Morels Are Great, But Iowa Has Other Tasty Mushrooms to Find

Morel season is officially here in Iowa, and if you’re like me, you’ve already started scanning the ground on your hikes and adventures like some kind of "woodland detective." Sure, it might start as a hike, but we both know, deep down... you’re hunting. I don't blame you!

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Yes, morels are the prize: the true fungi legend. The reason grown adults will crawl up and down the muddy woods and stare at the forest floor until their vision blurs. I will say, there’s nothing quite like spotting that first wrinkly, honeycombed cap peeking up at you.

But here's the thing: morels are great, however, they are not the only game in town.

If you’re like me, you’ve spent more than one season getting completely skunked. It's the disappointing heartbreak of that empty mesh sack after hours in the woods. You know the old sayings: the mayapples are everywhere, the conditions seem perfect, and still nothing, or I'm blind. Not to mention the fact that if you miss identify a morel, you're likely to get sick, since false morels do exist and are full of toxins that could kill you and at the least make you super ill.

Now's the time to expand your mushroom horizons, my friends. Let’s start with a personal favorite of mine: the golden oyster mushroom. These bright yellow beauties grow in clusters on dead or dying wood, and unlike morels, they don’t seem nearly as interested in playing hard to get. Trust me, when you find them, you FIND them. I’m talking full-on jackpot, enough to fill a bag in minutes and from just a single "patch." They’ve got a slightly nutty flavor, almost cashew-like, and they fry up beautifully.

These mushrooms are nature’s way of apologizing for hiding all the morels. Not to mention they are technically invasive, so picking them is a great way to be a naturalist AND get a tasty ingredient in the process.

Then there's the giant puffball mushroom. If you’ve never seen one in person, they almost look fake. Like someone dropped a dimpled volleyball in the woods. However, slice into a fresh one and you’ve got a solid white interior that’s completely edible. Cut it into slabs, throw it on the grill, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a “mushroom steak.” Just make sure it's pure white inside.

Anything else and you’re rolling the dice in a way I do not recommend. Basically, you'll spend a day near or on the toilet.

Another underrated find in Iowa is chicken of the woods. This one looks like something out of a cartoon. Similar to the golden oyster but, bright orange with yellow, and still growing on trees. The texture is surprisingly like chicken (what isn't?), and it works incredibly well in stir-fries, tacos, or just sautéed in butter. It’s one of those mushrooms that makes you do a double take the first time you taste it.

Now, before you go sprinting into the woods with your frying pan and a dream, we need to have a quick, very real conversation. Not every mushroom you find is your friend. In fact, some of them are very much not your friend. If you are not 100 percent sure what you are looking at, please don't eat it. This is NOT a guessing game. There are lookalikes out there that can make you incredibly sick or worse. Always double check your finds with a reliable field guide, a seasoned forager, or a local expert group. When in doubt, leave it in the ground and keep moving. The woods will give you another chance, your stomach might not.

At the end of the day, morel hunting is still king here in Iowa. It’s tradition. It’s obsession. It’s equal parts skill, luck, and stubbornness. But if you’re heading into the woods this spring, don’t get so locked in on one mushroom that you miss out on everything else growing around you. Sometimes, the best haul isn’t the one you planned for. It’s the one you almost walked right past.