This sagey mushroom loaf is savory, hearty, and so delicious! It’s a comforting vegetarian entree, perfect for fall gatherings or the holiday table. Serve it up with our mushroom gravy and garlic mashed potatoes! Video.
“Enough” is a feast.
Buddhist Proverb
With more and more people turning to plant-based meals, I thought I’d share a recipe for a delicious vegetarian main dish for your holiday table this year. This mushroom loaf is hearty, filling and full of earthy, umami flavor. Make sure to serve with your favorite gravy- or try it with our mushroom gravy, which is especially good here- double the mushrooms!
This mushroom loaf recipe is one I developed during my catering business days- and it always got rave reviews. I really liked this one, too, because I could make it ahead and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days before serving, allowing me more time on the day of the event.
Mushroom Loaf Ingredients
- Mushrooms: Cremini, portobello, button, shiitake, or a mix!
- Walnuts: Use toasted nuts for even richer flavor! You can always sub pecans or other nuts.
- Onion, celery, carrots, and garlic cloves: For savory, aromatic depth in the loaf.
- Fresh sage leaves: Or sub thyme, for herby, earthy flavor.
- Miso paste: Enhances the rich, umami flavor of the mushrooms.
- Whole-grain mustard: For a tangy, sharp bite that really elevates the flavor.
- Large eggs: To bind the loaf together and create a moist texture.
- Oats: For rustic texture and heartiness. Or you could also use cooked rice or even fresh bread crumbs.
- Optional additions: If you’d like you can add cottage cheese and a grated cheese like cheddar, jack, or mozzarella.
How to Make A Mushroom Loaf
Preheat oven to 375F.
Step one: Toast walnuts in an extra-large skillet over medium-low heat until golden and fragrant. Remove the walnuts from the skillet and set aside. (Alternatively, you can toast the walnuts on a baking sheet at 350F for 15-16 minutes.)
Step two: In the same extra large skillet, warm oil over medium heat. Sauté onion 2-3 minutes, then add the celery and carrots, sautéing 5-6 minutes until softened. Add mushrooms, garlic, salt, black pepper, and sage, sautéing until mushrooms release all of their liquid, about 10-15 minutes. If the vegetables look dry, deglaze the pan with a splash of wine or vegetable broth and cook it off.
Tip: Cover the skillet with a lid for a few minutes to help the mushrooms release their liquid.
Step three: Once the mushrooms are no longer liquidy, make a well in the middle of the pan and add the miso paste. Stir it in, and cook until the mixture begins to stick to the pan and looks dry. Turn off the heat.
Step four: Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Oil any exposed areas, like the narrow ends.
Step five: Add walnuts to a food processor and pulse until the size of lentils or smaller. Transfer to a large bowl, then scoop the mushroom mixture into the food processor. Pulse, making sure to maintain a little texture. Add to the bowl with the walnuts.
To the bowl, add mustard, eggs, and rolled oats. Stir. If adding cheese, mix it in now.
Step six: Pour the mixture into the parchment-lined loaf pan and place on the middle rack to bake 35-45 minutes. The mushroom loaf will be done when it is puffed and golden.
The internal temp should be 165F or more. Check after 30 minutes, rotating the pan if needed.
See the very slight dome? This is how you can tell the eggs are cooked all the way through to the middle. It’s subtle but telling.
Note: If you added cottage cheese, you may need to increase baking time by 10-15 minutes.
Step seven: While the loaf bakes, prepare our Mushroom Gravy, or use your favorite!
Step eight: When the loaf is done, remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes before flipping onto a platter. Loosen the edges with a knife.
Tip: If waiting to serve, you can simply keep the loaf warm in the pan by wrapping it in foil.
Step nine: Ladle warm gravy over the loaf and sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top. Garnish with fresh sage and serve with mashed potatoes.
Chef’s Tips
- Try adding cheese! Adding cottage cheese and/or grated cheese adds a nice richness that also helps bind everything together even more.
