Healthier Spinach Green Onion Tomato and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed mushrooms are the best appetizer or side dish to any meal and will spice up your next dinner with these fabulous little bites. These mushrooms are stuffed with everything good: spinach, green onions, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese and garlic all put together with healthier Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese. They’re so easy to make and they taste so good – the best little gourmet comfort food that will always impress!
Inspiration, notes on how it’s made
So excited to share this recipe! I absolutely loved stuffed mushrooms and think they’re not only adorable and gourmet, but also so easy to make.
This recipe was inspired by my pre-pandemic Cheesecake factory dates with Eli. When I met Eli he had never been to a Cheesecake factory, which of course had to be solved. There is a Cheesecake factory in a mall near my parents’ house and we always would go to this one for birthday dinners. There is also one near my apartment at our local mall and I had to take Eli for date night. Before having our main entrees we got a couple of appetizers, stuffed mushrooms being one of them. They were so good! So delicious and creamy and the perfect little appetizer.
They were so good that we wondered what other appetizers we were missing on their menu (if you haven’t been to a Cheesecake Factory, the menu is huge – pages long). So the next time we went to the Cheesecake factory we decided to do an appetizers and desserts night! Inspired by the stuffed mushrooms, instead of getting two entrees we would try a variety of appetizers (with cocktails and of course, their amazing cheesecake!). We definitely got the stuffed mushrooms again, and it was our new tradition to do an appetizers + desserts night date every once in awhile. I love it. As much as I love to cook, I do miss going out to restaurants these days, which Eli and I are not doing at all these days. The perfect time to re-make my favorite recipes like this one that I miss on special nights like appetizer and dessert date night.
And that is what inspired this recipe. Another point is that the stuffed mushrooms we had were so rich and filling because there is so much butter and cream cheese in them – that’s what makes them so good. I don’t hate either of those ingredients, but I don’t often cook with either one and I do try to avoid these ingredients or try to substitute them for healthier ones when I can. So in my recipe I use Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese, no butter, and add in a bit more veggies. I didn’t omit all cheese though! There is a bit of parmesan in this one and I promise you wont even miss the cream cheese.
A few little notes on the recipe: You really only have to saute the mushroom stems with the rest of the veggies then add the yogurt, egg, cheese and breadcrumbs and you’ve got your stuffing. This recipe stuffing makes a generous amount to really pack those baby bellas full, so make sure to top your mushrooms as much as you can.
If you really don’t care too much about these being healthier you can use cream cheese instead of Greek yogurt. And you can also use any shredded cheese that you prefer, although I always love parmesan with these stuffed mushrooms.
Lastly, the bake time is only 20 minutes, so you’ll be on your way to your own appetizer night in no time! I hope you make, love, and enjoy these adorably delicious and fabulous easy little gourmet stuffed mushrooms!
Enjoy!
Healthier Spinach Green Onion Tomato and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- 2-4 large garlic cloves minced; 4 if you love garlic!
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cilantro + extra for garnish finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons shredded cheese any kind! I love parmesan or sharp cheddar
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup spinach chopped
- 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Add a few sprinkles of these spices for the filling:
- salt and pepper
- pinch of thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare one baking sheet.
- Gently rub a paper towel over all of the mushrooms to clean them, then remove stems, cut into small pieces and set aside. Place each mushroom onto the pan and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a a medium sized skillet and add the garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes, then add the garlic, mushrooms stems, cherry tomatoes and green onions. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook one more minute. Turn off the heat.
- Add this mix to a small bowl and then add all of the spices: a pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme and the paprika. Then add the Greek yogurt, egg, shredded cheese, and bread crumbs and mix everything together until well combined.
- Spoon generously into the mushrooms. Bake for 20 minutes. Optional garnish: top with extra cheese and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!