Mushrooms
Peak season in the Midwest · down 10% this week
This vegetable is harvested somewhere in the country all year, so it has no single local-harvest peak, and it is sold in stores year-round. This week it's peak season in the Midwest — buying it in season usually means better quality and, as the regional prices below show, a lower price.
Per a typical 96g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Mushrooms, white, raw).
Buying mushrooms in the Midwest saves about 3% versus the Northwest this week.
- How to pick a good one
- Dry, firm caps with no sliminess and no dark soft patches. For white and cremini, closed caps under the rim mean younger mushrooms; open gills mean stronger flavour and a shorter life. Loose mushrooms let you check each one and usually beat pre-packed on price.
- What a good price looks like
- White button mushrooms are the cheapest at $2.50 to $4 a pound; cremini are a small step up and worth it for flavour; portobello and specialty varieties run $5 upward. Pre-sliced costs about a dollar more per pound for a shorter shelf life, since the cut faces brown quickly.
- What you actually get
- A pound of mushrooms cooks down to roughly a third of its raw volume — 8 oz raw sliced is about 1 cup cooked. Waste is almost nothing beyond a dry stem end. Portobello stems are woody and worth removing; button and cremini stems are fine.
- How to store it
- In a paper bag in the fridge, never sealed plastic, which traps moisture and makes them slimy. They keep about a week.
- In the kitchen
- Do not soak them; they are already mostly water and will drink more, then steam instead of browning. Wipe or rinse quickly and dry. The real rule is the pan: give them room, high heat, and patience. They will release liquid and look wrong for several minutes, and the browning only starts once that has cooked off. Salt at the end, since salt draws the water out early.
- Getting the most out of it
- Do not soak them — wipe, or rinse briefly and dry. Give them a hot pan and room, and hold the salt until they have browned, since salt pulls out water and makes them steam. Mushrooms are one of the few vegetables that add real savoury depth to a cheap meal.
- One Pot Sausage & Mushroom PastaRecipe by Budget Bytes~$0.81 / serving 4 in-season
- French Onion Green Bean CasseroleRecipe by Well Plated~$0.89 / serving 3 in-season
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom GravyRecipe by Minimalist Baker~$0.98 / serving 4 in-season
- Mushroom Kale Lasagna RollsRecipe by Skinnytaste~$1.04 / serving 3 in-season
- Breakfast Strata Recipe with Sausage and MushroomsRecipe by Skinnytaste~$1.05 / serving 1 in-season
- Roasted Vegetable BurritosRecipe by Budget Bytes~$1.06 / serving 4 in-season
See all 782 recipes with mushrooms →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.
Price from the USDA National Retail Report. Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.
Mushrooms — FAQ
When can you buy mushrooms in season?
This vegetable is harvested somewhere in the country all year, so it has no single local-harvest peak, and it is sold in stores year-round. This week the Midwest has mushrooms marked peak season.
What's the price of mushrooms right now?
As of the week of September 4, 2026, the price of mushrooms in the Midwest is $1.94/8 oz, down 10% from last week.
How many calories and how much protein are in mushrooms?
A typical 96g serving of mushrooms has about 21 calories, 3g protein, 3.2g carbohydrates, 0.3g fat, and 1g fiber, per USDA FoodData Central.
What can I make with mushrooms?
SeasonSort indexes 782 recipes that use mushrooms, each with its cost per serving computed from this week's prices — starting from about $0.13 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.