Learn how to make a delicious Mushroom Wellington, a showstopping vegetarian main course that's perfect for special occasions!
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Are you looking for a vegetarian entree that will wow your holiday guests?
Then, you'll want to make this amazing Mushroom Wellington!
This showstopping main course is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Valentine's Day, dinner parties. Basically any festive occasion.
Between its mouthwatering flavor and beautiful looks, this is one recipe that's guaranteed to impress your holiday guests!
Mushroom Wellington
When it comes to holiday get togethers, I'm usually the only vegetarian there. And if someone else is doing the cooking, I'm more than happy eating the veggie sides. They're usually the best part of the meal anyway!
If I'm making the dinner though, all bets are off. I love creating a showstopping veg entree that vegetarians and meat eaters will both love ... like this Mushroom Wellington.
This beautiful recipe is basically a vegetarian Beef Wellington, which is a popular British dish. For my recipe, I've replaced the beef and pâté found in that classic with tons hearty mushrooms wrapped in puff pastry.
If you're looking for vegetarian holiday recipes, you have to try this tasty Wellington. It's delicious, looks amazing, and feels super festive ... exactly what holiday cooking is all about!
Vegetarian Holiday Menu Plan
Before we get to the recipe, I want to share my amazing vegetarian meal plan with you! Holidays can be kind of tricky for vegetarians, and these are dishes anyone would love, even meat eaters.
So whether you are vegetarian, or there’s a vegetarian attending your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you'll love these recipes!
You can get all the recipes here:
- Dad’s Classic Bread Stuffing
- Mom’s Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
- Mushroom Gravy
- Roasted Vegetables
- Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Mushroom Wellington (You're here!)
Vegetarian Wellington Ingredients
This easy vegetable Wellington uses simple, yet delicious ingredients to create an impressive entree!
Here's what you'll need:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Portabella Mushrooms
- Dijon Mustard
- Onions
- Shallots
- White Mushrooms
- Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Thyme
- Puff Pastry
- Egg Yolk
- Salt (I prefer Kosher salt.)
- Pepper (Make sure to use fresh-cracked pepper.)
A few ingredient notes: 1) Make sure to use large portabella mushrooms, about 5-inches across. If you can't find large portabellas, just purchase extra smaller mushrooms. 2) You can replace the white mushrooms with brown mushrooms, or even wild mushrooms, if you prefer. 3) Puff pastry is usually found in the freezer section. It needs to stay chilled, so defrost it in the refrigerator overnight before using.
To Make a Vegan Wellington
This recipe is vegetarian, but it's super easy to veganize. First of all, you'll need a vegan puff pastry. The Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry I used is already vegan. It's easy to find, and I'd highly recommend it. And before baking, you'll want to brush the Wellington with a vegan butter replacement or with olive oil, instead of the egg yolk.
How to Make a Vegetable Wellington
Let's talk about how to make this yummy vegetarian Mushroom Wellington recipe!
This recipe is easier than you'd think, but there are a few steps involved. I'm going to break it down for you step-by-step, but here's the basic plan:
- Roast portabella mushrooms, then brush with Dijon mustard.
- Saute diced onions, shallots, and white mushrooms. Season with garlic and fresh thyme.
- Top a sheet of puff pastry with onion-mushroom mixture, then the portabellas.
- Fold the pastry around the mushroom filling, then bake until golden.
Not too hard right? You can do it!
Preparing the Mushrooms
The first thing you need to do is cook the mushrooms. Start by removing the stems from the portabella mushrooms, then use a spoon to scrape the gills from inside the caps.
Brush the portabella mushrooms on both sides with olive oil, then roast for 10 minutes, gill-side up. After 10 minutes, flip the mushrooms over. Roast the mushrooms for an additional 15 minutes or until any liquid they've released has evaporated ... they should look dry on the outside.
Remove the portabellas from the oven, then season them to taste on both sides with salt and pepper. Brush the mushrooms with a little Dijon mustard, then set them aside to cool.
While the portabellas are roasting, you'll work on the other part of the filling. You'll start by sauteing onions and shallots in olive oil.
Once the onion mixture has started to brown, you're going to stir in a ton of diced white mushrooms ... a pound and a half, to be precise. Don't worry if this seems like too much, the mushrooms will reduce in size as they cook.
Cook these mushrooms until any liquid they've released has totally evaporated, and they are starting to brown. If you'd like to speed things along a bit, turn up the heat to medium-high once you add the diced mushrooms.
You'll saute the mushrooms with a little garlic, then remove them from the heat and stir in fresh thyme. Season everything to taste with salt and pepper, then set the mushrooms aside to cool.
Assembling the Vegetable Wellington
Puff pastry is not that hard to work with, but it must remain chilled. You'll want to work as quickly as possible so the dough doesn't warm up. Your filling should also be cool, so make sure to let all those mushrooms cool to room temp before proceeding.
