10 Irresistible Mushroom Dishes for Your Thanksgiving Table
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, since it’s a time to offer gratitude for the abundance around us and gather with loved ones. It’s also the perfect opportunity to prepare and share your favorite mushroom dishes.
Whether you’re an expert chef or new to cooking, our Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook is a wonderful resource. Packed with recipes created by mushroom lovers for mushroom lovers, you’ll find main dishes, sides and even desserts that focus on fungi!
Mushrooms are often tapped to be a vegetarian or vegan main dish, but you don’t have to identify with a specific style of eating to enjoy meatless or mushroom dishes. We rounded up Thanksgiving recipes we love that feature mushrooms — and we’re sharing a sneak peek of three more recipes from our own cookbook. (Keep it in mind for the holidays; it makes a great gift!)
Creamy Cabbage Gratin with Bacon and Mushrooms
By the Kitchn
Most Thanksgiving feasts could use an extra vegetable on the table, and this one is decadent but simple. Sauteed mushrooms and bacon plus a creamy Gruyere sauce elevate simple baked cabbage into something craveworthy. Omit the bacon for a vegetarian dish.
Mushroom-Farro Soup
By Bon Appetit
Soup is right at home on a Thanksgiving table, especially if it’s ready early for hungry guests. This one pairs mushrooms with toothy farro for some staying power, and it uses a secret ingredient (a Parmesan rind!) to bump up the umami.
Mushroom Duxelles
From The Spruce Eats
Duxelles is an intensely flavored mix of mushrooms, shallots and herbs, all finely chopped and cooked to a deep richness. Use it to boost the flavor of your broth or stock, for another layer of umami in your stuffing or simply as a spread on fresh bread.
Mushroom Sausage Stuffing
From A Spicy Perspective
Cooking for a mushroom skeptic? This zesty stuffing will win over even the most hesitant eater at the table. It’s buttery and savory, with both sausage and earthy mushrooms, plus freshness from herbs. Swap in vegetable broth and vegan sausage if desired.
Red Rice With Mushrooms And Cavolo Nero
From Ottolenghi
Lacinato kale is known as cavolo nero in Italian, and this wintry salad pairs it with spicy roasted Oyster and Portobello mushrooms and red rice for a truly memorable dish. With so many layers of flavor, you can hardly call this a “side.”
Mushroom Pot Pie
From Food & Wine
This cozy dish is simple yet hearty, with a combination of fresh and dried mushrooms for maximum texture and flavor. It uses frozen puff pastry to save time.
Mushroom Wellington with Rosemary and Pecans
From Feasting at Home
This elegant vegan main dish swaps mushrooms for the usual beef in the classic British recipe. Like the pot pie recipe we shared, it uses frozen puff pastry — keep some on hand during the holidays.
Keep reading for three full recipes from our cookbook!
Polenta On The Board With Honey Mushroom Sauce
This showstopper polenta, inspired by a recipe from Edward Giobbi, of New York, is perfect for large holiday gatherings. The polenta is cooked “loose” (rather than thick) and served on a large wooden board — as is customary in Le Marche, the region in eastern Italy that his mother (whose recipe this original was) called home. He wrote: “Once the polenta was spread on the board, it was topped with a sauce made with tomatoes, wild birds like squab, homemade sausages cut into bite-sized pieces, and wild mushrooms. My mother used mostly honey mushrooms picked by my father and dusted with pecorino cheese. The board was placed in the middle of the table, and we ate the polenta with spoons directly from the board.”
Ingredients
½ cup salt pork or pancetta, chopped with a heated knife into dice-sized cubes
½ pound fresh Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
2½ cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (see note)
⅓ pound sliced honey or boletus mushrooms, or 1 ounce dried boletes (see note)
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal or instant polenta
1 quart water
2 teaspoons salt
Grated pecorino cheese for garnish
Instructions
Place the salt pork or pancetta cubes in a large skillet over medium heat, uncovered. As the pork renders, add the whole sausages and brown, turning occasionally, about 15 minutes. (This is when my mother would add the wild birds, which she would cut into quarters.) When the sausages are browned, discard the salt pork or pancetta. Add the onions and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, add the tomatoes and cook them over medium-high heat for several minutes, until they are bubbling and aromatic. Slice the sausage into ¼-inch pieces and add to the tomatoes. Add the mushrooms, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
While the tomato-sausage mixture simmers, prepare the polenta. Bring 1 quart of salted water to a boil in a medium pot over medium heat. Slowly pour the cornmeal into the water with one hand while you stir with the other. When all the cornmeal is in the pot, turn the heat down to low and stir frequently until the polenta is cooked, at most 20 minutes. You can tell the polenta is done when the texture is creamy and the corn is tender. If the polenta becomes thick and heavy, add water, ½ cup at a time. The consistency should be like grits. If using instant polenta, follow the manufacturer's cooking instructions.
Pour a ½-inch thick layer of cooked polenta onto a 12-inch wide board (or a large, flat platter) and then pour the tomato-sausage sauce on top. Garnish with a generous amount of grated pecorino and serve immediately.
NOTES:
If using tomatoes canned in water, strain off the extra water. Do not use tomatoes canned in puree.
If using dried mushrooms, soak them in warm water for about 15 minutes, until they are soft, and drain.
Brussels Sprouts with Truffles, Two Ways
This recipe delivers double the mushroom deliciousness, with two options to highlight truffles. Jack Czarnecki featured this recipe in his own book, Truffle in the Kitchen: A Cook’s Guide. Make one or both versions for your Thanksgiving feast. He uses Oregon white truffle butter and oil in his kitchen.
Ingredients
1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts (about 40 small sprouts)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons white truffle butter
2 tablespoons toasted, chopped hazelnuts
2 tablespoons white truffle oil
2 tablespoons microgreens (like pea shoots or sunflower)
Instructions
Remove any brown leaves from the sprouts and cut in half. Fit a large pot with a steamer insert, and fill with water to the bottom of the insert. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and add the sprouts. Steam, tossing occasionally, until they are fork-tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Divide the sprouts between two serving bowls, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Toss the truffle butter in one bowl of sprouts, making sure the butter is melted, and garnish with the chopped hazelnuts.
Toss the truffle oil in the other bowl of sprouts and garnish with the microgreens.
Warm Endive and Oyster Mushroom Salad
This simple yet impressive recipe from Annaliese Bischoff, of Massachusetts, would be right at home on any Thanksgiving table. You can veganize it by swapping a teaspoon of miso paste for the anchovies and skipping the Parmesan garnish. Bonus points if you make it with oyster mushrooms you grow yourself.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup minced shallots
1 teaspoon sliced garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons grated ginger
Freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces oyster mushrooms
1 tablespoon white or black sesame seeds
2 marinated white anchovy filets, chopped
2 Belgian endives, leaves separated and cut into 2-inch sections
Juice from ½ Meyer or regular lemon Pinch of kosher salt
⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro or flat leaf parsley for garnish
2 whole scallions, chopped on the diagonal for garnish
Drizzle of high-quality white truffle oil, for garnish (optional)
Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
In a wide skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until golden, a few minutes. Stir in the ginger and pepper to taste. Tear the oyster mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and add. Cook for about 5 minutes, flipping the mushrooms over, until they release their liquid. Add the sesame seeds and toast them in a bald spot in the pan for 1 minute or so. Turn the heat down to medium, add the anchovy and endive, and cook until the endive wilts, a few more minutes. Take off the heat, add the lemon juice, and season with salt.
Garnish with the cilantro and scallions and, if you like, white truffle oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
