Why the Microwave is Your Friend When it Comes to Cooking Mushrooms

   By SheSpeaksTeam  May 24, 2017

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Many people wouldn’t even consider putting a delicious mushroom into the microwave. But some new research is now suggesting that nuking the fungi may actually be the healthiest way to eat those anti-oxidant rich mushrooms. Mushrooms have been considered a superfood for quite some time. Just a few of the benefits include helping to lower cholesterol, giving you a boost of nutrients including high amounts of protein, being rich with cancer-preventing antioxidants and perhaps best of all, they are low in calories and fat.

Popular Science reports about the new study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition that suggests microwaving mushrooms is the best way to preserve all of those precious healthy benefits from eating mushrooms. Though most people think preparing food in the microwave is the easy way out, when it comes to mushrooms it may be your best bet in terms of getting all the goodness from your food.

After testing the nutrients contents of button mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, and two species of oyster mushrooms, scientists found that both cooking in the microwave and grilling were the best ways to preserve the nutrition content. Frying and boiling seemed to be the worst at hanging on to the nutritional benefits of these mushrooms.

Both grilling for these mushrooms for about 6 minutes at a temperature a little above 200 degrees Fahrenheit or simply microwaving them at 1000 watts for 1 and a half minutes, led to much higher nutrient levels. Lead author Irene Roncero-Ramos explains, “When mushrooms were cooked by microwave or grill, the content of polyphenol and antioxidant activity increased significantly, and there are no significant losses in nutritional value of the cooked mushrooms.”

Are you a fan of fungi? How do you cook mushrooms?

After hearing this report, will you consider cooking mushrooms in the microwave?