This recipe uses two sheets of puff pastry (and makes two Wellingtons), and you're going to work with one sheet at a time.
Here's how to assemble the Wellingtons:
- Remove one sheet of puff pastry from the refrigerator, and place it on a lightly floured board or piece of parchment paper. (I like using parchment paper, because you can use the paper to help fold over the dough and there's less clean up.)
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little more flour, then using a rolling pin, roll it out to about 10 x 12-inches. Press together any seams that have split apart.
- Spread half of the onion-mushroom mixture down the center of puff pastry, leaving a ½-inch border on either end. Top this mixture with 2 portabella mushrooms.
- Fold one side of the puff pastry over the mushroom filling, then fold the other side of the pastry over that. Turn the ½-inch border under, and pinch together any seams.
- Place the Wellington seam-side down on a baking sheet, then repeat this process with the remaining ingredients.
Scoring and Baking the Wellingtons
Next, you're going to brush the vegetable Wellingtons with an egg yolk-water mixture. This will help them get that beautiful golden color as they bake.
Then, use a really sharp knife to score a pattern in the puff pastry. Use a light touch and try not to cut all the way through the dough.
I created two different designs:
- For the crosshatch pattern (on the left below): I scored diagonal lines all going in one direction. Then, I crossed over them with diagonal lines going in the other direction. This simple pattern ended up being my favorite design.
- For the herringbone pattern (on the right below): I scored three vertical lines in the pastry first, dividing the dough into four sections. Then, I scored diagonal lines in each section, making sure the lines in the neighboring sections met in the middle. If I were to do this again, I would continue the herringbone pattern on the side of the dough.
- Once the Wellingtons are scored, you'll bake them until they're puffed up and deep golden brown.
Don't those Mushroom Wellington look gorgeous? I especially love how they look on a the platter surrounded by roasted vegetables.
This vegetarian Wellington recipe tastes as good as it looks, making it perfect for special occasions. Serve it for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day ... basically anytime you want to impress your guests.
If you're serving this recipe at a dinner party, make sure to cut it at the table (use a serrated knife) ... that way everyone can appreciate your amazing handiwork!
Loved this Mushroom Wellington recipe?
If you liked this vegetarian Wellington, here are some other showstopping recipes you'll also enjoy!
- Fettuccine Alfredo with Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Butternut Squash Lasagna with Kale and Mushrooms
- Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
- Vegetable Pie with Phyllo
- Creamy Mushroom Strudels
- Moroccan Spiced Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls
- Lemony Pasta Primavera with Roasted Vegetables
Mushroom Wellington
Ingredients
- nonstick cooking spray
For Filling:
- 4 large portabella mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 medium shallots, diced
- 1 ½ pounds white mushrooms, diced small
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- salt
- pepper
For Assembling:
- 2 sheets puff pastry, chilled *
- flour
- 1 egg yolk *
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with nonstick spray.
Prepare Filling:
- Use a spoon to remove gills from portabella mushrooms. Brush mushrooms on both sides with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
- Place mushrooms, gill-side up, on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Flip mushrooms, then roast for 15 more minutes, or until mushrooms and tender and their surface is dry.
- Season mushrooms with salt and pepper, then brush with Dijon mustard. Set aside to cool.
- Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees.
- While portabellas are roasting, heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet.
- When pan is hot, add onions and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until starting to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add diced mushrooms to pan. Cook mushrooms, stirring frequently, until they are lightly browned and any liquid they release has evaporated.
- Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly (about 1 minute). Remove mushrooms from heat, then add thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
Assemble Wellingtons:
- When mushrooms have cooled completely, remove a sheet of puff pastry from refrigerator. Place puff pastry on a lightly floured board or a piece of parchment paper.
- Sprinkle puff pastry lightly with flour, then use a rolling pin to roll pastry out to about 10 x 12-inches. Press together any tears in the pastry.
- Add half of the onion-mushroom mixture down the center of the puff pastry, leaving a ½-inch border on either end. Top mixture with two portabella mushrooms.
- Fold one side of the pastry over the mushrooms, then fold the other side over that. Fold under ½-inch border, then pinch together seams.
- Place Wellington on baking sheet (seam side down). Repeat process with remaining puff pastry and mushrooms.
- Whisk together egg yolk and 2 teaspoons cold water. Brush over top and sides of puff pastry.
- Use a sharp knife to lightly score pastry with a pattern, if desired. Do not cut through pastry.
- Bake Wellingtons at 400 degrees until puffed and golden, about 40 to 45 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Use a serrated knife to cut each Wellington into 4 to 5 slices. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
What is your favorite vegetarian entree for the holidays?
This looks very impressive, Ginnie, as well as delicious! I've always been a little afraid of working with puff pastry, but I think I could do this!
Thank you so much, Amy! It's actually much easier to work with than you'd think. It basically comes in one sheet (no individual layers like phyllo), and as long as it stays cold there shouldn't be any issues. 🙂