Name: Mushroom Hot Wings
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 cups oyster mushrooms; 4-6 large cremini mushrooms, quartered; oil for frying; ¼ cup arrowroot starch or cornstarch; ½ cup all purpose flour (*sub spelt flour, GF 1:1 flour, or whole wheat pastry flour); 1 tsp salt; ½ tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp garlic powder; ½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp black pepper; ¾-1 cup water; ½ cup panko breadcrumbs; ¼ cup arrowroot starch or cornstarch; ½ tsp smoked paprika; ½ tsp garlic powder; ½ tsp black pepper; ½ tsp ground cumin; ¼ cup Tapatio hot sauce or hot sauce of choice; ½ tbsp maple syrup; 1 tsp tamari or soy sauce; ½ tbsp arrowroot starch or cornstarch; ½ cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes; 1 tsp lemon juice; 1 garlic clove; ¼ tsp sea salt; ½ tsp black pepper; 1 tbsp fresh dill; ¼ cup water

Mushroom hot wings that are seriously so good I forgot I’ve ever had chicken wings. These mushroom hot wings are here to impress the vegans and omnivores in your life on game day or any day!

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These mushroom hot wings are here to impress the vegans and omnivores in your life on game day or any day! Hot, spicy, crispy, and delicious.

My dad and I used to have the classic Super Bowl tradition of picking up Wing Stop to eat during half time. The two of us don’t have much in common besides our love for food, and when I was younger, we bonded over chicken curry and rice. After I went vegan, he was skeptical of some of things I made, but he was always willing to try a bite. I made these hot wings with oyster mushrooms and the moment I did, I knew he’d love them.

I still remember biting into one of the lemon pepper wings when Beyonce took the stage. Clearly half time was my favorite part of football and it still is. My favorite wings though were the spicy ones. Classic me.

For these wings I used oyster mushrooms, which I’ve seen done before, but I also tried out cremini/baby bella mushrooms because they’re so much easier to find at a good price! The last time I went to the farmers’ market, I got pressured into buying oyster mushrooms for way too much (for context, I was in a rich part of LA) because I kept talking to the mushroom guy about his mushrooms and felt bad about not buying any after. So I bought some and figured I needed to use my expensive mushrooms in the best way possible.

The oyster mushrooms were definitely “meatier” but the cremini mushrooms were pretty fire too. You coat the shrooms in a wet batter and then a dry batter. Fry them (or bake them for longer) and coat with hot sauce. Whip together some vegan ranch while you’re at it. I was blown away.

How to Make Mushroom Hot Wings

Make the wet batter.

Simply mix flour, arrowroot starch (or cornstarch), smoked paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, cumin, salt, and water. I used all-purpose flour, but spelt flour, bread flour, or whole wheat pastry flour should all work well. Make sure your mushrooms are dry and then coat!

Make the dry batter.

The name of the game is panko. If you don’t have panko or can’t have panko, try gluten free breadcrumbs or a nut crumble with almonds or cashews. I’ve never tried the nut version but it’s intriguing! The dry batter uses mostly the same ingredients as the wet batter, but without the flour or water.

Fry!

I fried these in a few inches of oil on the stove, but you should also be able to bake these at 400 F for about 20 minutes or air fry for 12 minutes according to this recipe!

Coat with hot sauce.

Grab your favorite hot sauce (I used Tapatio), thicken with arrowroot starch or cornstarch, and balance the flavor with tamari and a hint of maple syrup.

Pair with vegan ranch.

Or another dipping sauce of choice! For the ranch, I just processed cashews, dill, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.