Our vegetarian stuffed mushrooms are the perfect healthy appetizer for parties and get-togethers. Made with a goat cheese and lentil filling, these healthy stuffed mushrooms are perfectly savory and satisfying.
About the Recipe
These stuffed mushrooms are made with a cheesy lentil and veggie mixture, making them a great vegetarian appetizer option for parties and get togethers. Aside from being a great vegetarian appetizer offering, these healthy stuffed mushrooms can be prepped in advance, making them a great go-to appetizer.
Ingredient Notes
Cremini Mushrooms
Cremini mushrooms (baby portobellos) are firm and meaty, and don’t contain too much extra liquid, which allows them to hold their shape during baking. We don’t recommend using a different type of mushroom. Though, if you’ve got leftover cremini mushrooms, use them in our creamy Mushroom Sauce for Steak!
Lentils
Use cooked brown or green lentils for this recipe. Avoid using red lentils or French lentils.
Goat Cheese
You’ll need fresh goat cheese for this recipe, aka Chevre. If you don’t like goat cheese, you can use regular cream cheese. For even more cheesy goodness, add some grated Parmesan cheese to the breadcrumb mixture.
Breadcrumbs
We prefer whole-wheat Panko breadcrumbs for this recipe but you can also use regular Panko.
Test Kitchen Tips
- The key to making really good stuffed vegetarian mushrooms lies in making a hearty filling that sticks together. To do this, we combine cooked lentils with creamy goat cheese and an egg yolk for binding.
- Play around with different herbs in the filling. We like parsley, but chopped chives, thyme, and sage would all be good options.
How to Wash Mushrooms
Contrary to popular belief, most mushrooms don’t actually soak up that much water when washed under cold water or in a bowl of water. We like to wash cremini mushrooms in a bowl of cold water by dunking them and lightly brushing off the dirt with our hands. You can use a salad spinner or kitchen towel to dry the mushrooms.
The only caveat—when cooking with mushrooms that have a significant amount of exposed gills, such as oyster, portobello, maitake, and shiitake, simply brush off any dirt with a damp paper towel.
How to Cook Lentils
We first learned of cooking lentils like pasta from Bon Appetit a few years ago and we’ve never gone back. Not only can you monitor the doneness of the lentils more closely, but this method allows you to season the lentils from the start.
The key—cook lentils in adequate salted water until tender yet still a bit toothsome (they have a bite).
Healthy Vegetarian Appetizers to Try
- If you love mushrooms, then you’ve gotta try our Mushroom Crostini with Apricot Goat Cheese.
- Another great vegetarian appetizer recipe is our Healthy Spinach and Artichoke Mac ‘n Cheese Cups.
- Our Edamame Hummus is a true delight. Paired with a mix of vegetables, there’s nothing more stunning.
- Another high-protein option for a vegetarian appetizer spread is our homemade Labneh Dip with Pistachio Dukkah and Pickled Cherries. Fancy and so tasty.
- This recipe for Marinated Olives and Cheese is a great make-ahead option everyone will love.
- And we can’t leave out our Bang Bang Cauliflower that is always a hit!
More Mushroom Recipes
- Our Hungarian Mushroom Soup is a creamy, soul-soothing dinner. It’s a reader favorite for a reason!
- If you love sautéed mushrooms, then you’ve gotta try our Pan-Seared King Oyster Mushrooms. They are decadent and delicious.
- Unlock the versatility of king oyster mushrooms even more with this recipe for vegetarian scallops! It’s bound to surprise you.
- Our Mushroom Veggie Burger is a vegetarian’s dream! It’s packed with roasted mushrooms, chickpeas and loads of umami flavor.
FAQs
We don’t, but this stuffed portobello mushroom recipe can easily be made vegetarian by swapping the chicken out for additional chickpeas. For more stuffed mushroom recipes, check out this recipe I developed for Healthy Seasonal.
The short answer is yes. It’s best to put an egg or at least an egg yolk in the filling mixture to help bind it together. You can make stuffed mushrooms without an egg, in that case, make sure you have some breadcrumbs in the filling. This stuffed mushroom recipe I developed for Healthy Seasonal is a great option of a stuffed mushroom recipe made without egg.
Yes, you can! You can prep these ahead of time in a few different ways. For starters, you can prep the filling up to 2 days ahead of time. Store the filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The mushrooms can be washed and dried up to 1 days ahead of time.
Additionally, the mushrooms can be stuffed and stored in the refrigerator up to 1 day ahead of time.
Yes, you can easily make gluten-free vegetarian stuffed mushrooms. To do so, swap the Panko breadcurmbs for gluten-free Panko breadcrumbs.
Healthy Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms
Description
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 15 medium cremini mushrooms, washed, dried, stems removed and chopped fine
- ¾ cup brown lentils, cooked and drained
- ½ cup finely diced celery
- ¼ cup minced onion
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 teaspoons parsley, chopped
- ⅓ cup whole-wheat Panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (177ºC).
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium until simmering.
- Add chopped mushroom stems, lentils, celery onion, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt to skillet. Cook until vegetables are softened and starting to brown, 8–10 minutes.
- Deglaze pan with vinegar and cook 1 minute. Transfer vegetable mixture to a medium bowl.
- Add goat cheese, egg yolk, lemon zest and parsley to vegetable mixture; mix well to combine.
- Place mushrooms caps facing up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or in a baking dish).
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of mixture into each mushroom cap to form a mound. Depending on size of mushroom you may need a little more or less to fill it.
- In a small bowl, combine Panko, remaining tablespoon olive oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
- Top each mushroom cap with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs (reserve any leftover breadcrumbs for serving) and bake until mushrooms are tender and topping is golden brown, 20–25 minutes.
- Serve with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of remaining breadcrumbs.
Would you like to save this?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted on July 4, 2014.
Delicious! I made these for a neighborhood gathering. I used plant-based cream cheese for the goat cheese and gluten-free pink bread crumbs. A thumbs up from everyone.