If you love fried oyster mushrooms, you are going to LOVE this Vegan Po Boy Sandwich! Seasoned with homemade cajun seasoning mix and topped with a vegan remoulade sauce, this sandwich will have you thinking you're eating the real thing!
What's a Po' Boy
A Po' Boy is a sandwich original to the home of Louisiana. The name "Po' Boy" is short for "Poor Boy." The name is said to come from the Martin brothers who supported union workers on strike. Every time one them would come into their restaurant the would yell "here comes another Poor Boy!." You can read more about this on The History of The Po-Boy.
This sandwich is typically made with fried seafood like shrimp, oysters, and crawfish battered in spices and placed between french bread with a variety of toppings. Well for my version of a Vegan Po' Boy Sandwich, I used the perfect substitute.
Fried Oyster Mushrooms!
Ever since I published my fried oyster mushroom recipe a 2 years ago (who remembers this old video? lol), years later I've noticed a lot of people have made their own versions of the recipe and it's sort of a trend now. I'm not surprised! These mushrooms are THE BOMB!
I've already had some of my readers on IG, FB, YouTube, and Pinterest pages share how they used my previous fried oyster mushroom recipe in Po' Boy Sandwiches so I thought why not make an official recipe for it!
They are the PERFECT substitute for a vegan Po' Boy Sandwich for these 3 main reasons:
- Instead of using oysters, you can use oyster mushrooms. Similar names without the cruelty of harming a sentient being.
- Oyster mushrooms have a very meaty texture making it a much better substitute than shrimp
- They taste fantastic fried! Trust me you will become addicted to this sandwich!
This recipe is fried with a different batter than my original fried oyster mushroom recipe. I added my homemade cajun seasoning mix to give it a little kick! The sandwich itself has traditional toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and my homemade vegan remoulade sauce!
How to Make a Make Vegan Po Boy Sandwich?
*Please read detailed and printable recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions.
- Add all your wet ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Add your clean oyster mushrooms to the wet batter and marinate. (Photos 1 & 2)
- Next add your dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Begin to add your wet battered oyster mushrooms to flour mixture and coat well. (Photos 3 & 4)
- Fry your oyster mushrooms until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and begin adding them to your sandwich along with your chosen toppings. (Photos 5 & 6)
Substitution, Cook, & Storage Tips
- Some Po' Boy Recipes use cornmeal in there batter when frying. I didn't for this recipe but you surely can if you prefer it that way.
- You can try this recipe with other types of mushrooms. I like oyster mushrooms because they have an awesome texture. But you can try it with king oyster mushrooms or portobello and see how that works!
- If you don't want to use mushrooms, try this recipe with heart of palm, banana blossoms, or even tofu!
- DO NOT skip adding baking powder and apple cider vinegar to your batter. It will give your crust a light and airy crispness that is out of this world!
- This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days (the fried mushrooms). It is not freezer friendly.
How Does This Recipe Help With Vegan Weight Gain?
Tho this recipe is high in calories, I don't recommend making fried food as part of your everyday meal. Fried food, in general, isn't healthy and there are other healthier ways to gain healthy weight.
How Does This Recipe Help With Vegan Weight Loss?
You can make this recipe apart of your vegan weight loss plan by:
- You could bake or air fry them instead of frying them. I haven't personally tested out baking them but I have air-fried them. It works in an air fryer but it's not as crispy as when you fry them in oil.
- Instead of Po' Boy Sandwich and eating these with bread, you can eat these mushrooms over a salad!
More Oyster Mushroom Recipes You’ll Love
Other Cajun Recipes to Try
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Vegan Po' Boy (with Fried Oyster Mushrooms!)
Ingredients
- ½ - 1 pound oyster mushrooms note 1
Wet Batter
- 1 cup full fat can coconut milk , unsweetened note 2
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning mix note 3
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Dry Batter
- 1 cup white spelt flour note 4
- 1 tablespoon baking powder note 5
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning mix
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 24 ounce Vegetable oil for frying note 6
For Sandwich
- French Bread
- Vegan Remoulade Sauce
- tomatoes
- lettuce, spinach, or arugula
- pickles
Equipment
Instructions
- Take a damp paper towel and begin to wipe down your oyster mushrooms (this is how you clean mushrooms). If you rinse them instead, be sure to pat them dry with a paper towel. Set aside to begin making your batter.
