Fat Ronnie’s Deep Fried Mushrooms are some of the best fried mushrooms you will ever eat. Crispy and crunchy on the outside, and tender on the inside.
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Table of Contents
Deep fried mushroom appetizer
If you have never tried deep frying fresh mushrooms it is easier than you might imagine. In just minutes you can have deliciously fried mushrooms to enjoy.
Fried mushrooms are perfect for parties, watching the game, or as a side when you are frying fish.
The secret to this crispy batter is the combination of baking powder in the flour and the use of buttermilk. The baking powder and the buttermilk give the batter a good crispness and make the perfect combination for frying.
Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Ground Pepper
- Baking Powder
- Buttermilk
- Mushrooms
- Vegetable oil for frying
What types of mushrooms can you fry?
You can fry just about any fresh mushroom. For this recipe, we will use fresh button mushrooms. You could use cremini, also known as baby portobello mushrooms. I like to get mushrooms at Costco, they are a good value there.
Snap off the stems, and brush off the mushrooms with a moist paper towel to clean the mushrooms. Don’t rinse off the mushrooms or use your sprayer on them. Mushrooms are delicate and you may damage them.
How to Make Fried Mushrooms
This recipe uses a dry-wet-dry method for breading the mushrooms before frying.
- Preheat vegetable oil to 375 degrees.
- Mix flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder in a bowl.
- Place buttermilk into a separate bowl.
- Dip mushrooms into the seasoned flour, shake off excess flour.
- Place floured mushrooms into the buttermilk.
- Coat the mushrooms with buttermilk, shake off excess buttermilk.
- Place mushrooms back into the seasoned flour. Shake off excess flour.
- Fry mushrooms for 1 to 2 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
- Drain mushrooms on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
Tips for Deep Frying Mushrooms
Frying fresh mushrooms takes just a few moments. I love my T-Fal deep fryer. If you do not have a deep fryer, you can fill a large heavy-bottomed pot with vegetable oil. The oil will need to be about 4 inches deep.
Only fry a few mushrooms at a time and gently stir the mushrooms from time to time as they cook. You do not want to crowd the fryer.
Fried mushrooms are done when they are golden in color.
Don’t let the crust get soggy!
Instead of draining fresh mushrooms on paper towels, I lay them on a wire rack placed in a baking sheet. The excess grease will drain, but the food won’t steam like it can on a paper towel.
If you liked this recipe, you will love Fat Ronnie’s Fried Onion Rings!
About Fat Ronnie’s
Fat Ronnie’s was located in Topeka, Kansas in the 1970s. Fat Ronnie’s was known for its delicious food. He was the first person to offer deep-fried mushrooms in Kansas. This restaurant was a favorite of my family when we lived in the area.
Ronnie served his deep-fried goodness in paper bags. The bags were always full and everything they served was delicious. Fat Ronnie’s was the brainchild of Ronald Williams. Sadly, he isn’t around anymore but you can still make food just as good as his!
Perfect Dipping Sauces
- Arby’s Horsey Sauce
- Campfire Sauce
- Chick Fil A Sauce
- Creamy Jalapeno Sauce
- Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Jan Sauce
Favorite Fried Appetizers
- Blossom Petals
- Buffalo Chicken Bites
- Cheese Curds
- Fried Jalapeno Poppers
- Fried Mozzarella
- Fried Pickles
- How to Make Onion Rings
Check out more of my easy appetizer recipes and the best copycat fast food recipes here on CopyKat!
Fat Ronnie’s Deep Fried Fresh Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 8 ounces Fresh Mushrooms (washed, dried, and stems removed)
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Preheat vegetable oil to 375 degrees.
- Mix flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder in a bowl.
- Place buttermilk into a bowl.
Battering mushrooms
- Dip into the seasoned flour, shake off excess flour. Place floured mushrooms into the buttermilk.
- Coat the mushrooms with buttermilk, shake off excess buttermilk.
- Place mushrooms back into the seasoned flour. Shake off excess buttermilk.
- Cook mushrooms for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the turn golden brown. Be sure to stir the mushrooms, and flip them over to both sides cook.
- Drain mushrooms on a wire rack resting in a bar pan.
Where did you get the salt and pepper wells shown in the photo? And great recipe, can not wait to try this out during Morel season!
I got the salt and pepper wells at Phonecia Grocery in Houston, TX.
This is awesome… what a great family recipe!!
I was pleasantly surprised at how crispy these turned out. I used the leftover flour and buttermilk to fry some zucchini slices..
