Welcome to a mushroom lover’s guide to crafting delicious mushroom pizza!
Your dough ball-turned-delectable pizza can be even better than you first imagine with the addition of juicy, flavorful mushrooms.
Beyond the taste, adding mushrooms to your pizza night with friends may boost your health, especially your immune system, and bring key minerals and vitamins into your meal. Besides, who can ever say no to mushrooms? They’re a wonderful treat all on their own!
Curious about how to prepare mushrooms for pizza? Read on to learn about:
- How to cut, sauté, or grill mushrooms for your pizza
- Common mistakes to avoid
- The best types of mushrooms to use
- Top tips to take your favorite pizza recipe to the next level.
Let’s get started!
How to Cut Mushrooms for Pizza Topping
The flavor bomb of mushrooms is inherently incredible, but it all starts with the right preparation style.
Grab your mushrooms from the fridge and give them a light brush to remove any excess dirt.
Following that, slice the very end of your raw mushrooms and cut each one lengthwise into five to six segments. Pre-cutting your mushrooms in advance earlier in the day is a great way to minimize overall cooking time!
After you’ve finished cutting your mushrooms, it’s time to choose your preferred method to cook them: classic sauté, or an old-fashioned grill.
Sautéed Mushrooms for Pizza Topping
Cut mushrooms with sauté-style preparation are a perfect match!
Bring a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet to medium-high heat. Extra virgin olive oil or virgin olive oil will enhance the umami flavor and classic, meaty texture of mushrooms.
Adding cloves of minced garlic into the skillet will bring you one step closer to an artisan pizza, but you can ditch this for a natural flavor that’s just as divine.
Throw your raw mushrooms into a medium-heat skillet and stir until soft and golden for approximately one to two minutes (similar to caramelized onions).
Remove them from heat and pat dry with a clean paper towel to remove any excess liquid. Finally, sprinkle a pinch of salt after the mushrooms have rested slightly.
Following a total prep time of just 4 to 10 minutes, you’ll have flavorful, sautéed mushrooms for your pizza!
Grilled Mushrooms for Pizza Topping
Sure, sautéed mushrooms are a no-brainer, but placing your mushrooms atop a grill will bring a different level of character to your pizza!
Bring your grill to high heat and prepare a baking tray laid with a baking sheet. Lay out the cut mushrooms and drizzle a bit of olive oil over them to lock in their juiciness. Then, cook for 4–10 minutes until soft.
Once cooked, feel free to season them with salt! Kosher salt is a great option to make your grilled mushrooms sing. The total prep time for this method is around 8 to 10 minutes.
Common Mistakes Preparing Mushrooms for Pizza Topping
Avoid the common pitfalls of soggy mushrooms, burnt-to-a-crisp mushrooms, and wafer-thin mushrooms when working with this secret weapon of all pizzas!
Soggy Mushrooms
Your mushroom pizza recipe calls for appropriately moist mushrooms, not those dripping with oil or as dry as pizza crust. Cook your mushrooms until golden brown and use paper towels to remove any excess juice, and voila — no more soggy mushroom pizza!
Burnt Mushrooms
Cooking mushrooms to perfection requires a very high level of attention.
Avoid turning your home into fire alarm central and keep your mushrooms cooking at a medium to high heat, as opposed to removing all the natural flavor and burning your mushrooms to a crisp!
Wafer-thin Mushrooms
Eating appropriate portion sizes is great, but mushroom slice width is not something to skimp on!
Cut your mushrooms to a width of just a bit thinner than your pinky finger to avoid having a below-average mushroom pizza experience.
The right width of a mushroom slice when cutting helps the mushroom cook evenly and brings a flavor explosion with every bite!
Types of Mushrooms on Pizza
Shiitake, white button, chanterelles, cremini, or porcini?
The choice of mushroom is yours to make!
Explore why you might use each type, and which ones are the best for different recipes:
Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are rich in vitamin B5 and linked to a stronger immune system.
No bland flavor here: Shiitake mushrooms are the choice for pizza lovers who enjoy a butter-infused savory taste!
