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!
Bacon was never one of my favorite foods, and it's definitely not something that I miss. But you know what I love? VEGAN BACON. I'm a total sucker for tempeh bacon, tofu bacon, coconut bacon...you name it. So it's no surprise that I'm obsessed with these vegan stuffed mushrooms, which feature smoky tempeh bacon as one of the primary ingredients in the filling.
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I've got to admit, there are lots of creative things to do with bacon. So, I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when I recently grabbed one of those little recipe books at the supermarket checkout. I forget the title, but the subject was bacon recipes. It was full of ideas.
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, vegan cream cheese, and chives.
Ingredients 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. If tempeh is a new ingredient to you, read my article, What is Tempeh? 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.
- 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 recipe), or skip it for a milder version of the dish.
- Fresh chives.
How They're Made
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!
To make your tempeh bacon, first stir together your soy sauce, liquid smoke, maple syrup, and cider vinegar. Crumble the tempeh into the bowl and give it a stir. You can let it marinate for bit, but this is totally optional!
Heat some olive oil in a skillet, then add your tempeh, along with any liquid left in the bowl. Cook the tempeh for a few minutes, until it starts to crisp and brown, giving it a stir from time to time.
Tip: Some folks find the flavor of tempeh to be overly bitter. If you're one of them, steam your tempeh before cooking with it.
Remove the stems from your mushrooms, then lightly brush them with oil and arrange them on a baking sheet. Pop them into the oven for ten minutes.
Place your crumbled tempeh bacon into a bowl, then stir in the vegan cream cheese, panko breadcrumbs, hot sauce, and chives.
When they come out of the oven, stuff the mushrooms with your tempeh bacon filling, the place them back into the oven.
They're done when the filling has darkened slightly and browned a bit on top.
Tip: Mushrooms release water as they cook, so you might find that some has pooled inside of then when you take them out of the oven the first time around. Make sure to pour it out or suck it up with a paper towel before stuffing them. They'll be soggy if you don't!
Your vegan stuffed mushrooms are ready to enjoy. Serve them while they're hot!
Make-Ahead Option
The filling can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Store it in a sealed container in the fridge, then stuff and bake the mushrooms 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.
Variations
- Extra-cheesy stuffed mushrooms. For extra cheesy flavor, stir a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes, some vegan Parmesan cheese, or your favorite shredded vegan cheese into the filling.
- Smoked almond "bacon" stuffed mushrooms. If you don't like tempeh, or just want a simpler option, swap out the tempeh bacon with about a half cup of finely chopped smoked almonds.
- Add spices. For a flavor twist, stir a half to one teaspoon of curry powder, ground cumin, blackened seasoning, or chili powder into the filling.
- Sun-dried tomatoes. A half cup of finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes makes a great addition to the filling!
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
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/227 gram) package tempeh
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Stuffed Mushrooms
- 24 ounces cremini mushrooms (about 16 medium sized mushrooms), cleaned
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup vegan cream cheese (homemade or store-bought)
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper hot sauce, optional, or to taste
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
Instructions
To Make the Tempeh Bacon
- 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 (Note 1).
- Place a medium-sized skillet over high heat. Add the crumbled tempeh, along with any excess marinade. Sauté the tempeh until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the tempeh from the skillet and transfer it to a bowl.
To Make the Stuffed Mushrooms
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, then brush them lightly with olive oil and arrange them on baking sheet, stem sides up. Bake for 10 minutes.
- While the mushrooms bake, add the cream cheese, panko, hot sauce, and chives to the tempeh mixture. Stir until everything is well mixed.
- Remove the mushrooms from the oven, but leave the oven on. If a lot of water has pooled in the stem cavities, pour it out or use a paper towel to suck it up. Stuff each mushroom generously the with tempeh mixture, piling a bit on top.
- Place the mushrooms back into the oven and bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Serve.
Notes
- Optionally, you can marinate the tempeh for up to twelve hours. If marinating for more than two hours, be sure to cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator.
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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.
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!
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!
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 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! :)
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!
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.
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!
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!!
I have to give it to you....you are so creative, and these stuffed mushrooms look amazing, love how you made that tempeh bacon
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!
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!
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!!! :)