This Vegetable Pate is rich and smooth with a delicious nutty crunch. It makes a great spreadable snack to enjoy with crackers, celery, fresh bread, or toast and is naturally vegan.
Next time you’re creating a dreamy vegan cheese board or needing tasty lunch, make sure to include a serving of this Vegetable Pate. Decadent, smooth, and rich, you’ll love spreading this nutty spread onto sourdough bread, crackers, yeast-free spelt bread or even in sandwiches.
You can whip this vegan pate up in a food processor, using just a handful of simple ingredients then leave it in the fridge overnight to let the flavours mingle and for it to firm up.
In this post:
What Is Pate?
Traditional pate is a soft and spreadable meat product that almost always contains liver. Ground meat, herbs, and seasonings are added for texture and flavour. It is served cold and spread onto crackers and bread.
Vegan pate, however, is made purely from vegetables, seeds, and seasonings (and is much more appealing than the meat version if I do say so myself!). It might seem like an unlikely combination of ingredients, but it tastes so good and the texture is great!
Ingredients
The ingredients in this vegetarian pate recipe are simple and straightforward. Here is what you need at a glance:
- Potatoes and carrots - The hardy root vegetables everyone loves! These will be roasted which means extra amazing flavours.
- Onion and garlic - These 2 are the dream team! They’ll be roasted along with the potatoes and carrots.
- Olive oil - Just a tiny bit to stop the veggies sticking as they roast. You can omit it though if you prefer.
- Vegan butter - Optional. It adds some richness like non-vegan pate, but feel free to omit it. It's still good without!
- Raw sunflower seeds - To add texture and give the pate firmness, substance and flavour.
- Nutritional yeast - Otherwise known as vegan gold (or nooch). It's full of savoury flavour and adds necessary umami to this recipe.
- Ground flax - This binds everything together and sets the pate.
- Oregano, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper - Flavour and balance.
- Walnuts or pecans - For texture and flavour. Their nutty crunch works really well with the soft pate. You can omit them if you are nut-free.
You’ll also need a food processor, baking tray, and 1 or 2 small containers (or ramekins) to make this recipe.
How To Make Vegetable Pate
For such few and simple ingredients, the deep layers of flavour within this vegetable pate are outstanding. All you really need to do is roast the veggies, pulse them in a food processor with the other ingredients, and then let the pate sit overnight. Here's a quick run-through:
Step 1 - Roast the potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic cloves on a baking tray for about 30 minutes or until tender. Essential for great sweet veggie flavour! Here they are before roasting and after:
Step 2 - Put all of the ingredients (but not the nuts) into a food processor and process until almost smooth (it should still have a slightly chunky texture). Here it is before processing and after:
Step 3 - Add in the nuts and pulse until they’re broken into small pieces and incorporated into the mixture, then spoon the pate into containers. If you want to be able to turn the pate out, line the containers with clingwrap.
Step 5 - Refrigerate overnight then enjoy!
Success Tips
- Roasting the vegetables will give the pate the best flavour and texture. Don't use boiled or steamed vegetables.
- Ground flax is essential in this recipe. Don't remove it or the pate won't set properly.
- Want more flavour? Toast the walnuts/pecans for a few minutes in a skillet on the stovetop before blending them into the mixture.
- Want to keep it oil-free? Be sure to line your baking tray with nonstick parchment paper or a silicone baking mat before roasting the veggies and omit the optional vegan butter.
- Be sure to let it set overnight, not just for texture but also for the flavours to fully develop.
Variations
- Omit the oil and butter for an oil-free vegan pate.
- Use any type of dried herbs that you like instead of the oregano. Basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, or a mixed herb blend all work well.
- Chipotle powder can be used as a replacement if you can’t find smoked paprika.
- Need it to be nut-free? Replace the walnuts/pecans with more sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, or just omit them.
- Add some cooked lentils, roasted bell peppers, chili flakes, sun-dried tomatoes or olives for some variation. Just make sure whatever you add doesn't have too much moisture or it will affect the texture of the pate.
Serving Suggestions
Include it on a vegan charcuterie or vegan cheese plate, bring it to your holiday celebrations, potlucks and parties, or enjoy it as a quick lunch or fancy snack. You can’t go wrong!
