This tricolour bean pâté is a layered vegan bean spread made with butter beans, kidney beans and cannellini beans. Each layer is blended separately, then chilled until firm so the colours and flavours come together when sliced.
This recipe was originally created for the June 2010 Daring Cooks Challenge, where participants prepared homemade pâtés to serve with freshly baked bread.
At the time, I paired this tricolour bean pâté with a warm sweet potato bread that I freshly baked on the same day. This combination was especially cozy on a rainy chilly evening in Ireland when something warm felt so soothing and agreeable.
Over the years, the Sweet Potato Bread has come to have its own dedicated post on the blog, along with a video tutorial. I decided to update this post accordingly.
The recipe below now focuses on the pâté itself. It is a simple delicious layered spread made with three different bean and vegetable mixtures. Once chilled and sliced, the layers showcase the white, reddish and green colours that give it its beautiful tricolour appearance.
How to Make Tricolour Bean Pâté
A step-by-step video will be added here soon.
What Is Tricolour Bean Pâté?
The concept of this tricolour bean pâté is a spread that’s made with three different layers: butter beans, kidney beans and cannellini beans, each mixed with various vegetables. Each layer is blended separately, then stacked in a loaf pan and chilled until firm.
I intentionally used beans and vegetables of different colours so that when the pâté is sliced, it reveals its distinct white, reddish and green layers, which give it its attractive tricolour appearance.
The flavours are simple but when combined they are well balanced and complement one another. The white layer is made with butter beans and artichoke hearts, and is smooth and mild. The kidney bean layer brings a deeper flavour from the sundried tomatoes. The green layer adds freshness from the broccoli and cannellini beans.
Once chilled, the pâté can be sliced or served as a spread.
How to Serve Bean Pâté
Bean pâté is usually served cold or slightly chilled. Once firm, it can be sliced into thick pieces or spread onto bread.
Some simple serving ideas include:
- sliced and served with bread or toast
- spread on crackers as an appetiser
- accompanied with pita bread or flatbread
- served with fresh vegetables for dipping
- added to sandwiches or wraps
If you’d like to serve it the way I originally did for the Daring Cooks challenge, it pairs very well with this Sweet Potato Bread.
Because the pâté becomes quite firm after chilling, it also works nicely as part of a small sharing platter.
Tricolour Bean Pâté
Ingredients
White Layer
- 450 g butter beans, boiled or cooked, well drained (about 3 cups)
- 3–4 pieces pickled or oil-preserved artichoke hearts
- 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida, optional; dried herb seasoning may also be used
- 1 tablespoon vegan cheese powder, or vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Pink / Reddish Layer
- 300 g red kidney beans, boiled or cooked (about 2 cups)
- 4 sun-dried tomato halves, (oil-preserved or rehydrated if dried)
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida, optional
- 1 tablespoon vegan cheese powder, or vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Green Layer
- 250 g broccoli florets, boiled or cooked (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon vegan cheese powder, or vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast
- 120 g cannelini beans, boiled/cooked (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Start with the white layer. Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until a thick purée forms.
- Line a loaf pan with cling film for easy removal later. Spoon the white layer into the pan and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon.
- Prepare the reddish layer by blending all the ingredients together until smooth. Spread this mixture evenly over the white layer.
- For the green layer, blend the broccoli, cannellini beans, vegan cheese powder and salt until smooth. If using a hand blender, cut the broccoli into smaller pieces first to help it blend more easily. Spread this layer on top.
- Refrigerate the pâté for 4 to 5 hours so it can firm up.
- Before serving, place the pan in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This helps the pâté hold its shape when unmoulding and slicing.
- Lift the pâté out of the pan using the cling film, slice, and serve chilled.
Notes
Make Ahead and Storage
This pâté needs several hours of chilling time to firm up, so it works well as a make-ahead recipe.
Store the pâté covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For clean slices, keep it well chilled before cutting.
Discover more from Veganlovlie: Scrumptious Vegan Recipes
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Wow yummy!! The pictures are gorgeous! The sweet potato bread looks interesting, will try that soon!
Beeeeoooootiful! Great Job!<br /><br />Donna
That sweet potato bread is just gorgeous! Perfect for your tricolor pâté!!
You did an amazing job on both the pate and the bread. I love the colours of each layer – so brilliant.
Oh your bread is soooooo appetizing ♥<br /><br />Nice photo and your VG pâté is perfect 🙂
I'm so impressed with the pâté BUT the bread is amazing it looks so good. Superb work on this challenge and excellent step-by-step photos also. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Love your take on the veg pate recipe….with the broccoli n red beans!
Beautiful! Any tips for getting the pepper and basil layers to be as formed as you got them? Mine were a bit wet. your bread is divine! Congrats on a successful challenge!
Julie, I did not use the pepper and basil layers as in the recipe. I changed the pepper to sundried tomatoes and used red kidney bean bind them together. I guess you could mix a bit of red kidney beans with the peppers to hold them together have a firmer layer. Instead of basil, I used broccoli and again I used canneli beans to sort of glue them together. The ingredients I've used are in my
Wow that looks amazing! I just discovered the deliciousness of sweet potatoes within the last few months. Your bread looks amazing! I am going to have to give that a try. Great job on the challenge!
your pate looks perfect but I'm really blown away by your bread, it looks amazing!
That bread is simply gorgeous! And your pâté set perfectly! Great job!
Can I come for dinner? This pate and bread look so amazingly yummy! Thank you for sharing your creativity!!
I am really intrigued by the sweet potato bread. It sounds delicious. Great job on the challenge.
your photos are so awesome..they are so vivid…beautiful.<br /><br />http://nuestracena-vegancuisine.blogspot.com
Great job on the paté and that bread looks awesome. Definitely going on my to do list! Thanks for participating in our challenge.
Hey, enjoyed browsing your blog, very interesting. I recently started my own if you would like to take a look at http://www.veghunter.wordpress.com<br />Keep up the great work!
These both look amazing but the bread gets me really excited. Sounds sooo easy to make and looks so good I can almost smell it.<br />:)
Delicious! I love both bread and pate' (vegan only though, can't stand the other). This would be a great idea for a party. Thanks for sharing.<br /><br />jessyburke88@gmail.com
That bread looks AMAZING!
Yummy! These all look delicious, especially the sweet potato bread. I will have to try it next time I make a veggie chili
That looks amazing!!