Watch out! These vegan stuffed mushrooms are incredibly addictive, thanks to a filling of dreamy cashew cream cheese, smoky tempeh bacon and chives. Great for snacking, but you can absolutely make a meal of them too!
I surprised myself recently while waiting in line at the supermarket and picked up one of those little mini magazine cookbooks. I forget the title, but the subject was bacon recipes.
I didn't even really think about it when I grabbed the thing...I was just looking for some inspiration. People are doing all kinds of crazy things with bacon. They're wrapping things in it, stuffing things with it, infusing with it, even making jam out of it (okay, I had to skip past the jam section of the book. That was just a little too much for me).
Anyhow, I see no reason why omnivores should have all the fun, so I went right home and got to creating some vegan stuffed mushrooms, filled to the brim with smoky tempeh bacon.
Bacon stuffed mushrooms aren't exactly cutting edge. Even I knew about these things before spotting the magazine recipe. But the book reminded me of them, and of the fact that they also include cream cheese, my other favorite veganized food to play around with. I knew right away that I'd have a blast making these things.
My tempeh bacon-filled vegan stuffed mushrooms were so satisfying, and even though my taste for bacon is incredibly outdated, I can say that I'd have never have known that these were vegan if I hadn't just made them myself. The combination of smoky flavor with the rich cream cheese and chives is kind of the bomb.
Jump to:
What You'll Need
- Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted if needed.
- Liquid smoke. Look for this near where the barbecue sauce is sold at your supermarket.
- Maple syrup. Agave syrup works as an alternative.
- Apple cider vinegar. You can sub another type of vinegar like red wine or malt vinegar if you'd like.
- Tempeh. You can usually buy this near where tofu is sold at the supermarket. Feeling ambitious? Make your own tempeh!
- Olive oil. Feel free to substitute another high-heat oil, such as avocado, vegetable, or coconut.
- Cremini mushrooms. These are sometimes labelled as baby portobello mushrooms at the store. Use regular old white button mushrooms if you can't find them.
- Vegan cream cheese. I like this recipe best when it's made with my homemade vegan cream cheese, but the store-bought stuff works as well. Kite Hill is my favorite brand of store-bought vegan cream cheese.
- Panko bread crumbs. Feel free to substitute any variety of vegan breadcrumbs, as long as they're unseasoned. Use gluten-free breadcrumbs if necessary.
- Hot sauce. Use your favorite variety (I like Cholula in this dish), or skip it for a milder version of the dish.
- Fresh chives.
How to Make Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- You can make the cream cheese yourself by following my recipe, or use store-bought. You'll need to soak the cashews in advance if you make it yourself, but otherwise it whips up super quick in the food processor.
- Next, make the tempeh bacon. Tempeh gets crumbled up and tossed with soy sauce, maple syrup, liquid smoke and apple cider vinegar, then briefly browned in a skillet.
- Tip: If you've got the time, let the tempeh marinate for a while to enhance the flavor. Be sure to cover and chill it if you go longer than 2 hours.
- Mix the tempeh bacon with cashew cream cheese, panko breadcrumbs, chives, and optionally, hot sauce!
- Stuff the mushrooms.
- Place your stuffed mushroom caps on a baking sheet and bake them!
- Try not to eat them all at once. ;)
Make-Ahead Option
The filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. My preference is to store it in a sealed container in the fridge, then stuff and bake the mushrooms on the day of serving.
Another option would be to do all the prep in advance, including stuffing the mushrooms, then store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Bake on the day of serving.
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan stuffed mushrooms are best served right away, but if you've got leftovers they'll keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yup! Just use gluten-free tamari in place of soy sauce and vegan gluten-free breadcrumbs.
This happens when your mushroom caps are full of water when they go into the oven, usually resulting from over-zealous washing. Instead of dredging your mushrooms in water, wipe their surfaces with a damp towel to clean them.
The hot sauce gives them a very mild kick. If you're nervous about the heat level, just add a bit of hot sauce at a time, taste-testing as you go.
More Vegan Finger Foods
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms with Cream Cheese & Tempeh Bacon
Watch out! These vegan stuffed mushrooms are incredibly addictive, thanks to a filling of dreamy cashew cream cheese, smoky tempeh bacon and chives. Great for snacking, but you can absolutely make a meal of them too!
Ingredients
For the Tempeh Bacon
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 (8 ounce) package tempeh, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Stuffed Mushrooms
- 24 ounces cremini or white button mushrooms (about 16 medium sized), cleaned and stemmed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup cashew cream cheese, or substitute your favorite commercial vegan cream cheese
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1-2 tablespoons cayenne pepper hot sauce, optional, or to taste
- ¼ cup finely chopped chives
Instructions
To Make the Tempeh Bacon
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Stir together the soy sauce, liquid smoke, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in a medium-sized bowl. Crumble the tempeh into the bowl, and stir to coat. Optionally, allow tempeh to marinade for up to 12 hours (I usually skip this, but it does enhance the flavor).
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Place a medium-sized skillet over high heat. Add the crumbled tempeh, along with any excess marinade. Sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
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Remove the tempeh from the skillet and transfer it to a bowl.