My spreadable vegan pate is so flexible and can be eaten with veggies, crackers, and more! My favourite way to enjoy it is on freshly baked bread and butter. Here are some other ideas:
- As an appetizer or for lunch
- Include it on a veggie platter with hummus, bread and crackers.
- With fresh bread or baguette
- With pita bread or flatbreads
- on toast
- On vegan cheeseboards
- With breadsticks
- on my gluten-free seed bread
- With a glass of white wine
- On crostini
- With slices of homemade vegan cheese and crackers
- Spread in sandwiches with some tomato or onion chutney and salad leaves. It makes a great alternative to more traditional sandwich fillings.
- On crackers or veggies (like celery or carrots)
Storage & Freezing
Keep the pate in the dish covered in plastic wrap, or in an airtight container. The flavours actually get better with a bit of time. It will keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Wondering if you can freeze vegetable pate? Well, you're in luck because it freezes perfectly for up to 3 months. I like to freeze the pate in silicone ice cube trays which I then seal inside a freezer bag or container. That way if I just want a little snack I can pop out one cube, let it defrost for half an hour, and then spread it on a couple of crackers or some bread.
If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment and rating below! And be sure to join my mailing list for more deliciousness!
Recipe
Vegetable Pate
Author:Ingredients
- 2 medium (356 grams) potatoes , peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 medium (240 grams) carrots , peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 medium (190 grams) onion , peeled and cut into wedges
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled
- 2 teaspoons olive oil , or other oil of choice, OPTIONAL
- ½ cup (70 grams) raw sunflower seeds (hulled)
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ cup (48 grams) ground flax
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter OPTIONAL
- 1½ teaspoons fine salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or any other dried herbs that you like)
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika , or chipotle powder
- ¼ cup (30 grams) chopped pecans or walnuts , or sunflower/pumpkin seeds for nut-free
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200 °C).
- Put the chopped potatoes, carrots, onion and whole garlic cloves onto a baking tray and toss with the olive oil. Bake for about 35 minutes or until fork-tender. If you aren't using oil be sure to use non-stick parchment paper or a silicone mat. Once tender remove from the oven.
- Put the cooked vegetables, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, ground flax, optional vegan butter, salt, pepper, oregano and smoked paprika into a food processor and process until almost smooth but with a bit of texture left. It will look a bit gummy and strange at this point but that's normal so don't worry.
- Add the walnuts/pecans and pulse so they are distributed throughout. Don't process for too long as you want a bit of texture left there.
- Either spoon into containers (small terracotta bowls or ramekins look nice), or line small containers with clingwrap if you want to be able to turn the pate out once it has set. Pack the pate in really tight, then cover and refrigerate overnight or longer.
- Once set, to serve, spread straight from the container, or turn it out of the container and remove the clingwrap.
Emmie says
Would this work with sweet paprika instead of smoked? I'm not keen on smoky flavours.
Melanie McDonald says
I think it would be fine. Or just omit it.
Deb says
Delicious! We love it in sandwiches and on crackers. The best veggie pate I've tried!
Deb Me says
I have eaten veggie pate for years. I followed this recipe exactly, too many mushy vegetables, binding agent wasn't enough. It was mushy and runny and sweet from the carrots. Not enough spices not enough salt and pepper will not make this again.
Melanie McDonald says
It sounds to me like something went wrong on your end. This is a very tried and true recipe and the pate is far from mushy and runny. There is also more than enough ground flax to bind and set it and loads of salt and pepper. I'm happy to troubleshoot what went wrong though. Did you change anything no matter how small? Ingredients, cooking method, setting time etc? If you didn't roast the veggies as per the directions that could be a reason for it being mushy. They need to be roasted for the recipe to work well and not boiled/steamed.
Patricia G says
Finally tried this recipe- AMAAAAZING! Used aqua faba instead of oil, worked well except edges of potatoes and carrots seemed still a bit hard after roasting. Lifted it all up by the parchment sheet and put it into a covered casserole dish to cook down. It all softened up beautifully. Only question- would like a bit more umami without increasing salt too much - would mushrooms work?