Hello portobello mushroom burgers! I grew up seeing these as a vegetarian option in restaurants and cafes. But here’s the thing, for mushroom lovers (that would be me, you too?), portobellos are perfect for burgers, whether you are vegetarian or not. The cap of this ginormous cremini is the perfect size and shape of a burger. The mushroom is meaty and juicy and umami-y. Paint the caps with a little olive oil, put them on the grill for a few minutes each side, and you have a perfect grilled mushroom to put between two burger buns. In the following rendition, we’ve layered on grilled onions, some sautéed spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes, but it’s just as good plain, with a little salt and pepper.
Portobello Mushroom Burger Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 portobello mushroom caps
- Olive oil
- One 8-ounce jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 8 ounces of baby spinach
- 1 red onion, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- Salt
- Mayonnaise
- 4 hamburger buns
Method
1 Prepare your grill for high, direct heat.
2 While the grill is heating, if you wish, sauté the baby spinach in a tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt in a large sauté pan on medium high heat, just until the spinach wilts, then remove to a plate. The gently wilted spinach will stay on the portobello mushroom burger better than raw spinach, which tends to fall off. Or you can use raw baby spinach. Your choice.
2 Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel. If you are working with whole mushrooms, slice off the stems (you can use for another purpose, chopped and sautéed or for making stock.) Paint the tops of the mushroom caps with some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes.
4 Scrape the grill grates clean. Using a folded up paper towel dipped in olive oil, wipe down the grill grates to oil them. Brush the onion rounds with some olive oil and place them on the grill. Place the mushroom caps on the grill, top side down first. Sprinkle with a little salt. Grill the mushroom caps and the onion rounds for 4-5 minutes per side. Grill the burger buns, cut side down, for about 1/2 to 1 minute, until lightly toasted.
5 To assemble, spread some mayonnaise on each bun. Put a portobello mushroom cap on the bottom, then layer on the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and finally some onion. Serve at once.
Yield: Serves 4.








We usually marinate them when we do this. Worchestershire, soy sauce or teriyaki are all good options.
Looks good, I don’t think I’ve actually had a mushroom mushroom burger before. Usually a veggie burger is one of those what’s sometimes called a ‘garden’ burger in the US. I’m thinking blue cheese sauce on that would be lush! :)
I love mushroom burgers! Instead of mayo, I’d put some Boursin on the bun. Heavenly.
Delicious! I love this recipe! I did one similar a few weeks back. Might need to try a combination of the two-thanks!
Yessss!! So delicious looking!
Used to make one with balsamic vinegar and swiss for my picky step daughter. This one looks wonderful!
Great looking burger. I make a sandwich with similar ingredients – packs well in my daughters lunch box. http://omnivore-almostveg.blogspot.com/2012/01/mushroom-and-spinach-panini.html
For those that want a big meal a regular 1/3 lb. burger patty under the mushroom is quite good too. I like it with Swiss cheese on both too.
I need to try it with the sun dried tomatoes.
Delicious! I love this recipe! I did one similar a few weeks back. Might need to try a combination of the two-thanks!
always forget how simple and delicious mushroom burgers are. i love the idea of sundried tomato too!
Wow, that burger looks so good. And to think that until February of this year I was convinced that I disliked mushrooms.
Does anyone know what kind of bun that is in the picture (i.e. name of the baker)
Thanks!
The brand of bun is “Rudy’s”. I get them at Whole Foods. ~Elise
Where’s the beef. Sounds good though
10-4 Willy
How do you feel about removing the black gills of the mushroom before grilling?
Never bothered to. ~Elise
You know the OTHER joy of a Portobello mushroom? It’s just BEGGING to be stuffed….and the only limits to what you stuff it with are those of your imagination. I like goat cheese and roasted red pepper….crab meat stuffing….tapenade….see what I mean?
That is one seriously tasty looking portobello burger!
Mmmmmm, thinking feta would be good here.
I think I could pick that right off the page and eat it, it looks so good. Love portabello mushroom burgers but have never tried grilling my own. That’s about to change… Thanks for the inspiration!
I love portabello mushroom burgers-I just ate one the other day. I like mine with smoked gouda.
If mushrooms weren’t so expensive, I could turn vegetarian with burgers like this.
This looks wonderful. However, all I have is a George Foreman grill as I live in an apartment. Do you recommend trying this on a Foreman grill?
Sure, why not? ~Elise
To Donna – don’t let an apartment hold you back. Ditch your Foreman grill and get a stove top cast iron grill. I also live in a small apartment with no outdoor space. I bought a cast iron grill for the stove top a couple years ago, and my cooking as transformed tremendously. I make burgers, grilled chicken, grilled veggies, etc. And, once the cast iron is cured, it becomes non-stick.
I’m so happy for grilling season & now that it’s been broken in for Memorial Day I don’t have an excuse to get out there. For some reason I’m a bit hesitant on grilling mushrooms as I’ve only sauteed them in the skillet before. Wish me luck!
As always, Simply Recipes does not disappoint! I usually stay away from portobello burgers due to the texture but this recipe was absolutely brilliant. I swapped the tomatos for a grilled red bell pepper that we had in the house. We had the burgers with the Simply colcannon, another tasty bite!
It’s great..there is no meat involved yet it looks so delicious..!
Sounds very tasty! Portobello mushrooms are the one of the more ‘meaty’ of the readily-available mushrooms and they appear to lend themselves really well to this recipe. I’ve stuffed them, done them in fricassees, and so on, but I’ve never tried them as burgers! Perfect recipe to cook tomorrow if you take part in ‘Meatless Mondays’…
Thank you for sharing ~ Ryan