Vegan Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

This vegan and gluten free stuffed portobello mushroom recipe is satisfying, healthy and packed with fall flavors. Our filling is stuffed with vegetables, rice, tart cranberries and topped with dairy free cheese and pomegranate seeds. The perfect vegan main dish for the holidays!

We've been on a serious mushroom kick lately. They're just so full of meaty umami flavor, they've become one of our favorite meat replacements for all kinds of vegan recipes.

If you haven't tried our easy sheet pan mushroom shawarma or vegan spaghetti squash casserole with wild mushrooms, get on it!

Stuffed mushrooms are such an easy and well-rounded plant based dinner option. They've got the basics: veggies and healthy grains. But this stuffed mushroom recipe gets an upgrade from dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds and toasted walnuts.

This is the sort of savory winter meal that's on our weekly dinner rotation. It's also a great recipe for entertaining. If you've been looking for a Thanksgiving or Christmas vegan main dish, this just might be it!

The mushrooms look so festive with pops of bright red pomegranate arils on top. You could even use this filling with smaller button or baby bella mushrooms for a tasty one-bite appetizer.

How to Prepare Portobello Mushrooms for Stuffing

The first step in this plant-based stuffed mushroom recipe is to get your portobellos ready. When you're shopping, go for portobello tops that are in good shape. Avoid nicks and cracks in your mushrooms, which make it harder to keep the filling inside.

Also, larger portobellos are easier to fill. Our rice and vegetable filling recipe makes enough to fill 8 large or 10 smaller mushroom caps.

Once you've got your perfect set of portobellos, it's time to get them ready for filling.

First, wipe off any visible dirt with a damp towel. Also, remove any stems. You can save these for savory mushroom stock. Or, add them to a stir fry. Mushroom stems are just as tasty as the rest of the fungi, but they do get in the way of stuffing.

Next, lay your portobellos stem side up. Use a spoon to carefully scrape the gills off the inside of the mushrooms. This helps make more room for tons of stuffing. Be gentle here to avoid cracking your mushroom caps.

Now, you're ready to pre-cook the mushroom caps. For best results, roast the portobellos for a total of 8 minutes, flipping after 4 minutes.

If you set the mushrooms over a wire rack on a baking sheet, they'll lose their moisture faster. Directly on a baking sheet, mushrooms will tend to sit in their released liquid and can get soggy instead of crispy.

Filling

While you roast up your portobello caps, start on the stuffing for these vegan & gluten free stuffed mushrooms.

We packed our savory mushroom stuffing with flavorful vegetables. Start by sweating celery, onion and garlic with sage and thyme.

Next, start building on the flavor with fresh parsley and dried cranberries. We like unsweetened dried cranberries. That way, you have total control over the sweetness of your mushroom stuffing.

We also add a dash of balsamic vinegar at this stage, along with vegetable stock to soften everything up. The balsamic adds a hit of acid and sweetness to our vegetable and rice filling.

Let everything simmer away for a few minutes. You're building flavors and softening up the veggies and cranberries. Finally, stir in cooked rice, breadcrumbs and some of the toasted walnuts.

The mushroom stuffing is finished when it's deeply flavorful and dry. To finish off your stuffed portobello mushrooms, add some of the finished filling to each mushroom cap. Top with grated vegan parmesan and reserved walnuts for crunch.

Pop the mushrooms back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt the cheese, and you're done!

Ingredient Notes & Swaps

• We like brown rice for our vegetable and rice filling. Sure, it takes a little longer to cook. But, it contains more fiber and we generally prefer the flavor over white rice. However, feel free to choose your favorite kind of rice. Or, use whatever you have on hand.
• Unsweetened dried cranberries are delicious in this fall-flavored recipe. But if you can't find them or don't like them, you can omit them. Or swap them out for another tart dried fruit like golden raisins or dried cherries.
• We choose gluten free breadcrumbs. We like Italian seasoning for this recipe. But if gluten isn't a concern for you, go for regular breadcrumbs.
• We love Follow Your Heart brand vegan parmesan. As a bonus, it comes pre-grated. Of course, if you're not dairy free, swap in regular parmesan.

More vegan holiday main dish recipes:

• Vegan Mushroom Stew over the best mashed potatoes
• Sweet Potato Risotto with toasted hazelnuts and kale
• Vegan Lentil Shepherd's Pie
• Lentil Stuffed Eggplant Boats with Tahini Sauce

If you make this vegan stuffed mushroom recipe, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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