Roasted Mushrooms and Greens

In my never-ending quest for new Thanksgiving side dishes, I may have stumbled upon a winner for the entire fall and winter season: roasted mushrooms and greens.

This started out as a request from a fellow mushroom obsessive who wanted more ways to enjoy our collective favorite fungus than in their usual Thanksgiving role— that is, as part of a sad and gloppy green bean casserole.

For my part, as much as I love green beans, I’m always on the hunt for ways to eat more leafy greens. Just ask my husband, who I’ve totally converted into a kale fan through sheer repetition.

So why not put the two ingredients—mushrooms and greens—together on a sheet pan and see what happens?

Magic is what happens, that’s what.

It seems almost too simple to pair meaty shiitake mushrooms with bitter greens, but the resulting deep flavor is something too good to be reserved for an annual meal.

There’s a reason why sheet pan roasting is such a popular method. The high heat brings out the natural sugars in vegetables and proteins and caramelizes them.

This gives each ingredient that oh-so-lovely umami richness without any extra work on the cook’s part.

Sure, you can layer on flavor with sauces and glazes, but a quick toss in olive oil is all you need to get things going.

Mushrooms, in particular, have their earthy flavor intensified. And greens get little browned, crispy edges that you just can’t get when they’re wilted in a pan.

The Best Reason to Roast Mushrooms

There’s another reason to roast mushrooms in the oven, and that’s the bigger square footage you get from a sheet pan vs. a skillet.

When you’re cooking mushrooms in a skillet or a sauté pan, there’s always the tendency to overcrowd the pan to fit every slice.

If there are too many layers of mushrooms, they end up steaming instead of searing—and who wants soggy mushrooms?

However, throwing the mushrooms onto a big old sheet pan gives them lots of room.

Ways to Use Roasted Mushrooms and Greens

Like I said, this side dish of roasted mushrooms and greens should not be restricted to Thanksgiving or the holidays alone.

Use this method as a springboard to play around with various mushrooms and greens depending on the season and your local market’s availability.

Keep in mind that greens with more tender, bite-sized leaves won’t take as long to cook as those with larger, heartier leaves that need to be de-stemmed and sliced.

Tender greens include:

• arugula
• baby kale
• spinach
• escarole
• watercress
• dandelion greens

Heartier greens include:

• chard
• kale
• collard greens
• mustard greens
• turnip greens
• beet greens

As for mushrooms, almost any variety is up for grabs here. Oyster, maitake (hen of the woods), and plain old sliced button or cremini mushrooms are all fantastic.

Use slender beech mushrooms for a different texture, but avoid the extremely thin enoki mushrooms, since they won’t have enough heft for a full side dish.

Serve roasted mushrooms and greens on their own as a side dish with your favorite protein.

You can also add leftovers to:

• ramen or other noodles
• grain bowls—rice, farro, quinoa, couscous
• polenta or grits
• or simply topped with a runny-yolked egg

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in 2009 and updated in November 2022 with a new recipe and updated text.

Roasted Mushrooms and Greens

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Make roasted mushrooms and greens on a sheet pan for an easy, hands-off holiday side dish or a versatile main component to a vegetarian meal. Try them for Thanksgiving—or a weeknight dinner.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms
• 1 small red onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• kosher salt
• 2 bunches chard, about 3/4 pound / 12 ounces total
• 1 medium head escarole, about 3/4 pound / 12 ounces
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes, divided (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper or silicone liners.
2. De-stem the mushrooms, then clean the caps by rinsing them well in a colander
3. Transfer the mushrooms to a large cotton (non-terrycloth) towel. Gently roll the towel up to remove excess moisture.
4. Slice the mushroom caps into large (1/2- to 1-inch) slices and place in a large bowl.
5. Peel and stem the onion, then slice lengthwise. Cut each half into thin (1/4- to 1/2-inch) slices.
6. Add the onions to the bowl with the mushrooms.
7. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a generous pinch of kosher salt.
8. Arrange in a single layer on one of the prepared sheet pans. Save the bowl with the residual olive oil for your greens.
9. Roast the mushrooms and onions for 15 minutes.

While the mushrooms are in the oven, clean and prep your greens:

1. Trim the stems off the chard and slice the root end off the escarole. Roughly chop or tear all the leafy greens into smaller pieces, as if you were making a salad.
2. This will make a large volume of chopped greens! Place the chard in the bowl that formerly held the mushrooms, and reserve the escarole in a separate clean bowl or keep it on the cutting board.
3. Toss the chard with 1 additional tablespoon olive oil, a pinch of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes (if using).
4. Spread the chard out on the second sheet pan.

Finish roasting the mushrooms and greens:

1. After the mushrooms have roasted for 15 minutes, add the chard to the oven and roast for 10 minutes more.
2. Transfer the escarole to the olive oil-coated bowl. Toss lightly with an additional 1/4 teaspoon aleppo pepper/flakes, if using, and allow the residual olive oil and salt in the bowl to coat the leaves.
3. After 10 minutes of roasting the greens, add the escarole to the sheet pan with the chard. The chard will have wilted enough in the oven's heat to make room for the additional greens, so you can stir them together with tongs.
4. Gently stir and turn the mushrooms and onions as well on their own pan.
5. Return all the vegetables to the oven and roast for an additional 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown at the edges and the greens are deeply wilted and sizzling.
6. Remove from the oven, stir all the vegetables together, and taste for seasoning.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 165Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 254mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 6gSugar: 5gProtein: 5g

The nutritional information above is computer-generated and only an estimate.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo!