Adapting one of our most popular recipes for the holiday season, these Cranberry BBQ Mushroom Wings are a great way to shake up a classic. Customize your favourite BBQ sauce with a little leftover cranberry sauce or make it yourself like we did. Then smother it all over some crispy fried oyster mushrooms.
What are oyster mushrooms?
One of our favourite mushroom varieties, you will find these used in all of our other mushroom wing recipes and our Fried Chick’n and Waffles as well. Oyster mushrooms are one of the most common cultivated mushrooms around the world and can be found at most grocery stores. They grow naturally on and near trees in subtropic forests around the world. They’re eaten in many cuisines, but most notably in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. You can often find them dried as well.
They have a delicate texture and a mild flavour — perfect to take on delicious flavour. We love deep frying them and using them as wings because they have a very moist, meaty, yet almost stringy texture like chicken would.
Top tips for making meaty vegan BBQ mushroom wings:
- Use oyster mushrooms! They’re quick, easy and SO DELICIOUS. We’ve had seitan, cauliflower, and soy based wings, but these vegan mushroom wings are next level. Meaty and moist, just like a chicken wing. Then deep fried and smothered in sauce, dinner never looked so good.
- Deep fry them for the ultimate crunch that doesn’t get soggy. Even when doused in sauce, these wings stay perfectly crispy and moist. If you don’t love deep frying, shallow frying is a great option.
- Let the mushrooms rest in the batter for a more tender, meaty wing.
- Get the breading in all the nooks and crannies. The breading is part of the texture that is just so good. Be sure to toss it generously in the flour dredge, this is what creates that delicious outer crispy layer.
How to make Cranberry BBQ Mushroom Wings:
Cranberry BBQ Mushroom Wings
Ingredients
- 350 g oyster mushrooms
- vegetable oil for deep frying
Batter
- 128 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 315 mL (1⅓ cup) vegetable stock
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan yogurt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Dredge
- 180 g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp onion
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- pinch salt & pepper
Sauce
- 120 mL (½ cup) bbq sauce
- 110 g (1 cup) cranberries
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 37 g (3 tbsp) brown sugar
- pinch nutmeg
Instructions
Make sauce:
- To a sauce pan over medium heat add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar and nutmeg. Mix it all together frequently until the cranberries start to burst and you have a jam-like consistency. Remove from the head and stir in the bbq sauce. If your sauce needs some thinning out you can add some melted butter to thin.
Prep wings:
- Tear mushroom bundles into desired sizes. They should be about the size of chicken wings.
- To a bowl combine the batter ingredients and mix until smooth. Toss in the oyster mushroom bunches and set aside to marinade.
- To another bowl combine dredge ingredients. Set aside.
- One by one, remove oyster mushroom bundles from batter and into the dredge and coat. Place the coated mushrooms on a wire rack to the side and repeat until all the mushrooms are coated.
Fry wings:
- Heat a deep cast iron pot with 1-2 inches of high-heat oil (like vegetable oil) to 350F. You want at least 1-2 inches of space between the oil and the top of the pot to avoid a grease fire.
- One by one carefully place mushrooms in the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crispy. Fry 3-5 at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Do not overcrowd the oil. Once golden remove from oil and place on a wire cooling rack. Repeat until all mushrooms are fried. Turn off stove and set oil aside to cool.
Sauce wings:
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Add fried mushrooms to a large bowl and pour over sauce. Toss fried mushrooms in the sauce. Spread on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Serve:
- Serve with your choice of dipping sauce and fresh veggies.
Video
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