it depends on your stove.
- Then fat – you do need fat and more of it than you’d normally use. It should be enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan. I prefer butter or vegan butter, not oil, but oil can also be used. I suggest still using a bit of butter at the end for flavour.
- And now the main secret tip about time: do NOT stir the mushrooms! Add the mushrooms to the pan with the melted butter, stir once and then forget about them. Depending on the amount of mushrooms, size of the pan and your stove it could be 5 minutes or it could be 10-15 minutes. Just. Let. Them. Be. Do not stir no matter how tempting it is.
You’ll know when to stir – mushrooms will reduce by half most likely and you’ll see them starting to get golden edges. There will also be no liquid as it’ll evaporate.
This is when you add more butter and stir/flip the mushrooms and then let them cook without stirring again. Easy peasy!
NOTE: I use a good non-stick pan for making these Perfect Mushrooms and they come out great every single time. I have not tried making them in a stainless steel pan.
How to store cooked mushrooms?
I often make a big container of sautéed mushrooms and then store them in the fridge for a few days and add to various recipes. They are great for meal prepping.
How to use these Perfect Mushrooms
- Great with steak
- Scrumptious to add to warm winter salads, such as Steak and Mushroom Salad
- Delicious addition to pasta and omelettes
- Amazing filling for my Vegan Potato Cakes stuffed with Mushrooms
- Try them with my Mushroom Crostini 3 Ways and you’ll be hooked
How to cook mushrooms
- Wash and dry mushrooms. Mushrooms need to be completely dry. Slice the mushrooms.
- Heat enough butter in the pan to cover the bottom.
- Heat the pan to a generous medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the mushrooms to the melted butter, stir and then let the mushrooms cook without stirring.
- Let mushrooms cook without stirring.
- Let mushrooms cook without stirring!!!
- Once mushrooms reduced by almost half and you start to see golden edges and there’s no more steam, no more liquid and they sound and look like they are going to start burning soon, then add more butter and stir/flip the mushrooms.
- Let the mushrooms cook again without stirring. This will take less time than the first part.
- Add salt, pepper in the end.
- Add herbs if using. I prefer lots of fresh dill, but you can add parsley or thyme. By the way, here’s a great tip for How to Store Herbs
If you don’t believe you can do it, check out this video to see how to cook perfect mushrooms every time!
How to cook mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound mushrooms
- 4 teaspoons butter or vegan butter
- 1/4 cup chopped dill (or other herbs)
- salt, pepper to taste
Instructions
- Please note, the amounts are approximate. You may want to add more or less butter or vegan butter. You could also use more or less herbs or omit all the herbs. The main idea is to use enough fat in the beginning and in the end and also not stir as described below!
How to cook mushrooms
- Wash and dry the mushrooms. Mushrooms need to be completely dry. Slice the mushrooms
- Heat enough butter or vegan butter in the pan to cover the bottom. About 2 teaspoons.
- Heat the pan to a generous medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the mushrooms to the melted butter, stir and then let the mushrooms cook without stirring.
- Let mushrooms cook without stirring.
- Let mushrooms cook without stirring!!!
- Once mushrooms reduced by almost half and you start to see golden edges and there's no more steam, no more liquid and they sound and look like they are going to start burning soon, then add the rest of the butter or vegan butter (2 teaspoons) and stir/flip the mushrooms.
- Let the mushrooms cook again without stirring. This will take less time than the first part.
- Add salt, pepper in the end.
- Add herbs if using. I prefer lots of fresh dill, but you can add parsley or thyme.
Video
Nutrition
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This post was originally published on January 9, 2017.
Walt Kosty says
Nicely done Julie! After cooking we tossed them into of pre-cooked wld rice and they were a treat. Thanks for the perfect details…dry and don’t stir…
Kavster says
I like to add soy sauce to the pan when cooking my mushrooms…..absolutely delicious
And ….ahem……I am a self confessed mushroom stirrer
Alyssa says
Julia, this looks so good! I love mushrooms . I’ll have to try this out sometime soon. Thanks for sharing!
EDVALDO BARROSO COSTA says
I put your recipe in my pancake and it looked wonderful.