Vegetarian Manti with Mushrooms — Armenian Baked Dumplings, Plant-Based
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Vegetarian manti with mushrooms are open-faced, toasted Armenian dumplings filled with savory sautéed mushrooms, baked golden, and finished with a pour of hot vegetable broth and garlic yogurt. A plant-based version of the beloved sini manti – and one that’s earned its own place at the table.
These are not a consolation prize. I want to say that clearly, because when I first made mushroom manti for the vegetarians in my family, I wasn’t sure they’d feel the same excitement as everyone else over a tray of sini manti. I was wrong. The mushroom manti disappeared just as fast.
The filling is deeply savory, with the earthy umami of mushrooms concentrated through sautéing before they ever touch the dough. The wrapper toasts to a crisp golden shell in the oven, and then hot broth poured over the tray softens the bottoms just enough while the tops stay crunchy. A spoonful of garlic yogurt finishes it. The whole thing is satisfying in exactly the way you want a dumpling to be satisfying.
The technique is identical to the classic meat version. Same dough, same shape, same oven temperature. If you’re making dinner for a mixed table of meat-eaters and vegetarians, you can prepare both fillings at the same time and bake them side by side. Everyone gets the experience. No one is left out.
Menu Suggestion: Make It a Meal
These manti can anchor a whole meal. Here’s how I build around them:
Table of Contents
Chronicles of vegetarian manti
Meat manti holds a real place in our family’s food traditions. It’s a dish we make together for celebrations, rolling the dough and shaping the little boats side by side, often with multiple generations at the same table. The preparation itself is part of the ritual.
But as more vegetarians joined our family meals, I started to notice they were always getting something separate, something improvised, something that wasn’t quite the main event. That didn’t sit right with me. Manti should be manti for everyone.
That’s how the mushroom version came to be. I wanted a filling that would work with the same dough, the same baking technique, and the mushroom rich broth to finish it off. Mushrooms turned out to be perfect. Their moisture needs to be cooked off before they go into the dough, which concentrates their flavor into something dense and savory. The result is a dumpling that has its own character: earthy, deeply umami, and satisfying in a completely different way from the meat version. These days, the mushroom manti are requested on their own terms, not just as an alternative.
A Few Things Worth Knowing
Essential Grocery List & Ingredient Notes
Make it vegan:
Skip the egg in the dough (the manti will still hold together), skip the egg white binder in the filling, and replace the clarified butter with olive oil for drizzling. The result is fully plant-based without any real compromise in flavor or texture.
Shortcuts:
Making the dough and rolling it into a thin sheet can be time-consuming. As a shortcut, you can use wonton wrappers cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. Brush a little bit of water on the edges to make the edges stick.
Time Required:
Required oven temperature 400°F (210°C)
Special Tools to Use:
Recipe Steps at a Glance
Step-by-step: How to Make Vegetarian Manti
Step 1: Making the dough
This is a simple dough recipe. Combine all the ingredients and knead for a few minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Step 2: Preparing the filling
Finely mince the mushrooms. An onion chopper works well for dicing them into small, uniform pieces. Similarly, dice the onions.
Heat a small amount of oil in a sauté pan and gently cook the onions until softened. Add the diced mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Allow the mushrooms to release their moisture, then continue cooking on low heat until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms have softened.
Transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk an egg white, then fold it into the mushroom mixture to help bind the filling.
Keep the filling covered in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble the dumplings.
Step 3: Cutting the dough
Divide the dough into three dough balls. Roll each portion out into a thin sheet, as thin as possible without tearing. Once the dough is evenly rolled out, cut it into 1.5-inch squares, though some might prefer making them even smaller. While a knife works just fine, I personally like using a small ravioli cutter, which makes it easy to roll over the dough and creates precise 1.6 x 1.6-inch squares.
Step 4: Assembling the boats
After the squares are cut, a little mushroom mixture is placed in the center, and ready for shaping into boats. Just pinch from both ends making little boats, with the mushroom filling showing from the opening on top.
Step 5: Baking and cooking
After arranging on a baking tray, drizzle melted butter over the manti and roast them in an oven. The butter will help with browning and enhance the flavor.
Best Way to Serve Armenian Manti
To serve the mushroom manti, make sure both the manti and broth are hot. Pour the boiling broth over the manti and serve immediately.
Alternatively, you can add the baked manti directly to the broth and serve as a comforting soup.
For garnish, try:
You can use the same dough and make a batch of sini meat manti to have both options available for dinner.
Tips and Wisdom from Cafe Osharak
More Armenian Dough & Pastry
Vegetarian manti proves the technique is the dish – the broth finish and the garlic matsun work as well with mushrooms as with meat. These are the other Armenian dough preparations worth making next.
Vegetarian Mushroom Manti
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ~1 cup water
Mushroom Filling
- 1000 g mushrooms button, shitakki, crimini
- 200 g onion
- 1 egg white optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 100 g butter Melted
Garnishes
- 1 cup yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic
- Salt
- Parsley
- 4 cups Vegetable stock
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and crack the egg into it. Mix thoroughly using a wooden spoon. Gradually add water (you may not need the full cup) and knead the dough until smooth. Adjust by adding more water or flour as needed, making sure flour is your last addition. Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Making the Mushroom Filling
- Finely mince the mushrooms; an onion chopper works well for uniform pieces. Dice the onions similarly.
- In a sauté pan, heat a small amount of oil and gently cook the onions until softened. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat until the mushrooms release their moisture, and continue cooking until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are softened.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool slightly. Whisk an egg white and fold it into the mushroom mixture to help bind the filling.
Assembling and Baking
- Roll the dough into a thin rectangular sheet and cut it into 1.5-inch squares. Place a dollop of the filling in the center of each square and fold the sides to form a boat shape, leaving the filling exposed in the middle.
- Arrange the manti on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. At the end of baking, pour a few ladles of vegetable broth over the manti, covering the dumplings, and continue baking until the juices are sizzling.
- Serve with a dollop of yogurt sauce and garnish with parsley.
Notes
-
If you feel intimidated by handling the dough, try using wonton wrappers cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. Simply brush a little water on the edges to help them stick.
I can’t decide if I like the mushroom or meat version better. They both are so good. Also, we had leftovers and found both versions are almost better re-heated the next day – the flavors were even more concentrated.
I will make this recipe for Christmas, I think! it looks delicious, thank you so much. Just a little note, in the cooking instructions you mentioned beef broth, however it is supposed to be a vegetarian recipe.
Hi Ella, thank you for pointing it out to me. I will make the appropriate correction. If you get a chance to make them, please let me know how they turned out.