Full of the rich umami taste of mushrooms and toasted walnuts, this vegan mushroom pâté recipe is the perfect party appetizer. Your guests will love how delicious it is, and you’ll love how easy it is to make!
This mushroom pâté is full of meaty mushroom flavour without the meat. It’s such a great dish to share with your friends and family, especially for parties and your Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations.
We first made this mushroom pate when we catered for a friend’s wedding in Austria – vegan style!
We made 4 different kinds of dips – hummus, baba ganoush, tzatziki, and mushroom pâté. At first the mushroom pate was the least popular (it’s not exactly the most attractive with it’s grey/brown colour) but word soon got out about how AMAZING it tasted. The massive bowl of it was empty in a flash!
Proof that this vegan mushroom pate is loved by omnivores and herbivores alike!
What kind of mushrooms work best in this pate?
You can simply use white button or chestnut mushrooms for this vegan mushroom pate recipe. The herbs, soy sauce, onions, garlic and walnuts ensure that it is fully flavoured even with everyday mushrooms.
Other varieties such as Portobellos or Shitake work well too. And a mixture of mushroom varieties adds a nice depth.
By using wild mushrooms you can vary or enhance the flavour even more. For the version that we photographed here, we used a mixture of Porcini, Chanterelles, Parasol, and Hedgehog Mushrooms.
It’s the perfect recipe for using up a variety of wild mushrooms after a foraging trip! Just make sure for any wild mushrooms you use you are 100% sure of the ID and they are safe to eat.
How to make
It’s pretty simple! You can make this pate in under 20 minutes. Watch the video if you want a visual guide, or read on for an overview of the steps.
- Clean and chop your mushrooms. We usually don’t wash our mushrooms, just gently brushing them to clean them.
- Then in a frying pan with some good olive oil, fry some diced onions for a bit, then add the garlic, salt, mushrooms and herbs. The mushrooms will shrink considerably and give off their juice. If your mushrooms are a bit dry, you might want to add a splash of water to start them off.
- Wait until the mushroom liquid has evaporated, remove from the heat and then add the soy sauce. The soy sauce really adds to the umami flavour of the pate. We recommend an organic soy sauce like this.
- In a dry pan, toast the walnuts until golden brown. You’ll want to move them around often so they don’t burn.
- When the mushroom mixture and nuts have cooled down enough, blend them in a blender or food processor with a small splash of water until you have a uniform texture. The amount of water you will need may vary depending on how much mushroom liquid you have leftover. Add just enough so it blends easily. If you’ve got a super high powered blender you may not even need to add any.
Substitutions and variations
Have fun and experiment with this recipe to suit your own tastes!
Instead of walnuts you can try using other nuts, such as almonds or hazelnuts.
And for a nut free mushroom pate, then toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds work great too.
As an alternative to soy sauce, you can use tamari sauce for a gluten free version, or coconut aminos for a soy free pate.
If you fancy you can add a splash of vegan sherry to deglaze the mushrooms.
You can use fresh herbs instead of dried. You’ll want to use about 3 times as much. For example 3 tsp fresh chopped rosemary instead of 1 tsp dried rosemary.
Serving and storage
Here are some ideas for how to serve your mushroom pate (If you don’t wanna just dive into it with a spoon like we do!)
- Spread generously on sourdough bread or toast.
- Make into cute canapés by topping crostini or these yummy vegan crackers with this pate, a walnut half and a sage leaf.
- Use it as a savoury crepe filling.
- Make mushroom vol-au-vents by filling into puff pastry cases.
- Enjoy as a dip for vegetable crudités.
- Serve alongside hummus and other spreads to liven up a vegan party platter.
Traditional pate is served in a small dish with a layer of fat on the top. This was done historically to extend storage life. If you want to serve it this way then you can melt a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter to coat the top. This works best if you are serving the pate with toast, as the ‘butter’ melts.
Store your mushroom pate in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
It is possible to make the pate in advance and freeze it. The texture changes slightly, but it’s still flavoursome. Simply freeze in an airtight container and defrost in the fridge overnight and stir through before serving.
If you liked our vegan mushroom pate recipe, we think you’ll like these other tasty vegan mushroom recipes too:
These Japanese inspired Teriyaki Mushrooms
And this super easy Vegan Mushroom Soup
📖 Recipe
Vegan Mushroom Pate
Ingredients
Instructions
- Dice the onions, finely chop the garlic and chop the mushrooms.
- In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and then add the onions and fry for a couple of minutes until they are starting to turn translucent.
- Add the garlic, mushrooms, pepper and herbs.
- Continue to fry until the mushrooms have shrunk down and their liquid has evaporated. If the mushrooms are a bit dry, add a splash of water to start them off
- Remove from the heat, and stir in the soy or tamari sauce .
- In another pan, toast the walnuts over a medium high heat until they are golden brown. Stir frequently.
- When the nuts and mushroom mixture have cooled down enough, combine them in a blender. Blend whilst gradually adding a splash of water until you have a spreadable uniform texture. Scrape down the sides as needed The amount of water you need will vary, so start off slowly. If you have a high speed blender, you may not need to add any.
- Salt to taste and blend once again before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
With love from the woods!
Sophie and Paul
Bev says
This is fabulous. Always have this in the fridge.
