How To Dry-Sauté Mushrooms

Dry-Sauté Mushrooms, as Easy as it Sounds.

Dry-sautéeing is a unique method of cooking mushrooms on the stovetop that yields perfectly browned, ultra-flavorful mushrooms. This handy technique is easy to master and is precisely what it sounds like—sliced mushrooms that are simply cooked in a dry pan. Whether we’re topping burgers or tossing them with pasta, or even just gobbling them straight out of the pan, buttery, meaty sautéed mushrooms are addictively delicious.

Mushrooms 101: Cleaning and Prep

Before your mushrooms are ready to hit a hot pan, you’ll need to do a little quick cleaning and prep. Here’s the 101:

• Rinse your mushrooms! Contrary to popular belief, it is OK to rinse mushrooms! Mushrooms—especially common mushrooms like white button and cremini—have a lot of moisture in them, and the dry-sauté cooking method is designed to pull that moisture out of the mushrooms, so a little extra moisture from a quick rinse is fine. It’ll evaporate when you cook them.
• Quarter your mushrooms. You don’t want to slice your mushrooms too finely when prepping them for a dry-sauté, because if they’re super thin they will cook much faster than you want. We want browned mushrooms—not burnt.

The Dry-Sauté: Hot Pan, No Oil, Perfectly Browned Mushrooms.

Here’s how to cook mushrooms in a dry pan:

1. Warm a heavy pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once the pan is warm, add a handful of mushrooms, being careful not to crowd the pan. If there are too many mushrooms in your pan, they’ll release too much moisture and instead of lovely browning, you’ll wind up with a steamed mushroom situation. Yuck.
3. Let the heat work its magic. The heat of your hot, dry pan will cause the mushrooms to release liquid. This liquid will cook off as the mushrooms brown. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
4. When the mushrooms are lovely and brown, they’re done! You could stop here, but it’s also the perfect moment to add some flavor to your cooked mushrooms. We like to keep things simple and just add a bit of butter and a sprinkling of salt. The still-hot sautéed mushrooms will behave like delicious little sponges, soaking up the richness of the butter.

So, I Made Perfect Sautéed Mushrooms. Now What?

Now it’s time to eat them! We are not above eating these meaty, umami-rich sautéed mushrooms straight out of the pan—in fact, dry-sautéed mushrooms are a favorite toddler food around here—but they’re are also terrific in lots of things. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Browned mushrooms are the base of this creamy mushroom sauce and Pork Chops with Mushroom Cream Sauce.
• Omelettes! A little shredded cheese (Gruyére if you’ve got it) and these sautéed mushrooms make for one perfect little omelette. Or if you’ve got a pie crust handy, make it a cheese-and-mushroom quiche.
• Serve them alongside a simple grilled steak or piece of chicken, or on top of a homemade burger.
• Spooned generously over a big slab of good toasted bread.

Tools You’ll Need:

• A heavy-bottom pan.
• A sharp knife.

Our Favorite Mushroom Recipes:

• This creamy mushroom sauce is just about the greatest thing since sliced bread. Pour it on steak or over your favorite pasta.
• Brunch at home doesn’t get much more delicious than this rich spinach and mushroom strata.
• And classic, paprika-laden creamy Hungarian mushroom soup is the simple, cozy weeknight supper that us mushroom fanatics crave on the regular.

Are You A Dry-Sauté Pro Now?

Snap a photo of your gorgeously browned, buttery sautéed mushrooms and show us how you gobbled them up! On pasta? Straight from the pan? Did your kids love them? We want to see! Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!