Looking for dryad’s saddle recipes & pheasant back mushroom recipes?
Learn how to ID dryad’s saddle, and all the foraging tips and preparation tricks you need to know to turn this bracket mushroom into something truly tasty.
We’ll cover pheasant back mushroom recipes like dryad’s saddle mushroom jerky, caramelised dryad’s saddle, grilled dryad’s saddle, umami mushroom seasoning and much more.
So pack your foraging bag and your mushroom knife, and get ready to surprise your loved ones with some delicious pheasant back mushroom treats!
Foraging for dryad’s saddle
Scientific name
Cerioporus squamosus, previously Polyporus squamosus
Common names
Dryad’s saddle, pheasant back mushroom
Etymology
The genus name Cerioporus comes from the Greek word kerion, which means honeycomb—a nod to the distinctive deep honeycomb-like pattern of this fungus’s pores.
The previous genus name Polyporus means “many pores”.
Its species name, squamosus, translates to “scaly”, a fitting description for the cap’s striking design, which is covered in bold, brown, scale-like markings.
This eye-catching pattern has also earned it the common name “pheasant back mushroom”.
As for “dryad’s saddle”: a dryad is a tree spirit of Greek mythology, believed to dwell in and protect trees, especially oaks, and often symbolises the living soul of the forest.
Dryad’s saddle native region
Pheasant back mushroom is native to temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Dryad’s saddle foraging notes
Great for beginner foragers, dryad’s saddle often grows in bracket-like shapes on tree trunks, resembling little saddles.
But you’ll also find it on fallen logs, large branches, or even sprouting from the ground where roots lie just beneath the surface—here, it often takes on a more funnel-shaped form, sometimes like a perfect horn, though usually a bit lopsided.
These mushrooms don’t last forever; within weeks—or just days in warm weather—they can become infested with maggots and quickly collapse into a foul-smelling mess.
Key identifiers of dryad’s saddle
This impressive mushroom boasts caps that range from 10 to a whopping 60 cm across, making it the UK’s largest-capped mushroom.
They’re shaped a bit like wide bicycle seats and often appear in layered tiers.
The caps attach to their host tree with a short, stubby stem that sometimes darkens toward the base, and can be slightly off-centre.
Look underneath and you’ll find pale, angular pores that start off bright white but shift to cream as the mushroom ages.
These pores are decurrent, meaning they run a little way down the stem. The pores can also produce droplets of moisture (a process called guttation).
The cap surface is tan-brown with a firm, white interior that’s tough in texture.
The base of the stem may be blackened.
As for scent, young and fresh Dryad’s Saddles smell faintly of melon rind, cucumber, or raw flour, though cooking or drying them brings out a rich, savoury, mushroomy aroma.
According to Wild World Foraging, once dehydrated, they take on a smell strangely similar to a public swimming pool!
To confirm your find, check the spore print—it should be white, with ellipsoid-shaped spores.
Dryad’s saddle lookalikes
Pheasant back mushroom is quite distinctive, though it can be confused with the less common and smaller Tuberous Polypore (Polyporus tuberaster)1.
The tuberous polypore has a more central stem, lighter cap markings, and a stem base that darkens but never turns black. It’s also edible, but since it’s uncommon, I recommend leaving it to nature.
Dryad’s saddle habitat
Dryad’s Saddle is parasitic at first and later saprobic on broadleaf trees, commonly growing in overlapping clusters and tiers.
It frequently infects elm, sycamore, willow, poplar, and walnut trees.
On older trees, the large and striking fruitbodies often appear well above head height.
Dryad’s saddle sustainability
A common mushroom. Like any wild food, avoid harvesting from your area if not locally abundant.
When to harvest dryad’s saddle
The fruit bodies of Dryad’s Saddle typically appear in summer and autumn, making it one of the earliest bracket fungi to emerge each year.
Cooking with dryad’s saddle
Choosing the best caps
Young, tender caps are the best—slice them thinly to ensure they’re free of maggots—and always cook them thoroughly. Unfortunately, they lose their watermelon/cucumber scent once cooked.
The outer edges of these young caps are soft and edible, while mature caps become very tough, especially near where they attach to the tree.
Size isn’t always an accurate indication of tenderness. Forager Chef uses the “fingernail test” – if he can easily remove the pores with his fingernail, it’s tender enough to be good for cooking2.
When the pores become large and well-defined, this mushroom is less suitable for cooking. Ideally, the pores will be small and barely noticeable at first glance.
Using larger mushrooms
Once the diameter of the mushroom is over 3 inches, you can still use the outer edges if they are tender enough.
Some prefer to remove the pores with a vegetable peeler, as they can trap dirt and have an unpleasant texture.
Use the hard stem as a handle and shave the mushroom into thin pieces using a mandolin.
Making stock and seasoning
The tough parts can be dried and powdered to use as a mushroom stock.
