Portobello Mushroom Schnitzel – Delicious Crunchy Vegan
Beer-Battered Schnitzel Recipe with Panko. Irresistible!
A few years ago, after lots of trial and error, I developed a truly amazing batter coating for fried foods. I was tired of making batters that didn’t stick, soaked up too much oil and didn’t have a really great crunch to them. I combined a tempura-style batter, enhanced with spices for extra flavor, with panko breadcrumbs (and optional sesame seeds) to create the ultimate crispy/crunchy coating. Over time friends, family and even blog readers started calling it Tori’s Crispy Panko Coating. I’ll take full ownership here, as it took me many experiments and lots of messy dishes to get it exactly right! You may have seen it before on my Crispy Panko Fish Tacos recipe (minus the hot sauce). Here I’ve combined my “famous” coating with Portobello mushrooms to create an entirely new, incredibly addictive vegan entree.
Schnitzel, which is typically made with pounded meat that has been breaded or fried, is a traditional Austrian dish made with veal (known as Wiener Schnitzel) or pork. Chicken schnitzel is a favorite dinner in our household, but lately I’ve found myself experimenting with vegetarian alternatives to the dishes we eat on a regular basis. Replacing the chicken with sliced Portobello mushrooms seemed like a tasty meatless alternative. I took this concept a step further and replaced the usual egg-and-breadcrumb coating with my “famous” Crunchy Panko Coating for an ultra-crispy, incredibly delicious and fully vegan entree. Portobellos hold up well when battered and fried; they have a remarkably meaty taste thanks to the exposed gills beneath their cap, which allows for air to flow through and evaporate any excess moisture. The resulting Portobello Mushroom Schnitzel is addictive and can be served as an entree or appetizer. I think they’re good with just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, but feel free to serve them with your favorite dipping sauces. I’ve pasted a few ideas below. They’re remarkably budget-friendly too– four portobello caps can be stretched into six full entree servings.
I’ve been saving this one for a special occasion, but I can’t keep it a secret anymore. It’s just too good. Every time I cook it for guests I get requests for the recipe. I figured it’s probably time to get it up on the site, that way I won’t need to keep printing it out for friends. This is going to become one of your new favorite meatless dishes, promise!
Vegan Note: To keep this recipe completely animal-free, be sure to choose a vegan-friendly beer for the coating (or stick with seltzer). You can check your favorite brands against this database. http://www.barnivore.com/beer
Sauce/Accompaniment Ideas:
Tzatziki (not vegan)
Yemenite Schug (spicy)
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Portobello Mushroom Schnitzel
Ingredients
Tori's Crispy Panko Coating Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 12 ounces beer or seltzer water or more as needed
- 3-4 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds optional, recommended
Other Ingredients
- 4 large portobello mushroom caps (1/2 lb. total), cut into slices a little wider than 1/2 inch
- Grapeseed oil for frying
NOTES
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, garlic powder and cayenne.
- Stir in the hot sauce and beer or seltzer until a thick but pourable batter forms. Note that the beer will be difficult to measure out due to foam; you’ll need at least one 12 oz. bottle of beer to make this batter. The batter should be thick like pancake batter, but if it appears clumpy or overly thick add more beer, seltzer or water until mixture is thin enough for dipping.
- Stir together the panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds, then pour them onto a plate. Dip the mushroom slices into the batter...
- ...then into the panko sesame mixture to coat. Use one hand for wet dipping and the other for dry, otherwise you’ll end up with lots of clumps in the dry coating ingredients.
- Heat ½ inch of grapeseed oil in a skillet over medium until hot but not smoking. Fry the mushroom slices in batches of 4 or 5 pieces for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. You may need to add more oil midway through cooking. Drain on paper towels or a wire cooling rack.
- Sprinkle with additional salt to taste, if desired. Serve hot.
Nutrition
Have you tried this without cutting into strips?
I have not tried it that way, no.
Made these for the first time tonight…. Wow they are amazing!!!!
