Portobello Fries with Meyer Lemonnaise —big slices of portobello mushrooms lightly coated in a buttermilk batter and fried until crispy ~ then dunked in a tangy lemon mayonnaise dip!
These fried mushrooms are about to rock your world, and they’re ever so simple.
Use them as an appetizer or a side dish, they make a unique alternative to French fries. Mushrooms become wonderfully juicy after frying, while still maintaining their firm texture.
3 steps to fried mushroom nirvana
- I start by slicing portobello mushrooms into nice fat wedges.
- I dredge them in a batter made up of 2 to 1 buttermilk to flour.
- And then fry them in a few inches of vegetable oil heated to 340F. The mushrooms fry to crispy perfection in about 4 minutes. Just be sure your oil is at 340-350F.
The above photo shows the mushroom wedges dusted with flour before going into the buttermilk batter, but I found that wasn’t necessary, the batter sticks to the bare mushrooms just fine.
TIP: If you don’t have a thermometer (and I highly recommend getting one!) you can drop a test mushroom into the oil, it should fry to golden in 3-4 minutes.

The light Meyer Lemon sauce is the perfect complement to the meaty portobello fries.
The real fun begins when you dunk the hot crispy chewy wedges in a brightly flavored dip of mayonnaise and fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice. Heaven!!
Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange. They are a slightly sweeter and less astringent than regular lemon so you can use a little more of it in this sauce to get a brilliant burst of citrus and a nice thin dipping consistency.
 I’m shuffling all the condiments around in the door of my fridge to make way for my new bestie Lemonnaise. We’re having burgers with our fries tonight, and I’m putting the lemonnaise on them as well.
More recipes for mushroom lovers…
-
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice and Mushrooms
-
Baked Brie with Wild Mushrooms and Hazelnuts
-
Instant Pot Wild Mushroom Risotto
-
Mushroom and Gruyere Bruschetta
-
Wild Mushroom Pasta with Hazelnuts
-
Chopped Steak with Bacon and Mushroom Gravy
-
Mushroom and Brie Soup
-
Easy Mushroom Risotto
-
Wild Mushroom Polenta Packets

Portobello Fries with Meyer Lemonnaise
Ingredients
- vegetable oil
- 2 large portobello mushroom caps, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- pinch of salt
Meyer Lemonnaise
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- juice from 2 Meyer lemons
- salt and fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Heat several inches of oil to 340F in a deep pot. Use a thermometer for accuracy.
- Meanwhile, mix the buttermilk, flour and salt together to make a batter. It should have the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
- When the oil is hot, coat the mushrooms in the batter, shaking off any excess, and fry, in batches, until golden brown and crispy. Flip the mushrooms over in the oil a couple of times. This will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Drain the mushrooms on paper towels.
- To make the Lemonnaise, whisk the mayo and the lemon juice together until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, and lots of fresh cracked black pepper. The sauce will be on the thin side.
I made a spinach salad and topped it with the fried mushrooms…very yummy.
Sounds so good. And I’ll bet that mayo would go great with asparagus, too!
Omg, deep-fried, battered mushrooms?!?! Yes please! It reminds me of the tempura veggies I used to get out the county fair when I was growing up. And I bet that dipping sauce takes them over the top!
SUE! I’m going to insist that you move closer. This kind of food temptation, on top of the fact that I know we would be great neighbors, is just not fair. Why couldn’t there be a fabulous job opportunity here in AZ?? Sheesh.
At any rate, I suspect I’m going to be trying these soon. Your beer battered mushrooms that I made last year were fantastic. I can’t wait to try them this way!
This sounds and looks so interesting….love the idea of the lemmonaise mayo to go along with it.
Well, the expected response did occur – thank you for the warning. These look so delicious and the lemonaisse sounds like the perfect condiment. I’ll have to surprise my hubby one night soon 🙂
I want to say that you’re an evil, wicked woman, creating such incredibly tempting deep-fried treats… but I can’t… you’re just too nice and i’m too much of a sucker for fabulous deep-fried food… sooooooooooooooooo good!
This sounds like a great dinner. What time did you say it was going to be ready? The lemmonaise sounds perfect – on everything! I just noticed something – you and I started blogging just 10 days apart. How special!
Wow these are really special, especially the Meyer Lemmonaise. Love it!
Wow…this is soooo creative, Sue! The shrooms look so good, even at 10am! 🙂 And the Lemonnaise. Great idea. And super creative and clever little name for it!