Two things that I love are finger food and mushrooms. Obviously, that means that I need to combine those two concepts in as many ways as possible. These Mediterranean Stuffed Mushrooms are the latest iteration of my obsession. You may recall my Reuben Stuffed Mushrooms from not that long ago. One of the things that I particularly like about stuffed mushrooms is that they can be changed up to suit a plethora of party themes and flavor profiles. In addition to being a tasty appetizer for your guests, add a little garnish and they can make for a classy presentation too.
What You Need to Make Mediterranean Stuffed Mushrooms
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Grapefruit Spoon or Pointed End of a Peeler – For getting everything out of the mushroom caps
- Large Skillet
- Spatula
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Rimmed Baking Sheet
- Wire Rack Insert for Rimmed Baking Sheet – This is optional, but it keeps the mushrooms up out of their juices while baking.
Ingredients
- Large Fresh Mushrooms (~ 24 mushrooms) – I used White Button Mushrooms, but Baby Bellas would work too.
- Chicken – Cooked and diced. See Notes.
- Fresh Spinach – Roughly chopped, cooked, and drained
- Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
- Large Red Onion – Diced
- Garlic – Minced. I just buy the giant jar of minced garlic so that I don’t have to spend time chopping it myself.
- Roasted Red Peppers – Diced. I usually start with the julienned strips and then have less dicing to do.
- Cream Cheese – Softened.
- Crumbled Feta
- Greek Seasoning – This will be divided: ½ in with the chicken; ½ in with the final mixture
- Keto Bread Crumbs or Crushed Pork Rinds – Optional for topping. Both work and taste great.
Getting Started with Making Mediterranean Stuffed Mushrooms
Prepping the Mushrooms & Filling Ingredients
Prepping the mushrooms does take a bit of extra time, so I always like to do that part the night before my event / dinner. Start by trimming the ends of the stems. Then remove them, dice them and stick them in a zip top bag. I use a grapefruit spoon to clean out the gills of the mushroom, but any relatively arrow pointed instrument such as the tip of a peeler will also be fine. I add the scraped out mushroom innards to the bag of diced stems, toss the hollowed out mushroom caps into another zip top bag and put everything in the fridge.
While I’m in prep mode, I also dice up my ½ of a large red onion and ½ cup of roasted red peppers. I use the ones in the jar that are already in strips so that my chopping can be minimal. If I wasn’t using pre-minced garlic, I’d do that at this point as well. However, I’m lazy and, unless a particular use case warrants it, have given up dicing garlic. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze for me. At this point, I also roughly chop my spinach. As a final prep (mise en place) step, dice your chicken (if it isn’t already diced), place it in a zip top bag, add 2 teaspoons of Greek seasoning, seal, and shake to combine.
Dice the cooked chicken.
Bag the diced chicken.
Season the diced chicken.
Making the Filling & Assembling the Mushrooms
The next day for actual prep, line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil, set a fitted wire rack in it, and set out the mushroom caps. To save yourself some annoyance later, try lifting the pan. If some of the mushrooms roll over, use a paring knife to take a thin slice off of the bottom to give it a flat surface to sit on.
In a large skillet / saute pan, heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Saute your chopped spinach until it is completely wilted. This is usually about 7-8 minutes for me. Remove the spinach to a cheesecloth lined vessel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Then set the spinach aside while you move on to the rest.
Cook the onions until soft and translucent This usually takes me about 8 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Then add in the diced mushroom stems and innards and cook until they release their juices, which is usually another 6 – 8 minutes.
To the pan, add the diced roasted red peppers, sauteed spinach, and diced chicken pieces. Stir to fully combine. Add in the cream cheese and feta. Stir until melted and completely incorporated into the mixture.
Spoon the mixture into each of the mushroom caps. You will have enough filling to be able to nicely mound the filling on top of the mushrooms. Top with either crushed pork rinds or keto bread crumbs.
