Cremini mushrooms are stuffed with a savory mixture of walnuts, dried cranberries, and holiday-inspired herbs. Then, they're topped with vegan "parmesan" and roasted to perfection. These vegan walnut, sage & cranberry stuffed holiday mushrooms make a great appetizer at a festive gathering, and the recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled for a large crowd. Happy entertaining!
It's hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner. For us, this year is shaping up to be a little different than in the past, because we'll be hosting Thanksgiving at our place. We've lived in the same condo for three years now, and although it still feels plenty spacious for the two of us, it's capacity quickly maxes out in entertaining scenarios. What we have: a lovely kitchen island that seats six. What we don't have: a dining room or even a proper table. While four to six feels like a proper dinner party, it's typically 'standing room only' or 'general admission seating' on our living room floor once we hit 8+.
We happily make do for casual gatherings, but I cringed at the thought of my stylish, nearly 90-year-old grandma eating her holiday dinner while standing. Although to be fair, she probably wouldn't mind one bit considering she has the attitude and energy of a young adult (the woman still owns her own company and works full-time). Even so, the idea wasn't sitting well, so we've decided to improvise. The plan is to shift our furniture around a bit, rent two large tables, a bunch of chairs, and create one large dining space in the center of our living room. Worth every bit of the extra effort if it means we'll all be gathered around a single table.
Now that the spacing dilemma has been tackled, we're moving on to something far more delicious: the food!
These Vegan Walnut, Sage & Cranberry Stuffed Holiday Mushrooms will most certainly be making an appearance at the gathering as well as a whole host of other plant-based goodies. What I love most about these is that everyone seems to enjoy them—vegan, vegetarians, and meat-lovers alike—so they make a great addition to any holiday spread. Plus, they come together in a pinch and the recipe can easily be double, tripled, or even quadrupled to feed a crowd.
To make them, you'll start by preparing the filling. Raw walnuts and a couple cloves of garlic are pulsed in a food processor until finely chopped (if you don't have a food processor, you can just as easily chop by hand).
Then, add the walnuts and garlic to a pan with a bit of olive oil, diced shallot, chopped fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Sauté the mixture for a quick 5 minutes, or until the shallot begins to soften. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chopped dried cranberries and a dash of sherry vinegar to make the flavors POP. Season with a bit more salt and pepper, and then it's time to get stuffing...
You'll stuff the filling into cremini mushroom caps that have been stemmed and scraped to make room for all that savory goodness.
Stuff the caps one at a time, top each with a sprinkle of homemade walnut parmesan (optional), and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the mushroom caps are tender and juicy.
Then, sprinkle with more walnut "parmesan" and a bit of chopped parsley, if you're feeling it, and serve warm.
The walnuts and herbs offer a lovely savoriness while the dried cranberries lend a delightful burst of sweetness that balances the earthiness of the mushrooms. These one-bite holiday appetizers were designed to please a crowd while limiting the preparation to a minimum. That way, you can spend more time enjoying your guests' presence and less time fussing about in the kitchen.
I hope these bring a little extra joy and gratitude to your holiday gatherings! ♥
📖 Recipe
VEGAN WALNUT, SAGE + CRANBERRY STUFFED HOLIDAY MUSHROOMS
Ingredients
- 1 pound large cremini mushrooms or small portobello mushrooms (stemmed, 16 ounces, about 12 mushrooms with a 2-inch diameter)
- 1 ¼ cups raw walnut pieces, divided
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup finely diced shallots (about 2 medium shallots)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped sage leaves
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ sea salt, divided, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- â…“ cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes (for the walnut "parmesan")
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, stemmed and finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a small spoon to gently scrape away the gills from each mushroom. You'll be surprised how much you'll scrape out of those little mushrooms, and more space equals more filling!
- Add 1 cup of the walnuts and the garlic to a small food processor and pulse 15 to 20 times, or until very finely chopped or coarsely minced.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat and add the olive oil, walnut mixture, shallots, sage, rosemary, thyme, ¼ teaspoon of the sea salt, and black pepper, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, or until the shallots soften and the walnuts are lightly toasted, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and stir in the cranberries and sherry vinegar. Taste and season with more sea salt and black pepper, if desired (I recommend adding another ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon sea salt and another pinch of black pepper).
