Vegan Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
I am bringing you another cooked recipe from our healthy vegan cooked collection! Vegan Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms! And the pesto is made from basil, avocados and pecans! But wait, the recipe calls for the avocado to be cooked? I think you will be amazed by the results. Remember, it is only one ingredient in the filling. And if you so desire, leave out the mushrooms in the filling and just use it raw.

My goal with Rawmazing is to bring you recipes using unprocessed, whole food, plant-based recipes that reflect how my family eats. We eat a lot of raw. Easily 75%+. In the summer, even more. But I don’t believe that certain foods should be left out of our diet just because they can’t be eaten raw. I see it time and time again. People failing at eating raw food, or eating way too much fat because they can get satiated on a totally raw diet. So they turn to nuts, oils, and other not-so-healthy “raw” food when just a little healthy cooked food will fill them up.
The ingredients are simple, and the stuffed mushrooms come together quickly. There is no oil for oil-free folks but there is fat in the avocado. But we are not afraid of a little natural fat. You can find fresh basil at the grocery store but head to your local farmer’s market. You will find it in abundance. We had these for dinner last night but you can also serve them as appetizers. The pecans bring a beautiful depth of flavor to the pesto and a smooth and creamy consistency.

Keeping it Raw
If you want to keep this recipe more “raw”, you can cook the mushrooms first (15 minutes at 350), let them cool and then stuff them with the raw pesto. I would leave out the stems as I am not a fan of uncooked mushrooms. Mushrooms are basically indigestible and cooking releases their nutrients that include compounds not found in other food. I love mushrooms and use them medicinally, too. You can read more about why to cook mushrooms here: Cooking Mushrooms.
I also marinate mushrooms which helps break down the cell walls. It is called “chemical cooking” which doesn’t sound too pleasant but by using acids like lemon juice, you can “cook” them. Dehydrating mushrooms also is a form of cooking.
Vegan Pesto Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 14
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- 14 medium portobello mushrooms, 2-inches in diameter
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 1 oz basil leaves (approximately 1 cup, packed)
- 1/3 cup pecans
- 1 avocado, cut in quarters
- saved mushrooms stems
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Remove stems from mushrooms and set aside for filling. Scrape gills from caps and discard.
- With food processor running, drop in garlic, 1 clove at a time.
- When garlic is diced, add remaining ingredients including the stems and pulse until you have a nice slightly chunky filling.
- Divide filling between 14 mushroom caps, about 2 tablespoons filling in each cap.
- Bake the stuffed mushrooms for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Anamaria wrote on July 15, 2017
Hello,
I cooked the scraped gills with the rest of the ingredients except the stems is that ok?
Susan wrote on July 15, 2017
Apparently I wasn’t clear…sorry about that. The stems go in the stuffing mixture, the gills you can discard. Cheers!
Nayna wrote on June 27, 2017
This sounds amazing…gonna make it tonight. Thanks Susan, you’re Rawmazing ???❤️
Gail Gordon wrote on June 27, 2017
Where do you find small portobello mushrooms? I have only seen large ones. Recipe sounds amazing!
Susan wrote on June 27, 2017
Hi, Gail, Look for “Baby Bella’s” or Crimini. Cheers!
Susan wrote on June 27, 2017
Thanks so much for the comment! I hope you love them as much as we did!