If you’ve never heard of shawarma before, no worries! It’s basically similar to the Greek gyros, however originating in the Middle East and it usually consists of some sort of marinated meat thrown into a wrap or pita with some veggies. My personal association with this kind of food dates back to late teenage years including hangovers and, well, very greasy food. After having experienced the wonder uses of mushrooms in the Asian cuisine, I decided it’s time for a healthy and Vegan Mushroom Shawarma/Gyros makeover! I’ve paired it with delicious vegan tzatziki and it came out so good that it’s legit my new favorite dish and I’ve made it about 4 times since last week! 🙂
If you haven’t experimented that much with mushrooms yet, I urge you to do so! There are so many different kinds out there with amazing textures and flavors. During my stay in Thailand I noticed that a lot of the vegan/vegetarian restaurants there used ‘meaty’ mushrooms in various dishes. Ever since I’ve tried them I became completely obsessed, to say the least. So now that I’m back in the sunny Mediterranean I decided to investigate and create replicate those delicious mushrooms myself. The secret is using the stems and meat of oyster mushrooms! Who would have thought?
The texture of those mushrooms is incredibly similar to meat – chewy and stringy! Personally I never stopped eating meat because I disliked the flavor per se. I was never a huge fan of meat and rather devoured veggies and carbs as a child, but there were certain types that I did like (including shawarma). I even stopped eating meat long before switching to a vegan lifestyle (probably about 7 years ago) mainly because I was disgusted by the meat situation back when I was living in Mexico and afterwards never really got back into it. For me, what made meat tasty back then was always the spices and sauces anyways. I would never have eaten simple steamed/cooked meat without any added flavors. I believe many people are the same in that regard! Hence, if you find an alternative with a great texture then it’s all about getting the spices right! 🙂
After a few days of experimenting I dare to say I perfected the art of making vegan mushroom shawarma! To my surprise it’s incredibly easy, takes only a few basic spices and around 5 minutes of preparation! Just like this you can create the most delicious wrap/pita filled with all the flavors to satisfy your cravings! 🙂 My boyfriend went completely crazy over it and claimed that people should sell this on every street corner, so I’d say it’s a success! 😉
The combination of meaty mushrooms and creamy tzatziki is just heavenly! By the way, that tzatziki is the real deal! I got inspired by The Minimalist Baker to try a tzatziki made of coconut yogurt and it’s such a success. At first I was worried about having a strong coconut taste, but got surprised because it doesn’t taste coconutty at all!
In any case, if you decide to give this Vegan Mushroom Shawarma a try, let me know! Leave a comment and rate it – it’s so helpful to me and other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me (@thetastyk) and #thetastyk on Instagram! I love seeing and sharing what you come up with.
Happy Easter and Chag sameach to all my dear readers and followers out there! I hope you indulge in the most delicious vegan food and enjoy a wonderful time with your loved ones! ♥
- Meaty mushrooms:
- 500gr oyster mushrooms
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp soy/tamari sauce
- ½ tsp barbecue spice (alternatively ½ tsp smoked paprika)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- dash of cinnamon (optional)
- dash of salt & black pepper
Vegan tzatziki:- 1 cup coconut yogurt
- 1 cup shredded cucumber, drained (around ¼ cup after draining)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- salt & pepper, to taste
Additional:- Lebanese bread/pita
- lettuce/rocket
- purple cabbage, sliced
- tomatoes/cucumber, diced
- Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.
- First prepare the mushrooms by pulling them apart into strings (the bigger the strings the chunkier the meat - the mushrooms shrink in size while baking).
- Take the strings with your hands (or place them in a kitchen towel) and drain of any excess water.
- Place the mushrooms strings into a bowl and add all the spices and oil. Mix together with your hands or a spoon.
- Add parchment paper to a baking tin and spread the coated mushrooms on top.
- Bake at 175°C/350°F for 20-25 minutes (stirring twice) until golden and crispy.
- In the meantime, prepare the tzatziki by mixing all ingredients together.
- Once the mushrooms are done, assemble your wraps and enjoy!
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Can’t wait to try this! When you say barbecue spice , what is that or is it perhaps a typo and it should read , sauce ? Thank you!
You should be able to get it in every supermarket! It’s basically barbecue meat seasoning 🙂
what is bbq spice? Thank you
You should be able to get it in every supermarket! It’s basically barbecue meat seasoning 🙂
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I’ll sign you up! 🙂
Me too please. [email protected]
Done!
Can you sign me up too? [email protected] or do you have a FB Page you post your receipts on??? I would love to follow it!
Yes – just search for The Tasty K on Facebook and then you can turn on notifications for new posts there 🙂
Tsitsi ( ΤΣΙ ΤΣΙ ) in Glyfada has a very good gyros that tastes like its fresh which is rare lol Bairaktaris has a nice gyros too but thats only in Athens , i m sure you ll find many good gyros in other parts of Greece ( Salonika , Crete and Pelloponisos must be among the best too , because many restaurant owners there have their own pig/goat etc farms too )
Thanks but I personally don’t eat any meat! 🙂
Could I use Baby Bella Mushrooms for this recipe?
I have never heard of those :-O I guess you gotta try 🙂
These look amazing! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this since having an oyster mushroom gyro on the island of Thassos. Thank you!
Yay! Thanks so much! 🙂 Hope you’ll love it!
Wife and I made this tonight with fresh mushrooms and it was super yummy and filling. We added the optional cinnamon and extra garlic but pretty much followed the recipe. For the bread we used Rico whole wheat refrigerated tortillas doubleing them up very good. Thanks for the recipe.
Frank
Thanks Frank! Sounds amazing 🙂
I tried to give five stars but when I hit post one of them disappeared
If I can’t find oyster mushrooms, is there another variety that I could substitute? Thanks!
oyster mushrooms have a very special stringy consistency that gives it that meaty texture. You can definitely try it with maybe portobello mushrooms but you won’t be able to press out the water so they’ll be much juicier and less crispy
Thank you so much for your great recipes
Thanks so much for the support and kind words 🙂
Hi, The subscribe button is not working to sign me up for the newsletter. Can you do that?
Oh so sorry! Thanks for letting me know! Yes, I’ll add you!
These were so good and fast! I didn’t have bbq spice so I substituted smoked paprika. Thanks for the share!
Yay! So happy to hear! They’re also one of my favorite go-to recipes! 🙂
Super yummy! The mushrooms had a lot of flavor and were very good. As was the tzatziki. The rest is really up to whatever toppings you put on.
Can you use the dried oyster mushrooms? It’s all I can get at the moment.
To be honest I’ve never tried but I can’t imagine this would work with this recipe. The normal ones are super juicy and have quite a lot of water content which gives it that nice chewy-meaty texture while baking, so not sure how this would go with dried ones
If using dried….you would probably need to reconstitute them by soaking in hot water for about 20 min. Then go with the recipe from there.
I’m intending to make this. Just need to find an oyster mushroom source. Failing that, think I will give it a go with portobellos.
Delicious! Thanks. We loved it. I made it with perfectly imperfect white mushrooms and roti instead of pita since that’s what we had.
Sounds amazing! 🙂 Happy you liked the recipe!
I also need to say thanks that it doesn’t have loads of ads and pop-ups. So much easier to read than other blogs! I started following you.
I appreciate you saying that since I recently removed all ads and pop up ads. I understand bloggers that do it for revenue but personally I felt like it sacrificed too much the design and reader experience of the blog