This Easy Vegan Mushroom Pâté is as simple as it is delicious! With a couple of ingredients and about 15 minutes, you will have a delightful addition to a vegan charcuterie board or sandwich spread. Savory, rich, and full of flavor, this little pâté packs a punch!
What is Pâté?
Traditional French pâté is made from organ meats and is a common spread on baguettes and other sandwiches.
This vegan mushroom version replicates the savory paste without the use of animals making it suitable for vegetarians and anyone else who might not tolerate the traditional version.
I’m a big fan of toast for breakfast, and next to my mother’s Quebecois creton (recipe soon!) this is one of my favorite toast toppers.
Easy Vegan Mushroom Pâté: Ingredients and Substitutions
Full of fresh mushrooms, herbs, and very little oil, this pâté is not only delicious but feels indulgent even though it’s not! For this recipe you will need:
- Mushrooms: Mushrooms are the base for this recipe, and their earthy richness comes through as the dominant flavor. I used white button mushrooms (they were the least expensive, and prettiest at the store!) and they were perfect. But don’t be afraid to experiment! I have had great success with both porcini and portobello. Whichever you choose, be sure they are as fresh as possible so their flavor is as good as it can be.
- Onion: I used red, but any onion you have will be fine.
- Garlic
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice really brightens this dish up!
- Tamari: I like the strong umami from Tamari, but soy sauce would work just fine too.
- Dry White Wine: I love to deglaze a sizzling pan with wine, and for this recipe, the wine really pulls it together. But you can substitute with vegetable broth if you prefer!
Notes for this vegan Pâté recipe:
This one is about as straightforward as it goes, but there’s always room to turn things up to eleven.
- Feeling fancy? Mix it up! We get mushrooms in our CSA boxes, and one time I made this vegan mushroom Pâté recipe with all the different mushrooms that came. Chantrell, chicken of the woods, and porcini made for some of the best Pâté I had ever had!
- Don’t skip deglazing the pan! Deglazing is just the process of adding a liquid like stock or wine to a pan in order to loosen any little brown bits stuck to the bottom. This does two things, first loosening the flavor bits, called fonds, and imparts huge flavor to whatever you are cooking. Second, it kinda cleans your pan, so – less work for you later!
Easy Vegan Mushroom Pâté
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound mushrooms roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¼ red onion or shallot
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon Tamari
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons dry white wine
Instructions
- Roughly chop the cleaned mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Add to a food processor or high-speed blender with the salt, tamari, lemon, and pepper. Blend until smooth. You may need to add a tablespoon or so of water to help things blend – don't worry we will cook all the liquid out soon.
- Heat a cast-iron or nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and let it heat up a bit, then pour in the blended mushroom mix. Drop the thyme sprig into the pan.
- Cook, stirring frequently, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, and it smells very fragrant. When it looks like almost all the water has evaporated, deglaze the pan with the wine.
- Cook for one to two minutes more and remove from heat.
- Serve with crackers, or as a sandwich spread. Stores for 3 to 4 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
