It’s officially football season which means we have friends at our house every Sunday afternoon watching the game and trash talking each other’s fantasy football teams.
This past Sunday, our potluck of snacks included mini donuts along with an array of chips with dips, so I decided to add some veggies to the mix with these easy pesto stuffed mushrooms. I was afraid I might be the only one who found the mushrooms appealing, but to my surprise the entire batch was gone in just minutes! Everyone went back for seconds, choosing these mushrooms over Krispy Kreme donuts.
I call that a win.
What I love about these mushrooms is that they’re vegan and paleo-friendly, without relying on any fake cheese substitutes. All you need to prepare them is a mini food chopper (I’ve used this cheap one since college!), a few whole food ingredients, and about 10 minutes of hands-on time. Easy!
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Vegan Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 12-14 pieces
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 cup fresh spinach, tightly packed
1 cup fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons water, or as needed to facilitate blending
8 ounces whole crimini mushrooms
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare the pesto. In a mini food processor, pulse the pecans into a fine meal. Add in the spinach, fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and water and process until a uniform texture is achieved. You might have to scrape down the sides and process a couple of times to get it all evenly combined. Set aside.
Gently remove the stems from the mushrooms and wipe off any dirt with a damp cloth. Fill the center of each mushroom with about a teaspoon of the pesto and arrange all of the stuffed mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake them at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Serve warm.
If you have any leftover pesto, it makes a great dip for veggies or can be tossed with your favorite pasta.
Vegan Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pecan halves
- 1 cup fresh spinach , tightly packed
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves , tightly packed
- 1 large garlic clove , minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons water , or as needed to facilitate blending
- 8 ounces whole crimini mushrooms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare the pesto. In a mini food processor, pulse the pecans into a fine meal. Add in the spinach, fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and water and process until a uniform texture is achieved. You might have to scrape down the sides and process a couple of times to get it all evenly combined. Set aside.
- Gently remove the stems from the mushrooms and wipe off any dirt with a damp cloth. Fill the center of each mushroom with about a teaspoon of the pesto and arrange all of the stuffed mushrooms in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake them at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Serve warm.
- If you have any leftover pesto, it makes a great dip for veggies or can be tossed with your favorite pasta.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 34, Fat: 3g, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 1g
Note: This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your tastes. I like to use a mix of spinach and fresh basil to create a generally-appealing pesto flavor, but you can use all basil if you prefer or another leafy green. This pesto recipe is on the saltier side to account for the fact that the flavor will be diluted when stuffed into the mushrooms, but feel free to use less salt or lemon juice if desired.
Enjoy!
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Reader Feedback: What are your favorite game-day snacks?
Actually, I’m not surprised people chose these over Krispy Creme at all……those donuts are kind of icky to me! These mushrooms looks absolutely fabulous in every way. I just want to snack all day. Not the biggest football fan, but I do my best to support the Buffalo Bills because I’m from Buffalo and that’s what we do. Forget the chix wings, making these instead!
Oooh these look perfect for an hors d’oeuvre for a party!!
Great idea! This looks so yummy..and easy! Thanks for the recipe!
Is there a reason you use a mini food processor vs a regular one? Is it OK to use a 11 cup food processor?
I think a bigger food processor would be okay– I just used my small one because the batch isn’t that big and it’s easier to clean afterward!
I don’t watch football, but that sounds like a fun Sunday afternoon and I’d be there if these mushrooms were there!
I can’t wait to try these. Thank you.
I’m thinking about sautéing some kale, adding it to the spinach with a squirt of Liquid Aminos and see what that taste like.
I would LOVE to have your spin on a vegan cilantro lime dressing. I have tried a few on my own, with some success. Would love to see you create one.
These look awesome!! Oh, and did you know that Trader Joes sells RICED CAULIFLOWER!!! Oh the possibilities for quick healthy meals. 🙂
Yum! Stuffed mushrooms are the best, pesto is the best! I bet these little dudes are out of this world delicious! 🙂
I have been looking for alternative healthy snacks and these look so good! I make my pesto without nuts since I am allergic to tree nuts! I am excited to try this recipe!
I have to comment. These things are amazing! I feel like a gourmet chef. WOW. They were so easy to make and my bf, who hates all my vegan stuff, LOVED these. We ate 12 between the two of us. We were so full but there was no way we were letting any of these go to waste. Thank you so much for the wonderful healthy recipe.
IF I am allergic to pecans is there anything I can swap for it or just leave it out???? Or will that ruin the overall taste?
Thanks,
G
I omitted the nuts entirely and used the stems from the mushrooms to give the stuffing some body. I also added onions and sautéed everything on Earth Balance, and added a little bread crumb as a binder…
I guess what I’m saying is, make this idea your own…it’s cooking, not baking, roll with it. I might not have come up with this idea, which is whi I’m here, and this was great, but I never worry about a tweak, and you shouldn’t, either.
Just made them yesterday, there were absolutely delicious! Pecans are very expensive in my country, so I substituted it with walnuts – pesto still turned out great. The amount of salt in the recipe is on point – pesto itself was quite salty, but with pretty plain tasting mushroom it was awesome. Thanks for amazing recipe!
This looks delish!! I want to make these tonight but use large portabella mushrooms instead. Does the recipe need to be modified at all for the larger mushrooms?
Absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly except I doubled the garlic. The hint of lemon highlights the freshness of the spinach and basil, and the meatiness of the mushrooms. Everyone in my family enjoyed them!
I used portabello mushrooms and topped with breadcrumbs. I also used olive oil instead of water. They were great.
I made these with cashews instead of pecans and lime juice instead of lemon juice – they were awesome!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Love these! So super easy. I did a small tweak. I added 2 tbs of nutritional yeast, extra teaspoon of lemon juice and and 3 cloves of garlic instead of one. As well as a little extra pecans. So delicious & nutty you won’t miss dairy or gluten
These look amazing. I am making them for our holiday party this weekend. Just wondering if it helps to bake the mushrooms a bit prior to stuffing them to release some of the moisture? Thanks
I plan to make these for a party next month. I plan to also pulse in the mushroom stems, add more garlic and some red pepper lakes.
Can you prep or prepare any of this a day before?
I imagine you can prepare the pesto the day before, and then fill the mushrooms right before baking so you can serve them fresh.
These were fabulous! Easy to make, super healthy, no,oil. Thx u!
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