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Crispy Air Fryer Mushrooms, aka your favorite bar-style snack—just lighter, faster, and way less messy. All the golden, savory flavor of deep-fried mushrooms, minus the grease. Perfect as an easy appetizer, side dish, or a snack to eat straight off the tray before dinner.
Breaded air fryer mushrooms are my answer to a bar snack I love but never, ever want to deep fry at home (the splatters, the lingering smell—it’s a no for me). Instead of a heavy wet batter, these mushrooms crisp up beautifully in the air fryer with a simple light breading. You still get that golden, crunchy exterior and the juicy mushroom inside, only faster, and way less messy. Perfect as an easy party snack, game day app, or side dish when you’re craving that fried-mushroom vibe without actually frying. If you want more bar food-inspired air fryer recipes, check out my crispy air fryer Buffalo wings, these air fryer French fries, or my super easy air fryer pizza.
Table of Contents
Breaded Air Fryer Mushroom Ingredients
Exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
- Mushrooms—I used white button mushrooms here, but Crimini/baby bella mushrooms work great as well.
- Panko bread crumbs—Panko offers more of a nice, hefty crunch compared to Italian breadcrumbs.
- Seasoning—Blend a little garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning into the breadcrumbs for extra flavor.
- Cooking oil spray—A spritz of cooking oil helps the breading get a nice golden crisp.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t Overcrowd the Air Fryer Basket—Make sure the mushrooms have space between them, or else they’ll steam and won’t get crispy. Air fry the mushrooms in batches if necessary.
- Keep the Mushrooms Bite-Sized—Keep smaller bite-sized mushrooms intact. Any large mushrooms can be cut into quarters before breading.
How to Make Breaded Air Fryer Mushrooms
- Clean the Mushrooms: Gently wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth to remove dirt, then trim the rough stems.
- Prepare the Air Fryer Basket: Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket lightly with cooking spray.
- Create an Assembly Line: Use three shallow bowls or trays, filling one with flour, another with lightly beaten eggs, and a third with breadcrumbs. Season the bread crumbs.
- Bread the Mushrooms: One by one, dredge the mushroom pieces in the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Place the breaded mushroom into the air fryer basket. Continue until either the air fryer basket is filled or you have no mushrooms left.
- Cook the Mushrooms: Air-fry them for 7 minutes at 360°F.
- Serve: When done, transfer the mushrooms to a serving plate and cook another batch if you have more to prepare. Serve the air fryer mushrooms hot with a dipping sauce. I love using this dill pickle buttermilk Ranch dressing or my homemade Caesar dressing.
What to Serve With Air Fryer Mushrooms
- Dips: A little bowl of dill pickle buttermilk Ranch dressing, or homemade Caesar dressing.
- Finger Foods: Air fryer Buffalo wings, taco stuffed mini peppers, taco dip with cream cheese, or Maryland jumbo lump crab cakes.
- Pizza: Grandma pizza, cast iron pizza, or dill pickle pizza
Frequently Asked Questions
The mushrooms in this recipe take approximately 7 minutes to cook at 360°F in the air fryer. Time may vary with different models, but you’ll clock in at about the same time, give or take.
You can, but I suggest giving them a quick spritz of olive oil, as it helps the breading get a nice golden crisp. You don’t have to use too much.
Storage, Freezing & Reheating
- These mushrooms will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
- To freeze, place them on a baking sheet to let them cool, then pop the baking sheet into the freezer for about an hour to partially freeze them. Transfer them to a gallon-sized freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- To reheat from the fridge, put them back into the air fryer and cook in 1-minute increments until heated through. From frozen, air fry for 6-8 minutes.
Breaded Air Fryer Mushrooms
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 oz white button mushrooms
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, extra if needed
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Seasoning for Breadcrumbs (Optional):
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Carefully clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a damp cloth or giving them a gentle scrub it with a vegetable scrubber.
- Mushrooms that are already bite-sized can be left alone. Larger mushrooms should be sliced into halves or quarters, depending on size. You want all of the mushrooms to be close to the same size.
- Make yourself an assembly line with a shallow bowl of flour, one with lightly beaten eggs, and a bowl of breadcrumbs. Season the bread crumbs to your preference, either with the seasoning I've included here or with sea salt and pepper.
- Lightly mist the air fryer basket with cooking spray.
- One by one, dredge each mushroom in flour, then egg (let any axcess egg drip off), and bread crumbs. Carefully place each breaded mushroom into the air fryer basket and repeat until the air fryer basket is full or you're out of mushrooms. Tip: Be sure not to pile the mushrooms on top of one another. The mushrooms should have a little space between one another. You might have to cook them in batches.
- Air fry the mushrooms for 7 minutes at 360º F. When they're done, transfer them to a serving plate. (Careful, they're hot!) Repeat until allof your mushrooms are cooked and serve hot with a dipping sauce, like buttermilk ranch!
Wow! Love fried mushrooms and this air fryer recipe is a real treat. I didn’t have Panko on hand so crushed some saltines crackers instead. Served with a horseradish dip(mayonnaise, yogurt and horseradish with a splash of Worcestershire sauce)
Love the sound of that horseradish dip! So glad this was a hit :)
Made this evening, the flour, egg, breadcrumb part is as usual messy, but well worthwhile, used the spray oil a couple of time during cooking. Absolutely delicious. Served with lighter hellmans mayonnaise mixed with fresh crushed garlic .
Hi Debbie! Ugh yes, I loathe breading anything haha but sometimes it’s worth it and I’m so glad you found it so with this recipe!
Question: What’s a serving size of this recipe?
Hi Jessica, this really depends on how you divvy it all up. I wrote this recipe down as 4 servings, so that would be the entirety of this recipe divided into 4 servings and one of those servings would give you what the nutritional info suggests. Of course it depends on the scenario. If you’re just having a few, it would be much less. I hope this makes sense. Estimating servings for small-bite appetizers like this is tricky.
I made them and they were delicious and crunchy. Great! But can I cook these, freeze them and then recrisp?
Hi Rebecca! So glad you enjoyed them. I haven’t frozen them, but I think they’d do well. I’ve frozen my air fryer chicken nuggets which are breaded and they come out just fine. I’d place the mushrooms onto a sheet pan and pop that into the freezer to freeze for a few hours before piling them into a freezer-friendly bag though, just to prevent them from sticking together. I hope that helps!
I was looking for a healthy alternative to the pizza place deep fried mushrooms. These are it!
I used sesame oil in place of olive oil, just to see how it would be.
Great recipe!
Is there anything the air fryer CANNOT cook, i only just learnt how to cook crispy okra and now I’m about to try your mushroom recipe.
I don’t eat mushrooms but I made these for my husband. He absolutely loved them.