These fried mushrooms are ahhmazing!! The receipe is very easy to follow and also excellent for using to make your own fried pickles.
Can you prepare and freeze raw and fry at a later date?
I would not try this. I don’t know how the batter would stay on while the mushrooms freeze.
This recipe looks delicious! I’ve never thought of deep frying mushrooms before! It would be tasty to add horseradish too. Thank you for sharing!
Now I hope you will work together for some of his recipes because they sound wonderful!!!!
Can i use self rising flour??
It should work ok.
My my my just made these and fat tommies onion rings my my my they are great I and my family thank you so much I have tried many recipes and all where a hit
Sorry fat Ronnies darn spell check lol they are great thanks again
I am glad you enjoyed these onion rings, they were a favorite of mine when growing up.
these are amazing. just what i was craving, im eating them as they come out! Ive burned myself twice!!
this is a great recipe, but i think they are rad with home made ken’s honey mustard dressing.
1/2 cup of mayo
1/4 yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste..
Thanks Fat Ronnie… you rule.. the are better than the kind you get at Zaxby’s….
I love, love, love this recipe — Thank you for posting and thank you Fat Ronnie for the original. Never ate there, but I can only imagine how good everything else on the menu was if the sides were soooo good!!
I love, love, love this recipe — Thank you for posting and thank you Fat Ronnie for the original. Never ate there, but I can only imagine how good everything else on the menu was if the sides were soooo good!!
We are making your deep fried mushrooms tonite. The responses that I read brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing. I worked in a school cafeteria for a lot of years and treasure recipes. Am not anyways near Topeka and never been there. We live in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. Praise the Lord, we survived Katrina. God bless Copy Kat and Ronnie too
So… I had some yummy steaks that I made tonight, saw a couple of packages of white mushrooms in the fridge as I grabbed the steaks, and decided to Google a yummy recipe for fried mushrooms to dip in a sour cream horseradish sauce. I found this recipe.
Firstly, it was DEEEEEEEELISH.
Secondly, reading Fat Ronnie’s wife’s and son’s and customer’s comments made me feel really good. I’ve never heard of the place- it sounds like one of those local treasures that lives on in town memory for years. Thank you for the recipe and thank you for sharing the feelings and memories that cooks are driven to create with their food.
I am so incredibly touched Ronnie’s family has written on those recipes. His place is one of my biggest childhood memories. It was such a treat to go there.
Horseradish sauce is the best with them. Great recipe!
I’m going to try these tonight! I’m from the Topeka area, but never heard of Fat Ronnie’s – where were they located?
Fat Ronnie’s is no longer in business 🙁 Stephanie
The first location was 21st and Hwy 75 (he thinks).
Second location was 21st and Gage.
Last location was on 29th and California Ave.
Ron is touched that people are making his recipes and enjoying them nearly 40 years later. Anyone who would like to contact Ron can do so at rkw2@cox.net.
This is “Fat Ronnie’s” wife and he is so thrilled to see his recipes up and alive on the web. His health is failing now (he has a multitude of health issues and has recently had his right leg amputated). He wishes that Fat Ronnie’s was still around or that we could open a “Fat Ronnie’s Jr” type of place – but only in his dreams.
If I can get more recipes from him, I will send them. Most of them are just a “I used to do this…” type of thing.
Anyone interested in reading about Ron can check out my blog. Most of it is about him.
I am really sorry to hear that Ron is going through so much, his restaurant was one of my favorite memories when growing up. I know my family has always talked about going there and getting some of his tasty food. ~stephanie
how do i find the blog i would love to read more and the recipes look so good
I’ll be sure to pass that along. Most of his recipes are resting safely in his head for now. He hasn’t even given them to his own son! The image you used for the mushrooms and for the Fried onions are pretty spot on. When we were talking about them, he made it a point to let me know that they *always* filled up a brown paper bag.
For those who didn’t go to Fat Ronnie’s he served everything in paper bags, you would walk out of there with fresh steaming bags of fried goodies.
Fat Ronnie’s was owned an operated by my father, Fat Ronnie Sr. It brings me a real sense of pride to know that his food was so well remembered that people still make it 35 years later.
I just gotta say, if Fat Ronnie wants to share any more of his recipes, I would be glad to put them up. I have fond memories of that place!
Stephanie, his memory is not good any more and he can only remember bits and pieces of things, but not enough to put anything together. 🙁
If you ever want to share what he does remember, i’ll see what I can do to construct a recipe. I loved this place as a kid. I can remember my Mom stopping there before we went to the pool in the summer. Loved it.