Crack Mushrooms: The Sausage-Stuffed Appetizer Our Family Can’t Stop Eating

We call these Crack Mushrooms for a reason.

My mom made them for a holiday one year, and my entire family could not stop eating them. You know those appetizers where you tell yourself you’re just going to have one, and then somehow you’re standing next to the tray reaching for number four?

That’s these.

Now they’re one of those foods that have basically become mandatory at family holidays. If my mom doesn’t make the mushrooms, someone is going to ask where they are.

And the best part is that they’re ridiculously simple.

At Our Ancestors’ Foods, we’re currently celebrating the end of summer with our End of Summer Barbecue Sale, featuring sausage and ground beef. But just because there’s a barbecue sale going on doesn’t mean everything has to become a burger or get thrown on the grill.

So if you’ve got sausage in the freezer and you’re wondering what else you can make with it, start here.

The Secret Is the Country Sausage

My personal favorite version of these is made with our Country Sausage.

And I am not just saying this because it comes from our farm. Our country sausage is genuinely some of the best sausage I’ve ever had. Restaurant, homemade, anywhere. The seasoning is so good that you really don’t need to do much to it.

It’s also my dad’s favorite. He is always asking for the country sausage.

When you combine that seasoned pork with creamy cheese and an earthy mushroom, everything just works. The mushroom soaks up some of that sausage flavor as it bakes, the cheese keeps the filling together, and you get this little two-bite appetizer that is savory, rich, and dangerously easy to keep eating.

Hence: Crack Mushrooms.

What Kind of Mushrooms Should You Use?

We normally use white button mushrooms, but this recipe is very forgiving. Baby bella mushrooms would be great too.

Look for mushrooms that are large enough to stuff. You want enough room inside the cap to get a good mound of sausage filling in there.

Remove the stem, then gently scoop out a little bit of the inside of the mushroom if you need more room. Don't go crazy here. You still want the mushroom cap sturdy enough to hold everything together.

And don't automatically throw those stems away. Chop them up and add them to soup, eggs, pasta sauce, gravy, or whatever else you're cooking that week.

About the Cheese

My mom makes these with Velveeta, and that works really well because it melts easily and helps hold the sausage filling together.

When I made them recently, I didn't have Velveeta. What I did have were those little semi-soft Babybel cheeses.

So that's what I used.

And you know what? They worked.

This isn't a recipe where I'm going to tell you that there is exactly one cheese you must use. The cheese is really there to add creaminess and help bind the crumbled sausage together so you can mound it into the mushroom caps.

Use Velveeta. Use a semi-soft cheese. Try cheddar. Try pepper jack if you want some heat. Use what you like and what you already have.

Cooking should be allowed to work that way.

Our Family's Crack Mushrooms

Makes: approximately 18 to 24 stuffed mushrooms, depending on mushroom size
Prep time: about 20 minutes
Bake time: about 18 to 20 minutes
Oven: 400°F

Ingredients

• 1 pound Our Ancestors’ Foods Country Sausage

• 16 ounces whole white button mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms

• 4 to 6 ounces Velveeta or another good melting semi-soft cheese

• Olive oil or olive oil cooking spray, for the pan

Instructions

1. Prep your mushrooms.
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems, and gently scoop out a little of the center if you need additional room for the filling.

Lightly coat a baking sheet or baking dish with olive oil or olive oil cooking spray.

2. Remove the sausage from the casing.
Slice the casing and remove the sausage meat. You're going to cook it just like ground meat.

3. Brown the sausage.
Place the sausage in a skillet over medium heat and break it apart as it cooks. Cook until completely browned.

4. Add the cheese.
Lower the heat and add your cheese to the cooked sausage. Stir until the cheese melts and the mixture comes together.

You don't need enough cheese to overwhelm the sausage. You're looking for a creamy mixture that will hold its shape when you stuff the mushrooms.

5. Let the filling cool.

This is important.

You can try stuffing the mushrooms while the mixture is piping hot, but you're making life unnecessarily difficult.

Let it cool enough that you can comfortably handle it. Once the cheese begins to firm back up, it becomes much easier to scoop, shape, and mound onto each mushroom.

6. Stuff them.
Take a small amount of sausage mixture and press it into the cavity of each mushroom. Don't stop at filling the hole. Give it a nice little mound on top.

This is not the time to be stingy with the sausage.

7. Bake.
Arrange the stuffed mushrooms on your prepared pan and bake at 400°F for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender, the filling is piping hot, and the tops are beginning to brown.

Depending on the size of your mushrooms, they may need a few extra minutes.

Let them cool just enough that you don't burn your mouth while ignoring your own advice and eating one directly from the pan.

Can I Use a Different Sausage?

Absolutely.

We love Country Sausage for this particular recipe because I think the seasoning pairs perfectly with the mushroom and cheese, but you can experiment with any sausage you like.

Our Italian Sausage would take these in a completely different direction. Kielbasa would bring another flavor profile. You could switch up the cheese at the same time and make several variations from the same basic recipe.

Once you know the method, you don't really need a recipe anymore:

Mushroom + seasoned meat + melty cheese = very hard to mess up.

Don't Want to Use Your Ground Beef for Another Burger? Try This.

You can also make Crack Mushrooms using ground beef.

If you've stocked up on ground beef during our End of Summer Barbecue Sale and you're already thinking, "Okay, I've made burgers, tacos, spaghetti and meatballs. What else can I do with this?"

Stuff the mushrooms.

Because ground beef isn't already seasoned the way our sausage is, I would give it a little extra help. Brown it with your favorite seasonings. A simple combination would be:

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Garlic

• Onion powder

• A splash of Worcestershire sauce

Then melt in your cheese, let the mixture cool, and follow the exact same stuffing and baking process.

You get an entirely different appetizer using the same basic idea.

A Little No-Waste Side Note

I hate throwing away something I can use somewhere else.

When I made these, I was also making pumpkin soup. After removing the sausage from its casings, I simmered the casings along with the soup to give the broth a little extra flavor.

If you're working with edible natural casings and you're already making a soup or broth, it's another way to get some flavor out of an ingredient before it gets discarded.

And those mushroom stems? Save those too.

In fact, I may need to share the pumpkin soup recipe next, because the soup and these mushrooms together made a pretty fantastic meal.

A Barbecue Sale Doesn't Have to Mean Barbecue

That's really the idea behind this recipe.

We love a good burger and grilled sausage as much as anybody, but when you have good meat in your freezer, there are so many ways to use it.

One package of country sausage can become an appetizer your whole family talks about. Ground beef can become something completely different from the usual burger or taco night. Sometimes all it takes is looking at an ingredient a little differently.

And if you make these for a party or holiday, consider this your warning:

Make more than you think you need.

My family learned that lesson a long time ago.

Crack Mushrooms at a Glance

Mushrooms: White button or baby bella
Meat: Country sausage, another favorite sausage, or seasoned ground beef
Cheese: Velveeta or your favorite good melting cheese
Bake: 400°F for approximately 18 to 20 minutes
Best advice: Make extra.

PSA: If you’re one of those weirdos who doesn’t like mushrooms (and you made it this far in the blog post I commend you), don’t worry, you can still make this.

Use the exact same sausage-and-cheese filling and stuff it into mini sweet peppers, bell peppers, or, if you’re feeling bold, jalapeños.

Honestly, it’s hard to go wrong when you stuff something with meat and cheese.

If you try these with your Our Ancestors’ Foods sausage or ground beef, let us know which combination you used. We always love seeing what our customers are making with food from the farm here in Cocoa, Florida.