These mini mushroom tarts need to be on your menu when you’re hosting a party and want something that looks fancy but won’t stress you out. This recipe uses readymade shells and a quick homemade creamy filling to have the dish ready in only 30 mins!
I recently made these mini mushroom tarts for a friend’s baby shower and they were such a hit that I am now going to make them for every party I host this festive season! 😛 The filling is creamy, garlicky, and cheesy, and it tastes so good with that crunchy tart shell. The contrast between the warm mushroom filling and the crispy shell is what makes every bite so good, and they look delectable on every table.
The filling takes about 20 minutes on the stove, and from there you just spoon it into the shells and serve. If you’ve been making our Dominos style garlic breadsticks or chilli cheese garlic bread for parties, these tarts will be the perfect add on to the spread. They’re great as a pass-around appetiser or set out on a platter for people to help themselves.
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Ingredients for Mini Mushroom Tarts
- Mushrooms: Chopped into very small cubes so they cook evenly and fit neatly into the tart shells.
- Butter: For sautéing. It adds a richness that oil doesn’t have in a cream-based filling.
- Aromatics: Finely chopped garlic and celery.
- All Purpose Flour (Maida): This thickens the filling and gives it that creamy, scoopable consistency that holds together inside the shell.
- Milk & Cream Cheese: The milk loosens the filling and the cream cheese makes it rich and slightly tangy.
- Seasoning: Italian seasoning, salt, and crushed pepper.
- Readymade Mini Tart Shells: These save a lot of time and work just as well as homemade.
- Spring Onion Greens: For garnish.
Frequently Asked Questions
A mushroom tart is a savoury pastry shell filled with a cooked mushroom mixture. In this recipe, the filling is a creamy, cheesy blend of mushrooms, garlic, celery, cream cheese, and Italian seasoning, spooned into small readymade tart shells. They’re typically served as a starter or party snack.
A pastry is a broad term for any baked item made from dough, like croissants, puff pastry, or pie crust. A tart is a specific type of pastry with a firm, usually crumbly shell and an open top with no lid. Unlike a pie, which has deeper sides and often a top crust, a tart is shallow with straight edges and the filling is always visible.
Absolutely. If you have a favourite shortcrust pastry recipe, blind bake the shells first and then fill them with the mushroom mixture. Readymade shells are recommended purely for convenience, but homemade will taste even better.
You can cut puff pastry into small circles, bake them in a muffin tray until golden, press down the centres to create a well, and fill with the mushroom mixture. The texture will be flakier and lighter than a tart shell but equally delicious.
Richa’s Top Tips
- Don’t brown the garlic. Sauté it on low heat just until fragrant. Browned garlic turns bitter and that bitterness carries through the entire filling.
- Stir continuously when adding the flour and milk. If you stop stirring even for a moment, the flour clumps and you’ll end up with lumps in the filling that are very hard to get rid of. Keep it moving on low heat and the mixture will turn smooth and creamy.
- Chop the mushrooms very small. You’re spooning this filling into tiny tart shells, so large chunks won’t fit well and will make the tarts hard to eat in one bite. Aim for roughly ⅛ inch cubes.
- If the filling thickens too much, add a splash of milk to loosen it. The flour continues to absorb the milk as the filling rests, so it can get quite thick by the time you’re ready to serve. A tablespoon or two of milk stirred in on low heat brings it back to the right consistency.
- Fill the tart shells right before serving. If the filling sits inside the shells too long, the shells absorb the moisture and go soft. For the best crunchy-creamy contrast, spoon the warm filling in at the last minute.
Storage Tips
- The filling: Stores well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat on the stove with a splash of milk to loosen it up before using, as the flour absorbs the liquid as it sits.
- The assembled tarts: Best eaten immediately. The shells soften quickly once filled, so always assemble right before serving.
- Freezing: The filling freezes well for up to two weeks. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove with a little milk. The tart shells should be kept at room temperature in their original packaging and filled fresh.
Serving Ideas
These mini creamy mushroom tarts work as a party starter or as part of a bigger spread:
- With Roasted Tomato Pesto Soup: A warm bowl of soup with a couple of mushroom tarts on the side makes for a really cosy evening snack or light dinner.
- As part of a party platter: Serve these alongside our veg canapés and Dominos style garlic breadsticks for a proper appetiser spread when you have guests over.
- With Broccoli Soup: The creamy, cheesy filling with a warm bowl of broccoli soup is a combination that works beautifully for a light meal.
- With a glass of wine: If you’re hosting a more relaxed, adult gathering, these tarts with some wine and a cheese fondue make for a really elegant evening.
Customisation Ideas
- Try a spinach and cheese filling: Sauté some blanched spinach with garlic, mix with cream cheese and mozzarella, and use that as the filling instead. Works really well for a vegetarian party platter with some variety.
- Add chicken: Finely shredded cooked chicken mixed into the mushroom filling makes the tarts more substantial. A really good option if you’re serving these as a main snack rather than a starter.
- Swap the mushrooms: Finely chopped broccoli, corn, or bell peppers sautéed the same way work as alternative fillings if mushrooms aren’t your thing.
- Make it vegan: Use olive oil instead of butter. Use any plant-based milk in place of regular milk, and skip the cream cheese. A tablespoon of cashew butter blended with a splash of water gives you a similar creaminess without any dairy.
With the festive season in full swing, you should have this mushroom tart recipe you in your back pocket. They’re quick, reliable, and always a hit. Share your tarts with me on Instagram @my_foodstory when you make them.
Watch Mini Mushroom Tarts Recipe Video
Mini Mushroom Tarts
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- 500 grams mushrooms chopped into ⅛ inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour maida
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
- ½ + ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed pepper
- ¾ teaspoon italian seasoning
- 18-20 mini tart shells
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion greens
Instructions
- Heat butter in a pan, add garlic, celery and saute on low for a minute till they turn fragrant. Take care not to brown the garlic.
- Add mushrooms, saute for 3-4 minutes till the mushrooms are cooked well.
- Add flour & stir continuously on low for 1-2 minutes till they get mildly roasted.
- Add milk, while stirring continuously and cook on low for 1-2 minutes till the milk mixes well with the flour, cooks well and turns creamy. Refer note 1
- Add cream cheese, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes till the mushrooms absorb the seasoning. At this stage, if the mixture gets too dry you may add 1 ½ – 2 tablespoons of milk to adjust the consistency to be creamy.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoons of the creamy mushroom mix to each of the tart shells, garnish with spring onion greens and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Stir continuously while adding milk to avoid getting lumps in the mixture.
- The flour in mushroom mixture tends to absorb the milk as it rests. So just before serving, heat the mixture, add 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of milk to adjust the consistency, add in the tart shells and serve.
- This has to be served immediately as the tart shells turn soggy.
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