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
This recipe was fantastic, I loved it and will have it again and again!
Do you think I could leave portobello whole so I could stuff it afterwards
Hi Ann, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I wouldn’t recommend that for this particular recipe.
Going to try it in my air fryer. Spray it with a little oil before placing it in the air fryer.
Did it work? Was thinking the same thing?
Can I use sliced flat mushrooms for this? Or will they fall apart? Thanks.
Hi Michelle, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I’m not quite sure what you mean. For this recipe we sliced the portobellos, not the whole cap.
2nd time making these tonight and I’m so hooked! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Can you bake these and get a similar result as I don’t like to fry my food?
Hi Pam, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Unfortunately I would not suggest baking these, you won’t get the same crispy coating.
I have baked this recipe a few times – the only thing I did was added an additional 2 minutes bake time to get a someone crispy coating. Tastes great!
Do I have to use cornstarch?
Hi Kathleen, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! The cornstarch is an important part of creating the crispy light and airy texture. I would not recommend leaving it out.
Okay, I am so hooked on this recipe. Fried bellos?! SUCH A GOOD IDEA! I featured this recipe in my recent post. Thank you!
We made these using button mushrooms last night and they were fantastic.
“Best mushrooms. Ever!” said DH. That said, we did make some modifications. We used a GF flour mix from Pamela’s (cup for cup), as we find the blend of rices and starches make for a lighter, tastier coating. The genius part is the panko dredge at the end. Will use this technique for other vegetables and meats (chicken tenders come to mind). The oil has to be hot enough to make for a crispy, non-greasy coating. We found that our oil needed to be around 370F to achieve this.
We used our deep fryer, a DeLonghi roto fryer that uses less oil. However, the same results can be achieved using a deeper vessel, like a 3 or 5 qt Dutch oven, and a candy thermometer. Don’t recommend using a nonstick frypan for this recipe, as nonstick is not recommended for high heat cooking.
Have made these at least 4 times. Insane recipe!
Yay! 😀 So glad you like them. I’m really proud of this one.
I’ve made these and they are amazing!
These are great, Tori. I tried making some today and loved the crunchy coating!
Fantastic! I made these tonight and didn’t tweet recipe a bit – they were delicious!
My family loved this recipe so much they begged for it 2 nights in a row! I didn’t even change anything the 2nd time around. Yummy! Perfect.
Ever try baking it? I’m trying to go plant based, but I’m also a fat bastard who needs to reduce calories. Any success with baking this? Anyone
?
O. M. G!!! This recipe is simply amazing! I made it the other day and will make it again tonite. Was wondering if you’ve ever fried pickles using this same recipe? Anyways thank you so much for sharing this…it is SO SO delish!!
Okay, I’m very sick from eating this. Don’t allow yourself to get really hungry and then try these or you will be sorry. I made regular schnitzel for 3 family members and this schnitzel for myself and my son who is vegetarian. Both of us loved it but I was so hungry, I kept eating it so now not feeling so well. I dipped it in honey mustard. Highly recommended. I wonder how it would taste baked? If anyone tries to bake instead, please post. I couldn’t really even tell it was portobello mushroom. Very, very good.
Great for vegans and vegetarians!! Tasty and crispy…added a pinch of za’atar. Also used basics of this recipe with chicken breast strips for non-vegan company,, added crushed garlic and butter with which I marinated chicken, then into batter and sesame mixture and fried to golden. Placed on pie pan in 200 degree oven to keep warm while other pieces cooked. Served with brown rice and steamed baby bok choy, garnish of pickled ginger. Yum, yum!!
I just made these and they were awesome. I used whole wheat pastry flour, and I substituted the cornstarch for 2.5 tablespoons of arrowroot. I also used seltzer instead of beer. I skipped the hot sauce, and in hindghsight I realize the only thing that I think my taste buds would have appreciated would’ve been a slight kick in flavor. But that,was my fault. As others have said, the breading was amazing. You’d never know it didn’t have eggs or milk. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it Jessie 🙂
I used this breading for chicken strips tonight and it was perfect! As I didn’t have any panko bread crumbs on hand, I used ran some old matzoh and croutons through the food processor. They worked wonderfully.
In the past, I have always botched any attempt at doing breading, but this was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much!!! At some point, I’ll try it with the mushrooms, especially since we have a few vegetarian (and a few mushroom-loving non-vegetarian) friends who would love them!
Excellent!