This Vegan Philly Cheesesteak is so easy to make and will have your family raving. Oyster Mushroom "steak", peppers and onions all marinated and baked to meaty perfection, stuffed into a long roll with gooey, melty vegan cheese. It's messy, meaty and delightful. You may just mistake it for the real thing. 😉
The Mushrooms for this recipe were provided by Fungified Farm!
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I dream about this cheesesteak.
Living outside of the city, I've had my fair share of Philly cheesesteaks in my pre-vegan days. It's quite an experience and those from outside the area, just don't seem to get it.
You're really gonna impress your family and friends with this one. It's one of those loaded sandwiches that you just have to shove your face in to really get the full effect.
It's loaded with melty vegan cheese, jam packed with oyster mushroom "steak", that is oddly close to the real thing and tossed with peppers and onions for the whole loaded cheesesteak experience. I'll take mine wiz wit pretty please.
Whip up a few for your super bowl party, game night or just any day of the week. They pair especially well with an appetizer spread of Buffalo Artichoke Dip and Air Fried Taquitos!
Oyster Mushrooms
Mushrooms are the versatile oasis of vegan cooking. They can basically be turned into anything. Oyster Mushrooms are the best choice for this recipe as they soak up the beefy marinade very well without going soggy and when baked they get just the right amount of chew for a cheesesteak.
The mushrooms for this recipe were gratefully supplied by Fungified Farm!
They are a local grower that supplies the best selection of local and exotic mushrooms in the area! If you live in the US and are local to the Montgomery County area, you have to check them out!
They have a local delivery of fresh mushrooms and they frequent many local Farmer's Markets. If you are not local, still take a moment to browse their site! They also offer a variety of seasonings, tinctures and dried mushrooms to ship!
Ingredients
There's a few different components to this recipe, but each step is SO simple. Here's what you'll need to grab
For the Marinade
- vegan beef broth
- garlic powder
- black pepper
- worcestershire sauce (make sure it's vegan!)
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
For the Fresh Stuff
- Fungified Food oyster mushrooms
- bell peppers
- sweet yellow onion
For the Melty Vegan Cheese
- raw cashews
- water
- apple cider vinegar
- sea salt
- yellow miso
- arrowroot starch (aka flour)
And of course, don't forget your long rolls!
Instructions
Whisk up the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
Prep the Oyster Mushrooms by removing any tough bottom and tearing by hand, lengthwise into about ¾ inch wide shreds. Toss mushrooms into marinade and mix.
Prep onions and peppers. Halve peppers, remove seeds and slice lengthwise. Halve onion and slice. Toss in with mushrooms and mix. Set oven to 425°F and let veggies marinate while preheating.
Spread peppers, onions and mushrooms onto 2 baking sheets in a single layer. DON'T CROWD THE PAN. Bake for 15 minutes, give a quick mix and rotate placement of baking sheets. Bake another 10-15 minutes until cooked to your preference, I like my mushrooms to have browned and crispy edges.
While mushrooms are baking, prepare your cheese! Add soaked cashews and all ingredients into a blender and process on high until smooth and creamy.
Add mixture into a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Sauce will become weirdly clumpy first. Just keep stirring!!! It'll soon turn super smooth and creamy, I promise! Once smooth take it off the heat.
Vegan Cheesesteaks ASSEMBLE!
Toast those buns in the oven for a couple minutes if you want. (I always want toasted buns)
Smear in that gooey, melty cheese that you definitely took the 5 minutes to make and then pack in those cheesesteak-y mushrooms and shove it in your face.
Sorry... does that sound vulgar? Legit cheesesteaks just feel like something you have to shove in your face, they just can't be eaten gracefully. 🤣
Substitutions & Variations
- Cheese Swap- if making your own cheese isn't your thing you can use your favorite store bought vegan cheese option. HOWEVER, I fully endorse making this cheese. It's SO GOOEY AND MELTY and VERY easy to make. You can prep it in less that than it takes for your shroomies to bake.
- Spice it up- Like things spicy? You could toss in 1-2 sliced jalapenos in with your mushrooms for a nice kick. You could also add some whole food, plant based Spicy Mayo to your bun for a delicious and creamy twist.
- Peppers & Onions- if a loaded cheesesteak isn't your thing, just leave out the onions and/or peppers!
- Wrap it- Wanna skip the bun? Toss the filling and cheese into a wrap or over some rice for a fun and delicious change.
- Oil Free- if you avoid oil, you can leave it out of the marinade. I would recommend lining your baking sheet with parchment paper and check mushrooms frequently to prevent drying out or over cooking. You could also air fry them in batches if you prefer. Just do not overcrowd your fryer.
- Gluten Free- Swap the long roll for a gluten free option to make this recipe completely gluten free.
Equipment
Equipment and each individuals' oven can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out.
For this recipe I used my Le Creuset Non-Stick Baking sheets. If you feel your baking sheets are not non-stick, I would recommend spraying with non-stick spray or lining with parchment paper before baking.
Storage
Store any leftover cheese and filling separately in sealed containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, toss the filling in the oven (or air fryer) to warm for best results.
Cheese sauce will thicken in the fridge. To bring it back to life, warm in the microwave or on the stovetop, adding a splash of water or plant based milk and stirring well to make it smooth and creamy again.
I would not recommend freezing.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! Take a picture and tag me on Instagram @samcookskindness !
Recipe
Vegan Philly Cheesesteak with Oyster Mushrooms
Ingredients
Marinade
- ⅔ cups vegan beef broth* see notes
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Veggies
- 1 pound oyster mushrooms
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 sweet yellow onion
Gooey Cheese Sauce
- ½ cup raw cashews soaked in hot water for 30 mins to 1 hour
- ¾ water
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon yellow miso
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch (flour)
Rolls
- 3 hoagie buns or long rolls
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients. Remove tough bottom of oyster mushroom if necessary and tear by hand, lengthwise into about ¾ inch wide shreds. Toss mushrooms into marinade and mix. Let sit and marinade while prepping onions and peppers. Halve peppers, remove seeds and slice. Halve onion and slice. Toss in with mushrooms and mix. Preheat oven to 425°F.
- When oven is heated, transfer peppers, onions and mushrooms onto 2 baking sheets in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and give a quick mix and rotate placement of baking sheets. Bake another 10-15 minutes until cooked to your preference. Cooking time may vary based on the size of your mushrooms and baking sheet.
- While baking, prepare cheese sauce. Add soaked cashews and all ingredients into a blender and process on high until smooth and creamy. Add mixture into a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring continuously. Sauce will become clumpy before becoming smooth and creamy, just keep stirring! Remove from heat
- Assemble! Optionally, toast your rolls in the oven for the last 3-4 minutes of baking then. Smear in the cheese, pack in mushrooms and enjoy!
Apryl says
Super easy to make and delicious! Substituted the oyster mushrooms for portobellos. Thanks Sam! 🙂
Sam says
I'm SO happy you liked the recipe!! Thanks so much for leaving your feedback!
Kevin says
Holy smokes! This is a flavor bomb! So delicious!! The cheese sauce is great to dip fries into. Great game day meal.
Sharon says
The veggies turned out perfect. I used white miso instead of yellow for the sauce (not sure if that changed much for flavor) but I was worried the cheese sauce was going to be too strong. But on top of the sandwich? it was PERFECTION! so delish.
Sam says
Thanks for the great feedback Sharon!! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! White miso is a great swap for yellow and probably didn't change the taste very much at all since they're both mild in flavor.