Few wild foods get people as excited as mushrooms. Our fungi friends are gold for foragers, home cooks, and survivalists across the US.
I’ve been foraging wild edible mushrooms for decades, with great success – and you can too!
North America has an enormous and diverse mycological range, so no matter where you are or how much experience you have, you should be able to successfully forage for wild edible mushroom species in your own backyard.
6 Beginner-Friendly Wild Edible Mushrooms to Forage
Here are 6 of my favorite beginner-friendly wild edible mushrooms that can be found across the US, along with tips on how to spot them and identify lookalikes.
Happy hunting, and Bon appetit!
1. Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

A favorite for beginner foragers is chicken of the woods, an edible fungi named for its similarity to the taste and texture of chicken when thoroughly cooked.
Not only is the chicken of the woods meaty and delicious, but it is relatively easy to identify and difficult to confuse with potentially dangerous species.
This species grows in clusters of shelf-like brackets on the base of dead and dying trees, usually oaks. It has a velvet-like texture and no noticeable stipe (stem).
You should notice the chicken immediately – with its sulfurous yellow bottom and pink and yellow top, it stands out among forest greens and browns.
Chicken of the woods are often found in low-altitude areas and grow well in humid, low-temperature conditions. They appear in late spring and continue growing through fall.
Take note – chicken of the woods continue to fruit until their host tree is fully decomposed, so don’t forget to revisit your foraging spots each year!
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
- Jack-O-Lantern (Omphalotus olearius): While the chicken of the woods is a very distinctive mushroom, it is worth noting that the toxic orange Jack-O-Lantern shares some similarities. However, the Jack-O-Lantern has gills on its underside, whereas the chicken has small pores. If you’re in doubt, check the underside of the mushroom.

2. Common Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

One of the most prominent wild mushrooms found in the US is the common oyster mushroom, which is also widely cultivated around the world.
It grows wild in abundance across the north temperate zone and is an ideal species for beginner foragers and mushroom growers.
The common oyster is a delicate mushroom with a thin, rippled cap, and white and cream-colored gills. Its name comes from the pale, wavy shape of the cap, which resembles the white inner shell of an oyster.
Its cap is usually white, grey, tan, or dark brown.
Common oysters grow in a fanning formation in dense, shelf-like clusters. Their size, shape, and stipe can change depending on growing conditions. They are usually found growing on dead trees and logs.
Other oyster species, such as golden and blue oysters, can also be found growing wild in parts of the US.
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
- Jack-O-Lantern: Again, the Jack-O-Lantern can cause issues for beginner foragers, as its shape and gills look similar to the common oyster. Fortunately, its bright orange color is unmistakable – common oysters are never orange.

- Ghost Fungus (Omphalotus Nidiformis): The toxic ghost fungus is often confused with the common oyster. Fortunately, this wild mushroom only grows in Australia, India, and Japan, so US-based foragers have nothing to fear.

3. Yellow Morels (Morchella esculenta)

Nothing gets me more excited about mushroom foraging than the morel, one of the most prized and delicious wild fungi in the world!
While they’re not always easy to find, they are very easy to identify once you see them.
The morel is a type of sac fungi recognizable for the wrinkled, asymmetrical honeycomb pattern of its pointed cap.
The cap grows in varying shades of brown, yellow, and tan, depending on the species and is completely attached to the lighter-colored stem from top to bottom.
Morels begin fruiting in early spring, one of the first edible species to appear in the new year. They often grow in recently disturbed areas and prefer warm, wet conditions.
If you’re eager to hunt for morels, you’ll have plenty of competition. These culinary delights can sell for as much as $60 per pound in the off-season, according to Michigan State University’s College of Agricultural & Natural Resources.
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
- False morel (Gyromitra esculenta): the false morel has a more wrinkled cap and a coppery, reddish-brown color. Consumption of false morels can cause dizziness, gastrointestinal issues, and in some cases, death.

- Big red (Gyromitra caroliniana): like the false morel, the big red is more copper and red-colored than the true morel. It also has a distinct brain-like shape, unlike the narrow, pointed morel shape.
- Early morel (Verpa bohemica): the easiest way to distinguish the early morel is from its cap, which hangs loose from the stem. The true morel has a fully attached cap.

