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My Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms (made in the air fryer) are the perfect appetizer recipe using simple ingredients, that's always a crowd pleaser. Whole mushrooms, stuffed with buttery bread crumbs, and gooey cheddar cheese, you can't go wrong!
Looking for other great appetizer recipes to serve along with this? Try my Crab and Artichoke Dip, Classic Cold Crescent Roll Veggie Pizza, or this Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip.
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This is an old and favorite recipe of mine that I've traditionally baked in the oven, but I decided to modify this for the air fryer since that's what I do these days. I see how many things I can make in the air fryer instead of heating up my oven and kitchen. This one worked well!
🩷 What you'll love about this recipe
▪️These cook quickly in the air fryer and you don't have to heat up the entire kitchen with the oven.
▪️This is the perfect party appetizer because you can make these air fryer mushrooms in advance, then pop them in the air fryer right before you want to serve them.
▪️The ingredients are simple, and can be swapped around with various cheeses and herbs to make an endless variety of different kinds of stuffed mushrooms.
🥘 Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this delicious recipe for mushrooms stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese.
📝 Ingredient Notes
- cheese - please buy a block of cheese instead of the pre-shredded cheese in the bag. The bag includes an ingredient to keep it from sticking together, and also keeps it from melting properly.
- white button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms (also called baby bellas) work well in this recipe - the larger mushroom caps work better.
📋 How to Make Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms in the Air Fryer Step-By-Step
Here are some visual instructions. Full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the Recipe Card below.
Step 1: The first step is to clean the mushrooms. You can run them under cold water, but I don't like to do that for this recipe. I think the mushrooms soak up too much water, and then they become too watery when cooked.
I'm showing you three different ways you can clean mushrooms. The first is to clean the loose dirt off with a damp paper towel. The second way is to use a softer bristled vegetable brush. The third way, which is my personal preference is to use a damp cloth, like these microfiber cloths. I keep a few handy for kitchen use only.
Step 2: Remove the stems from the mushroom caps. Chop the stems finely. You can do this with a knife, but I like to use a vegetable chopper with the fine dice blade. It gets the job done a lot quicker.
Step 3: Add the finely diced mushroom stems to a medium bowl. You only need about half to three-quarters of the stems. I usually forget and use them all, which is not a big deal, you'll just have a lot of extra filling left. If this happens and I have some large portobello mushrooms on hand, I'll use the leftover filling and make giant stuffed mushrooms.
Next, add the shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onion.
Step 4: Add the bread crumbs, the melted butter and the Worcestershire sauce to the mixing bowl.
Step 5: Add the Italian seasoning and the garlic powder, along with the salt and the black pepper. Add a few dashes of tabasco sauce. Start small with the salt, pepper and tabasco sauce here. You can taste the filling before filling the mushroom caps and adjust and add more. You can't take away if you add too much.
Step 6: Mix the stuffing mixture until all is combined. Make sure to taste the filling here so you can add more seasonings to get the flavor just right.
Step 7: Press the stuffing into the mushroom cavity using a small spoon. Press until the filling is somewhat compacted so it will stay in the mushroom cap. Keep filling until all caps are stuffed and ready to be cooked.
Step 8: Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees f. The air fryer I love and have had for about three years is the Ninja Foodi. It was definitely worth the money! I also cannot live without these air fryer paper basket liners. They keep the inside from getting so dirty and make cleanup so easy!
In your air fryer basket, place the stuffed mushroom caps in a single layer. Sprinkle with paprika before cooking.
Cook in the preheated air fryer for about 6-7 minutes for smaller mushrooms and a longer cook time of about 10-12 minutes for larger mushrooms.
💡 Recipe Tips
Tip 1: The smaller you get your stems chopped up, the easier the filling will mix together and will hold together in the caps better. If they are too large, the filling may not bind together, and you might have trouble with it falling out.
Tip 2: If your stuffing mixture is too dry, you can add extra butter, a little bit of water or chicken broth to add more moisture and it will hold together better.
Time Saving Tip
The mushroom stuffing mixture can be made up to two days in advance. Store the stuffing and caps in an airtight container (separate containers) in the refrigerator. The caps may turn slightly brown, but they will be ok as they darken after cooking anyway.
🫙 Storage & Reheating
Storage: Store the cooked mushrooms in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Reheat in a microwave for about 1 -2 minutes.
Freezing: I do not recommend freezing, as mushrooms tend to change texture when frozen.
🧂Additions & Substitutions
Additions:
- Crab meat or surimi would be a tasty addition to this easy recipe.
- Fresh or pickled jalapeno slices would be another spicy option.
- Finely chopped artichoke hearts also sound great.
Substitutions:
- Many cheeses would work in place of the cheddar cheese here - feta cheese, parmesan cheese, Boursin, Rondele, cream cheese, blue cheese. All of these would be great.
- In place of the bread crumbs, try your favorite crackers. Ritz crackers would be a good option.
❓Your questions answered
If you're eating this mushroom recipe as a side dish, they would go great with my Everything Bagel Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce or my Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce.
I highly recommend against freezing these after cooking. The water in the mushrooms will freeze, and it changes the texture of the mushroom when it's thawed again. They do not taste the same to me, and I wouldn't do it myself.
📋 Recipe
Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms (in Air Fryer)
Ingredients
- 24 large mushrooms (20 ounces)
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 green onions finely sliced
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1-3 dashes hot sauce
- paprika shake on top
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 350°F.
- Clean mushrooms with damp paper towels, a soft vegetable brush or a damp microfiber cloth. Do not rinse under water, as the mushrooms will soak up too much water and become soggy.
- Remove the stems from the caps. Set the caps aside for now. Chop about half to ¾ of the stems into a fine dice. You can do this with a knife or a vegetable chopper, which is my preference.
- Add the chopped mushroom stems into a medium bowl. Next add the cheddar cheese, green onions, bread crumbs, butter, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and a couple-few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. I use Tabasco in these.
- Mix the filling ingredients thoroughly until well blended. If the mixture is a little dry and not sticking together, add a little extra melted butter, or chicken broth or water. You want it to clump together so it stays inside of the mushroom caps.
- With a small spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a heaping spoonful of the stuffing mixture. I try to load each one up as much as possible.
- I like to use a paper liner in my air fryer basket, but if you don't have this, spray the basket with a little bit of cooking spray. Lay the stuffed mushroom caps in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Sprinkle the tops with paprika.
- Cook in the air fryer for about 6-7 minutes if the mushrooms are on the smaller side, or about 10-12 minutes if they are on the larger side.
Notes
Nutrition
🍽️ More Appetizer recipes that you'll love
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I hope you love this Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms in Air Fryer recipe! If you make it, be sure to leave a rating so I know how you liked it! Happy eating!
Monna Ellithorpe
Hey Teri, These look so scrumptious. Thanks for sharing your great recipes.