Freezing Mushrooms Made Easy: Prep Ahead & Save Time!

Want to know how to freeze mushrooms like a pro? This post breaks down the easy steps for preparing and freezing mushrooms so you always have them on hand. Freezing sautéed mushrooms is a time-saver and adds convenience to your cooking, making it easier to whip up delicious meals fast!

Reasons why you might want to learn how to freeze mushrooms.

I’ve been cooking for many years, but until now, I never thought about the benefits of freezing mushrooms. I’ve long been a fan of cooking freezer meals, and just recently decided to plan a cooking day and put meals in the freezer.

It felt good to work for about 4 hours and end up with 25 freezer dinners for 2 in the freezer, but when I opened the fridge, I discovered a container of sliced mushrooms I forgot to add to one of the recipes!

I didn’t want it to go to waste in the fridge, so I decided to research and find out how hard it would be to freeze them – and discovered it is simple.

Here are some of the reasons why you might want to freeze mushrooms:

• It saves meal prep time – Having mushrooms sauted and ready to go in the freezer makes it so easy to throw them into a dish when you’re cooking.
• Prevents them from going to waste in the fridge – I always feel so bad throwing out produce I don’t get used up on time – which is an extra challenge when there are now only 2 of us in the house!
• Adds a delicious flavor to dishes – Sauteing mushrooms before freezing adds a yummy flavor to recipes.

Step by step guide for Freezing Mushrooms

Although mushrooms can be frozen raw, it is recommended that they be sauted first. It helps them not to become slimy or have a rubbery texture when thawed and used.

Here is the easy process for freezing sauted mushrooms:

1. If your mushrooms are whole, clean them well, trim & discard the bottom of the stem, and slice.
2. If you want to add sauted onions with your mushrooms (like I did), dice an onion as well.
3. Heat up a medium sized skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil in it. Once hot, add the onions and saute for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the sliced mushrooms into the pan and do not touch for about 4 minutes. Stir after 4 minutes, cover with a lid, and cook for about 4 minutes more. There is a lot of liquid in mushrooms, so there should be a fair bit of liquid in the bottom of the pan by now. Remove the lid, stir again, and continue cooking until almost all of the water has cooked off.
5. Pour the sauted mushrooms on a paper towel lined cooling rack sitting on top of a flat baking sheet. The cooling rack allows air to flow under the mushrooms, helping it to cool quicker. Cool completely and dab the top with paper towel as well to remove as much moisture as possible.
6. Transfer the cooled mushrooms onto a parchment lined pan and flash freeze in the freezer (for about 2 hours).
7. Once frozen, break apart the mushrooms and place in a ziploc bag or freezer sealed bags – removing as much air as possible.
8. Frozen mushrooms will last up to 6 months.

How to use Frozen Mushrooms

It isn’t recommended to thaw mushrooms before using them. They can just be used from freezer to cooking. Here are some examples:

• Soups, gravies, and pasta sauce- Just throw them right into the hot pan with the ingredients and let them heat through. Remember, they’ve already been cooked!
• Pizza – Place the frozen sauted mushrooms right on the top as another flavorful topping and bake as usual.
• Omelets – Add them into the hot pan with eggs for a yummy and flavorful omelet or fancy scrambled eggs. They’ll heat up quickly in a hot pan.
• As an addition to burgers – Thaw enough to chop finely and then add into the raw burger meat if making something like turkey burgers.

Other Helpful Kitchen “How to” Posts:

• How to ice cupcakes with piping bag
• Best way to freeze cake (It makes frosting it so much easier!)
• How to freeze avocados (This is so convenient and saves so much waste!)
• How to sift flour without a sifter
• Tips for rolling dough (like sugar cookie dough, bread dough, or pizza dough!)
• The safe way for how to boil water in the microwave.

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