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This Vegan Calamari is made using oyster mushrooms breaded in a simple, savory batter, then fried until golden. It’s equally as crispy and delicious as the classic appetizer and perfect for serving on game days, holidays, or as a crowd-pleasing vegan appetizer ahead of your favorite pasta.
Growing up, my (Chris) Italian family would have a gigantic feast on Christmas Eve that consisted primarily of seafood and pasta. The one dish that stood out to me the most was the fried calamari. Since this dish was a holiday staple for me, we thought it would be fun to create a vegan version of calamari, and we are so excited about how it came out!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- King trumpet mushrooms: Also known as oyster mushrooms, these large mushrooms are known for their meaty texture and umami-packed flavor and are the perfect plant-based ingredient to replicate the look and texture of chewy calamari. This mushroom variety can be slightly more difficult to find in stores, but we typically pick them up at our local health store.
- Soy sauce: Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans and has a strong umami flavor profile. This enhances the flavor of the mushrooms and makes them more meat-like. If gluten-free, opt for tamari or coconut aminos for a less salty marinade.
- Yogurt & Milk: The base of the calamari batter. Feel free to use any brand of vegan yogurt or milk, just make sure it is unsweetened.
- Flour: Helps the breadcrumbs and seasonings stick to the oyster mushrooms. If you are gluten-free, opt for a 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend such as Bob’s Red Mill.
- Breadcrumbs: Essential for creating that classic crispy breading. We used panko breadcrumbs, but traditional breadcrumbs would work well too. If gluten-free, opt for gluten-free panko breadcrumbs.
- Old Bay seasoning & Dulse flakes: These two ingredients help replicate that “fishy” flavor you’d get with traditional squid calamari without being too fishy.
- Onion and garlic powder: Simple seasonings that create the perfect savory breading.
- Oil: Used for frying. We used canola oil, but another neutral, high-smoke point frying oil, such as vegetable oil or sunflower oil, would work well, too. Save the frying oil to make additional recipes such as Vegan KFC Fried Chicken (Copycat), Ecuadorian Fried Cheese Empanadas, or Tofu Katsu!
Equipment Needed
How to Make Vegan Calamari
- Prepare the mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms, then remove the mushroom caps. Slice the caps into about ½-inch-thick slices, then set aside in a large sealable container. Cut the stem into 1/4” rounds. Using a small circular cookie cutter, cannoli mold or even a small knife, carefully cut a hole in the middle of each round to make calamari rings. Set the rings and removed cores into the same container as the sliced mushroom caps.
- Marinate the mushrooms. Drizzle the prepared mushrooms with soy sauce and toss to coat. Allow marinating for about 1 hour.
- Prep the batter and breading. In a small bowl, whisk together the plain vegan yogurt and non-dairy milk, then set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, panko breadcrumbs, Old Bay seasoning, salt, dulse flakes, onion powder, and garlic powder until uniform.
- Dredge the mushrooms in the batter. Using your hands or a set of tongs, dunk the mushrooms first in the yogurt batter mixture, then immediately toss in the breading mixture until fully coated. Set aside on a large plate and repeat until all oyster mushrooms are breaded and ready to fry.
- Heat the oil. Add the cooking oil to a deep skillet or fryer and heat until the oil is bubbling and about 350 degrees F. If you do not have a thermometer, add a small crumb to the oil to test if it is hot enough. If it begins to bubble immediately, the oil is ready. If it does not, it needs to heat up more.
- Fry the vegan calamari. Once hot, add the battered oyster mushroom slices to the oil and fry for about 7-8 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove and drain the excess oil. Using a slotted spoon or a spider strainer, remove the fried vegan calamari and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb the excess oil.
- Serve. Serve immediately, sprinkled with fresh parsley and a side of lemon wedges plus marinara and vinegar for dunking.
Quick Tips for Success
- Don’t overcrowd the pan or pot when frying. In order for the calamari to cook evenly with the best crispy exterior, it is important to avoid overcrowding. Work in batches for best results.
- Add the calamari to the hot oil using a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Dropping the calamari in can cause the oil to splash, creating a fire hazard and can potentially burn you. Gently lowering the calamari into the oil prevents unnecessary splashing and is the safest way to fry.
Serving Suggestions
Oyster mushroom calamari is the ultimate vegan appetizer to serve ahead of your favorite Italian-inspired main dish such as Vegan Stuffed Shells, Vegan Lasagna, Vegan Penne alla Vodka, or a super simple Garlic and Herb Pasta with Vegan Garlic Bread.
Or, serve it alongside a few of your other favorite vegan appetizers for the ultimate game day or hosting spread. Some of our personal favorites are Pesto Pinwheels, Jalapeno Popper Rolls, or Vegan Cheese Fondue.
