A plate of roasted mushrooms stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

Keep this classic stuffed mushrooms recipe in mind when you’re looking for hors d’oeuvres or side dishes for any cool-weather group affair. Need a Thanksgiving snack or New Year’s Eve appetizer? Open up a bottle of wine or pour some martinis and pass around a tray of these easy stuffed mushrooms. People will talk.

While we’re loyal to panko in most cases, one of the secrets to this recipe is starting with crunchy homemade breadcrumbs. To these, we simply add sautéed veggies, herbs, minced garlic, and Parmesan cheese for a hit of umami without heft (skip the cream cheese, goat cheese, and mozzarella here). What’s the best variety of mushrooms to use? Something sturdy. Plain old white button mushrooms are ideal, but crimini mushrooms (sometimes called baby bella mushrooms) work well too—skip their big sibling, portobello mushrooms, since those are too large for this recipe.

Stemming and prebaking the mushroom caps (cavity side down) for a few minutes helps them release extra liquid, and you can do this ahead of time to cut down on prep time the day of your gathering. Finally, stuff the mushroom cavities and roast in a shallow baking dish or baking sheet until golden brown.

Don’t be surprised if the mushrooms disappear in minutes.

Recipe information

Total Time
45 minutes
Yield
Makes 20 hors d'oeuvres

Ingredients

3 slices firm white sandwich bread

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

20 large (2–2½" in diameter) white mushrooms (1 lb.)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

¼ cup finely chopped celery

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ tsp. dried oregano, crumbled

1 oz. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (½ cup)

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Step 2
Tear bread into pieces and pulse to coarse crumbs in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and toss with oil, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and ⅛ tsp. pepper. Spread in a shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until golden, 6 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a bowl.
Step 3
Pull stems from mushroom caps (to create space for stuffing) and finely chop stems. Put mushroom caps, stemmed sides down, in a lightly oiled large shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven until mushrooms exude liquid, about 10 minutes, then remove from oven.
Step 4
While mushroom caps are baking, melt butter in a 12" heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté chopped mushroom stems, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic, oregano, and remaining ¼ tsp. salt and ⅛ tsp. pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Cool vegetables slightly, then add to bread crumbs along with cheese and parsley and toss well.
Step 5
Turn mushroom caps over, then fill mushroom caps with breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently into a mound (there will be some filling left over). Bake in middle of oven until mushrooms are tender and stuffing is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Editor’s note: This recipe was originally printed in the April 2003 issue of ‘Gourmet.’ Head this way for more of our best Thanksgiving appetizers →