Sophie and Paul says
Delighted to hear it Bev! Thanks so much for leaving a comment 🙂
Kristen neal says
amazing, used smoked pepper and fresh herbs combined with dried. Next time I will smoke the mushrooms, Oh, also added unami
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much Kristen! Using smoked mushrooms sounds incredible. Enjoy 🙂
Fiona Moore says
Just made this and it is delicious. Bonus is my Husband who has allergies to dairy, egg and gluten can eat it as well. Will serve tonight with some of my homemade Thyme oatcakes.
Sophie and Paul says
Delighted you both enjoyed it Fiona! Homemade thyme oatcakes sound delicious too 🙂
Mark says
Hi, made this for my wife and she absolutely loved it. She can't stop eating it!!!!!!
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Mark, that's so nice to hear! To point it out, the mushroom pate freezes well, so you can make a big batch and freeze in portions and thaw as needed. Enjoy!
t says
Mine turned out to be bitter. Any suggestions? 🙁 I did alter the quantities slightly by eyeballing it!
Sophie and Paul says
Hey T, Sorry to hear that! Walnuts, especially if they are old or starting to go off can be bitter, so that's most likely where the unwanted taste came from. Excess herbs may have also had an impact if your quantities were off. You could try rebalancing the flavour with a pinch of salt or something sweet like a dash of maple syrup, as both these elements can supress bitterness. Next time, you could use fresh walnuts, or try blanching them to remove their skin or use sunflower seeds instead.
Gillian Fleing says
Hubbie made this and it was delicious. Now one of our favourite sandwich fillings. Thank you.
Sophie and Paul says
You're so welcome Gillian! It's one of our favourites too.
Sharon says
Was missing pate since going PlantBased so was glad to come across this recipe. Absolutely Love it! Tastes even better than any meat version. Whilst it does disappear quickly, I only have a large blender so wondered if it was okay to freeze some?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Sharon, you'll be glad to hear that the pate freezes well! It's just as tasty as before, the texture might change minimally but we didn't find that to be a problem! Enjoy the mushroom pate 🙂
Sharon says
Tasted just as gorgeous after freezing 😁 Thank you
Ra says
Hi, excited to try this! Do you think it would work with cashews?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Ra, Yes cashews should work fine. We often use sunflower seeds too. Enjoy!
Ioana says
It was surprisingly delicious. it's becoming a regular in our fridge ☺️ now we just need to find a 12v blender to make it on the road as well :)) thanks for posting❤️
Sophie and Paul says
So glad you loved it Ioana!We're lucky to have an inverter in our van so we have a little 250 watt blender that does the trick. Hope you find something that works for you on the road. 🙂
Mrs Susan Tuffnell says
Omg, so lush. Made with mixed seeds instead of nuts that I soaked so that I can pack lunches for the kids. Thanks for posting.
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Susan, thanks so much! Good to hear it's popular with the kids, too!
Mirka says
Heeey guys! Just came across your awesome Mushroom pate recipe as I was looking for some other alternatives to this vegan staple. I usually use sunflower seeds (presoaked for an hour or so and drained well - to soften them up a bit and not to break my hand blender 🙂 as it is a cheaper alternative to walnuts. I do not use soya sauce as being endometriosis sufferer I am trying to avoid soy as much as possible - BUT I add this amazing herb/spice mix from Sonnentor (since you guys know Austria I guess you may know the brand also 😉 which is called "Adios Salt" the Mediterranean version (and I do use a tiny bit of salt on the top of that). So my version consists of fried combo of onions, garlic and mushrooms, then salt, pepper and the above mentioned spice mix plus sunflower seeds at the end (plain, not roasted)... I defo cant wait to try your walnut version!!! Take care and thanks a lot for posting such inspirational vegan recipes xxx
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Mirka! It makes us happy to hear you find inspiration in our recipes 🙂
We often use sunflower seeds as a cheap alternative to nuts too. We also use them as the base in our garlic & herb 'cheese' spread Here we perfer the walnut flavour. Yes we do know Sonnentor (I lived in Krems, not too far from the region where they have their factory in the Waldviertel) and they have great products! I haven't myself come to terms with savoury foods without adding any salt, but since going vegan I use so much more of spices and herbs than before! Just to mention that we also use soy sauce for the umami flavour as well as saltiness. I would say salt is the minimum to replace soy sauce as seasoning, but you could also try to get your hands on some liquid coconut aminos as a soy-free alternative.
Good luck with the mushroom pate, and let us know how it turned out! 🙂
All the best, Paul
Sandy says
Will do a ‘test run’ on this Pate this afternoon with the view to serving in tiny mushroom cups for Christmas Day ....many thanks for sharing the recipe! Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺
Sophie and Paul says
What a lovely idea that is! Happy cooking 🙂
Zac Stafford says
We are staying in Eastern Austria for a house sit and the parasol mushrooms are abundant right now, as are local walnuts. This was delicious!
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Zac,
Lucky you! It's a good time for mushroom and walnuts right now... Where abouts in Eastern Austria are you staying? We were in the west of styria when we made this pate. So many mushrooms, of so many different kinds!
Did you know you can dry the stalks of parasols and grind them up into mushroom powder? Add a tablespoon to any dish for a bit of extra umami flavour. Yum!
And isn't it SUCH a rewarding thing to cook delicious foraged food??
Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Love, Paul & Sophie