The best way to distinguish a true morel from any false morel is to slice the cap in half lengthwise. The true morel will be hollow inside, the false morels will not.
4. Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius)

Love the smell of apricots? You’ll love chanterelle mushrooms.
Chanterelle refers to several species of mushroom, but I’m going to describe the most common and well-known kind in North America: Cantharellus cibarius, or the golden chanterelle, a beautiful species with a fruity aroma and taste.
C. cibarius is a bright yellow and orange mushroom with a flaring, funnel shape. Its cap has distinctive wavy, almost scalloped edges. The gills of the C. cibarius are pseudo-gills or ‘false gills’ that travel from the cap nearly to the base of the stipe.
Golden chanterelles usually begin fruiting in summer, in mid to late July, but timing will also depend on where you are based.
These fungi are fussy and prefer moist soil and a humid climate. They have a mycorrhizal relationship with conifer trees, meaning they are most likely to be found in conifer forests.
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
Golden chanterelles are pretty distinctive, but there are some minor lookalikes to be aware of.
- Jack-O-Lantern: the toxic Jack-O-Lantern strikes again! You can distinguish it from chanterelles by its growing environment. Jacks sprout from trees and logs, chanterelles sprout from the forest floor. They also grow in clusters from the same base, whereas chanterelles grow individually.

- False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca): known for their striking similarity to golden chanterelles, false chanty’s have a brighter orange color that grows darker at the center of the cap. Its cap is rounded and has a slightly velvety texture, unlike the lobed edges and smooth surface of a true chanterelle. These two can be tricky to tell apart, but you can learn more about identifying true chanty’s from their false counterparts here.

5. Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea)

A true godsend for beginner foragers, the giant puffball might be the easiest edible wild mushroom to identify on this list.
True to its name, the giant puffball looks like a large, asymmetrically rounded ball with a white, pockmarked surface.
It has no gills, cap, or stipe, and if you see it from a distance you may even mistake it for a softball or volleyball (I’ve made this mistake more than once!).
A giant puffball will typically grow to around 8 –19 ½ inches wide and tall.
These fungi begin fruiting in late summer and through to fall, and are usually found in open, grassy areas like lawns and meadows, and on the edges of forests.
The giant puffball has some lookalikes, but it’s very simple to differentiate between the real deal and the fakers.
Cut it in half – a true puffball will be uniformly white throughout, with no gills or hollow space.
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
- Amanita genus (A. bisporigera, A. ocreata, and A. phalloides): also known as destroying angel mushrooms and death caps, these three amanitas are sometimes mistaken for puffballs in the button or egg stage of development. Amanita consumption can be fatal, and this genus is responsible for the highest number of foraging-related fatalities.

6. Pheasant Back/Dryad’s Saddle (Cerioporus squamous)

Known interchangeably as both pheasant’s back and dryad’s saddle, this fungi is a shelf-like bracket mushroom that fruits from the lower half of dead and dying trees.
The pheasant’s back has light and dark brown patterning on its’ topside that looks a little like feathers, hence the name.
Like the chicken of the woods, its underside is covered in fine pores instead of gills. It typically grows up to 12 inches wide.
These mushrooms grow in cooler temperatures, and often appear twice a year – first in spring, and again in fall.
Look out for smaller, younger specimens, as their flesh will be tender and better for eating. As they grow larger the flesh becomes leathery and tough.
Toxic Lookalikes to Avoid:
The pheasant’s back is an ideal beginner-friendly wild mushroom because it has no toxic or non-toxic lookalikes – if it looks like a pheasant’s back, it probably is.
Important Disclaimer: Safety and Responsibility in Mushroom Foraging
Remember that in some cases eating the wrong specimen can be fatal. All wild mushroom foraging should be carried out with utmost caution, especially as a beginner.
If you’re planning to hunt for specific mushrooms, do your due diligence and thoroughly research how to identify them accurately alongside any potential toxic lookalikes.
Only consume species you can ID with 100% certainty. If you’re even a tiny bit unsure, don’t risk it!
If you’re not confident enough to forage on your own, seek out an experienced forager you know or consider a wild food tour in your area to learn the basics with in-person experts.