In this article, I’m going to teach you how to find Morel mushrooms and how to cook them.  

My husband and I went Morel mushroom hunting this year and hit the mother load.

I can’t tell you where–it’s top secret. I will tell you that it takes a sharp eye to spot them. They blend in with the dead leaves so well that I’m sure we missed some. I’ve seen posts of other people’s mushroom hunts and wanted to share ours as well.

How to Find Morel Mushrooms 

This was my first time to hunt Morels and I wasn’t sure I’d be any good at it. My husband was finding probably four to my one. I think you have to train your eye to what to look for.

We found a lot of them along the banks of old creek beds, in soft spongy-like soil, and noticed that sycamore and cedar trees were usually in the area. We were surprised at the size of some of these mushrooms.

We had packed us some bottled water and tick spray–two essentials when mushroom hunting. We hunted for two or three hours and just when we were about to give up, one of us would find some more and we’d keep hunting. We had a lot of fun that day.

During our adventure, we also found the skeletal remains of some kind of little critter; noticed the dogwoods were blooming, and found a great place to harvest some ferns. If I thought for a minute my cats would stay out of the flower pot, I’d bring some home.

Mushroom hunting for this season is probably over for most areas, so put it on your calendar for next year.

Here in southern Missouri, we generally go around mid-April, but it depends on the weather. Mushrooms like it when the temperature is about 60 degrees during the day and around 40 degrees at night.

When the ground starts to get warmer, 45-50 degrees, that’s when you start seeing them peek through the ground.

Cooking mushrooms

In the past, we’ve usually sauteed our mushrooms, but this year a friend suggested we try frying them.

They were so good fried, that we’ll probably continue to eat them this way.  It’s very simple to do. After you clean and cut up the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, just coat them with flour and fry ’em in oil or butter until browned on both sides, drain on paper towels. We eat them as fast as we can cook them. Yummy!

If you’ve never been mushroom hunting, I encourage you to get out and try it, but please go with someone who can identify the mushrooms you find as Morels. Grab your kids, pack a lunch, and get out there, and don’t forget the camera.

Check out this article about What Grew Best in Your Garden?

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