- Prepare the walnut "parmesan" topping (if using). Add the remaining ¼ cup walnuts and ⅛ teaspoon sea salt to a small food processor along with the nutritional yeast flakes. Process for 20 seconds, or until the mixture resembles finely grated parmesan cheese. Set aside.
- One at a time, pick up each mushroom and use a small spoon to fill it. Use the back of the spoon to gently compact the mixture into the mushroom cap and transfer to the lined baking tray. Repeat, stuffing all of the mushrooms. (I find it easiest to hold the mushrooms over the pan with the walnut filling while stuffing. That way, excess filling falls back into the pan instead of on the lined tray.) Sprinkle the top of each mushroom with a generous pinch of the walnut "parmesan" (if using). (You'll have quite a bit of leftover parmesan that you can use to garnish before serving.)
- Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender and the top of the filling is golden brown.
- If desired, garnish the mushrooms with another pinch of parmesan and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve immediately.
Celeste Jackson says
I can attest to the fact that these are amazingly delicious! A mouthful of Thanksgiving without the Turkey and butter. Thanks for sharing these wonderful recipe!
Ashley says
Thank you!
Taylor Filaroski says
These look amazing and I have been on the hunt for something else to make for Tgiving! Can you make these ahead of time and bake day of?
Ashley says
Thanks, Taylor! Yes, you can absolutely prep everything ahead of time and bake the day of. I'd recommend storing the prepped mushrooms (stemmed, gills removed, etc.) and the cooked filling separately and stuffing the day of. Otherwise, the salt from the filling could cause the mushrooms to sweat and toughen overnight. Enjoy!
Stella @ Stellicious Life says
Lovely recipe! I've been making a similar stuffed mushroom recipe without the cranberries (with walnuts, wild rice and cashew parmesan), but this is such a nice festive version I can't wait to try it!
Good luck with hosting Thanksgiving at your place, feeding a crowd can be pretty stressful, we've dealt with that by dividing tasks and planning ahead. Thanks for this recipe, lovely shots!! :-)
Ashley says
Thanks, Stella! The addition of wild rice sounds wonderful—I'll have to try that sometime too.
And thanks for the tips with Thanksgiving prep! Lots of planning ahead, dividing of tasks, and (fingers crossed) conquering of them too. Lots to do but trying to remember to have fun and go with the flow!
MPaula says
I find it unusual that the title uses the word "cranberries". I'm not singling you out; it happens more often than not. I can't imagine someone using "grapes" when they mean raisins or "plums" when they mean prunes. Call them craisins or just dried cranberries. I'm disappointed that I can't find dried cranberries that don't use sugar. I supposed I could make my own. *sigh*
Ashley says
Hi, Paula. I'm so sorry for the confusion regarding the cranberries. It's never my intent to misrepresent a recipe in any way. Honestly, "Walnut, Sage + Cranberry Stuffed Holiday Mushrooms" was what I wrote down while I was recipe testing. Kind of like "Cranberry Trail Mix" or "Cranberry Granola"—both use dried cranberries but call out "cranberry" in the title as a sort of descriptor of flavor as opposed to the use of dried cranberries themselves. I've been able to find unsweetened dried cranberries through Amazon. It's been a while since I've purchased them (don't mind a little sweetness with cranberries), but they've definitely carried them in the past.
Val says
These are amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe. I see a near future when I will also use it to fill homemade ravioli...
Ashley says
So glad you enjoyed them, Val! And using the filling to stuff homemade ravioli is a wonderful idea. So creative! Think I'll have to try that myself. Happy cooking to you. :)
Margie says
Do you think you could use the scraped out mushroom part in the filling? I'd kind of hate to waste it
Ashley says
That's a great idea, Margie! You can absolutely mix it in.
Dawn says
By far one of the best recipes I’ve ever had!!!!
Ashley says
Amazing to hear this, Dawn! So glad it was a hit. :)
Rhiannon says
What if I want to use Parmesan cheese? Do I skip the step with the walnuts and nutritional yeast and just use Parm? How much?
I can’t wait to try these?