Vegan Paté

This Vegan Paté made with lentils a walnuts is rich and savory tasting, but entirely plant based. The smooth and thick texture and truffle and chive flavors come together for a spreadable appetizer to add to a grazing board or it can be served with crackers for any occasion.

If you’ve adopted a plant based diet, or even if you (like me) are a meat-eater, but are just looking for a less heavy way to enjoy paté, then this recipe is for you. It mimics, spreadable paté amazingly well, and has irresistible truffle flavor.

Ingredients For Vegan Paté

Complete instructions and measurements are included in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Garlic

This recipe starts out with a clove of garlic. As I have said before I recommend fresh garlic over jarred garlic because it has superior flavor and it doesn’t have any preservatives.

Lentils

Where most meat-based paté recipes are made with liver or pork, this vegan pate is made with lentils instead.

I use canned lentils to make paté. Even though it takes about 20 minutes to cook lentils from dried, the texture of the canned lentils is much better for making paté. The outer skin of the canned lentils is softer (while the insides remain starchy and not watery) and the skins dissolves into a smooth paste when it’s puréed.

Walnuts

The meaty and thick texture (reminiscent of chicken liver paté) comes from walnuts. And quite a lot of them. They make up almost half of the mixture. As they are pureéd with the lentils, they give the paste a thicker body.

Make sure you take the couple extra minutes to toast the walnuts before you add them to the food processor. Toasting makes them more flavorful.

Truffle Oil

While it would be possible to make this with regular olive oil, I highly recommend seeking out a bottle of truffle oil. You only need two tablespoons, but it adds so much flavor!

If you do not have truffle oil, or prefer an alternative, you could also use hazelnut oil, which is one of my favorite vegan fats because of its buttery flavor.

Vinegar, Chives, Salt and Pepper

• Vinegar: To round out the flavors in the paté, you’ll also need a splash of vinegar. I suggest sherry vinegar because the woodsy notes pair well with the earthy walnuts. Sub in red wine vinegar if you don’t have it. Do not use balsamic or cider vinegar as they will add additional flavors that will pose a distraction.
• Chives: You’ll want to use some of the chives to top off the pate to make it pretty!
• Salt and Pepper: The salt gets made into a paste, so you’ll want to use kosher salt to make that easier.

How To Make Vegan Paté

Make Garlic and Salt Paste

Make a paste with the garlic and salt so that the garlic dissolves into the puree evenly. To make it do the following:

1. Press the garlic with the side of the knife and the palm of your hand into the cutting board to crush the garlic clove. This will make it easier to remove the skin.
2. Chop the garlic.
3. Sprinkle with salt and then use the side of the knife to mash the garlic and salt together to make a paste.

Toast Walnuts

One of the tricks you’ll see me do around here is that I like to toast nuts. That’s because toasting nuts makes them more flavorful and that way you can use less of them. It brings out their nuttiness if you will. Let them cool a bit before adding them to the food processor.

Food Processor

1. Set up your food processor with a steel blade attachment.
2. Add the garlic paste.
3. Add the drained canned lentils, nuts, 1 tablespoon of the chives, truffle oil, sherry and pepper.
4. Cover the food processor and turn on the motor. Let the mixture puree until it looks smooth.

For The Best Texture

1. Open the lid and scrapes the sides of the food processor bowl. (This is key to getting the best creamy texture!)
2. Puree again to make it ultra creamy.

To Serve

Thanks so much for reading! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review!

Happy Cooking!

~Katie

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