This veggie pate recipe with sunflower seeds is a classic hippie spread that tastes amazing with gluten-free crackers or in a wrap with lots of fresh veggies, cheese, a thick layer of veggie pate, and some mayo and mustard.

I also love having this sunflower seed pate on top of a Ryvita cracker with tomato, feta cheese, and alfalfa sprouts topped with salt and pepper. This vegan spread is the perfect spread for crackers, sandwiches, snacks, and wraps. Anyone eating a plant-based diet will love this vegan pate that is the ideal appetizer to serve with crackers or addition to meals.

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This veggie pate recipe is made from sunflower seeds, potato, carrot, celery, mushroom, nutritional yeast, onion, and fresh garlic seasoned with savory herbs, then baked for the ultimate veggie pate spread.

In the tiny town of Grand Forks, B.C., where I grew up, a local business made the tastiest pate that I would always buy from the local grocery store. But the veggie pate would never last long as the pate rounds were not very big yet cost a pretty penny.

I remember thinking, if only I could get the veggie pate recipe to make my own.

So, one day, I flipped over the package, wrote down all the ingredients, and went online to find a recipe with similar ingredients to the store-bought pate that I loved.

This homemade veggie pate is a result of adopting several recipes into one. I love the spice from jalapeno mixed with the savory herbs of sage, rosemary, basil, and mustard powder for a unique yet delicious veggie pate.

The essential base for the vegetarian pate is the potato, onion, sunflower seeds, and nutritional yeast. From that base, you can add different vegetables (my friend loves zucchini in hers) and adjust the herbs and spices to your liking.

If this is your first time making a vegetarian pate, I am sure you will fall in love with this classic hippie veggie pate.

Ingredients for the sunflower seed pate

1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup of rice flour
¾ cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 potato grated
1 carrot grated
1 onion
1 stalk celery finely diced
1 cup mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno finely diced
½ cup of water
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 tsp sage
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

How to make veggie pate with sunflower seeds

To make this vegetarian pate, start by grating the potato and carrot. Dice the remainder of the vegetables, including the garlic, onion, and mushrooms.

Place all the ingredients into a large bowl except the rice flour, then use an immersion blender to make a smooth yet slightly chunky mixture.

Add in the rice flour to thicken the mixture after blending.

Place the blended pate into a baking dish and spread an even layer throughout the pan, approximately 1 to 1.5 inches thick.

Bake the vegetarian pate for 1 hour at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown.

Enjoy this homemade veggie pate with gluten-free crackers or in a wrap with your favorite vegetables for a healthy and easy lunch.

Tips and substitutions

Cut the pate into pie slices or squared, depending on the baking dish you used, and store them in a smaller air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

You can freeze any extra pate you don’t use and pull it out of the freezer as needed! Freezing changes the pate’s texture, so I often reheat it before using it.

You can also use a food processor to make the vegetable pate instead of an immersion blender. You can adjust the texture of the pate by processing as much or as little as you like.

Feel free to add fresh herbs, such as fresh thyme and rosemary, to enhance the flavor profile.

Play around with adding other herbs and spices you love most, such as curry powder.

If you don’t like too much spice, omit the jalapeno or use red chili flakes instead.

Adding more garlic cloves is also optional if you’re a garlic lover!

I used rice flour in this sunflower seed pate to make this a gluten-free recipe, but any flour can be used, including oat flour, amaranth, or any gluten-free flour blend. If you want a drier and thicker texture, add more flour.

This veggie pate with sunflower seeds has the most unique and savory flavor and is the perfect party appetizer to serve with crackers. I love to serve the pate on a rice cracker with tomato slices and sprouts for a healthy and easy snack!