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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Classic Fried or Breaded Morels

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Fried or breaded morel mushrooms recipe Any mushroom hunter worth their salt should have a fried morel recipe. People will argue until the end of time as to what method is the best: some swear by saltines, some use just flour, some like egg batter.

For me, there’s only one way, the way my Grandmother made them, and the way my friends ask me to make them every year after our first successful hunt: a basic flour-egg-flour method.

Morel Mushrooms from Minnesota on a sheet tray

Some of these are too large to fry. Medium-sized mushrooms are the best for this.

As I’ve mentioned, every mushroom, especially every wild mushroom, is different in how you approach it from a technique standpoint. chanterelles require longer cooking/sauteing than most wild mushrooms, since they’re so firm.

Others like puffballs need to be caramelized and sauteed in a pan to taste like anything. Morels though, are delicate, and breading and frying them like this is a time-honored way of preparing these mushrooms across the United States. 

Fried or breaded morel mushrooms recipe

Set out the cleaned morels on towels for a bit while you prepare the flour and eggs.

Steamed in their natural juices 

The reason breaded and fried morels taste so good isn’t just because they’re covered in a golden-brown, crispy coating, although it doesn’t hurt.

The thin outer layer of breading has a dual purpose: not only is the texture of the cap preserved from getting crunchy or overcooked when it exposed to high heat, the coating allows the mushrooms to steam-cook in their own juices, which seep out into the breading.

Mushrooms, are mostly water, coating them in a batter or dredge keeps their natural water in and cooks them in their own juice.

That’s why everyone raves about battered morels, and so and so’s grandma’s recipe, even though they might not be able to really say why, except that “they are so good”

harvesting and trimming morels

Cleaning. Small mushrooms can be left whole if they’re clean inside.

Morels must be thoroughly cooked 

A note of caution here. I’ve never had a problem cooking and eating morels like this, but I usually make large pans of them, and they take a while to cook, at least 10 minutes or so.

Remember that morels are toxic raw, and if they’re undercooked, they could make you and your loved ones sick, so if you want to cook a small batch, remember to cook them thoroughly (5-10 minutes) to avoid any issues.

Like I said, I’ve never had any problems, and this is a classic way to have morels, but you do need to take that into account.

blonde morel mushrooms or morchella americana

These mushrooms aren’t too big, they’ll work well for frying.

How to make it 

First, the best mushrooms for this are young, medium-sized ones. I find large mushrooms too big and heavy to enjoy like this. Secondly, the mushrooms need to be inspected and cleaned. Morels are wild creatures, so it’s important to clean them thoroughly to avoid eating sand and grit.

My process for cleaning is simple: cut the mushrooms in half, swish them in cool water, then drain on paper towels. I demonstrate this in the video at the end of this post. 

Mature morel mushrooms or morchella americana

Older, large morels aren’t the ones you want to bread and fry, if your mushrooms look like this, dry them or use for another recipe.

While some people claim that you should soak morels in water, or, even worse-salt water to remove bugs, this isn’t true. Soaking morels basically ruins them, especially the salt water. If your morels are very large or buggy, dehydrate them, use them in a different recipe. 

Once the morels are cleaned, all you need to do is dip them in seasoned flour, tap off the excess, dip in beaten egg, then the flour again, and put them into the pan, cooking them on medium-high heat until both sides are golden brown. Afterwards, sprinkle with salt and enjoy, preferably with a cold beer. 

Fried or breaded morels recipe

Fried or breaded morels recipe
Print Recipe
4 from 9 votes

Simple Fried Or Breaded Morels

Simple fried morels, the way my grandmother used to make them.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Fried Morels, morel mushrooms
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder (optional) I make mine with dried ground ramp leaves instead
  • 2 teaspoons fine salt or grind kosher salt in a spice grinder
  • 4 large Eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons Half and half, cream or milk
  • 4 oz Fresh Morel Mushrooms small to medium sized. Large morels should be dehydrated or cooked as-is
  • 3 oz (1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) butter, oil, or a combination I use a 50/50 blend of oil like grapeseed or canola and salted butter since using only butter can burn.

Instructions

  • Mix the flour, dried ramp leaves if using, pepper, and salt.
  • Wash the morels quickly or swish them in cold water to clean, then allow to drain on towels.
  • Toss the morels in flour, then toss them in egg beaten in a little milk, as for scrambled eggs.
  • Meanwhile, heat the pan with the butter and oil.
  • Put the morels back in the flour, tap off the excess gently then put them straight into the frying pan.
  • Cook until the flour coating is golden brown, if the coating soaks up to much oil and the pan gets dry, put some more oil or butter in. Make sure to thoroughly cook your morels. They should take a good 8-10 minutes for a batch this size. Take your time and don't burn them.
  • When the morels are golden brown, remove them from the pan and drain off the fat on paper towels, seasoning with the nicest, flaked salt/kosher salt you can find. Cool for a moment, then eat. Keep the cold beer handy.

Video

Notes

Don't confuse these with "battered morels". Those are another thing entirely, as battering means to fry with a wet method.

More 

Forager’s Guide to Morel Mushrooms

fried morels, breaded morels,

Related

Previous Post: « Crown-Tipped Coral Mushrooms
Next Post: Pickled Ramp Sour Cream »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Isabelle

    April 6, 2022 at 10:26 am

    5 stars
    My fifth year as a morel forager and I finally tried this classic recipe. Wow! Crunchy on the outside, moist and delicious on the inside. The horseradish dipping sauce was perfect.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      April 8, 2022 at 9:06 am

      Glad it worked for you!

      Reply
  2. Kay

    May 11, 2022 at 9:32 pm

    5 stars
    My grocery store was out of saltines, so I googled and found this recipe. Appreciate the detailed instructions. Turned out absolutely delicious — I won’t be buying saltines again! I used butter and avocado oil for frying, and popcorn salt in the batter. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      May 12, 2022 at 7:58 am

      Hey Thanks Kay. I like to think my Grandma watches over everyone that makes this 🙂 Glad it worked for you.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Black Morel Hootenanny: 2014 says:
    May 19, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    […] a darn thing, people could still get their morel fix. We found enough fresh morels to fry them up classic style, but planning to serve a morel based dinner for 30 people means you need a whole lot of morels. […]

    Reply
  2. 58 | zqcm says:
    May 23, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    […] coating, on top. The flour mixture is just all-purpose flour, salt, and pepper. The idea is from here, which I’ve found very useful for learning about foraged mushrooms. I fried in a blend of […]

    Reply
  3.  Happy BidDay says:
    September 7, 2014 at 11:25 pm

     Happy BidDay

    Simple Fried Morels or Breaded Morels

    Reply
  4. Recette simple pour morilles frites ou morilles panées – Cuisine-nature says:
    May 11, 2020 at 11:43 am

    […] <! – -> Source link […]

    Reply

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Alan Bergo
Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Oeufs de Gaulle is a classic morel recipe Jacques Pepin used to make for French president Charles de Gaulle. 

You bake eggs in a ramekin with shrimp topped with creamy morel sauce and eat with toast points. 

Makes for a really special brunch or breakfast. Recipe’s on my site, but it’s even better to watch Jacques make it on you tube. 

#jacquespepin #morels #shrimp #morilles #brunchtime
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
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