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

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Classic Fried Puffballs

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Fried Puffball Mushrooms

If you’ve found a puffball mushroom before and you haven’t had them fried yet (the classic way), grab some flour, egg, and breadcrumbs and get to work next time you come score one.

Puffballs can be delicious, but I’ve found that some people get turned off at the texture, which can be a little soft. If you’re wondering how to cook a puffball you’ve found, this is probably the most tried and true way I know to prepare them. 

Harvesting a puffball mushroom

I love the texture of a properly prepared puffball, the quality of which I usually judge by the caramelization of the mushroom itself, in other words, I want puffballs fried golden brown, because they taste better.

Puffballs poorly browned will have an awkward feeling in the mouth, kind of like a thin, flaccid marshmallow. If they’re browned though, they take on nutty hints of cheesy, mushroomy goodness.

Cleaning and peeling a puffball mushroom

Hitting puffballs with the classic flour/egg/breadcrumb method makes them into crispy little cutlets that hold their shape just like a piece of meat would, or anything that’s been breaded really.

Although the mushroom itself gets kind of steamed inside it’s crispy breadcrumb coating, somehow it works. Granted, it’s hard to make fried food taste bad and I don’t bread and fry food to eat all the time, but I do keep it in the bag of tricks for when it’s useful because it tastes great.

Cleaning and peeling a puffball mushroom

After you’ve fried your puffballs up you can do whatever you want with them. Plenty of recipes will dump stuff all over them like cheese, gravy, etc. Generally, I like a lighter touch, although I did make a lasagna with them the other week.

Breading a puffball mushroom

An Italian, Italian American, and also Argentinian and Mexican tradition (Via Italian immigration in WW2) is the “Milanesa” (named for the Northern Italian town of Milan) or breaded cutlet, which could be from the traditional veal, or from chicken pork or beef.

Most of the time, it’s served straight up, maybe with a little lemon on the side, or my favorite-an arugula salad, lemon and a little olive oil.

Breading a puffball mushroom

In the picture, I had it with an arugula salad and a few capers made from dandelion buds. Sometimes I serve capers fried too-held at room temperature and sprinkled on things. Just dredge them in flour, fry until crisp, set on a towel to dry until you need them.

Frying and cooking a puffball mushroom

The finished product is great all by itself served with a green salad or your favorite vegetable side, but it’s also good used to make puffball parmesan, which you can do by smothering the fried slices in some mozzarella, tomato sauce and parmesan. 

Fried puffball mushroom 8

Fried Puffball Mushrooms
Print Recipe
4.04 from 31 votes

Fried Puffball Mushrooms

Breaded, fried puffball mushrooms
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Fried Puffballs, Puffball mushroom

Ingredients

  • Fresh puffball mushrooms
  • 1.5 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Fresh ground black pepper
  • 1.5 cups All purpose flour
  • Panko breadcrumbs
  • 3 large Eggs beaten well with a splash of half and half
  • High heat cooking oil like grapeseed, as needed, for frying

For serving (optional)

  • Fresh arugula or whatever greens you have/prefer
  • Fresh lemon juice or wedge
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

  • Preheat an oven to 225, or to a warm setting.
  • Mix the flour with the salt. If you can grind the salt in a spice grinder to make it fine, do it.
  • If you haven't already, slice off the root end of the puffball and inspect for any bug damage, the flesh of the mushroom should be perfectly white, not at all greenish-yellow.
  • Using a long, sharp slicing knife, slice the puffball into 1/2 inch or so slices. Liberally coat the mushroom slices in flour, then tap off the excess and dip them in beaten egg, then the panko breadcrumbs. Heat a generous amount of oil in a pan (1/4-1/2 a cup should be good depending on the size of your mushroom slices and the size of your pan) then, when sizzling hot, add the puffballs and cook until golden brown on each side.
  • Pay close attention to the amount of oil in the pan, the breadcrumbs are going to soak up a ton of oil, and you don't to let the pan get dry, think of it like a shallow deep-fry. If the pan gets dry, add more oil.
  • Once the mushrooms are browned, place them in the warm oven on a cookie sheet with a resting rack to prevent the heat from being trapped and steaming the crispy crust until you're done with the rest.
  • When the mushrooms are all fried, dress the arugula or other greens with the lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, then serve immediately.

