Harissa Mushroom Jerky (No Dehydrator Needed)
Sliced mushrooms are roasted into smoky, sweet, spicy perfection from a harissa spiced marinade and a slow cook method that allows for a jerky like dried texture. Opt for a more bacon-like texture (less dry), if that appeals. It’s a great vegan and nutrient dense snack or taco ingredient.
Servings: 4 if eating whole batch as a snack
Calories: 80kcal
Equipment
- 1 sheetpan
Ingredients
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced portobello- see notes
Bacon Marinade
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tamari low sodium sub soy sauce, I recommend low sodium always
- 1 tbsp maple syrup sub brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar sub another plain vinegar
- 1 tsp liquid smoke I use Colgin brand
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp Harissa Spice Blend or see notes Sofa Dinners Harissa Spice Blend- see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Wipe mushrooms of any dirt with paper towel or cloth. Remove stems if using portobello or other stemmed mushrooms (no stems to remove from oyster mushrooms).
- Slice mushrooms in 1/8" slices, see notes.
- Mix marinade ingredients together.
- Line sheet pan with parchment paper or if you don't have parchment, rub a bit of olive oil on your sheet pan. It works well either way.
- Lay out the sliced mushrooms and toss thoroughly with the marinade, using your fingers to make sure all surfaces are covered with marinade, but take care not to get too much marinade all over your hands, since we want most of the marinade to stay on the mushrooms.
- Roast the sheet pan of mushrooms in the center of the oven for approximately 45 min. See notes.
- Store mushroom jerky covered in fridge. You may need to reheat in oven or in pan, but depending on how you serve it as leftovers, you may not need to heat it. See post for ideas and suggestions.
Notes
Mushrooms to use: Portobello are my top recommended type to use (their wide brim allows for long slices, and are easy to handle, not overly delicate). You can use presliced portobello mushrooms (slicing them further from 1/4" to 1/8" thickness), which typically come in 6 oz packs, and I've used two packs = 12 oz. The marinade works for 12-16 oz of mushrooms. Oysters (including king oysters) work well also. Shiitake have great flavor but are quite small to manage.
Mushroom bacon option: if you want to achieve a bit softer, less dry, bacon style version, then slice 1/4" thick instead of 1/8" thick as shown above.
Cook time: Watch closely so as not to over or under cook. Due to the high water content of mushrooms, there is a fine line between cooking long enough to get desired texture, but not overcooking so much that the end result is too dry and minimized in size from over cooking.
Harissa Spice Blend: I highly recommend making my harissa spice recipe linked above (which makes about 1/2 cup). If you don’t have time or can’t get any of the spices, you can sub with 1 tsp each of ground: cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and chili powder.
Nutrition
Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 148mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.2mg | Magnesium: 5mg | Net Carbohydrates: 4g