- Start with the wet batter. Add coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, cajun seasoning mix, sea salt, and black pepper to a large bowl and mix together. Add oyster mushrooms to the wet batter and allow it to marinate for 10 minutes.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add white spelt flour, baking powder, cajun seasoning mix, sea salt, and black pepper to a large bowl and mix together. Set aside.
- In the meantime, grab your cast-iron skillet and add enough oil for frying leaving about an inch or so of room from the at the top of the skillet. (The amount will vary depending on the vessel you are using to fry. For a deep fryer I tend to use the entire bottle of oil. For my cast iron skillet, I use ¾ of a 24-ounce bottle of oil).
- Turn heat on high and heat oil for 2 - 3 minutes until it is hot. If you have thermometer, it should read between 350°F (175°C) - 400°F (200°C). I don't use a thermometer so how I test my oil is by dipping a small piece of battered oyster mushroom in the oil. If it sizzles, that means it's ready.
- Take your marinated mushrooms and dip them in to your dry batter fully coating. I like to do this one at a time to make sure they are fully coated in the dry flour mixture. However, you can add multiple pieces in your dry batter at a time. Begin to add these pieces to your oil to begin frying.
- Fry in batches adding a few pieces at a time being sure not to over crowd the mushrooms. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until evenly brown and crispy. Once mushrooms are done frying remove from skillet with a fry strainer and place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil off. Repeat until all mushrooms are cooked.
- Begin to assemble your sandwich. To your french bread add your vegan remoulade sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and fried oyster mushrooms. Serve with a salad or as is! Fried oyster mushrooms will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. DO NOT freeze.
Video
Notes
- MUSHROOMS: You can try this recipe with other types of mushrooms. I like oyster mushrooms because they have an awesome texture. But you can try it with king oyster mushrooms or portobello and see how that works!
- COCONUT MILK: I like use full fat coconut milk in a can because of it's thickness. I find it coats the mushrooms better very similar to a buttermilk texture. But any unsweetened plant based milk you desire like my homemade Hemp Sea Moss Milk recipe!
- CAJUN SEASONING MIX: This is a homemade recipe very simple to make. However if you don't feel like whipping up your own you can use a store bought mix.
- WHITE SPELT FLOUR: Regular spelt flour will work for this recipe or just any all purpose flour. If you are gluten free, the ONLY gluten free flour I recommend is chickpea flour. In my experience, this flour works well for frying. If you try any other gluten free flour, do so at your own risk.
- BAKING POWDER: The baking powder (NOT BAKING SODA!!!) gives the crust a "light an airy" crispness (along with the apple cider vinegar). I wouldn't omit it. You can however substitute apple cider vinegar with lime or lemon juice.
- VEGETABLE OIL: Any vegetable oil with a very high smoke point will work. There is NO SUCH THING as a healthy oil to fry with as deep frying is not a healthy way of cooking. Therefore all purpose vegetable oil, corn oil grape seed oil, or even canola oil will work.
- ADDITIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS: Some Po’ Boy Recipes use cornmeal in there batter when frying. I didn’t for this recipe but you surely can if you prefer it that way. You can try this recipe with other types of mushrooms if you like. (I only use oyster mushrooms).
- AIR FRYER: I tried this recipe in an air fryer and it didn't turn out as crispy as with the traditional way of frying. However the flavor and taste was still there. So if you want to try it in your air fryer give it ago! I air fried it at at temperature of 350°F (175°C) for about 7 minutes in batches until all the pieces were cooked.
Nutrition
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© Gina Marie Hoskins. Vegan With Curves. All Rights Reserved. Unless noted otherwise, all images, recipes, & content are copyright protected and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. My images and written content are NOT to be used without prior permission. Read full Copyright Disclosure.
© Gina Marie Hoskins. Vegan With Curves. All Rights Reserved. Unless noted otherwise, all images, recipes, & content are copyright protected and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. My images and written content are NOT to be used without prior permission. Read full Copyright Disclosure.
Brandy
Made this for my husband and I to try out, we loved it! I will definitely be making this again. I did chop up the lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and mix it with the remoulade, I think it evenly spreads everything over the sandwich.
Adam
Made this recipe along with addition of roumoulade, cajun seasoning so I could make the oyster mushroom po'boy from wild foraged oyster mushrooms. I did half recipes for everything except the seasoning. I was the only one eating so I could have cut the other recipes to 1/3. Everything turned out great. Used gluten-free flour mix for breading... next time I won't do that. It didn't stick very well. Nice flavor mix with everything combined.