When I was a kid, I swore that I didn’t like mushrooms. Sure, I loved the smell of them at a steak restaurant when my brother ordered them or when my mom sautéed some on the stove with a little garlic — but I never would have admitted that. My stubborn self told everyone that mushrooms were “gross.”
Maybe I believed it then, but I absolutely do not believe it now. Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods to add to a creamy orzo dish or just brown in a pan as a side. They are super tasty, but also honestly sometimes a little annoying to cook.
When I try to sauté them alone in a pan, they drink up my oil and release a ton of water, so it takes a while before they get that beautiful golden color. While scrolling on TikTok, though, I came across a video by America’s Test Kitchen sharing the supposed secret to cooking mushrooms: Apparently, you’re supposed to cook them with water.
What Makes Cooking Mushrooms in Water So Good
America’s Test Kitchen says in this video that the best way to sauté mushrooms is by adding 1/4 cup of water into a pan with them. The reason this trick is so good is that it will save you so much time (and oil!).
Most people (myself included) cook mushrooms by initially adding them to a pan with oil. When you do this, the mushrooms soak up all the oil. Then, when you think the mushrooms are about to start browning, all their moisture is released so you then have to reduce all that water and add more oil before you can brown them.
Instead of all this adding and waiting, this video suggests pouring water into your pan with the mushrooms at the start. Apparently, the steam from the water will start cooking the mushrooms right away by collapsing their air pockets and helping their cell walls rupture faster. In short, the mushrooms will release the water retained in them much more quickly.
You’ll just have to add a small amount of oil to your pan after all the water evaporates to brown them. Mushrooms cooked this way can be used in anything, but this video specifically suggests making them into a glossy, buttery pan sauce.
Should You Add Salt to the Mushrooms?
I asked Food Editor Patty Catalano if she had tried this trick out before, and while she had not, she said that “figuring out how to get mushrooms to release their moisture is at the crux of cooking them well.” I asked her specifically if you should add salt to the mushrooms at any point, since I’ve heard it also helps release moisture.
She explained that when salt is sprinkled onto food, water is pulled out to dilute the salt. When you use salt on food, like mushrooms or a steak, “basically what nature wants to do is have the salt concentration on the inside and outside be equal,” Catalano said. She explained that using water to manipulate the way mushrooms cook by steaming them pretty much does the same thing as sprinkling them with salt — that is, getting the mushrooms to release moisture.
Catalano says that if you’re going to try America’s Test Kitchen’s trick, you could salt the mushrooms at the start, “as that would work with the added water to pull out the mushrooms’ moisture.” She also recommends tasting for salt at the end to make sure it is seasoned the way you want it.
