These mushrooms are a great appetizer for a dinner party or holiday appetizer if meatier appetizer options. The Italian sausage gives that wonderful herby, savory flavor you want in a good meaty stuffed mushroom recipe. They’re a crowd pleaser. I will say though that the type of sausage does make a difference in a dish like this. I’ve made stuffed mushrooms with ordinary store bought sausage (pretty flavorless and super greasy) and then made them with some great quality local fresh or home-ground sausage and wow….what a difference. When you’re cooking with real ingredients instead of just fillers, you will taste the difference and get so much more excited about the results. These Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms are a great low carb or keto appetizer since there are no bread crumbs in the recipe.
Mushroom Shyness
Stuffed mushrooms are something I would not have touched when I was kid, not even till my late 20’s. The exact moment I started tolerating them was actually when my “now husband” cooked me a Valentine’s meal of chicken marsala not knowing I hated mushrooms, and I was in love…with him and the dish! I still can’t enjoy all types of mushrooms, it’s a texture thing, but stuffed mushrooms like these can be enjoyed even by the finickiest of eaters. If you’re not a mushroom fan, these are some mushrooms to possibly help you overcome your fear of edible fungi. My younger boys hate mushrooms, but one of them loves the stuffing, so he’ll eat the stuffing only and leave the caps on his plate. I failed to mention the stuffing has mushrooms it it as well. 😂
How to Make these Stuffed Mushrooms
These stuffed mushrooms are easy to make and are cooked to perfection with my technique of pre-baking and draining the liquid out before stuffing. Say goodbye to soggy or slimy stuffed mushrooms.
No More Soggy/Slimy Stuffed Mushrooms!
Every home cook probably has their own trick to keeping their mushrooms from getting soggy and cooking properly. This is my way that I found is easy and works out well. Firstly, I do not rinse the mushrooms to clean them, I simple clean the dirt off with a paper towel. I DO NOT use a damp paper towel or rinse them under water. Mushrooms are made up of about 90% water, so I don’t like to add more water to them, especially for stuffed mushrooms. I actually found the prebaking tip from Rachel Ray, it’s a little vague, but I figured out the way that works out well for me. See my pre-baking time and technique below.
Pre-bake the Mushrooms
After cleaning and de-stemming the mushrooms, I pre-bake the caps (cap side down first) for 5 mins at 500 degrees F. Then I flip them and bake another 5 minutes (cap side up). Then I lay them cap side up on some paper towels to drain for at least 5 minutes while I cook up the filling.
Make the Filling
Grab a large skillet and cook up the sausage first on medium high heat. Then add the remaining ingredients as specified in the recipe card below. The filling will be a gooey mess, but it’ll cook up really nice and be fully cooked before filling the mushrooms.
Stuff the Mushrooms
Don’t be afraid to stuff these little mushroom caps full, even creating a small tower of filling. I like to use a small cookie scoop to fill them. They stay together quite well and your samplers will appreciate the extra filling. Fill them up, pack them in real tight and let the oven do the rest for you.
Bake the Mushrooms
Your stuffing is already fully cooked, so you are simply warming and finishing the filling, giving the outside a nice little browned top and melting the cheese. I place them on a butter greased baking dish, but if you prefer, you can line your dish with parchment paper for easy clean up. Once again, to keep these mushrooms from getting overcooked and soggy, I keep the temp up, still at 500 degrees F and baking for only 12-15 minutes max. (Ovens vary so I suggest you start checking them at 12 for your preferred doneness level. Mine are perfect for me at 15.)
Can I Air Fry these Mushrooms?
Yes, you can. I have adjusted the cooking of this mushrooms recipe to accommodate an air fryer; from pre-baking to air frying. Pre-bake them upside down for only 5 minutes at 400 degrees F (No need to pre-heat). Then let them drain 5 minutes at least. Fill them up and air fry them for 6-7 minutes and they’re done! The air fryer really crisps up the outside real nice.
Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Ingredients
- Fresh Mushrooms– I like to use baby bella mushrooms that I get from Costco, but standard grocery store white button mushrooms aka cremini mushrooms are fine too. I love this article from Eater, “What’s the Difference Between Cremini, Button, and Portobello Mushrooms?” Who knew?!
- Italian sausage– I usually use my husband’s savory home ground pork sweet Italian Sausage, but you can use whatever good quality store-bought mild Italian sausage type you like. A spicy sausage is a great option as well. Try these with hot Italian sausage if you’re a “heat lover” like us.
