THESE baked Italian stuffed portobello mushrooms are filled with sweet Italian sausage and covered with a parmesan and mozzarella mixture. Then they are topped with roasted red peppers, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze. What an AMAZING appetizer to serve your guests!
Sometimes we need a filling appetizer. Not just a couple of pieces of finger food. Stuffed mushrooms are my family's favorite. They are so flexible. You can make them with all sorts of different stuffing varieties.
The BEST stuffing is always sausage. At our house, we stuff our turkey with sausage (I know that's frowned upon, but you try telling my mother that), we stuff our mushrooms with sausage, and we even stuff our bread with sausage.
The key to good Italian sausage is fresh seasoning. I like to get mine from the butcher or make it myself. We make an INCREDIBLE homemade sausage.
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Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Sausage. The best sausage for this recipe is sweet Italian sausage. But this is all up to your taste. The glaze and roasted red peppers go best with a sweet variety. You could use our sweet Italian sausage recipe or our chevalatta sausage recipe. Just skip the stuffing of the sausage into the casings step.
Portobello Mushrooms. These mushrooms vary in size. Try to get similar-sized ones so that they all cook at similar times. I like to take a wet paper towel and wipe them down instead of rinsing them. Too much water can get caught up inside them if you rinse them.
Balsamic Glaze. The balsamic glaze is easy to make. But if you have a favorite store-bought variety, that will work too.
Step-by-Step Directions
You can have this on the table in under 45 minutes. Here's what you'll start with.
Browning the Sausage
Preheat the oven to 425℉. Bring a large saucepan to medium-high heat. Add your ground sausage to the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes to develop a crust. Then stir the sausage and repeat. Continue to stir the sausage until it browns and you can't see any pink anymore. Then remove it from the pan and set it aside. The sausage will be finished in the oven.
Preparing the Mushrooms
Prepare the mushrooms, by removing the stem and wiping them down with a wet paper towel. Place the hot, cooked sausage into the mushroom caps. Then top with the parmesan and mozzarella mixture. Place directly in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Balsamic Glaze
While the mushrooms are baking, add the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and bring it to medium heat. Once the balsamic vinegar starts bubbling add the brown sugar. Stir constantly until you no longer feel the grit of the sugar.
Continue to let the vinegar bubble until it reduces by half. You'll notice the sides along the pan will thicken up first. Use your spatula to keep stirring the thickest parts of the glaze back into the mix so that it doesn't stick to the pan.
Once you can drag your spatula through the glaze and it leaves a lazy trail of liquid, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a heat-safe bowl.
Garnishing
Remove the mushrooms from the oven and top with sliced roasted red peppers. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and garnish with basil.
Pro Tips and Tricks
Balsamic glaze process: One BIG mistake I made when making the glaze is that I poured the balsamic vinegar into the pan while the pan was hot. The sugar particles basically turned to dust! Start with the vinegar in a cold pan and then once it is hot, add the brown sugar.
Cool the balsamic glaze in the fridge so it will thicken and not leak through the mushroom.
Chop up the mushroom stems and add them to the ground sausage while cooking to avoid any WASTE.
FAQs
No. You don't HAVE to. But you can if you want to. They are totally edible. I would not bother scraping them out in this particular recipe.
I store them on a plate tightly wrapped in saran wrap or an airtight container. Then I reheat it by microwaving it if I want it quickly. You can also turn the oven to 350℉ and tent aluminum foil over them and cook for 15 minutes.
You can do this with baby portobellos. Just make sure to break up the sausage as small as possible.
Stuffing Varieties
- I love spinach, feta, and olives in a roasted mushroom.
- An all-time favorite is chopped broccoli rabe, roasted garlic, and mozzarella.
- One that I haven't had yet but would love to try is tomato sauce, risotto, and parmesan.
What to serve these with
- I LOVE to serve these as appetizers so I serve them alongside the OG Italian Pasta Salad, Easy Steamed Artichokes, or the Bruschetta.
- Baked Italian Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms are a whole dang meal sometimes, so serve it with a side salad, some braised tuscan kale, or sauteed Italian cabbage.
- These are great appetizers before a pasta meal like carbonara or amatriciana!
- Because these are a bit heavier they also go great with seafood recipes like our broiled flounder, cast iron lemon dill salmon, or pan-seared snapper.
More Amazing Mushroom Recipes
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Video How To
📖 Recipe
Baked Italian Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 small saucepan
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
- 4 large portobello mushrooms
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- ¼ cup roasted red peppers
- 1 handful basil, julienned
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
Balsamic glaze
- Add balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and add the brown sugar. Stir until you no longer feel the crystals of the sugar. simmer stirring often for about 8 minutes until the glaze reduces by half. When you run a spoon through the pan, the glaze should lazily come back together.
Mushrooms
- Preheat the oven to 425℉. Bring a large saucepan to medium-high heat. Add your ground sausage to the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes to develop a crust. Then stir the sausage and repeat. Stir again and make sure the sausage is browned. It doesn't have to be completely cooked through.
- Prepare the mushrooms, by removing the stem. Place the hot, cooked sausage into the mushrooms. Top with the parmesan and mozzarella mixture. Place directly in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove and top with sliced roasted red peppers. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and garnish with basil.
Joe
This recipe reminds me of how my mom used to make stuffed mushrooms but she never used the balsamic glaze! Great addition. Love it!