If needed to coordinate when these are done with your guests’ arrival timing, you can prep up to this step and then stick them in the fridge.
When you are ready to bake them, place them in a 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes. They should be hot and a little bubbly. However, remember that you have a lot of fillings other than the cheese, so it won’t be “too” bubbly.
Serve warm. However, these little mushrooms are tasty even as they cool. You can refrigerate any leftovers.
Mediterranean Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 24 ounces Large Fresh Mushrooms (~ 24 mushrooms) I used White Button Mushrooms, but Baby Bellas would work too.
- ½ pound Chicken Cooked and diced. See Notes.
- 5 ounces Fresh Spinach Roughly chopped, cooked, and drained
- 2 – 3 tablespoons Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
- ½ Large Red Onion Diced
- 4 cloves Garlic 2 teaspoons Minced
- ½ cup Roasted Red Peppers Diced
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese 1 package Softened.
- 1 cup Crumbled Feta
- 4 teaspoons Greek Seasoning Divided: ½ in with the chicken; ½ in with the final mixture
- ½ cup Keto Bread Crumbs or Crushed Pork Rinds Optional for topping
Instructions
- Wipe 24 ounces Large Fresh Mushrooms with a damp paper towel or cloth to remove dirt. Remove the stems and scrape out the cap to make room for the filling. Dice the stems and other removed mushroom parts and set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a bowl or zip top bag and set aside.24 ounces Large Fresh Mushrooms
- Dice 1/2 pound Chicken (cooked). Place it in a zip top bag. Add 1 teaspoon of the Greek Seasoning, seal the bag, and shake to combine. Set aside.1/2 pound Chicken, 4 teaspoons Greek Seasoning
- Roughly chop 5 ounces Fresh Spinach. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and sauté the spinach until it is completely wilted. About 7-8 minutes. Remove it from the pan and use a cheesecloth or strainer to remove some of the liquid. Set aside.5 ounces Fresh Spinach, 2 – 3 tablespoons Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
- Heat 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté ½ Large Red Onion (Diced) until translucent. About 8 minutes. Add in 4 cloves Garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds.½ Large Red Onion, 4 cloves Garlic, 2 – 3 tablespoons Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
- Add in the diced mushroom stem pieces and sauté until they’ve released their juices. About 6-8 minutes.
- Add in the spinach, 1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers, and seasoned chicken. Stir until combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.5 ounces Fresh Spinach, 1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers, 1/2 pound Chicken
- In a large mixing bowl combine 8 ounces Cream Cheese, 1 cup Crumbled Feta, and remaining 2 teaspoons of Greek Seasoning.8 ounces Cream Cheese, 1 cup Crumbled Feta, 4 teaspoons Greek Seasoning
- Then stir in the mushroom, onion, spinach, roasted red peppers, and seasoned chicken.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the rimmed baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil for easy clean up if you wish. Place the wire rack on top of the pan.
- Spoon the filling into the mushroom caps and place on the wire rack. You will be able to mound the filling on top of each mushroom as well. If you have a mushroom that keeps rolling all over the place, use a sharp knife to take a sliver off the bottom, creating a flat surface.
- Sprinkle ½ cup Keto Bread Crumbs or Crushed Pork Rinds on top of each stuffed mushroom.½ cup Keto Bread Crumbs or Crushed Pork Rinds
- Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. Serve warm. If you need to hold these until your guests arrive, you can keep them in the oven on Warm (on my oven, this is 180 degrees F) until ready to serve.
Equipment
- Grapefruit Spoon or Pointed End of a Peeler for getting everything out of the mushroom caps
- Large Skillet
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Wire Rack Insert for Rimmed Baking Sheet optional, but keeps the mushrooms up out of their juices while baking
Notes
- Chicken
- You can use either light or dark meat. I used a mix of both. We frequently get whole chickens in our CSA. I don’t particularly car for regular roasted chicken, so I almost always stick the whole thing in the Instant Pot and then use the meat for other purposes–this being one of them.
