Pickled Chanterelle Mushrooms

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pickled chanterelle mushrooms
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Chanterelle mushroom season is almost the entire year, depending on where you live. It starts in the Deep South, where you can have chanterelles as early as May. Summertime is when most of the country gets its chanties, and early autumn they show up in Canada. One real fall hits, our Pacific chanterelles come in, and they can stick around until March.

When the season is on, you can rack up big numbers of these pretty golden treasures. Dealing with abundance is usually a matter of drying. Most mushrooms are perfectly good dehydrated and stored in the pantry.

Not chanties. Chanterelles lose almost everything that makes them special once they’ve been dried out. The only thing I’ve ever successfully done with dried chanterelles was infuse them with vodka. Weird, but good.

Now pickled chanterelle mushrooms are an entirely different story. When I first delved into pickling mushrooms, I wasn’t too optimistic about the results. I grew up in an era of canned mushrooms, which are slimy and so unpleasant I am certain it is a reason that most Americans won’t eat any mushrooms to this day.

pickled chanterelles jar
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Little did I know that pickled mushrooms are a classic appetizer in Eastern Europe. I use a Polish recipe for salted, fermented mushrooms mostly with saffron milk caps. But that works with chanterelles, too. You can find pickled mushrooms on the antipasti plates of Italy as well (Here is my Italian method of preserving mushrooms).

Far from being limp and slimy, pickled chanterelle mushrooms are firm and zingy — a great addition to a pickle plate, or alongside cured meats.

Once made, these will keep for a year on the shelf, although you should refrigerate the jars after opening.

Can you do this with other mushrooms? You bet. I’ve done it with blewits, hedgehogs, Amanita velosa, porcini and honey mushrooms. Even button mushrooms are good this way — just be sure to dry saute. It makes all the difference.

pickled chanterelle mushrooms
4.89 from 17 votes

Pickled Chanterelle Mushrooms

The key to these pickles is to dry saute your chanterelles first. You clean your 'shrooms, cut them into large pieces (leave small mushrooms whole) and put them into a hot frying pan dry. Shake them around as they heat and soon the mushrooms will give up their water. Doing that helps both the flavor of the mushroom and their ability to absorb the vinegar. If you don't want to can these mushrooms, they will be perfectly fine in the fridge for up to 6 months.
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 24 servings
Author: Hank Shaw
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1 to 1 1/2 pounds chanterelles or other mushrooms
  • 2 cups white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Instructions 

  • Get your canning gear ready and a large pot of water hot. Clean your mushrooms of any dirt, mold or wet spots. Cut large ones in half and keep small chanterelles whole.
  • Dry saute the mushrooms in a large frying pan. When they give up their water, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt on them, along with the thyme. Once the chanterelles have given up most of their water, pour over the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn the temperature down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.
  • Fish out the mushrooms and pack firmly into jars, leaving at least 1/2 inch headspace. Make sure each jar gets a bay leaf and some peppercorns.
  • Ladle in the cooking liquid. Make sure it covers the mushrooms. Add more white wine vinegar or distilled vinegar to top off if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 15kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 583mg | Potassium: 10mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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61 Comments

    1. Megan: No, it would be very dangerous to water bath can these. I just leave them in the fridge. They will keep for months.

      1. Looking for clarification as well as the latest commenter. I’ve always understood that pickles are fine for water bath canning as there’s so much vinegar involved.

      2. Probably, but I’ve never done it, so I can’t make a firm recommendation. I always pickle and keep in the fridge.

      3. I’ve used this recipe for the past 4 or 5 years and have always canned in a 15 min water bath. I usually splash in a few extra glugs of vinegar too. However, I have never tested pH and will probably follow Hank’s advice and stick in the fridge from now on, these are so delicious that they will be gone well before they could go bad in the fridge (particularly like chopping them up and putting in scrambled eggs). Thanks for the great recipe!

      4. I’ve done the water bath method without issue and they lasted >8 months. I’m definitely doing it again – with added vinegar (I used a white wine vinegar/white vinegar mix).

    1. Nadine: I use wide mouthed pint jars. It’s been a while since I made that recipe, but at least 3 if I remember right.

  1. I made these this morning and they’re great now, so I’m sure with time they’ll be beyond great. I used a combination of white vinegar, champagne vinegar and tarragon vinegar, and tarragon instead of thyme. They’re great on a burger with brie!

  2. Hey Hank! I’m new to your site, but really dig your style! I plucked some chanterelles yesterday and did them up with your recipe within hours of pulling them. I gotta say, at least with my pan, I ended up having to use a good deal more I shared your recipe(sent them to your url, not just copy paste) with some friends who were curious what i was doing. One asked me a question and i had to double check with you: do you store them at room temp after pickling? I just assumed yes, but I’ve never personally pickled wild fungus, so I wanted to be sure. Also, how long should I wait before they’re ready to eat?

    1. Connor: I’d wait a week, and I normally keep them in the fridge, but a cool place, like a basement, would work, too.

    1. Monica: Yes you can. Just be sure they are a normal vinegar, not homemade, unless you have tested it so that it is at 5% acidity. Many homemade vinegars are not that acidic, and don’t preserve as well.

  3. Is this a sea level canning recipe and do I need to increase the time for elevation? Gonna just assume so, to be safe…

  4. Hey Hank, Just got done foraging about 2 pounds of fresh chanties! Got your recipe and will be making them shortly. Long time follower on fb! We even chatted about me being originally from Massachusetts.

  5. When I was dry sauteing them there was a ton of water in the panafter. Do I use that water or do I dump it out? I ended up using the water I hope that’s okay

  6. Hank,

    I just used your recipe on half a pound of hedgies. I didn’t can them since it was small enough to put in the fridge. When you tried hedgehogs did they have the bitter taste like they do when raw?

    1. Michele: You can’t eat hedgehog mushrooms raw! So I have no idea. They’re always good when I pickle them, but they’re cooked.

      1. Awesome recipe but im guessing 15 thousand calories for 1 and a half pounds of mushrooms is a typo. My calculations are 502 calories for this recipe. I stored them on the shelf for 10 months. And that was a struggle to hold out that long. These are good.

  7. About processing in boiling water for 15 mins. Does it have to be under pressure (like in a pressure canner) to have the jars sealed? Thank you, Yuri

  8. I’ve never tried pickled mushrooms before- that sounds like it would be very tasty. I was wondering about them getting slimy- it sounds like this is prevented with the dry saute? I definitely need to try this.