Appetizer & Party Foods

Frying Morel Mushrooms for Beginners

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It’s mushroom season where I live and I’m ready for the king of mushrooms: the MOREL!!! If you’ve never had (or even heard of) a morel mushroom, let me tell you how wonderful these little guys taste. They are the truffles of the heartland. 🙂 Breaded and fried, there are few foods that make me swoon or turn me into a raving lunatic. Morels may possibly cause both at the same time…

frying morel mushrooms for beginners

Morel mushrooms, I swear, like to hide from me when I go mushroom hunting. They are tricky little buggers! If I’m super lucky, I’ll find one, maybe two. It could be I don’t know the right places to look, or that I’m too interested in the wild flowers or watching out for snakes, but I am not blessed in the “mushroom-hunting” department. If this is you, take heart. Find a friend…a good friend…who is willing to share some of his/her haul. These are special people, so take good care of them! 🙂 I’ve found that the bartering system works well. (i.e. Trade for something they love! Fresh apple pie has worked for me in the past.)

The Process of Cleaning Morel Mushrooms

Morels can be very dirty. Remember: they grow in the dirt! 🙂 After you get a bunch, take them home, cut each mushroom in half lengthwise, and place the halves in salted water. This helps with the cleaning. Little tiny bugs like to hide in those lovely nooks and crannies. You will also want to trim off the base of each mushroom to get rid of some dirt.

After soaking, rinse the mushrooms, and repeat with another bowl of salted water until the water is clear and bugs have been removed. (Beware of soaking too long in the salted water. This could cause soggy mushrooms.) Dry clean mushrooms on paper towels while preparing other ingredients.

Frying the Morel Mushrooms!

In my book, this is the best part! Serving morels with a buttery coating of Club crackers and then frying in butter makes for the richest of dishes. The yellow morels really remind me of shrimp scampi!

First, work on the setup. Be sure to have two separate pie plates, one for the egg and milk and one for the crushed buttery crackers. Also, be sure to get a 12-inch skillet ready to fry by melting the stick of butter (don’t even think about margarine!!!).

Now, it’s time to cook. Dip the mushroom in the beaten egg, coat with the buttery crackers, and fry in the butter until golden brown and absolutely fabulous!

See that cute little gray morel? He is PERFECT with the butter crackers!

I like to fry my morels until they are lightly golden brown. The ones below are just right!

frying morel mushrooms for beginners

I hope that you have a successful mushroom-hunting season and can enjoy a plateful of succulent morels! Once you’ve tried these natural beauties, you’ll be looking under every Mayapple, rotten log, and fallen leaf you can to get your next fix. 🙂

I’d love to hear how you fix morels. If you have a special “trick,” please leave me a comment!

If you’d like to see what products I used to create my fried morels, please see below. Please know, these contain affiliate links. This means I earn a small commission on any sales, at no extra cost to you. The income I earn helps to pay for maintaining my blog. Thank you so much for your support!