Garlic Sautéed Mushrooms

Mushrooms frequently feature on Irish dinner menus.

Served with steak, lamb or pork chops, roast chicken Sunday dinner or with fried fish, they're extra delicious when sautéed with garlic.

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Pan Fried Mushrooms

Pan-fried white mushrooms with an extra garlic zing, take the fried mushrooms of my Irish childhood to the next level altogether.

This is an easy low carb recipe. The mushrooms are caramelized to a deep golden brown to produce a truly mouth watering vegetable side dish.

The deliciously rich earthy flavor of mushrooms compliments so many traditional Irish dishes.

Tasty goodness in a dish and even better still, they're quick and easy, and ready in just minutes.

These mushrooms may be easy to cook, there are however a few simple mushroom preparation and cooking rules you need to stick to for success.

My Irish granny used to gather wild mushrooms in the fields of her farm in County Cork, and we'd cook them in melted Irish butter with a little sprinkle of salt. Irish food at its very best!

Are Mushrooms Grown In Ireland?

Mushrooms are a very important crop in Ireland where they are grown all year round. Believe it or not, the humble mushroom forms the largest export crop in Ireland's horticultural sector.

Mushrooms are found in all large grocery stores or supermarkets in Ireland. White mushrooms are usually referred to as button mushrooms if they are less than an inch in diameter.

How do you clean mushrooms?

Mushrooms bought in the store, especially in Ireland, are usually speckled with a little dirt. It's important to clean them before cooking, but immersing them in water is a no-no.

My granny would always wipe mushrooms clean with a damp tea towel or dish cloth. She always warned that if you dip mushrooms in water, you'll end up with a soggy mess when you try to fry them.

If your mushrooms are really dirty it's alright to give them a very quick splash of water, but whatever you do, don't soak them in a bowl of water.

Their flesh is like a sponge that loves to soak up extra liquid. So it's a quick rinse only and then dry them with paper towels, or a damp cloth.

Mushroom brushes are designed to have soft bristles to brush the dirt off mushrooms without damaging the flesh. Well worth a try!

I cook these mushrooms with their stems, but if you prefer you can remove the stems.

Ingredients for Garlic Sautéed Mushrooms

Here's what you'll need. You'll find exact amounts required in the printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Here are the main ingredients:

• white mushrooms (cleaned)
• garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
• olive oil (plus a knob of butter for flavor if desired)
• fresh parsley
• salt and black pepper to taste

I keep this recipe very simple. You could add a sprig or two of fresh thyme to the frying pan with the mushrooms, if you like the flavor combination of thyme and garlic. Remember to remove these sprigs from the sauteed mushrooms before serving.

I use regular white mushrooms or white button mushrooms, as they are sometimes called in Ireland. This recipe also works great for cremini or chestnut mushrooms.

Parsley is my garnish of choice for this sauteed mushroom recipe. You can substitute many different ingredients of your choice such as chopped chives, chopped green onions, basil, cilantro, or Parmesan cheese.

Other easy additions that change the flavor profile of this dish include a few dashes of soy sauce, or Worchestershire sauce.

Directions for Garlic Sautéed Mushrooms

Add olive oil to a large heavy bottomed skillet. Turn the heat to high.

Add a knob of butter to this large frying pan, if you're not too concerned about calories. Using a mixture of olive oil with a little bit of butter adds extra flavor and helps to caramelize the mushrooms to a rich brown color. And heck, I'm Irish - we simply love our butter, especially creamy Irish butter.

Just a tablespoon of the butter is enough.

Add minced garlic to the oil in the pan and sauté for a minute. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to make sure the garlic doesn't burnt. 

Add the mushrooms to the garlic in the pan.

Now, here's one of my mushroom cooking rules.

Do not crowd the pan with too many mushrooms.

They contain lots of moisture so if they're too close together in the pan they'll start to steam. That's the same rule I apply when making Irish roast potatoes.

Here's another rule. Do not stir the mushrooms at first.

They need to sit and heat in the pan to achieve a delicious brown coloring.

Sear the mushrooms for around 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Once they've started to cook and it's okay to toss them occasionally until they start to soften and turn brown. 

Add a pinch of salt and season with pepper.

Continue to cook, tossing occasionally. Be patient and wait for the mushrooms to turn a deep brown color. Then you'll know they are truly caramelized. This process takes around 10 minutes.

Keep an eye on the heat, since you don't want to burn them. Turn it down low if your mushrooms start to burn.

Feel free to add additional flavors. I like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, or a tablespoon of sherry or Vermouth is delicious. In today's recipe I kept the mushrooms plain, but feel free to experiment if you like a little something extra in a dish every now and then.

Finally add a little chopped fresh parsley and stir. Parsley is a perfect finishing touch.

Once again, feel free to experiment. Fresh herbs are best for garnishing this dish.

Chopped chives or green onions add a little extra flavor to garlic butter mushrooms, if used instead of the parsley.

And there you have it - a simple mushroom side dish loved in Ireland.

Storage of Cooked Garlic Mushrooms

Since these mushrooms are so simple to prepare, I tend to cook just the right amount for every meal.

If you do happen to have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. They tend to really change texture after excessive time in the refrigerator.

I do not recommend freezing this dish. Mushrooms contain quite a bit of water, and tend to turn soggy when defrosted after being in the freezer.

Recipe Card

Here's the printable recipe card.

Serving Mushrooms As Part Of An Irish Fry

Fried mushrooms or sautéed mushrooms are often served as part of a full Irish breakfast or an Ulster fry, especially on a cold winter morning.

Irish breakfast mushrooms are served alongside pork sausages, rashers or bacon slices, black pudding (blood sausage), white pudding, eggs and fried tomatoes. Baked beans tend to feature on an English breakfast rather than in a traditional full Irish breakfast.

Eggs can be fried sunny side up, over easy or over hard. I like to keep the egg yolks soft so that I can dip the mushrooms in the ooey, gooey, eggy goodness.

Slices of toast, Irish soda bread, Irish brown bread, boxty or potato fadge finish off an Irish breakfast, and everything is served with a nice hot cup of tea (Barrys or Lyons of course).

These mushrooms are delicious when dipped in brown sauce, a condiment often used in Ireland rather than tomato ketchup.

Potato bread is another great accompaniment for a full breakfast.

Tasty Mushroom Side Dish

I hope you enjoy this tasty mushroom side, which is a perfect side dish in my book. I love these mushrooms served with smashed potatoes, mashed potatoes, steak or chicken tenders.

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