Sauteed Mushrooms in Soy Sauce Glaze

One of the best ways to make flavorful sauteed mushrooms of any type is to cook them in a garlicky soy sauce. It is an easy 5-ingredient recipe to give these button and shiitake mushrooms a golden brown caramel glaze. Make this side dish in 15 minutes to serve with any meal, or elevate your holiday dinner to impress your family and friends.

Mushrooms are so versatile that you can grill them on vegetable kabobs, roast them with asparagus in the oven, add them to stir-fries, curry, or risotto. Which one is your favorite?

What to expect from this recipe

“Sauté” is a French word for cooking mushrooms on medium-high heat in sauce or as simple as unsalted butter using a frying pan or large skillet. You get a different result like this compared to frying mushrooms on high heat with little to no liquid.

The best sauteed mushrooms are tender and glazed with a sauce that elevates the aromatic flavor of the mushrooms. As opposed to frying where you get crispy mushrooms half their original size since no water content is left there after subjecting them to high heat.

If you are looking for a flavorful mushroom side dish recipe, where the mushrooms retain their size, caramelized in a golden brown glaze, and cooked until soft, then this is the right recipe for you.

Ingredients

Best mushrooms to sauté

Any type of mushrooms can be a good candidate to make this recipe, but our favorite ones are:

• white button mushrooms (whole or sliced),
• shiitake mushrooms,
• portobello mushrooms,
• oyster mushrooms,
• other wild mushrooms,
• and any combination of the above.

A quick note: If you don’t find mushrooms in your local store under the name button mushrooms, try to look for cremini mushrooms, small portobello mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, Italian brown mushrooms, and champignon mushrooms. They are basically the same.

What else do you need?

• Oil – Mushrooms release a lot of water, so you need medium to high heat and a bit of oil to boil off that excess.
• Soy sauce – It is a flavor enhancer but you can use Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar if you don’t have soy sauce at home.
• Garlic – It is not negotiable. You need garlic with mushrooms, full stop. And lots of it. It is just perfect to make it flavorful. You can use garlic powder if you want, but we do like the crispy sauteed garlic bits.
• Parsley – We also love them with rosemary or thyme, but mushrooms are great with Italian seasoning as well like oregano and basil. It all depends on your taste and which main meal you want to pair them with.

You don’t need anything else like salt or pepper. Soy sauce has a high sodium content so it will be more than enough.

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

How to clean mushrooms?

• Gently wash any dirt off of them by using a damp paper towel. If they are really dirty (it hasn’t happened with me that often), you can quickly rinse them using a colander or a sieve.
• Dry them with a clean kitchen cloth.
• We never peel shiitake and don’t usually peel button mushrooms. Only if they are not fresh and brown spots or indentations appear on them. These are usually just on the surface. So if you peel them you get nice-looking button mushrooms again.
• We recommend cutting off the stems if they feel too dry or too rigid. Otherwise, just keep them.

How to slice them?

When button mushrooms release water (more than shiitake), they will shrink. Since we don’t plan to fry them on high heat, you don’t need to worry about the size too much. We recommend slicing both types not thinner than ¼ inch (0.5 cm).

How to sauté mushrooms?

1. Pre-heat the frying pan to high heat and add oil.
2. When the pan is hot enough, you will hear the sliced mushrooms sizzle when you add them. If you see any liquid hold off adding any more ingredients before it steams off.
3. When the mushroom slices are golden brown and there is no excess water, turn it to medium heat and add finely chopped garlic and soy sauce. Cook them until the mushroom absorbs the soy sauce and the garlic is golden brown.
4. As the last step, add some freshly chopped parsley for color and additional flavor. Stir for a bit, but don’t let them get brown. Voila, your sauteed mushrooms are ready in 10 minutes!

Top tips to make them perfectly

• Don’t add salt while cooking as the mushrooms will release even more water. We use the soy sauce (which is already salty) to get that covered. We recommend adding salt if you like only when you serve them.
• The frying pan has to be HOT, otherwise, the mushrooms will be cooked in their own moisture and will not absorb the soy sauce later on.
• Drain it if you have to. If they release too much liquid and it takes a long time to evaporate, just drain it from the pan. Be careful, as the liquid is piping hot.
• You can definitely use a wok or a heavy pan like a cast-iron skillet as they will help to keep the pan steady hot if you have to do a large batch.

How to serve them?

I mean who wouldn’t want some easy, juicy, caramelized garlicky soy-glazed sauteed mushrooms? They go great with a number of different dishes. This recipe is the perfect side dish to add to your Thanksgiving or Christmas Menu.

• Top your risotto (like our vegan mushroom risotto),
• Top your pasta (like our hearty marinara sauce),
• Top your pizza
• Top your breakfast toast
• Add them to your burger (like our beetroot burger)
• Stack them on top of your baked potatoes
• Add them to your tacos
• Add them to your vegan omelet or frittata
• Add them to your vegan steak

Let us know your favorite combination in the comments!

FAQs and substitutions

Can you saute canned mushrooms?

Yes, you can, but they are very watery. It may take you longer to boil that away. In our opinion, cooking raw mushrooms will give you a more flavorful dish than canned ones.

How to store them?

You can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days without a problem. Reheat them in a pan or in a microwave.

Can you freeze them?

Yes, you can store it in a freezer. Make a larger batch ahead and froze them for later use. Thaw them and reheat them in a pan before serving.

Allergen info

This Sauteed Mushrooms recipe is meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free.

• Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – All ingredients are supposed to be nut-free but check for cross-contamination info on all packaging you need.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – If you want to skip the oil, we recommend dry sautéing or frying them directly in the soy sauce.
• Gluten-free – Soy sauce is not gluten-free. Choose from one of these 5 soy sauce substitutes. We recommend using tamari. All other ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free.
• Soy-free – Coconut aminos are the perfect soy-free soy sauce substitute. All other ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More side dish recipes

You can browse through our vegan gluten-free side dish recipes or check out

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UPDATED: This recipe was originally published in September 2019. It has been updated with more info and detail and republished in August 2022.