October 5, 2025

Vegan Maitake Mushroom Bourguignon

Rich, deep, meaty, and flavorful, this maitake mushroom bourguignon pairs foraged mushrooms with red wine for a hearty fall stew you won’t forget. The sauce is velvety, umami, and intensely flavored with a complex mix of wine, mushrooms, and a few other bits to make your tastebuds dance. The maitake in the sauce is tender and rich, paired with shallots and sweet carrots, and topped with a little parsley for a pop of fresh green flavor. Whether served over potatoes, pasta, or with a crusty bread, this autumn dish will keep you warm and the kitchen smelling amazing.

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Foraging Hen of the Woods

The star of October in New England mushroom foraging is Grifola frondosa — known by many names, including hen of the woods, maitake, sheep’s head, ram’s head, and more. Since it’s October now, it’s no surprise that maitake also takes center stage in this dish! Maitake is a polypore, meaning that, like chicken of the woods, reishi, and pheasant’s back, it has tiny pores on the underside of its caps instead of gills. These mushrooms grow at the base of trees — most often oaks, though they occasionally appear on other hardwoods like maples or elms. The name “hen of the woods” supposedly comes from their resemblance to a chicken nestled at the base of a tree. They grow in large clusters, with petal-like caps branching out from a central stalk, and range in color from gray to brown — blending in perfectly with fallen oak leaves. This camouflage makes them surprisingly hard to spot, even though some can grow larger than a soccer ball. The underside should always have white pores, which may yellow slightly with age — a useful clue that the mushroom might be past its prime for eating. Since maitakes grow close to the forest floor, they often come packed with pine needles, acorns, dirt, and insects, so they may need a thorough clean. This vegan bourguignon recipe is perfect for those messier finds, especially since we’re shredding the mushroom and don’t need to preserve its shape.

If you’re hoping to find your first maitake, start by heading to an area with plenty of oak trees. Focus on mature trees, and check carefully around the base. Walk a full circle around each one — many a hidden maitake has been missed because it was tucked just out of view on the far side of the trunk. Look closely, as fallen oak leaves make excellent camouflage. And when you do spot a hen, take a moment to see if the tree is hosting more than one — they often appear in clusters around the same base. Mark the spot and come back next year — once a tree produces maitake, it often does so annually until the tree dies. Over time, you’ll begin to recognize your best spots and learn which trees are likely to host hens. Note that there are also good years and bad years for maitake, dependent on weather, rain, and probably the mood of the mushroom itself.

Maitake Mushroom Look-Alikes

And now for the good news — in North America, there are no poisonous look-alikes for maitake! If you’re foraging elsewhere, do your research on the local fungi. There are a few non-poisonous mushrooms that resemble maitake and are worth knowing. The black-staining polypore is probably the most convincing — it also forms large brown clusters at the base of hardwoods. But it has a different branching structure that looks just slightly off, and it bruises black, which is a helpful ID clue. While it can be a bit tough, it’s still edible, so no harm if you bring one home. Another frequent misidentification is Berkeley’s polypore, which also favors oaks. It’s larger, paler, and has thicker flesh, usually growing in a more shelf-like formation. Again, not toxic — just chewy. One “look-alike” you’d be lucky to find is the cauliflower mushroom. If you’ve accidentally foraged one, congratulations — you’ve found another choice edible! These are thinner-fleshed than maitakes and range from white to yellowish-cream in color. And if you stumble across a maitake-like mushroom in August, it might be the umbrella polypore — rare in North America, but another excellent edible. Like maitake, it grows annually under oaks. My mother has a favorite one she visits every year, and I can confirm — that’s a misidentification worth making.

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Maitake Mushroom Bourguignon Tips and Tricks

This recipe was developed for maitake mushrooms, as they have an incredibly deep, meaty flavor and easily shred. There is no other mushroom that will work as well in this recipe, but if you do want to substitute for a different mushroom, I recommend a combination of shredded oyster mushrooms and sliced shiitakes.
Maitake mushrooms can be filled with pine needles, dirt, little critters, and twigs, so unless you find a particularly young specimen it’s likely to need a good clean. I find placing my mushroom in a large bowl of cool water, and going through piece by piece to be the best way to clean them. You can’t really clean mushrooms ahead of time, as they need to be cooked shortly after getting them wet. I’ll shred each piece apart to make sure it’s free from bugs, and use a small brush to remove dirt. Clean pieces get placed in a colander until the entire mushroom is ready to be cooked.
Pearl onions can also be used instead of shallots, but we find the flavor of shallots nicer. Additionally, parsnips can be a great compliment/substitution to carrots if you have them.
The key to a delicious maitake mushroom bourguignon sauce is in the wine. Choose a full-bodied, dry red wine like a pinot noir, merlot, or cabernet sauvignon. Please keep in mind that some wines are processed in ways that make them not vegan- you can always look up wines on this website to check if your wine is vegan or not. We also added a tablespoon of rum to our sauce (optional), which is not tradition but does add a little complexity to the dish.
Maitake bourguignon pairs exceptionally well with a carbohydrate, to really soak up that amazing mushroom wine sauce. Serve over mashed potatoes, pasta, a crusty loaf of bread, with rice, or another favorite grain.