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How To Can Mushrooms

ByKim Posted on Updated on

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Canning mushrooms is a simple way to stock your pantry with a jar of mushrooms that are ready to use anytime your recipe calls for them. All you need is a pressure canner, fresh mushrooms, and a little time, and you’ll have jars on the shelf that taste far better than anything from the store.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

  • Recipe Name: How To Can Mushrooms
  • Cook Time: 70 minutes total (25 min prep, 45 min pressure canning)
  • Yield: 9 pints
  • Main Ingredients: Mushrooms, salt, water
  • Dietary Info: Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian
  • Difficulty Level: Easy

I love mushrooms and like to add them to so many different dishes. From stir-fries to pasta and pizza, but I really don’t enjoy the taste of commercially canned mushrooms. I find them bland and rubbery, not something I like to add to my recipes!

So I wait for a great sale and stock up on fresh mushrooms and can them myself.  The taste difference is amazing! Really, they taste so good I could never go back to store-bought canned mushrooms again.

The great thing is that it is so easy to can your own mushrooms. Follow along step by step!

Why You’ll Love These
Canned Mushrooms

  • Way Better Than Store-Bought: Home canned mushrooms have a firmer texture and better flavor than the bland, rubbery ones from a can at the store.
  • Budget Friendly: Stock up when mushrooms go on sale and can a big batch instead of paying for canned mushrooms all year.
  • Just 3 Ingredients: Mushrooms, salt, and water are all you need, no preservatives or fillers.
  • Pantry Ready: Canned mushrooms are already cooked, so they’re ready to stir straight into soups, stews, casseroles, and more anytime you need them.

Best Mushrooms For Canning

Plain white button mushrooms, cremini (baby bella), and small portobellos sliced down are all good choices for canning. They hold their texture well through the long processing time.

Pick mushrooms that are firm and free of soft spots.

Technically, this canning recipe is made for button-type mushrooms you buy from the store and not from wild mushrooms. This is most likely because if you ID the wrong mushroom, it can be very dangerous.

Supplies

  • Pressure Canner – I use a Presto canner, but I’ve also used Mirro and a Carey electric canner, any of these work well.
  • Large Bowl – For soaking the mushrooms before you clean them.
  • Large Saucepan or Pot – For boiling the mushrooms before canning. This helps to soften and push out some of the air in the mushrooms.
  • Ladle – For scooping up the mushrooms and liquid safely.
  • Canning Funnel – Makes canning so much easier when you are pouring or ladling food into the jars.
  • Pint or Half Pint Canning Jars – I use Bernardin jars and lids, the Canadian version of Ball jars.

Ingredients

  • Mushrooms whole or sliced – 14 1/2 pounds on average for a canner load of 9 pints.  7 1/2 pounds on average for a canner load of 9 half pints.  This is about 2 pounds per jar.
  • Salt – A coarse salt or canning salt that is iodine-free is best.
  • Water

How To Can Mushrooms

Soaking mushrooms in a large bowl. Text overlay says Canning Mushrooms Is So Easy!

Step 1. Select Your Mushrooms

Pick out good-quality mushrooms, do not use mushrooms that are mushy or discolored. You want nice, bright mushrooms with tight caps. Trim off the stem ends and any discolored parts.

Soak the mushrooms in cold water for 10 minutes to loosen any dirt. Then wash in clean water.

Sliced Mushrooms in a bowl.

Step 2. Cut The Mushrooms

Small mushrooms can be left whole or sliced, larger mushrooms should be sliced. I use my food processor to slice the mushrooms. This saves a lot of time, although it doesn’t look as pretty as hand slicing.

Boiling mushrooms in a large pot.

Step 3. Cook The Mushrooms

Place your sliced or whole mushrooms into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Fill canning jars with mushrooms.

Mason jar filled with sliced mushrooms and covered with water.

Step 4. Fill The Jars

Remove the pot of mushrooms from the heat and ladle the mushrooms into your canning jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.

Add 1/2 tsp. of salt into each jar. Top with hot water if needed, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the jar to remove air bubbles.

Wipe the jar rims clean and place lids on, tighten the rings finger tight.

Step 5. Pressure Can The Mushrooms

Place your jars into your pressure canner and can pints and half pints for 45 minutes at 10 pounds pressure or adjusted for your altitude.

When the time is up turn off your canner and allow it to return to zero pressure on its own. When ready remove the jars from the canner and place onto a towel.

Let them sit for 12 to 24 hours undisturbed. Then check for any jars that didn’t seal. These can be reprocessed or refrigerated to be used right away.

Remove the jar rings, wipe the jars clean and label. Store your jars in a cool, dry, dark place.

Pack Style

Jar Size

Processing Time

0 – 1000 feet

Above 1000 feet

Hot

Half Pints or Pints

45 minutes

10 lb

15 lb

Recipe Notes & Tips

  • Preventing darkening (optional): Per the NCHFP recipe, you can add 1/8 teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder (or a crushed 500 mg vitamin C tablet) to each pint jar to help the mushrooms keep their color. I’ve never had an issue with mine darkening, so I don’t personally bother with this step, but it’s an option if you want to use it.

