Stuffed mushrooms can be a crowd-favorite, but a common mistake can easily ruin the otherwise simple dish. Mushrooms are about 80-90% water, so baking them properly is important to avoid a soggy mess. Nobody wants limp mushrooms on their plate, no matter what they’re filled with. Thankfully, celebrity chef Rachael Ray has an easy hack to ensure the mushrooms are tender with a golden crispy top.
In a blog post, Ray advised against preparing stuffed mushrooms in advance. So, if you are trying to prepare for a large dinner party, stuffed mushrooms are not where you want to cut corners. Instead, the chef purchases her mushrooms on the day they are being served. After cleaning the mushrooms, she briefly bakes them in the oven before stuffing them to remove excess liquid.
“The most important thing to remember is whenever you make stuffed mushrooms, bake them upside down first, let all the liquid drain out, then partially bake them at a very high temperature for a few minutes,” she explained of her technique, adding that the drained liquid can also be used as a flavor additive to the stuffing. Once the pre-baking is done, she says, “flip them over and then fill the caps.”
Avoid making stuffed mushrooms in advance
Why can’t you make your stuffed mushrooms in advance? According to Rachael Ray, doing so will cause the mushrooms to be soggy. The result? A sloppy mushroom with filling falling all over the place. “If you want to pre-fill the caps, partially bake them a bit or just put them away cold and bake them off later,” she explained. “It’ll work, but you’ll have a really high moisture content when that cooks up again in the oven, so the whole top may slide off when somebody goes to bite into it, which is why I prefer to make the whole thing the same day.”
If you are crunched on time the day you are serving the dish, there is one way you can get a head start that won’t affect the mushrooms: Pre-make the filling. In fact, Ray advises that you can make the filling far in advance and freeze it. Then, on the day of, defrost the filling and reheat it in a pan. As for what to fill the mushrooms with, there are endless possibilities. You can stuff them with a simple mix of breadcrumbs, onion powder, and cheddar cheese, or reach for cream cheese and fresh herbs. Leftover dip is also perfect for stuffing mushrooms, such as a tangy onion dip or spicy taco dip. Then, all that’s left is choosing the perfect mushroom to stuff.
