Types of Mushrooms

White Button Mushrooms

Flavor: Mild, meaty

Texture: Smooth, firm

Price: $

Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Cremini
Flavor: Intensely meaty
Texture: Smooth, firm
Price: $
Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Portobello
Flavor: Robust, earthy
Texture: Dense, steak-like
Price: $
Best ways to cook: Grill, sauté, roast

Shiitake
Flavor: Nutty, buttery
Texture: Pleasantly chewy
Price: $$
Best way to cook: Sauté
Tip: Look for smaller specimens with thick caps and edges that curl under the caps.

Oyster
Flavor: Clean, savory, subtly briny
Texture: Delicate
Price: $$
Best way to cook: Sauté

King Oyster

Flavor: Very savory

Texture: Resiliently chewy

Price: $$

Best way to cook: Sauté

Black Trumpet

Alias: Horn of Plenty

Flavor: Robust, slightly smoky

Texture: Pleasantly chewy

Price: $$$

Best way to cook: Sauté

Tip: They are a particularly dirty variety and must be thoroughly rinsed. Halve them first to loosen any grit hiding in the centers.

Morels
Flavor: Rich, nutty
Texture: Spongy, meaty
Price: $$$
Best way to cook: Sauté
Tip: Look for mushrooms with minimal grit and be sure to check inside the hollow centers for insects

Enoki
Flavor: Very mild, faintly nutty
Texture: Delicately crisp
Price: $
Best ways to cook: Sauté, deep-fry, stir into soup

Maitake
Alias: Hen-of-the-Woods
Flavor: Nutty, slightly smoky
Texture: Feathery
Price: $$
Best way to cook: Sauté

Chanterelle
Flavor: Assertively nutty, almost fruity
Texture: Dense; fibrous but not tough
Price: $$$
Best way to cook: Sauté