Throw your Shiitake mushroom-topped pie into the oven with black pepper, fresh mozzarella, truffles, garlic, peppers, or baby spinach, and watch as this pizza becomes your new favorite.
White Button Mushrooms
White button mushrooms are a great food to boost Vitamin D and B12 for those living a plant-based lifestyle.
Dense in texture and subtle in flavor, this humble fungus is modest enough to let every other ingredient shine.
Alongside white sauce, fresh basil, garlic cloves, fresh mozzarella, fresh chives, citrus tones, and cherry tomatoes, these mushrooms make for a brilliant pizza topping!
Chanterelles
Delicious and functional, chanterelles are fantastic anti-inflammatory fungi with a nutty aftertaste that brings abundant personality to your pizza.
Combine chanterelles with thyme, fresh chives, sprigs of kale, goat cheese, and pepper flakes to create a delightful pizza slice!
Cremini
Creminis contain helpful gut bacteria that can support digestion, making them a fantastic mushroom to slather onto your next pizza. Cremini is close in flavor and texture to the white button mushroom, being relatively mild and full-bodied.
Slices of cremini with olives, passata, cheese, your choice of meat, or even splashed with balsamic vinegar will make for a delightful combo you can’t say no to!
Porcini
Low in fat and calories, porcini is a handy mushroom to use as an alternative pizza topping.
High in minerals, this mushroom boasts a rich, intense flavor that holds its own in any pizza. Not even parmesan, buffalo mozzarella, fennel, white wine, or pesto can silence this mushroom’s aroma!
Tips for Making Mushroom Pizza
Now that you know how to prepare fresh mushrooms for pizza, it’s time to up the tempo. Turn plain old pizza base into foodie heaven by considering flavor pairings, ideal seasonings, and — of course — a generous quantity of mushrooms!
- Experiment with unique flavors like truffle or goat cheese
- Turn something simple into a fragrant sensation. with the help of garlic cloves — lots of them!
- Fresh herbs are your friend, so use a big handful for a fragrant flair
- Don’t shy away from seasonings; after all, they help to take food from good to great
- Use generous amounts of mushrooms to top your pizza — don’t skimp here!
Lastly, one great tip for making mushroom pizza is to pass it around!
Mushroom pizza is simply too good not to share with your friends and family around the table at home.
FAQs
Can I Use Canned Mushrooms on Pizza?
Don’t use canned mushrooms unless you are a fan of soggy pizza. Canned mushrooms are soaked in liquid and preservatives, increasing the amount of moisture in the mushrooms.
Mushrooms are already 80–90% water when they’re fresh, and a large portion of this needs to be cooked off through grilling or sautéing.
Should You Put Mushrooms on Pizza Raw or Cooked?
Mushrooms need to be cooked before going on pizza to avoid shrinking and completely drying out. Try grilling or sautéing them before adding them as a pizza topping!
Not only will cooked mushrooms leave you with a treat to enjoy, but they’ll also add depth to your pizza’s flavors.
Do You Cook Mushrooms Before You Put Them on a Pizza?
Cook mushrooms before adding them to your pizza via grill or sauté cooking methods. Aside from improving the overall flavors and textures of your pizza, cooking mushrooms can also help reduce the risks of food poisoning. Err on the side of caution and cook those fungi!
How Long Does It Take Mushrooms to Cook on a Pizza?
Mushroom pizza takes between 8 to 10 minutes to cook on medium or high heat. However, you need to cook the mushrooms first before throwing them atop your pizza. Pre-cooking mushrooms won’t take a long time, as they’re generally ready in two to eight minutes.
Should I Cut the Stems Off the Mushrooms?
You can cut the bottom of the mushroom stem to remove the dry or dirty section of the mushroom before slicing. This ensures that the flavor of the mushroom will be the perfect level of “earthy”. Try it next time and taste the difference!
As someone from Long Island, New York, Thomas knows what it takes to make a good pizza. He understands that it’s a combination of high-quality ingredients, well-rounded pizza ovens, and a little bit of love. From the dough of a Neapolitan-style pizza to the wood that powers a wood-fired pizza oven, he has you covered. Thomas’ love of pizza is what got him here and he hopes that you’ll enjoy pizza as much as he does soon.