Check out our Top 30 Vegan Game Day Recipes, too!
Storage Instructions
As with any fried food, this vegan calamari appetizer is best served immediately while hot and crispy. If you do happen to have leftovers, they will reheat best in an air fryer, dry pan, or toaster oven until hot and crispy again.
They won’t be as crispy as they started, but they will still be good, and no need to let them go to waste!
More Vegan Appetizers You May Enjoy:
- Beer Battered Onion Rings
- Boiled Peanuts
- Spicy Dairy-Free Mozzarella Sticks
- Tokyo Street Fries
- 5-Ingredient French Bread Pizza
- Creamy Baked Onion Dip (Vegan + 9-Ingredients)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes. We love to see your photos!
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Vegan Calamari Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
This vegan calamari is made using oyster mushrooms breaded in a simple, savory batter, then fried until golden. It’s equally as crispy and delicious as the classic appetizer and perfect for serving on game days, holidays, or as a crowd-pleasing vegan appetizer ahead of your favorite pasta.
Ingredients
- 4 large king trumpet mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free option)
- 1 cup plain vegan yogurt (we used Forager)
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (we used almond)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons dulse flakes
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ~ 1 quart of canola oil, for deep frying
Serve with:
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Fresh parsley, finely chopped for garnish
- Marinara
- White vinegar
Instructions
- Clean the mushrooms, then remove the caps. Slice the caps into about ½-inch-thick slices and set aside in a large sealable container. Cut the stem into 1/4” rounds. Using a small circular cookie cutter, cannoli mold or even a small knife, carefully cut a hole in the middle of each round to make rings. Set the rounds and the cores removed into the same container as the stems.
- Drizzle the soy sauce over the mushrooms, cover, and toss to evenly coat. Marinate for about 1 hour.
- In the meantime, prepare the batter and breading. In a small bowl, whisk together the plain vegan yogurt and non-dairy milk, then set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, panko breadcrumbs, old bay seasoning, salt, dulse flakes, onion powder and garlic powder until uniform.
- Drain the mushrooms and get a large plate ready. Using your hands or a set of tongs, dunk the mushrooms into the yogurt mixture, shaking off any excess batter, then toss them in the breading mixture. Try your best to fully coat each piece, then set them aside on the plate as you coat all of the mushrooms.
- Add the cooking oil to a deep skillet or fryer and heat over medium-high heat until the oil is bubbling. Add the mushroom slices and fry for about 7-8 minutes, or until they are golden brown.*
- Use a spider strainer or large slotted spoon to remove the mushrooms and place them on paper towels to drain excess oil.
- Sprinkle with fresh parsley all over and serve immediately with lemon wedges, marinara, and vinegar.
Notes
- You may need to make 1/2-1 recipe more of the breading mixture depending on the side and thickness of your mushrooms.
- Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan or pot when frying. The cooking time may vary depending on the temperature of your oil.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
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Hi. This recipe looks so good. Quick question, could you use the air fryer function (in my Breville Pro) instead of frying in oil?
Hi! Thank you 🙂 Yes that should work. I would brush or spray a light coating of oil on first. The batter might get a little messy in the air fryer, but it should work nonetheless!
My Chef partner and I made this. WOW. We omitted the yogurt and old Bay, simply because we didn’t have them. We fried them in avocado oil and we made a caper, lemon, mayo dipping sauce. Needless to say, this recipe will be in the back pocket, and can be adaptable to other flavors of cooking. We were daydreaming of an “oyster” po’boy. Great technique. 10/10 Thanks Jasmine and Chis,
From,
B. Emily
THANK YOU KINDLEY FOR THE AMAZING RECIPE
Super delicious!! Made them for Christmas Eve with 2x the mushrooms and just had that as an entire meal for two people 🙂 Made some modifications because I didn’t have some ingredients – flaxseed meal/water/oat milk for the liquid mixture and broken up seaweed snack sheets instead of dulse. Also we shallow-fried the first half and then got hungry and tired of frying, so just coated the rest of the mushrooms in the wet batter then dunked them all into what was left of the dry mixture (made ~1.75x the written recipe for ~10 medium mushrooms) and put on a lined baking sheet. We drizzled over what was left of the frying oil, but I bet to make it even less oil you could use one of those spray cans of oil. Baked at 400 F for at least 30 minutes until crispy and it tasted just as good as the fried (but the texture wasn’t quite the same) so I’d definitely say baking them is possible!
The recipe looks great!
Do you think this could be baked instead of fried?
We haven’t tested a baked version, but you may have able to air-fry them though.
I never even knew that vegan calamari was possible! This looks like such an amazing recipe. Mushrooms for the actual calamari rings are such a genius idea!
The texture and flavor were so spot on, I was shocked!