Puffball Mushrooms – Identification, Cooking Recipe & Storage

A truly unique and varied mushroom are puffball mushrooms, which gets its name from the puffy spores it emits.

Puffballs exude clouds of brown, dust-like spores when they are hit, popped or burst. The puffball mushroom is part of the Basidiomycota division of fungi and has several different genus, or species names: Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. There’s the gem-studded puffball, the pear-shaped puffball, the giant puffball and more.

The feature that makes the puffball really unique is the fact it has a single opening on top through which its spores are puffed out or emitted.

Let’s learn some more about this puffy fungus.

Identification of Puffball Mushrooms

Puffballs look like their name, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to identify with certainty. True puffballs do not have a visible stalk or stem. They also do not have an open cap with spore-bearing gills. Instead, the spores are produced internally, in a spheroidal fruit body. The inside texture is like a marshmallow.

As the spores mature, they form a mass in the center of the fruit body that has a distinctive color and texture. Eventually, the mass dries or splits and the spores escape. 

There are puffballs that have a stalk, although they are inedible because they are tough and woody. There is also a false puffball, which is hard rather than powdery when they mature. False puffballs are also inedible, as they are tough and bitter.

There’s also the giant puffball, the Calvatia gigantea, which can reach diameters of 12, 20 and even 35 inches. The genus name loosely means large bald head: Calvatia is derived from calvus, which means bald, and calvarium, which means the dome of the skull, while Gigantea means gigantic. 

You might mistake one for a volleyball or soccer ball when you first see it in the wild. Cornell University reports that the largest ever recorded giant puffball was 8 feet-8 inches in diameter and weighed 48 pounds. 

Its size makes the giant puffball unique and therefore hard to confuse with other types of mushrooms. It has been estimated that a mature, large specimen of the giant puffball could produce millions or even billions of spores.

The puffball is found in temperate areas throughout the world. It springs up in meadows, fields, and deciduous forests, usually blooming in late summer and fall. Puffballs grow on the ground, and not on logs or trees. Even the giants – the exceptionally large white mushrooms – are edible when they’re young.

In fact, all true puffballs are edible when they’re immature. They can cause indigestion if the spores begin to form, when the flesh turns yellow or brown instead of white. If your puffball patch is full of mature mushrooms, come back in a week or two as young ones may have appeared. 

Are puffballs poisonous?

To distinguish puffballs from poisonous fungi, they must be cut open; edible puffballs will have a solid white-colored interior. Some similar mushrooms have the white interior (or a yellowish inside) but also have the silhouette of a cap-type mushroom on the interior when cut open. These are young cap-type mushrooms and may be poisonous.

It’s important to be sure you have a true puffball before you eat it. They do have lookalikes, including the deadly Destroying Angel mushroom (Amanita bisporigera). 

To confuse matters even more, there’s also the pigskin puffball, which is actually an earth ball or Scleroderma citrinum. Earth Balls are similar to puffballs, but they simply break up to release their spores. Scleroderma citrinum also has a much firmer flesh than the puffball. There are actually up to 20 Scleroderma species in North America, and some are also mistaken for truffles. Eating an earth ball can cause gastrointestinal issues. 

Let’s summarize what makes the puffball special:

• The puffball is a large group of edible mushrooms that share similar attributes.
• Puffballs come in many sizes – including the giant puffball – and are typically round or globe-like.
• Puffballs are unique in that they lack many of the characteristics that other mushrooms display: they have no stem, no cap and no external gills. 
• The puffball’s spores are all produced inside of the fruiting body.
• Puffballs release their spores most often through impact: when rain or debris falls on them, when animals step on them or when they are brushed against. That breaks the layer that holds the spores which are then released in a puff. What happens when you step on a puffball mushroom? You release a puff of spores.

Make sure you cut through any puffball from top to bottom to confirm that it is pure white inside, with texture like a marshmallow, and no sign of a cap or stem. If the inside is off-white, yellow, or any other color, it could be a mature mushroom and not edible. If you see gill structures, this is not a puffball and should not be eaten. 

It’s always best to consult with an expert before eating any mushroom you have foraged for in the wild.

Different ways to cook Puffball Mushrooms

One you know you have a puffball that’s edible, you’re likely asking: What does puffball mushrooms taste like? The flavor has been described as earthy and mildly nutty. Like many other mushrooms, they will absorb the flavors of what they are cooked in or with, making them ideal for any recipe that calls for mushrooms. They are also good for marinating. 

Their dense texture makes them perfect to use with a variety of cooking techniques. 

One ideal way to cook puffballs is to simply sauté slices in butter or oil, letting them brown and crisp up. You can then eat them as a side, or add them to recipes, including soups or sauces. The giant puffball can be sliced and used as a substitute for meat, or in place of tofu in a recipe. Bread the slices and fry them like a schnitzel or cutlet.

Wait until you’re ready to cook to prepare the puffball. That’s because it has a skin that you can peel off if you want. It’s a tough skin that makes it easier to clean the mushroom. If you want to eat the skin, brush off the dirt and debris, or give it a quick rinse with water. 

Remember that only the immature puffball is edible, with an interior that is white and soft or bread-like. Once it matures, the puffball can cause stomach issues and shouldn’t be eaten.

Puffball mushroom recipe

Now you know there are a number of ways to cook puffball mushrooms. They can easily be substituted for other mushrooms in your favorite recipes. 

Let’s try this version of a puffball recipe, adapted from Health Starts in the Kitchen:

Ingredients:

• 1 large Puffball Mushroom with the dirt removed and outer skin peeled off
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs beaten
• Frying oil 
• Marinara or other sauce as a topping

Directions:

1. Cut the puffball into ½-inch thick slices.
2. Dip the slices of puffball in the eggs, then in parmesan cheese.
3. Pan fry the mushroom slices in the oil over medium heat until they turn golden brown.
4. Serve with Marinara sauce or other preferred topping, such as salsa, gravy, or Hollandaise Sauce.

Puffball mushrooms: storage and benefits

Like any mushroom, puffballs are best when cooked and eaten fresh. However, you can store them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days. 

You can also use a dehydrator and then vacuum seal them to store them for long periods of time. When you’re ready to eat them, soak them in broth or water to rehydrate, or simply toss them in soup or gravy to add flavor and texture.

What happens if you eat a puffball? You’ll access the health benefits that come with dining on this unique fungus.

In the past, puffballs were used to dress wounds, since they are a known styptic, an agent that promotes the process that stops bleeding. As a result, they were often harvested before battles to have ready when needed. They were also used in ancient Tibet to make ink, and in rural areas of the United States to anesthetize honey bees so the honey could be harvested.

Mushrooms in general are considered a rich source of nutrients, dietary fibers, and other micronutrients, as well as the building blocks of proteins – essential amino acids. Mushrooms provide a wide range of benefits to our well-being, and wild edible mushrooms have been used in traditional medicines worldwide for many years. 

Here are just a few examples of what recent research is finding about the puffball:

• One study established antidiabetic activity.
• Another found that the giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea) may inhibit the proliferation of human lung cancer cells, and could in fact be a “significant agent” for treatment of lung cancer.
• The mosaic puffball (Lycoperdon utriforme) was shown to be a significant source of natural antioxidants, compounds that inhibit the production of free radicals, which can damage cells and cause different diseases.

Final Thoughts

That poof of dust that’s released from the puffball mushroom is just one of its unique traits. The puffball has other special characteristics that make it stand out from other mushroom varieties, and the giant puffball is a real delight to find in the wild. 

But like other edible mushrooms, the puffball adds flavor and texture to your recipes, while also delivering health benefits that make it worth finding and eating.