- Bake with a ketchup glaze or BBQ sauce. Instead of serving with gravy, mix 1/2 cup ketchup or BBQ sauce with 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Spread a little in the bottom of the loaf pan and the remaining over top.
Storing Mushroom Loaf
Cover the loaf pan tightly and store for 3-4 days in the refrigerator, or transfer to an airtight container. Leftovers make for a tasty vegetarian “meatloaf” sandwich! Leftovers can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw before reheating. Reh
Serving Suggestions
Serve with Mushroom Gravy (or your favorite gravy recipe), Mashed Potatoes, and pomegranate seeds. Not only do the pomegranate seeds make this pop visually – they really add a bright lovely flavor and texture to the finished dish. You can of course serve the gravy and seeds on the side as well.
This Mushroom Loaf would go well with any of our 55 Veggie-Forward Thanksgiving Side Dishes!
FAQs
I haven’t tried but I suspect you could substitute flax eggs for the eggs and leave out the cheese.
Yes! This recipe called for gluten-free oats and simple, whole foods ingredients.
Yes, the roast reheats wonderfully at 350F.
Wherever this finds you this year, I wish you a very love-filled Thanksgiving.
Cheers friends.
More meatless mains you may like
Mushroom Loaf | 60-Sec Video
Mushroom Loaf Recipe
- Prep Time: 45
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: vegetarian main
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This sagey mushroom loaf is savory, hearty, and so delicious! It’s a delicious vegetarian entree, perfect for a fall gathering or the holiday table! Serve it up with our mushroom gravy and garlic mashed potatoes!
Ingredients
Mushroom Loaf
- 2 cups walnuts, toasted (or sub pecans or ther nuts!)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- one large onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cup celery, diced
- 1 1/2 cup carrots, very thinly sliced half-moons (no need to peel)
- 1 lb mushrooms- cremini, portobello, button, shiitake or a mix, (5-6 cups sliced )
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped (or sub thyme)
- 1 tablespoon miso paste
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups oats
- optional: 3/4 cup cottage cheese
- optional: 3/4 cup grated cheese- cheddar, jack, mozzarella
Serve with: Mushroom Gravy (or use your favorite gravy recipe), mashed potatoes, and garnish with 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven 375F
- WALNUTS: Toast in an extra-large skillet on the stove, over medium-low heat until golden a fragrant, set aside. ( You can also toast on a sheet pan in a 350F oven for 15-16 mins.)
- MUSHROOM FILLING: In an extra-large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Saute the onion 2-3 minutes, add celery and carrots, and saute 5-6 more minutes until they begin to soften. Add mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, and sage. Saute until mushrooms release all their liquid, 10-15 minutes, covering with a lid for a few minutes to get this going. Remove lid, continue cooking off all the liquid. Feel free to deglaze with a splash of wine (or skip it) cooking it all off. Cook until the mushrooms are no longer liquidy– make a well in the middle and add the miso paste, stirring it in. You’ll know you are close when they begin sticking to the pan. You really want these dry as possible. Turn off the heat.
- Prepare your loaf pan, lining with parchment and oiling the narrow ends.
- Mix filling: In a food processor, pulse the walnuts into lentil size and smaller. Place in a large bowl. Pulse the mushroom mixture- leaving a little texture here too. Place in the bowl. Add the mustard, eggs, and oats. Give a good stir.
- BAKE: Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and place on the middle rack of the 375 F oven until puffed and golden, 35-45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes, rotating the loaf pan if need be. (Adding the cottage cheese may increase baking time by 10-15 minutes.) The loaf is done when slightly puffed and internal temp reaches 165F.
- GRAVY: While it is baking make the gravy- this Mushroom gravy is nice or use your favorite!
- You will know the loaf is done when it puffs up slightly in the middle- indicating the eggs are cooked all the way through. Let it rest five minutes before flipping onto a platter, loosening the 2 edges with a knife (or keep it warm in the loaf pan with foil- until serving).