Everyone raved about them. I am always searching for easy tasty vegan recipes, this one is definitely a keeper.
Thank you.
OMG these schnitzels are so amazing! I volunteer at a wildlife shelter, here in Australia. The beautiful lady who runs it made it for us, as a thank you. She put the schnitzels in a bread roll with mayonnaise, or aïoli, and lettuce. It was so delicious!
So glad to hear you’re enjoying them!
This was delicious and I plan to make for Chanukah. Since my frying pans will be tied up with latkes, I’m asking:
Has anyone made this in the air fryer? What’s your suggestion on time and temperature. Any other tips?
Just got it. Is the batter very spicy?
No it’s not.
What sort of hot sauce did you use? I have a few varieties, sriracha, Frank’s red hot sauce, and tabasco.
The red hot sauce will probably work best. 🙂
Thank you so much. Sometimes vegans just need something crispy fried. My family really enjoyed these. Great, straight-forward, easy to follow recipe.
I love this recipe! Had it for dinner with my amazing boyfriend who also loved them! Thank you!
Is there a way to pre cook these the day before and reheat the next day and have them stay crispy? Want to make them for a pot luck brunch
Well, you can make them and reheat, but they’re much better freshly fried. If you must reheat them, I would do so in a 350 degree oven until they crisp up. But honestly, it wouldn’t be my first choice as a make-ahead dish. If you do try it let us know how it worked out!
wow that just looks too good not to try (I love mushrooms and the kinds love schnitzel). thank you for the recipe.
Paul
Try it! And let me know how it goes. 🙂
Tori, did you grind the sesame seeds in the dredge mixture?
No, just put them in whole. No grinding required. 🙂
These were unbelievably delicious and so easy to make! We couldn’t get enough of them. I’m going to try them in my air-fryer next time. This recipe will definitely be in regular rotation in our household. Thank you!
Fabulous! I love them too. 🙂
Easy and delicious. Now I’m going to try the recipe with sweet potato slices, green beans, and carrots.
Several people have asked about baking instead of frying. I baked a few mushrooms, and the results were lackluster
Life changing. I just made these in my air-fryer. Amazing!!! I now need to run to the store as we are having a Superbowl Party tomorrow and I need to serve these. Thanks for this recipe, I can see a variety of things that could use this breading.
PHENOMENAL not only in taste and CRUNCH but also in how the coating clings and fries up perfectly. I used my T-Fal fryer and set the temperature to the recommended setting. And I also added chicken tenders to the mix-same batter but sprinkled a bit of smoked paprika and other seasoning AKA the Chicken bites recipe Tori has posted elsewhere.
Have you ever tried to bake these?
No, I recommend frying but if you have special dietary concerns you can try baking, it might turn out well.
My family absolutely loved these mushrooms. Only my daughter is vegan so I crumbed the mushroom snitzel first, then I crumbed thinly sliced chicken breast snitzels and cooked them in different pans.
As I did not have any cayenne pepper, I used some morrocan spice in its place. In place of the hot sauce I used some extraordinarily hot Japanese red chilli paste. I also added Nutritional yeast flakes to the Panko and sesame crumb mix. They were very yummy!!! My daughter said they were like something you could order in a really nice vegan restaurant. I think the mushrooms were far tastier than the chicken, but both were really lovely done with the batter and crumb mix. Thank you so much for the idea!
You’re welcome! When I cook for friends this is one of my most requested recipes. 🙂
This is absolutely killer. One of the best recipes ever. Dangerously good. I didn’t change a thing, except added a squeeze of lemon and a chipotle mayo sauce for dipping.
Schnitzel was originally from Italy, it was not called schnitzel of course. It was called colleta, something. I always thought it was from Austria, or perhaps Germany as well. But watching a Rick Steins program where he traveled to Austria the woman from some restaurant told the story from which it originated.
Fascinating.
I’ve cooked this twice and it’s been a hit both times! Incredibly tasty, and surprisingly straightforward to make. Thanks so much for the recipe!