Air Fryer Mushrooms

This post may contain affiliate links.

The air fryer is perfect for cooking whole mushrooms to use as a side dish for steak or to toss with pasta. They come out golden brown, softened, and full of juicy flavor.

I like my mushrooms to be browned but still juicy. Cooking them whole in the air fryer for 10 minutes does it perfectly.

If youโ€™ve been thinking about getting an air fryer, donโ€™t wait any longer. It will change your life. Hereโ€™s the one I have. Now letโ€™s get going on those mushrooms!

Bowl of cooked whole mushrooms.

Video: How to Air Fry Veggies

Preheat The Air Fryer

Get the air fryer preheating to 400ยฐF. It doesnโ€™t take long to preheat, but note youโ€™ll likely be ready to add your mushrooms to the air fryer before itโ€™s done preheating. Thatโ€™s totally fine. Get those mushrooms in there as quickly as you can so you can move onto something else.

What Kind Of Mushrooms Should You Use?

I got an 8 ounce container of whole brown mushrooms (cremini, also called baby bella) and 8 ounces of regular white button mushrooms (16 ounces total) and mixed them together. Honestly though, Iโ€™m not sure I could tell the difference. Just getting one kind is fine, and either kind works equally well.

I prefer whole mushrooms in the air fryer over sliced ones. I find that sliced mushrooms get brown but dried out in a chewy way in the air fryer. Whole ones brown on the outside but stay juicy in the middle.

If you want smaller bits of mushroom than whole, go ahead and halve or even quarter them. Theyโ€™ll still be plumper and juicier than sliced. And bonus, the cut sides offer extra surface area for a bit of caramelization.

Prepare The Mushrooms

Whole mushrooms have not been previously washed, but you donโ€™t want to rinse them with water. This makes them a bit soggy. Instead, dampen a paper towel with a bit of water and then use it to wipe the mushrooms clean.

Wiping off white mushrooms.

Put the mushrooms into a bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.

Note that you could do this right in the air fryer basket instead of dirtying a bowl. However, I find that some of the oil and seasonings drop straight through the holes in the basket when I add it directly to the basket. Using a bowl ensures more of it adheres to the mushrooms. But this is really not a super big deal. Iโ€™m just a perfectionist sometimes.

I realize that two tablespoons may seem like a lot of oil, but the mushrooms really do soak it up. If youโ€™d like to use less oil, use an oil mister like this or cooking spray and coat them fairly well. Then after theyโ€™ve cooked for 5 minutes, spray them again.

However, if youโ€™re using cooking spray, I hesitate to tell you to spray into your air fryer basket. Cooking spray is known to make non-stick surfaces get sticky over time. It would be best for your air fryer if you used the mister, or used the cooking oil in the bowl as instructed earlier.

Fresh mushrooms in a light blue bowl.

How To Cook Mushrooms In The Air Fryer

Transfer the mushrooms to the basket of your air fryer. Toss them around a bit to get them into a single layer, or as much of a single layer as you can.

Uncooked mushrooms in air fryer basket.

Slide the basket into the fryer. Cook for 5 minutes. Give them a toss and then cook for another 5 minutes. Theyโ€™ll be nicely browned but still plump, like in this picture:

Bowl of whole cooked mushrooms.

More Amazing Mushroom Recipes

Looking for more great mushroom flavor? Try one of these recipes!

Podcast Episode About Making Air Fryer Mushrooms

Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:

Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.

Print

Air Fryer Mushrooms

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 5 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 Minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 Servings 1x
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Air Fryer
  • Cuisine: American

DESCRIPTION

The air fryer is perfect for cooking whole mushrooms to use as a side dish for steak or to toss with pasta. They come out golden brown, softened, and full of juicy flavor.


Ingredients

  • 16 oz. whole button or cremini mushrooms, wiped clean
  • 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat air fryer to 400ยฐF.
  2. Put the mushrooms into a medium bowl with the oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Toss to coat.
  3. Transfer mushrooms to the basket of the air fryer and toss so theyโ€™re in a single layer. Put basket into fryer.
  4. Cook for 5 minutes. Toss. Cook for another 5 minutes.
  5. Transfer to a serving plate.
Air Fryer Mushrooms

More Recipes Like This

About Christine

Christine is the founder of TheCookful and also of her blog COOKtheSTORY. Her passion is explaining the WHY behind cooking โ€“ Why should you cook things a certain way; Will they turn out if you do it differently; What are the pros and cons of the method? Learn more about Christine, her cookbooks, and her podcast.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

12 Comments

  1. Great recipe guidelines, I’m new to air frying so the less complicated the better. I only cooked 250g and they came out lovely. I did shorten the cooking time.






  2. I can’t wait to try this. I am a mushroom maniac. Years ago there was a restaurant that served spaghetti with wonderful marinara sauce topped with whole cooked mushrooms. I never saw anything like that ever again. Till now, I hope!

    1. Sally, I hope you like it. I’m excited for you to try to recreate that dish from your memory. So fun!

    1. Bill, I’m glad you liked it. I’ve never tried it with sliced though. You would probably need to use fewer mushrooms. Then, as long as they aren’t overlapping too much in the air fryer basket, they should work well. They likely would need less time though, so check on them earlier.

  3. Mary, I’m glad you liked it. I’m going to give it at try with less oil too to see how it goes.

  4. Christine I donโ€™t know how this recipe hasnโ€™t been rated before now because it is wonderfully written and photographed. Iโ€™ve usually sautรฉed whole mushrooms using the same ingredients yet now I have an air fryer and wanted to try it. Your recipe and description made the most sense to me of all that I read, and the pictures added to the expected result. And the result was exactly as you described, well cooked, juicy, and flavorful. I served them with steak, a salad, and French bread rolls. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this article. The result is wonderful!ย 






As Seen On