- Onion– I like to use a sweet yellow onion. Any other onion you have on hand would be fine as well.
- Garlic– I like to use fresh garlic for this recipe, but in a pinch you can substitute for about a teaspoon of granulated or powered garlic.
- Sherry– I use sweet or cream sherry, but marsala wine is great too.
- Worcestershire Sauce– Worcestershire adds a little bit of that umami flavor to the mix.
- Oregano– The herb just adds a little bit of that earthy, peppery flavor to your sausage mixture.
- Black pepper– Standard fine ground black pepper.
- Salt– I like fine ground sea salt
- Parmesan Cheese– Because it just goes great with Italian sausage and can add a little crust on top without the use of panko bread crumbs. You can use asiago cheese as well, but I do prefer parmesan here.
- Cream cheese– This just creates a nice creamy sausage filling.
- Egg– Just 1 large egg will do it. This just helps hold everything together.
Some other Appetizer Recipes you might Enjoy!
Give these delicious meaty fungi a try and let us know how they turn out for you below.
Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms (No Breadcrumbs)
Ingredients
- 16 oz. mushrooms baby bella or white (Cleaned with paper towel, stems popped off and chopped)
- 3/4 lb Italian sausage bulk or links, casings removed
- 1/2 sweet onion finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1.5 Tbsp sherry marsala great too
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp dried oregano fresh is great if you have it, then use about 1Tbs chopped fine
- 1/4 tsp black pepper ground
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 4 oz. real cream cheese softened
- 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely shredded, divided
- 1 egg
- *fresh parsley *Optional
- *lemon zest *Optional
Instructions
Pre-bake Mushrooms
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Remove stems from mushrooms after cleaning, chop them up and set aside.
- Once the oven is up to temp, place mushrooms on baking dish upside down, caps facing baking dish and bake for 5 minutes. (Remove from oven immediately)
- Then gently flip the mushroom caps over and bake another 5 minutes.
- Then carefully (they'll be full of hot liquid) transfer each mushroom and flip them over onto a cutting board lined with paper towels.
- Allow the mushrooms to drain at least 5 minutes, longer is fine too.
Make the Sausage Stuffing
- While the mushrooms are draining or earlier, you can start making the stuffing. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and crumble sausage into it. Do not stir for a couple minutes to let it start to brown.
- After about 3-4 minutes start to stir and break up the sausage with your wooden spoon. Cook sausage until it is no longer pink.
- Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside, reserving about 1 Tbsp of grease if there is any.
- If you don't have much grease left, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to your pan. Now add the onions and mushroom stems to skillet and cook on medium about 5 minutes or until tender.
- Stir in garlic and cook another minute.
- Add sherry and worcestershire sauce and cook about another 5 minutes, or reduced.
- Then add the oregano, pepper and sea salt and cook another minutes, stirring occasionally and reduce heat to low.
- Return sausage to skillet, add cream cheese and parmesan to the mushroom/onion mixture and stir till thoroughly combined with no lumps of cheese.
- Then remove from heat and add to a medium mixing bowl and let cool slightly so that it's not too hot to fill mushrooms.
- Taste your mixture to make sure it's seasoned to your liking here. Once you approve the taste you can add your egg, mix well and start filling the mushrooms.
Fill the Mushrooms
- Fill the mushrooms generously with sausage mixture. I leave a tall heaping over the mushrooms and they stay together nicely. It is messy though, but don't worry, they'll cook great!
- Add the filled mushrooms to a greased baking dish in a single layer.
- Bake mushrooms uncovered for 13-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
- Let mushrooms sit to cool 5 minutes before serving.
How to AIR FRY Stuffed Mushrooms
- Air fry cleaned and de-stemmed mushrooms upside down (mushroom cap facing up) on an air fryer liner (not necessary, but very convenient for this) for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
- Allow the mushrooms to drain, either on the liner (removed from the air fryer) or on paper towels for at least 5 minutes.
- Stuff mushrooms and add shredded cheese on the liner or paper towels.
- Carefully transfer mushrooms and air fry another 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees F, until cheese melted and golden brown tops. Check them at 5 minutes if you don't like them this dark. (all air fryers cook differently.)
- Allow to rests 5 minutes and then enjoy!
Stuffed mushrooms are always a party hit! What a great appetizer!
Thanks, Melanie! Agreed. Happy New Year!