Mike, Author at Life's A Tomato

Baked Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

These baked bacon and cheese stuffed mushrooms are the perfect baked appetizer. Tender mushrooms that still have a little ‘bite’ to them. The cheese mixture is fantastic. Three different cheeses and a little seasoning combine with bacon and bell pepper for bite after bite of deliciousness. I say ‘bite’, but if you use small mushrooms you can pop these little treats into your mouth like popcorn. Sure, I did.

Make Ahead For Easy Party Treats

You can pre-make these baked bacon and cheese stuffed mushrooms by doing steps 1-8 then refrigerating the mushrooms for later. Then, when you’re ready to finish them, remove them from the fridge and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before transferring to a hot oven to cook and heat thoroughly. I’ve found that you can make them up to 24 hours ahead of time and they’ll be fantastic. Of course you can easily double or triple the recipe if you’re serving a larger crowd.

I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.

Geedel Rotary Cheese Grater, Kitchen Mandoline Vegetable Slicer with 3 Interchangeable Blades, Easy to Clean Rotary Grater Slicer for Fruit, Vegetables, Nuts

Also try my garlic parmesan pub mushrooms.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Baked Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

These are the perfect easy appetizers.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword mushroom, stuffed

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Servings

Calories 159kcal

Author Inspired by a recipe from Julia’s Album

Equipment

Baking Dish

Ingredients

8 ounces mushrooms 12-16 small whole mushrooms
4 tablespoons butter melted
kosher salt to taste
4 ounces cream cheese softened
½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded or grated
¼ cup Mozzarella cheese shredded
2 slices bacon (plus more for garnish if desired) cooked, chopped very fine
¼ small green bell pepper (plus more for garnish if desired) chopped very fine
cayenne pepper to taste
paprika to taste
parsley chopped, for garnish, if desired

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Spray a small baking dish with non-stick spray.
Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.
Dip the mushrooms cap-side down into the butter and place onto the baking dish cap-side up.
Pour the remaining butter into the baking dish.
Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt. Bake 10 minutes. The mushrooms should just be soft and most of the water in them should be cooked out.
Remove from the oven. Shake any remaining liquid out of the mushrooms into the pan and place them cap-side down.
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, Parmesan, Mozzarella, bacon, bell pepper and a pinch or so of cayenne. Add salt to taste.
Using a small spoon, gently fill each mushroom with the cheese mixture. Mound it up high. Return to the pan.
Sprinkle tops of the mushrooms with paprika.
Transfer the pan to the oven and cook 15-20 minutes or until the stuffing is hot.
Garnish with more bacon, bell pepper and parsley if desired and serve.

Notes

Substitute pepper jack cheese for the mozzarella for a little kick.

Nutrition

Nutritional values are approximate.

Fullstar Mandoline Slicer for Kitchen, Cheese Grater Vegetable Spiralizer and Veggie Slicer for Cooking & Meal Prep, Kitchen Gadgets Organizer & Safety Glove Included (11 in 1, White)

Pico de Gallo Smash Burger

You can’t go wrong with these pico de gallo smash burgers. They’re very easy to make and come out very juicy. A simple pico de gallo topping adds flavor and freshness, without overpowering the thin, crispy delicious patty. A little cheese and you’re good-to-go. Nothing fancy here, just a fantastic easy burger.

The Perfect Refreshing Burgers

I make smash burgers a lot. They’re the perfect quick dish. And there are literally an unlimited number of ways to top them. My pico de gallo smash burger is a great example. If don’t have pico in your grocery store, and don’t want to go through the trouble of making it, you can substitute a good chunky salsa.

I like for my pico de gallo to be good and cold before I top my burgers.

The equipment

Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.

The griddle

First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.

Lodge LDP3 Cast Iron Rectangular Reversible Grill/Griddle, 9.5-inch x 16.75-inch, Black

A burger press

Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, specially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.

Cuisinart CGPR-221 Cast Iron Grill Press (Wood Handle), Weighs 2.1-pounds

A dome

Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.

Cuisinart CMD-108 Melting Dome, 9″,Stainless steel

Cleaning time!

Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.

3M Scotch-Brite Multi-Purpose Pad Holder 405-R, 4.7 in x 2.8 in x 16 in, 1/Case

3M Scotch-Brite Griddle Cleaning, Quick Clean Heavy Duty Scour Pad, 4 in x 5.25 in, 6 Pads/Pack, For Baked On Food and Cooking Oils, Use on Hot or Cool Griddle

Also try a deluxe nacho cheese smash burger.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Pico de Gallo Smash Burger

A classic burger with a spicy twist on a classic sauce.

Course Main

Cuisine American

Keyword smash burgers, spicy

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings

Calories 508kcal