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This Portobello Mushroom Sandwich layers creamy sweet potato, avocado and tomato slices, and pesto, with tender portobello mushroom coated in an unbelievably delicious coffee rub! All you need is 1 hour to prepare this wholesome, plant-based main, and up your sandwich game.
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Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Portobello Mushroom Sandwich
First, it’s hearty enough to keep you full. This portobello mushroom sandwich recipe is stuffed with healthy carbs, roasted mushroom caps, healthy fats, and toasted bread that will keep you feeling satisfied until your next meal.
Second, it’s perfect for meatless Mondays. If your family or friends are new to eating plant-based, this portobello mushroom sandwich is a great place to start. The tender texture of portobello mushrooms is loved by almost everyone.
Finally, it’s easy to customize to suit your preferences and what ingredients you have on hand!
If you love portobellos, try portobello mushroom pizzas, roasted mushrooms, and stuffed mushrooms. And if you’re here for sandwiches, check out these other great options to add to your meal rotation: vegetarian sandwiches and veggie burgers.
Ingredient Notes
The ingredients listed for this Portobello Mushroom Sandwich may appear long, but most are customizable. Use these ingredients as a recommendation and adjust to suit your own personal taste.
Recipe Add-ins and Substitutions
- Portobello substitutes: Swap with roasted mushrooms, garlic and thyme mushrooms, or cauliflower steaks.
- Add additional veggies: Try lettuce, sprouts, pickles, blistered shishito peppers or pepperoncini, roasted red peppers, sautéed bell peppers, roasted vegetables, and more.
- Condiments: Swap the avocado pesto with classic hummus, smoky roasted red pepper hummus, creamy vegan garlic sauce, parsley pesto with arugula, or avocado green goddess dressing. You can even use your favorite store-bought or homemade BBQ sauce.
- Add dairy-free cheese: Use store-bought vegan cheese or your favorite homemade vegan cheese.
- Add fresh herbs: Try fresh basil, fresh parsley, cilantro, or chives.
- Adjust the coffee rub: Garlic powder, black pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, chili powder, or cayenne pepper are all delicious in homemade coffee rubs.
How to Make a Portobello Mushroom Sandwich
- 1) First, cook the potatoes until fork tender. With a fork or knife, poke a few holes around the outside of the sweet potato. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes.
If you are short on time, there are two methods that will cook your sweet potatoes in a fraction of the time! Try my fast microwave method, or slice the sweet potatoes into rounds before baking and increase the oven temperature to 425F. This will cut the cook time down from 40 minutes to 15 minutes!
- 2) While the sweet potatoes roast, prepare the coffee rub. In a spice or coffee grinder, add the coffee along with the sugar, fennel seeds, ground coriander, coriander seeds, cumin, and thyme. Grind until a fine powder forms.
- 3) Using a wet cloth, wipe the portobello mushrooms down to clean them and moisten the outside. Liberally rub the coffee rub spice mixture on both sides of the mushrooms, as well as the sliced onion. Place the mushroom caps and the sliced onions on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
- 4) As the mushrooms and onion roast, use this time to prepare the remainder of your sandwich fillings. I like to use tomato and avocado slices, plus my homemade avocado pesto as a sauce, but feel free to add whatever you’d like.
- 5) Once the sweet potato is tender and the portobello caps and onions are cooked through, begin to prepare to assemble. If the sweet potatoes were cooked whole, carefully remove the skin and chop the potatoes into 1/4″ round slices. Then, slice the portobello mushrooms on an angle.
- 6) Spread on sandwich rolls or on sandwich bread with your desired vegan condiments and layer on the sweet potato rounds, mushrooms, and onions. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
It is perfectly safe to eat the gills of a portobello mushroom. Some recipes will call for removing the gills, but this is purely preference and can be recommended for aesthetic reasons. I personally enjoy the additional hearty, earthy flavor the gills provide.
I recommend a sturdier sandwich bread such as ciabatta, sourdough, a sliced french loaf, or a good-quality sandwich bread that can withstand the juicy mushrooms without becoming soggy. Our everyday sandwich bread would work well if it was toasted!