- Ladle the warm gravy over top and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Garnish with fresh sage leaves on the platter.
- Serve with mashed potatoes.
Notes
The cheese adds a nice richness here and does help to keep it from crumbling.
KETCHUP GLAZE: You can bake this like meatloaf with a ketchup glaze or BBQ Sauce instead of serving with gravy: Mix 1/2 cup ketchup or BBQ sauce (or a combination) with 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Spread a little in the bottom of the loaf pan, and remaining over the top.
Leftovers make for a tasty vegetarian “meatloaf” sandwich!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of a loaf (with cheese/cottage cheese)
- Calories: 403
- Sugar: 5.9 g
- Sodium: 656.4 mg
- Fat: 28.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 5.6 g
- Protein: 15.8 g
- Cholesterol: 80.6 mg
Can this be frozen and reheated successfully?
Hi Shanley, it seems like it should freeze and reheat fine, but truthfully I have not tried it!
Exceptionally impressed with this recipe. Needed much longer to let the mushrooms fully evaporate but the end product is superb and is a wonderful meatloaf alternative without VWG.
Thanks Jane! Glad this worked for you!
I made this recipe for my husband and friends. It was delicious. I’d like to make it fir Thanksgiving, but my sister and daughter are allergic to walnuts. May I substitute pecans?
yes of course Cheryl!
This loaf was quite delicious. I made the vegan version for Thanksgiving dinner (Canadian). The texture was quite good. I used thyme instead of sage. The mushroom gravy was a must. Took a lot of time to prepare but I will make this again or another special occasion. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Maria!
This is really delicious-I used poultry seasoning instead of sage and added 1 teaspoon of curry piwde-WOW!
I agree with Faye! Your recipes are blowing my mind! This was delish! Made it with a nutritional yeast “turkey” gravy and mashed potatoes and WOW! Thank you thank you thank you! You are making being a vegetarian (and mostly vegan) super fun!
Awwww thanks! Glad you are enjoying Megan!
I’m obsessed with your recipes and was looking to make a nut roast so I thought I’d check yours out!
Do you have any suggestions for what to replace the egg with to make this a vegan recipe please?
5 stars in advance because, so far, everything I’ve made from this website has exceeded my expectations! – biiig fan of the cilantro mint chutney <3
You could try flax eggs?
I tried this with flax eggs and it worked a treat!!
I am allergic to all tree nuts–is there any nut free substitute in place of the walnuts?
How about pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds?
Perhaps try using lentils add some sunflowers instead. I’ll bet that would be delicious. You could even add more mushrooms or vegetables too! Good luck, I hope it works.
This recipe is sooo delicious, it was a success
Love this recipe….has a great finished texture and all the different ingredients meld together really well. Firm favourite in our house for a roast dinner.
Hello Sylvia, happy new year!
I cooked this recipe yesterday with my daughter for our New year’s eve dinner and we were not disappointed. The mushrooms sauce is also so flavorful. I will definetely cook this recipe again.
And just to let you know, for the eggs, we replaced them by 3 chia seeds eggs and the texture was perfect.
Thank you for this great recipe !
Thanks Marie- helpful! Happy new year!
Hello Sylvia, I made this recipe for Christmas. It was a great success. I substituted leeks for half the quantity of onion, and chopped up cranberries to replace the pomegranate seeds. With half the loaf remaining, we discovered sliced thinly and served cold it became a pate (sans gravy), and was delicious with rustic bread, mustard and various pickles. My DH says that if you didn’t exist, we would have to invent you! Thanks again for your Saturday morning emails.
thanks Vivian!
Hi Sylvia
I used your (almost) entire Thanksgiving menu for my Christmas dinner this year, with my Vegan daughter and vegetarian hubby.
We loved it all! I will post the pics to insta
Thanks so much and glad you enjoyed!