To Make the Stuffed Mushrooms
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Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush the mushrooms lightly with olive oil and arrange them on baking sheet, stem side up. Bake for 10 minutes.
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While the mushrooms bake, add the cream cheese, panko, hot sauce and chives to the tempeh mixture. Stir until everything is well mixed.
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Remove the mushrooms from the oven, but leave the oven on. If a lot of water has pooled in the stem cavities, use a paper towel to suck it up. Stuff each mushroom generously the with tempeh mixture, piling a bit on top.
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Place the mushrooms back into the oven and bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
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Serve.
Recipe Notes
If you plan to use my cashew cream cheese for this recipe, get started early, as the cashews require several hours of soaking. You'll end up with about a half of a batch leftover. It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, and goes great on bagels, crackers, and in a handful of other recipes in my archives. You can also freeze it in a well sealed container for long term storage.
The filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. My preference is to store it in a sealed container in the fridge, then stuff and bake the mushrooms on the day of serving. Another option would be to do all the prep in advance, including stuffing the mushrooms, then store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Bake on the day of serving.
I sent these to a friend to make for a party she was hosting and they turned out amazing! I've always loved stuffed mushrooms but the tempeh bacon really takes them to the next level :)
Awesome! I was hoping these would make their way into some holiday parties! Glad to hear you enjoyed them - thanks Taylor!!! :)
These look amazing! I can't wait to make them this year. I'm also adding them to a list on my site for suggestions for others to make for a vegan thanksgiving if that's ok?
Thanks Adrianne! You're absolutely welcome to include them in your roundup! Thanks so much for asking!
Question re: the smoky. I'm not a fan of anything smoked, but totally understand the need for liquid smoke in certain recipes, like this one. Sometimes I'm able to get away with using smoked salt or smoked paprika. Can I get away with that here? Or do I need to buy me a bottle of liquid smoke... bonus points if someone can tell me how long a bottle of that shiz keeps. Thanks, all. xo
Either might work, but the flavor would be a bit different. If you use smoked salt I'd cut back on the amount of soy sauce so it doesn't end up being too salty. And liquid smoke lasts a LONG time - I've had bottles that I kept around for more than a year!
I have to give it to you....you are so creative, and these stuffed mushrooms look amazing, love how you made that tempeh bacon
Great recipe! Thank you!
I also tried swapping the bacon for a veggie patty ( cooked til crisp) and it worked magically as well.
Wow! Great idea! Glad you enjoyed them!!
This was so good! Love all the components, too, like the bacon tempeh crumbles. This was a winner recipe.
Yay! I'm glad it was a hit! Thanks Morgan!
Question, all the stuffed mushrooms I've had, people keep the mushroom stems, chop them up real small and add them into the filling. How come you decided not to keep the stems and use them? Just curious. I can't wait to make these regardless. I think I wanna bring these to my parents for Christmas.
Made these for Christmas Eve dinner. So delicious and easy to make. Will definitely be making these again.
Yay!! I'm glad you liked them!
I made some changes to the recipe - some on purpose and some by mistake - and it was delicious!
First, I had some dairy cream cheese and sour cream in the house so I used a mix of them instead of the cashew cream cheese. (Sorry to my vegan friends) They worked great although I'd like to try it with the cashew cream cheese next time.
Second, I didn't have liquid smoke so I used some smoked paprika and an extra T of oil. That worked.
Third, by mistake I mixed all the stuffing ingredients before frying the tempeh mixture. Once I realized that, I baked the mushrooms for 8 minutes or so before adding the stuffing and then baked them about twice as long so they were nice and crispy on top. These are seriously delicious. Thank you! (If they hadn't come out well I would have chalked it up to my departure from the recipe and would not have done a review! But since they were so good, you get the credit!)
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! And thank you for the review! :)
Any ideas for substituting the tempeh? I have a soy allergy. Thanks
I could see cooked lentils working well, or chickpeas that have been pulsed in a food processor. I'd love to hear how any variations you try turn out!
I want to make these for vegan guests and I have three brands of panko crumbs in the house. All list milk or cheese in the ingredients. Are there specific vegan panko crumbs?
Oh interesting! I usually buy panko specifically because the brands available at my store are all vegan. I just checked the pantry and right now I have Kikkoman brand, so give them a try!
I rarely leave reviews, but I must on this one. Turned out PHENOMENAL! I made your cashew cream cheese for the recipe as well. I ended up making a second batch of mushrooms so I could eat some the day before the party and also a second batch of the cream cheese so that I could serve that at the party with crackers. Its so difficult to find recipes that actually turn out well so thank you so much!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed these! Thanks so much for stopping back to leave a review!
This recipe is delicious...thank you! Instead of appetizers, I made a meal using Portabella mushrooms. My husband could not stop raving about how good the dish tasted. Thanks again!
What would be the best way to “prep” these to be able to pop them into the oven having assembled them previously. Should the mushrooms be baked first and then add the filling and refrigerate until ready to bake? Or could you fill the mushrooms raw and extend the cooking time when ready to bake?
I would bake them first. Then when you're ready you can fill and rebake them, for a few extra minutes if necessary. If you did it the other way I'd be concerned about the filling drying out or burning.