Delicious Garlic Herb Marinated Mushrooms

Impress your dinner guests with these delicious Herb Marinated Mushrooms. Serve them alongside your favourite charcuterie, as a side dish, or place on skewers and grill them up. The fresh herb and vinegar combination really makes these mushrooms shine.

In the mood for magical mushrooms? There are so many great mushroom recipes on the blog. Check out these perfect little Mushroom Hand Pies or this entirely vegan Barley Arancini appetizer made with shiitake and seaweed.

The Most Marvelous Mushrooms

Let’s face it, most neighbourhood grocery stores don’t carry many fresh mushroom varieties. The most common mushrooms I regularly find are white and brown button mushrooms, shiitake, oysters, portabello, shimeji and enoki.

While they are in season, morels, hedgehogs, yellow foot, and lobster mushrooms show up at farmers markets and specialty stores.

However, they are not easily cultivated and must be acquired through foraging. What are your favourite types of mushrooms? 

Costco Deals on Mushrooms

If you’re a mushroom lover, you can find most of the widely available varieties for a great price at Costco (nope this isn’t a sponsored post!). I love to buy the huge 24 oz packages of Baby Bellas.

These meaty brown mushrooms have a great earthy flavour and are very versatile. I’ve used them as a ground beef ‘blend and extender’ in many recipes but especially in my Christmas Eve Tourtière.

They are the perfect mushroom to use in this Herb Marinated Mushroom Recipe which also happens to use an entire 24 oz package.

Are Baby Bellas the Same as Cremini Mushrooms?

Anatomically, yes. Baby Bellas are the same as Cremini Mushrooms. They are actually just the middle stage between young White Button Mushrooms and the more mature Portobello Mushrooms.

Also called Brown Mushrooms, they are just slightly older than White Button Mushrooms.  The name, ‘baby’ Bellas is really just a marketing gimmic.

If allowed to grow for a longer time, Baby Bellas would lose their closed gill structure and develop a meaty flat, wide cap.

Of course you can substitute Portobello Mushrooms (or White Button Mushrooms) in this recipe with no issues.

Magical Properties of Mushrooms

Besides being uber delicious, mushrooms have many healthy properties that make them a healthy choice in a balanced diet.

The best thing is that they are low in calories and have pretty much zero fat and cholesterol.

The amount of sodium present in a Cremini or Baby Bella Mushroom is essentially negligible while having a decent amount of fibre and Potassium. 

Cremini mushrooms are a great source of many vitamins (especially B vitamins) and trace minerals, in addition to antioxidants that help to protect cells.

My Marinated Mushrooms Inspiration

My husband and I recently took a day trip to the country surrounding Innisfail Alberta. We stopped at Garlic Goodness to pick up some fresh garlic scapes and Edgar Farms for their delicious sweet peas.

On the way home we enjoyed a light dinner at one of Alberta’s newest small town breweries, Field and Forge.  We were blown away by their great beer and pleasantly surprised by the delicious food offerings.

We shared a ‘Bohemian Platter’ which featured house made sausage, cantaloupe salad, pretzel buns, roasted red peppers, house charcuterie and some amazing marinated mushrooms.

I knew I had to replicate the marinated mushrooms at home! 

How to Make Marinated Mushrooms

Prepping store bought mushrooms is easy. Many people just brush the little specks of dirt off with a soft brush. I like to run mine under running tap water to soften the dirt and then pat them dry right away.

It is never a good idea to soak mushrooms as they are very porous and will take on water quickly.

Before marinating, these mushrooms just need to be warmed straight through in a frying pan. Once the natural mushroom juices begin to appear, remove them from the pan.

At this point, the warm mushrooms will be the most porous and will gladly absorb any flavour you can give them.

They really only need to stand for an hour or so before eating but if you can wait overnight, you will be greatly rewarded with extra special marinated mushrooms.