One way is to lightly toast the bread. This helps to create a barrier and prevents moisture from soaking into the bread as easily. Additionally, you can use lettuce leaves layered closest to the bread slices to prevent the softer sandwich ingredients from touching the bread.
Toni’s Recipe Tips
- Don’t rinse your mushrooms! Mushrooms are incredibly water absorbent and and will absorb a lot of that excess moisture. Instead, simply wipe the mushroom tops and gill side lightly with a damp paper towel to remove any excess dirt.
- Toast the bread. In addition to preventing the portobello sandwich from becoming soggy, toasting the bread adds flavor, texture, and an amazing hearty crunch that contrasts the tender sweet potato and juicy portobello.
- Coat the mushrooms well. After preparing the coffee rub, generously season the mushrooms on both sides for the best flavor. If you find the coffee rub is having trouble sticking to the top of the mushrooms, you can lightly rub the mushrooms with olive oil before coating.
Serving Suggestions
These hearty sandwiches are wholesome enough to enjoy on their own as a stand-alone lunch or dinner, but can always be paired with additional plant-based sides to round out the meal!
- Salad: Serve with a side salad like my fall roasted pumpkin salad, vegan broccoli salad, or strawberry kale salad
- Soup: Alongside vegan minestrone soup, vegetable barley soup, or lentil sweet potato soup.
- Bowl: like this sweet potato quinoa bowl or lentil tabbouleh.
- Fries: such as oven-baked sesame fries, easy oven baked sweet potato fries, or crispy garlic baked potato wedges
Make Ahead Tips
If you are making this portobello mushroom sandwich for meal prep, I’d recommend storing all of the toppings, condiments, and bread separately and assemble right before eating.
Or, if you’d like to prepare the sandwich the night before, make sure to toast the bread to help prevent sogginess.
More Veggie Sandwich Recipes
- Easy Crispy Buffalo Tofu Sandwich
- Vegan Bagel Sandwich with Pesto
- Pesto Tofu Sandwich Recipe
- Easy Vegan Mushrooms Sandwich
- Vegan Pulled Pork Sandwiches with BBQ Jackfruit
- BBQ Tempeh Sandwich
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
If you’re loving my recipes and would like a more comprehensive resource, check out my cookbooks!
Portobello Mushroom Sandwich (With Coffee Rub)
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Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 ½ tablespoons of ground coffee
- 1 tablespoon of sugar in the raw
- ¼ teaspoon of fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon of ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon of coriander seeds
- ¼ teaspoon of cumin
- ¼ teaspoon of thyme
- 2 portobello mushrooms
- ½ of an onion (sliced thinly for a sandwich)
- ½ cup of avocado pesto
- 1 avocado
- 4 sandwich rolls (or your favorite bread)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. With a fork or knife, poke a few holes on the sweet potato. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes. (Or microwave for 7-10 minutes with no foil)
- In a spice or coffee grinder, add the coffee and spices. Grind until a fine powder.
- Using a wet cloth, wipe down the mushrooms to clean them and get them a little moist. Liberally rub the spice mixture on both sides of the mushroom. Add the spice rub to the onions. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.
- Slice the tomato and avocado. When the potato is tender, remove the foil and skin. Chop into ¼ inch round slices. Slice the mushroom on an angle.
- Toast bread, if desired. Assemble the sandwiches and enjoy!
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Notes
- Don’t rinse your mushrooms! Mushrooms are incredibly water absorbent and and will absorb a lot of that excess moisture. Instead, simply wipe the mushroom tops and gill side lightly with a damp paper towel to remove any excess dirt.
- Toast the bread. In addition to preventing the portobello sandwich from becoming soggy, toasting the bread adds flavor, texture, and an amazing hearty crunch that contrasts the tender sweet potato and juicy portobello.
- Coat the mushrooms well. After preparing the coffee rub, generously season the mushrooms on both sides for the best flavor. If you find the coffee rub is having trouble sticking to the top of the mushrooms, you can lightly rub the mushrooms with olive oil before coating.