Common Mistakes & Troubleshooting

  • Jars that don’t seal: This usually means a bit of food or liquid was on the jar rim before the lid went on. Wipe rims well before adding lids, and always check that rings were only finger-tight, not overtightened, before processing. It can also be from a defective lid, check the lids for dents or missing sealant before using.
  • Cloudy liquid in the jar: A little cloudiness can just be starch from the mushrooms and is normal. But if it’s paired with a bad smell, or a bulging lid, don’t taste it, just throw it out.
  • Mushrooms floating or shrinking in the jar: This is normal and just from the cooking and processing, it doesn’t mean anything went wrong.
  • Running short on processing time: If your canner loses pressure before the full 45 minutes is up, you’ll need to bring it back to pressure and restart the timer from the beginning, not just pick up where you left off.

How To Use Your Canned Mushrooms

Home canned mushrooms are already cooked, so they’re ready to go straight into soups, stews, and gravies. I also like stirring them into casseroles, topping pizza, folding them into an omelet, or sautéing them with a little butter and garlic as a quick side dish.

FAQ’s

Mushrooms are a low-acid food, so following NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation) guidelines, they should only be pressure canned, not processed in a water bath canner. Pressure canning is what reaches the temperature needed to safely process low-acid foods.

Yes, as long as they’re processed correctly using a pressure canner and a tested recipe, like the one in this post. The processing time and pressure are what make them safe, so it’s important not to shorten either one.

For the best quality, use them within about a year. They’re safe to eat beyond that as long as the jar stayed sealed and looks and smells normal, but the texture and flavor will start to decline the longer they sit.

Check for a bulging or unsealed lid, mold, or an off smell. If you notice any of these, don’t taste it, just throw the jar out.

Most home canning guidelines advise against it, mainly because misidentifying a wild mushroom can be dangerous. That said, it comes down to your own comfort level.

If you’re completely confident in your identification skills, that’s a personal call to make, but this recipe and the processing times here were tested using common store-bought mushrooms, not foraged ones.

It’s totally optional. Salt helps to add flavor to the mushrooms but is not needed to safely preserve them. If using salt, make sure to use canning salt, or a coarse salt that is iodine-free.

This recipe has only been tested and approved for pint and half-pint jars. There’s no safe, tested processing time for quart jars, so stick to pints or half-pints.

Canning jar of mushrooms on a wooden table outside. Text overlay says How To Can Mushrooms.

More Canning Tips

How To Can Mushrooms

This canning mushrooms recipe is a simple way to pressure can fresh mushrooms so they're shelf-stable and ready to use in any dish. It's perfect for stocking your pantry when mushrooms go on sale, and one batch makes 9 pints!
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Canning Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Serving Size 36 servings (9 Pints)

Ingredients

  • 14 1/2 pounds mushrooms
  • 9 tsp. salt
  • water

Instructions

  • Select good quality mushrooms, trim off the ends and any discolored parts.
  • Soak the mushrooms in cold water for 10 minutes. Then wash in clean water.
  • Slice your mushrooms, small ones can be left whole if desired.
  • Place the mushrooms into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
  • Ladle into canning jars and top with water if needed leaving 1 inch of headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt to each jar. Remove air bubbles from the jars, wipe the jars rims clean and add the lids. Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds of pressure for 45 minutes, adjusted to your altitude.
  • When the canner has fully cooled and released all pressure, remove the jars and place them on a towel. Allow the jars to sit undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Remove the jar rings, wipe the jars clean. Then label and store in a cool, dark, dry place.

Notes

Process half-pints or pints for 45 minutes at:

  • 0 – 1,000 ft: 10 lbs pressure
  • Above 1,000 ft: 15 lbs pressure

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 487mg | Potassium: 581mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

These values are from a nutritional database and automatically calculated, and should only be used as an approximation.

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17 Comments

  1. Love your smile!
    I’m trying pressure canning. I’m over 2000 feet under 4000 ft.
    Using quart jars is the timing different than using pints?
    Thank you and many blessings, Alice

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Canning: Mushrooms, Carrots, Soup | Musings from the Chiefio

  4. Is this for any variety of mushroom? I saw another article that says only the white button type mushrooms can be canned. I would love to can baby Bella mushrooms.

    Reply

  6. I used half pint jars for my mushrooms and 1/8 salt. They look just like store bought mushrooms. This is a great recipe. I will be using it again. Thank you

    Reply

  8. Is it ok to can them without the salt? I rarely add salt and don’t really like the taste of it. Also need to cut as much sodium out as I can for my mom.

    Reply

    1. Yes, salt is optional in canning. It does help to preserve the color and flavor so the final product can taste a little different.

      Reply

    1. Mushrooms are a low acid food this means they can’t be canned safely in a water bath canner. You have to use a pressure canner to reach a temperature high enough to can them at home.

      Reply

      1. Mushrooms absolutely CAN be preserved with the waterbathcanning method. Simply add a touch of citric acid to lower the ph of the batch.

        Reply