Video

Notes

I recommend making these for 2-4 people at a time. Trying to fry your whole puffball, if it's large, will require a hood vent or outside cooking. 

More

Puffball Mushrooms

Related

Previous Post: « Jacques Chibois’s Carbonara of Chanterelles and Black Trumpets
Next Post: Salmon With 6 Lilies and Saffron »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jack Guard

    August 27, 2016 at 8:36 am

    if you could learn to grown these commercially you’d be a Kazillionaire! 🙂 Imagine the top end restaurants ordering these babies……wow……I recently found a small field where about 25 of them come up every year—–GOLD….

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      August 30, 2016 at 12:40 pm

      Yes. Cultivating them would be awesome!

      Reply
      • Kathleen Putzig

        September 17, 2020 at 6:36 pm

        We have a gift of Rams Head Mushrooms. Could you recommend a recipe for me? I love the breaded fried puffballs. It’s my new favorite way to cook them!

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          September 18, 2020 at 7:44 am

          Try my basic roasted hen of the woods (assuming you’re talking about Grifola)

          Reply
    • Joyc

      September 6, 2019 at 4:32 pm

      Unfortunately, one is lucky to find a puffball growing on it’s own Cultivating them would indeed be awesome!

      Reply
  2. Rebecca A. Nyberg

    October 10, 2016 at 12:00 am

    I like them best cooked a similar way, only I dip in egg and then fresh grated Parmesan. Believe it or not, the cheese stands up well to the frying (just a bit less than medium heat, minimal oil, and in a ceramic pan worked well for me).

    Reply
  3. Melissa

    October 21, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    I don’t suppose you would share that puffball lasagna recipe here? My friend gave me 2 last night and they are huge!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 31, 2016 at 4:37 pm

      Hi Melissa, the puffball lasagna will be posted next year, the blog is written a year in advance and publishes itself.

      Reply
  4. Tyler Davis

    September 11, 2017 at 10:02 am

    Found two puffballs yesterday. Going to try this recipe tonight.
    What do I do with the butter? It’s in the ingredients list, but not in the recipe steps.

    Reply
  5. William Kalenborn

    October 7, 2018 at 5:47 am

    Gotd a vollyball and teatherball pair of puffballs today in the yard for the first time. Very rainy summer. Peeled in the fridge; .Recipe hunting.

    Reply
  6. Oliver Carlin

    April 20, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    Thanks for the recipe. It looks so delicious I can’t wait for Puffball season to come around and I will try it out.

    Reply
  7. shawn finley

    September 12, 2020 at 3:25 pm

    5 stars
    ya i just found about 10 of these big beautiful babies out at my hunting area. Gonna go well with my doves and goose tonight. Thanks for the recipe ????????

    Reply
  8. Jamie

    September 13, 2020 at 10:58 am

    5 stars
    Made puffball Parmigiano on homemade ciabatta bread today. Love to forage and love to cook. You’ve inspired me to put it all together

    Reply
  9. Fernanda Luciana Leporace

    October 2, 2021 at 8:51 am

    5 stars
    Thank you! I read your post a few weeks back…today I went for a walk snd found a spot with several puffballs. I brought one home to try it out!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 2, 2021 at 9:19 am

      Congrats. Let me know if you have any questions.

      Reply
  10. Allison

    October 22, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    Whoa- this is wild… went on a hike today and stumbled on a mini field of puffballs so i grabbed one to try as I’ve heard they are good . I got home and Googled ‘puffball recipes’ and yours was the first to pop up. The wild part is that I was unfamiliar with Forager Chef until this week when I met you at the Airbnb in MKE! Small world!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 22, 2021 at 9:01 pm

      Wow. Yep, that’s me, just your average basement dweller 😂! Great to chat with you.

      Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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