Mushroom substitutes?

[Rosyrain]

On this forum, as well as many other online resources, I find a lot of vegetarian recipes I would like to try, but many of them have one thing in common...mushrooms, I hate mushrooms! it is so frustrating because I would love to move toward a more vegetarian diet. Is there any ingredient that makes a good substitution for mushrooms?

 

[kgord]

Wow, now that is an interesting question. Mushrooms tend to be bland, yet woodsy. maybe extra onions or green pepper?? I am not sure, I think you just put in extra vegetables that you like. What happens when you google mushroom substitutes? Have you tried all varieties inluding the marinated kind? There must be some kind of mushroom you can tolerate. They aren't generaly meant to be eaten plain.

 

[Berties]

Depends on what the recipe calls for ,there are lots of mushroom varieties I can't say I would blanket them all under bland,squash or pumpkin is a good alternative roasted pepper and aubergine or courgette

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Mushrooms are certainly not bland or woody. They are really tasty if grown at home or picked wild and are lovely.

I often put mushrooms into a recipe to make it vegetarian, when a recipe calls for mince or chunks of meat. So working backwards, could you replace mushrooms with soya mince in some recipes? I know one I have posted recently would work well with soya mince cooked in veg stock instead of mushrooms. But some recipes it would not work well with.

Soya mince is currently my best option, though personally I think trying mushrooms again I'd often the best answer! Give them a second chance at a restaurant where they know what they are doing with them!

 

[Morning Glory]

On this forum, as well as many other online resources, I find a lot of vegetarian recipes I would like to try, but many of them have one thing in common...mushrooms, I hate mushrooms! it is so frustrating because I would love to move toward a more vegetarian diet. Is there any ingredient that makes a good substitution for mushrooms?

As @Berties points out, there are many varieties of mushrooms and they don't all taste the same. They do tend to have a musky earthy flavour, but some varieties are sweeter tasting. I'm interested to know why you don't like mushrooms and whether you have tried different varieties. Is it the flavour or the texture which you don't like? My daughter is a vegetarian and doesn't really like mushrooms but with her its the texture. She is fine with them if I finely chop them and include with other ingredients.

 

[MyExWasAChef]

My mushroom alternative involves a lot of beans. White beans, black beans, vanilla beans etc. basically any bean that I boil or slow cook with vegetable juices so it won't taste bland. You can also try peanuts if the recipe involves using it. I guess tofu, especially some hard kinds of tofu can be your best alternative because it sucks the flavor of mushroom water if you cook it that way, it also has roughly the same consistency.

 

[marcuscprj]

There are plenty of alternatives to vegetarians that include mushrooms. Mushrooms are a staple in East Asian cuisine, so I'm going to assume that those are the recipes you tend to stumble upon. Mushrooms are very earthy and meaty, so well-seasoned tofu can do the trick. Tofu is full of protein and absorbs all of the flavors of whatever it is mixed with, so it's a great addition to any recipe. One of my favorite mushroom alternatives is miso sauce. It has a very potent earthy and meaty flavor like mushrooms, so not too much is needed to enhance the flavor of a dish.