Another one for the books! Your recipes are always so well-written and organic for the cooking process (I.e. throwing some wine in to deglaze). I also love the endless variations offered so if I’m cooking for someone with a different diet I know how to adjust and trust it will be nutritious and amazing! I wish I could figure out some shortcuts so I could make it on work nights..
Thank you again, Sylvia!
AMAZING! My whole family loved it. I’m a vegetarian so I made it for Thanksgiving for myself. The whole family ended up eating it because it was so delicious!
Hi! This looks delish. I will try to use flax and not egg. Do you think it can freeze beforehand ?
Havent tried to freeze or make with a flax eggs- so honestly not sure of the outcome here. I think it would freeze best after being baked.
I made this as my Thanksgiving main course with fluffy mashed potatoes. It was exquisite and rich. The pomegranate seeds and gravy were an excellent addition of color and flavor. What a great way to enjoy mushrooms! Thank you, Sylvia!
Thanks Maria! Glad you enjoyed.
This was delicious! Super umami bomb with the cheddar cheese. We’re not veggie, but my husband said to put it in the “make again” section of my recipes.
Great to hear, glad you liked it!
My family enjoyed this on Thanksgiving this year. It had all the fanciness that I wish on a holiday meal. Everyone loved it and I have shared the recipe with anyone who expressed interest. Thanksgiving had such a unique flair with this roadt, this year, thank you!
Thanks so much Amelia- glad this worked for you!
Hi Sylvia- can’t wait to try this, can this be made ahead or assembled in the pan and baked just before eating? Many thanks
Yes, that would work fine! Make ahead, bring to room temp, bake before serving.
I had a similar nut loaf recipe 25 years ago, our family loved during holidays, but lost it along the way. This one sounds awesome and plan to make it, with your mushroom gravy, for Solstice. Thank you Sylvia, all your recipes are fantastic!!
Hi Sylvia! I love your food blog. Thank you for being my go-to! I was wondering, is there a good sub for the walnuts? I would love to make this but my partner is allergic!
how about Pecans?
Mine turned out very wet, any suggestions to avoid that for next time? The flavours were still amazing, just bad consistency!
Oh dear. Did you add cheese and cottage cheese or leave them out?
I used them!
I adjusted the time a bit- it needs a bit longer when you add the cottage cheese. Sorry about that.
re trying it today ! thanks for the update 🙂
Hi Sylvia,
First let me start by saying that I have been gathering recipes off the internet for years and your blog is the first one I’ve subscribed to. Every recipe that I’ve tried so far has been amazing. As well, I love your thoughts on life and the quotes you share. Today we got our first dump of snow which always seems to draw me into my kitchen. I made “Sagey Mushroom Nut Roast” and once it was completed I realized that I may have made a mistake with the amount of mushrooms I used. Your recipe calls for 16 oz of mushrooms and I am now thinking you meant weight not volume. Could you please confirm and give me an idea, like you did in the Mushroom Gravy recipe, approximately how many cups to use? It’s in the oven now…I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again!
Yes, weight! So you need one pound of mushrooms, it was around 5-6 cups sliced. I clarified the recipe- sorry about that. I’m scared to ask, did it turn out?
It was still super yummy but it was very dense, likely because of the nuts. Therefore, we could only eat a small piece before we felt full. Regardless we still really enjoyed it! I’m looking forward to making it again with the proper amount of mushrooms. I also wanted to add that the mushroom gravy was the bomb! Thank you again for all of your wonderful recipes.
Omg! I’m so happy you sent this out in your newsletter! I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving 🤗
Sounds really lovely! Was just wondering if you can make it in advance and freeze it? If so would you cook it before you freeze it? Thanks!
Hi Sue, I think it would be fine freezing. I’d bake, and maybe even slice first before freezing if you don’t plan on. eating it all at once.
Thanks so much Sylvia! I had never thought that I could slice first before freezing. And I can make this gluten free too! Win win all around!