The Best Pink Oyster Mushroom Recipes from Around the Web

In the world of shroom ingredients, oyster mushrooms meet at a great middle ground. They’re easy to use and unique enough to add some intrigue to your next meal. Many things could qualify one dish from another as the best pink oyster mushroom recipe, but for us, it comes down to whatever inspires you to get into the kitchen.

Pleurotus fungi are a big family, including other common members like pearl oyster mushrooms, blue oysters, and king oyster mushrooms.

There are similarities in taste and texture between the various types of oyster mushrooms, but as pink oysters go to show, they have a woodier, more pungent taste and a tougher texture. Whether served as a side dish or slipped into a mixed-veggie sauté, these recipes are the best ways to prepare pink oyster mushrooms.

The rarity of pink oyster mushrooms

As the bright pink color might suggest, pink oysters are a fairly tropical variety of mushrooms. Specialty Produce writes that they naturally occur in places like Indonesia and Mexico and are more easily cultivated in warm climates.

Still, even with a color that calls your attention, finding pink (or flamingo mushrooms) at a grocery store is pretty difficult. While yummy, these salmon-shaded fungi have a relatively short shelf life. As a result, they’re not very suitable for commercial shipping and selling. If you’ve got a mushroom dealer at your local farmer’s markets, check with them. For more information on growing mushrooms, check out our pink oyster mushroom identification guide.

Speaking of flavor — let’s talk about the taste of these brilliant bloomers.

Can you eat pink oysters raw?

Like many other members of its family, pink oyster mushrooms have a slight seafood taste that is briny, fresh, and full of umami.

Similar fishy notes extend to the aroma of these mushrooms. It makes pink oysters a fantastic vegan substitute, sure to keep any creature that crawls in the sea exactly where they belong. Oyster shrooms grow in clusters and — like fish — are full of delicate gills.

Despite the light flesh, they have a meaty texture that can be chewy or crispy, depending on how you prepare them – and prep them, you should. Raw flamingo mushrooms have a pungent, sour flavor that can be unpleasant unless cooked out.

So, what are the best ways to cook it?

Fortunately, there are loads of ways to make pink oyster mushrooms. The texture provides enough body to cook them pan-fried, air-fried, or even deep-fried.

Forrest Gump’s friend Bubba Blue might’ve been talking about another pink food, but his advice rings true for the preparation of these oyster mushrooms: “Barbecue it, broil it, bake it, or sauté it.”

As they say, the world is your oyster. Here are the best pink oyster mushroom recipes. The mushroom recipes here are organized from beginner to expert, but don’t let that scare you away from creating an idea that sounds tasty! In some cases (like the BBQ sandwich), the recipe is classified as expert-level only because it requires extra equipment.

Vegan Pulled Oyster Mushroom Tacos

Image Source: World of Vegan

The texture of oyster mushrooms makes them one of our favorites for a meat replacement in tacos. Adding chipotle peppers to them cuts the seafood flavor but leaves you something hefty to devour.

Rigatoni with Pink Oyster Mushrooms and Peas

This creamy pasta is a rapid weeknight wonder or a comfort dish for laidback weekends. It’s so easy to make that it might also find a place in your potluck rotation.

Air-fried Oyster Mushrooms

Image Source: Yummy Mummy Kitchen

These crackly shrooms hit the mark if you’re looking for a chicken tender replacement. For an authentic color, don’t skip the paprika, and be sure to cook in batches to get an even fry.

Roasted Oyster Mushroom Stir-Fry

Image Source: Wicked Kitchen

Many Asian cuisines utilize pink oyster mushrooms, and this technicolored stir-fry is an excellent way to honor that heritage. Use medium heat to roast the mushrooms — you don’t want to burn them — and enjoy a quick, 30-minute meal.

Oyster Mushroom Rockefeller

Image Source: My Therapist Cooks

If you’re a garlic lover like us, then feel free to use more than three garlic cloves for this recipe. Regardless, the spicy little addition always pairs with parmesan, a glass of white wine, and the glow of making the most creative (and obvious) substitute for a traditional seafood plate.

Pink Oyster Mushroom Piccata

Chicken piccata is having a YEAR, and there is no reason vegans should be left out.

Vegan Lobster Rolls

Image Source: My Eager Eats

If you follow the dried mushroom call for this recipe, you’ll end up with a no-cook dish with an extended prep time. Use freeze-dried mushrooms instead, and you’ll reduce the total time. Plus, you get to use Old Bay — we always opt for that.

Vegan Gyros

Image Source: Veggie Society

A good gyro is about texture. If you want to get a real, freshly-sliced off the rotisserie feel for your oyster mushrooms, make sure to broil them after sautéing. It’ll give the nice crackly edge you crave.

Meaty Mushroom Chowder

Image Source: Beautiful Ingredient

This beautiful mushroom soup can be an appetizer or a full meal. Don’t forget that the shrooms go in after you blend!

Mushroom Vegan Bacon

Image Source: Sam Cooks Kindness

A marinade of sea salt, black pepper, liquid smoke, and soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari) is all you need to turn strips of pink oysters into a beautiful bacon replacement. Serve it up on a sandwich or as a salad garnish — just be sure to keep some paper towels nearby to soak up marinade grease and maintain the brittle texture.

BBQ Pink Oyster Mushroom Sandwich

Image Source: Wicked Kitchen

Using two cast-irons to get a barbecued sear on your meat replacement? Brilliant. Outside of requiring two hefty pans, this is relatively easy and one of the best pink oyster mushroom recipes to pull off.

Salmon Sashimi with Pickled Pink Oyster Mushroom

Image Source: Mind Food

Absolutely no cooking is required for this brilliantly beautiful pink dish. All you have to do is prepare the simple shallot dressing and marinate the mushrooms for at least ten minutes. The flavorful shrooms pair excellently with fresh salmon.

Pink Oyster Mushroom Maki Rolls

Image Source: The Tasty K

The “pink” part of this recipe is supposed to come from the rice, but we’re happy to add to the pink theme by swapping the original recipe with pink oysters. Sushi rolling requires expert hands (or at least hands attached to someone with good humor). If it all falls apart… well, then you’ve got an oyster poké bowl. Could be worse!

Vegan Siopao Asado (Filipino Steamed Buns)

Image Source: Sweet Simple Vegan

Since this recipe calls for king trumpets, here’s one thing to note when making the substitution: Use a slightly larger quantity of pink oysters; they’ll have less mass than kings. However, the cooking time should still be about the same. You can even use a touch less oyster sauce since the mushrooms will bring some of that umami flavor.

There you have it! Fourteen of the best pink oyster mushroom recipes out there, spanning the gamut from cuisines across the globe. Using what we love as nature’s vegan fried chicken, blue oyster mushrooms are tasty. Enjoy your time in the kitchen with your new favorite fungi.