Description
A vegan-friendly version of calamari made with king oyster mushrooms. Perfect to serve at holiday parties or for a dinner appetizer!
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
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!
[…] Oyster Mushroom Calamari – MUST MAKE Holiday Appetizer sweetsimplevegan…. #vegan #recipe #holiday #Christmas […]
[…] Oyster Mushroom Calamari – MUST MAKE Holiday Appetizer sweetsimplevegan…. #vegan #recipe #holiday #Christmas […]
[…] From: SweetSimpleVegan […]
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.
[…] Oyster Mushroom Calamari – MUST MAKE Holiday Appetizer sweetsimplevegan…. #vegan #recipe #holiday […]
[…] Vegan Oyster Mushroom Calamari […]
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!
★★★★★