Hey veggie friends! Here’s another excellent meal option from So Radish’s menu: our Mushroom Cheesesteak Sandwich, created by my husband, Nick, and me.
For So Radish’s entire 4.5 year run, this incredible sandwich was one of the restaurant’s most popular menu items, battling it out for first place with our Meatball Sub and Burger of the Month. The soy curls and sauce were later additions that really took the Mushroom Cheesesteak Sandwich to the next level.
The So Radish Version
Sandwich Toppings
If you would like to make this exactly like the restaurant version, make the Vegan Provolone and Poblano Ranch in advance. To save time, feel free to use a store-bought cheese instead and swap the sauce out for a different creamy/spicy sauce option. The Mushroom Cheesesteak is also delicious without any sauce, if you would prefer to leave it off.
Pickled Peppers
We originally served this sandwich with a side pickled hot banana peppers, aka. Hungarian wax peppers, using my husband’s recipe. Shortly after opening the restaurant, we realized that we would only be able to order Hungarian wax peppers a couple months out of the year, so the recipe changed to pickled jalapenos.
I’ll post the original recipe once we have a chance to make them again, but in the meantime, serving store-bought pickled peppers with the Mushroom Cheesesteak is also delicious. I recommend Mezzetta Hot Cherry Peppers as a delightful alternative.
Spice Level
Other than the optional Pickled Peppers and Poblano Ranch toppings, the Mushroom Cheesesteak gets its heat from the cayenne in the marinade. I included a slightly heaping ¼ teaspoon in this recipe, based on the restaurant version, which scaled down to ⅓ teaspoon. The amount in the recipe isn’t overly spicy, but if you’re particularly sensitive to spice, please feel free to use less.
Ingredients & Equipment
Ingredients
Most, if not all, of the ingredients for the Mushroom Cheesesteak recipe can be found in your local grocery store. The only potentially tricky items are vegan worcestershire (Kroger brand is vegan) and soy curls (check your local health food store).
Equipment
You don’t necessarily need any special equipment to prepare the Mushroom Cheesesteak; however, a mandoline slicer will make your life a lot easier, especially if you plan on preparing a lot of veggie-forward meals in the future. If you’re getting a mandoline, cutting gloves are also highly recommended to avoid injury.
Gallon-sized Ziplocks will come in handy for the marinade, since you can remove most of the air. Although, any large lidded container will work fine. If you’d like to make the optional toppings, a Silicone Cheese Mold or Silicone Loaf Pan, a fine mesh strainer, and squeeze bottles will also come in handy.
Making the Mushroom Cheesesteak Sandwich
- Fill a gallon ziplock or lidded container with button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, green bell peppers, red onions, and soy curls. The ratio of ingredients should be approximately 4:2:2:1:1 by volume, so please feel free to adjust if your bell pepper or onion are different sizes.
- Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour over veggies. Marinate for anywhere from 2-12 hours (4-6 hours is ideal). If you are using a lidded container, stir or shake the mixture halfway through the marinating time to ensure proper coverage.
- Drain marinade completely and sauté over medium high heat until edges are lightly browned and button mushrooms are reduced in size (about 7-9 minutes).
- Reduce heat to medium low and melt pieces of Vegan Provolone over the mushroom mixture.
- Toast hoagies/sandwich rolls and lightly butter them if desired.
- Divide the veggie/cheese mixture into 4 sections and transfer to the hoagies. Top with Vegan Poblano Ranch and serve with a side of pickled peppers.
Closing Note
If you try this recipe, or if you have any questions, please let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to tag us on social media at @we_make_pretty! For more great protein-packed recipes, check out our Tempeh Bacon BLTs or our Chocolate Cherry Adaptogen Smoothie. Happy cooking!
Mushroom Cheesesteak
Equipment
- Mandoline Slicer (optional)
- Cutting Gloves (optional)
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 6 Tbsp Worcestershire (anchovy-free if you’re vegan!)
- ½ cup Balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup Tamari
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- 2 ½ tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 ½ tsp Garlic powder
- 2 tsp Onion powder
- 2 tsp Black pepper
- ¼ tsp Cayenne (slightly heaping)
Filling:
- 1 pound Button mushrooms sliced
- 8 oz Portabella sliced (2-3 caps, depending on the size)
- 1 Large green bell pepper sliced*
- 1/2 Medium red onion sliced** (about half the volume of the bell pepper)
- 2/3 cup Soy curls optional
For Sandwiches
- 4 6" Hoagies/sandwich rolls
- Vegan Provolone
- Poblano Ranch
Instructions
Instructions
- Fill a gallon ziplock or lidded container with button mushrooms, portabella mushrooms, green bell peppers, red onions, and soy curls. The ratio of ingredients should be approximately 4:2:2:1:1 by volume, so please feel free to adjust if your bell pepper or onion are different sizes.
- Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour over veggies. Seal the ziplock, removing as much air from the bag as possible and marinate for at least 2 and up to 12 hours (4 hours is ideal). If you are using a lidded container instead, stir or shake the mixture a few times during the marinating process to ensure proper coverage.
- Drain marinade completely and saute over medium high heat until edges are lightly browned and button mushrooms are reduced in size (about 7-9 minutes).
- Reduce heat to medium low and melt pieces of vegan provolone over the mushroom mixture. If you’ve made a softer “wiz” style version, you can skip this step, and top the sandwiches with provolone once they are assembled.
- Toast hoagies/sandwich rolls and lightly butter them if desired.
- Divide into 4 sections and transfer to the hoagies. Top with poblano ranch and serve.
Notes
**White or yellow onion will also work great, but if you want it to be exactly like the restaurant version, stick with red.