You can also use the old tough parts to make “mushrumami”, a seasoning that can be used similarly to soy sauce. Instructions in this post by Galloway Wild Foods3.
Dryad’s saddle recipes/pheasant back mushroom recipes
Check the References section at the end for the original versions of these recipes.
Dryad’s saddle mushroom jerky4
Ingredients:
- Tender dryad’s saddle mushrooms
- Salt
- Seasoning (e.g., pepper, garlic powder, all-purpose seasoning)
- Marinade:
- Something salty (e.g., soy sauce or tamari)
- Something sweet (e.g., sugar or maple syrup)
- Something tart (e.g., vinegar)
- Oil (e.g., olive oil)
- Optional spices or chilli for heat
- Broth or water (to cover mushrooms in marinade)
Instructions:
- Remove the pores using a vegetable peeler.
- Slice or tear the mushroom into large chunks.
- Rinse the pieces and boil them for a couple of minutes with salt and seasoning.
- Prepare the marinade by mixing salty, sweet, tart, and oily ingredients, plus spices if desired.
- Cover the mushroom pieces in the marinade, adding broth or water until fully submerged.
- Leave to marinate overnight.
- Dehydrate at 160 °F (70 °C) for about 10 hours.
- Jerky is ready when slightly flexible and chewy, not crispy.
Caramelised dryad’s saddle mushroom5
Ingredients:
- Young Dryad’s Saddle mushrooms
- Salt
- Fat for cooking (e.g., olive oil or butter)
- For deglazing: brandy/wine/beer, or water
Instructions:
- Slice the mushrooms thinly.
- Spread on a baking tray and sprinkle generously with salt.
- Leave for 10 minutes to draw out moisture.
- Dab moisture away with kitchen tissue.
- Dry sauté the slices until brown bits form.
- Deglaze the pan with your choice of liquid.
- Finish cooking in fat until tender and caramelised.
Grilled dryad’s saddle mushroom6
Ingredients:
- Young dryad’s saddle mushrooms
- Dark soy sauce
- Miso paste
- Chilli (fresh or flakes)
- Elderflower vinegar
- Noble fir molasses (or substitute with a similar molasses or syrup)
- Garlic sauce (for serving)
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions:
- Clean the mushrooms and slice into ¼-inch thick pieces.
- Mix soy sauce, miso, chilli, elderflower vinegar, and molasses to make the marinade.
- Marinate the mushroom slices overnight.
- Grill on high heat until well-charred and caramelised.
- Serve with a drizzle of garlic sauce, a splash of elderflower vinegar, and a pinch of salt, perfect for topping toast.
Let me know in the comments below if you’ve made any of these dryad’s saddle recipes/pheasant back mushroom recipes!
Dryad’s saddle & wildlife
Pheasant back mushrooms can sometimes become a home, nursery, and food source for fungal gnats, which lay their eggs in the moist flesh.
The larvae then feed on the mushroom, causing it to quickly become maggot-infested and start to decay.
How to grow dryad’s saddle
If you live in the UK, you can buy a grow kit for dryad’s saddle from Fat Fox Mushrooms and grow them inside your house!7
Other uses of dryad’s saddle
– In traditional medicine, particularly Eastern European folk practices, dryad’s saddle has been brewed as a tea to support digestion and boost immunity.
– Interestingly, dryad’s saddle is also a favourite among mushroom paper makers. When dried and flattened, the surface of the cap can be used to make surprisingly sturdy sheets of fungal paper—perfect for botanical craft lovers!
Dryad’s saddle fun facts
It smells like watermelon rind. When fresh, this mushroom gives off a crisp, fruity scent that’s quite unexpected for a wild fungus.
Pheasant back mushroom is one of the fastest-growing mushrooms. In the right conditions (think warm, damp spring days), this mushroom can grow several inches in a few days.8
You can find it again and again. Once you spot a patch, mark it down. Dryad’s saddle tends to regrow in the same spot year after year until the tree it is growing on is consumed, making it a reliable summer harvest.
References
- Tuberous polypore by Wild Food UK ↩︎
- How to Tell if a Pheasant Back is Good to Eat by Forager Chef ↩︎
- Mushrumami by Galloway Wild Foods ↩︎
- How to Identify and make Jerky with the Pheasant Back mushroom! by Foraging Kentucky ↩︎
- Pheasant Back | Basics and Preparation by Wild World Foraging ↩︎
- Pheasant back/Dryad’s Saddle on the grill by Flavour Fred ↩︎
- Dryad’s Saddle Mushroom Kit Instructions by Fat Fox Mushroom ↩︎
- Dryad’s Saddle: How Fast Does It Grow? by Eliza Howell Nature Walks ↩︎
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Over to you
Have you followed any of the Dryad’s Saddle recipes or tried your own pheasant back mushroom recipes?
I’d love to hear how it turned out!
Drop your favourite tips, questions, or foraging stories in the comments below 👇
