Mexican bean vegetarian pâté
I love making vegetarian pâté, and this Mexican bean version is one of my favourites yet – so much flavour from just a few simple ingredients.
My go to base for vegetarian pâté is always walnuts with some kind of bean or chickpeas. It gives a fantastic thick, spreadable texture that’s full of protein. I suppose you could experiment with different kinds of nuts too if you fancy it, but for this spicy Mexican bean vegetarian pâté I stuck with my tried and tested combination. This time I used kidney beans, which gave the pâté a slightly pink colour.
I also added garlic, coriander (cilantro), lime juice, and a few of my favourite spices. It has so much flavour!
I could honestly eat this stuff straight from the bowl with a spoon, but if you want to be a bit more creative, you could try using it to make a spicy mushroom wellington, a tasty vegan sandwich, dolloping it on top of a burrito bowl, or smearing it on toasted slices of baguette, like I did. Just brush a few slices of crusty bread lightly with olive oil and pop them under a grill (broiler) or into a hot griddle pan for a couple of minutes. Smear them with the Mexican bean pâté, and serve with an extra squeeze of lime juice – soo yum.
This vegetarian pâté keeps really well in the fridge, so feel free to make a double batch to use for lunches through the week. It’s a relatively healthy lunch option (especially served with a nice big salad on the side), and definitely the kind of thing you’ll look forward to day after day! I might make another batch today, actually – it only takes a couple of minutes.
Mexican bean vegetarian pâté
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- 70 g walnuts (~ 3/4 cup)
- 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- Few sprigs fresh coriander (cilantro)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or a little less, to taste)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a food processor, and blitz thoroughly. Serve lightly chilled.
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/4 of the batch.
Excellent, and I want to make it again, but every place is out of walnuts! What other nuts would work? Thanks
Ahh that’s a shame! I haven’t tested it with other nuts but I’d think something mild like cashews would be nice, they’re nice and creamy!
A lovely, very easy pate. Good consistency. Will make again. Thanks.
Thanks Heather!
Can this be frozen?
Interesting idea, I haven’t tried actually! Let me know how well it works if you give it a go!
I really liked it! Thanks :-)
Thanks Peter!