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Let's be real, traditional chopped liver, the kind that my dad used to feed our cats, pretty desperately needed a glow-up. This vegan chopped liver recipe recreates that old-school deli spread with lentils, walnuts, and mushrooms made more deeply flavorful with a dash of white wine and herbs. I'm not crying, I just feel a little emotional about how much better this vegan version is than the non-veg version was that used to stink up our family fridge when I was growing up.
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I don't know if this is a common phrase, or like, just for Jewish dudes from the L.E.S, but my dad used to say, "What am I, chopped liver?" any time he felt left out of something. Like if we didn't save him the last bagel or let him pick the movie on movie nights. So here we are, many moons and tofu blocks later, with a completely plant-based chopped liver recipe that's flavor-bombed and nostalgically spot-on.
This one joins a bunch of my other comfort-packed Jewish deli recipes like vegan knishes, vegan Reubens, and carrot lox with vegan cream cheese on a chewy bagel.
Now let's make some darn good spread that keeps anyone from asking "what am I, chopped liver?" during special occasions ever a-friggin-gain.
Tastes great, perfect consistency to eat with crackers. My wife took it for lunch 3 times this week, and she never eats leftovers.
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🥰 Why you'll adore this Vegan Chopped Liver recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Another banger amongst my vegan Jewish recipes, and bonus: it's one of the gluten-free vegan recipes that even your Zaide will freak out about. Bye-bye real chopped chicken livers, but fear not, I have tried to make this as nutritionally close to that as possible too!
⏱ Fast, Fancy, and Foolproof: You can whip this up faster than it takes to rewind your VHS copy of Yenta yet again, and it still serves five-star Pesach appetizer energy.
🛒 Grocery Store Friendly: Nothing you need to mail order from the Dark Web here, just ordinary grocery store stuff doing extraordinary things.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: As I do with all of the vegan recipes I publish, hundreds of people first tested this banger and gave me mad thumbs up. "There's no liver in this?!" Correct. Welcome to the simulation.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🧆 Vegan Chopped Liver Ingredients
Brown Lentils
Brown lentils are the same ones I use for harira and Moroccan lentils, and they know what they're doing. They give this chopped liver its protein, and that just-thick-enough spreadability. French lentils and plain ol' green lentils are totally fine too, but will give you a darker/greener dip.
Do not-I repeat, do not-come at this with split red lentils unless you're actively trying to ruin your own afternoon, because those will break down while cooking and absorb too much water
White Button Mushrooms
These mushrooms don't even taste like much until you absolutely annihilate their water content and brown them nicely with onions and garlic and confit the heck out of them with white wine. Leftover mushrooms after making this? Please. They're screaming to be reborn as roasted mushroom soup or buried under mashed potatoes in a vegan shepherd's pie.
Oyster (which also make insane vegan shawarma) or cremini mushrooms also work fine in this, but are more costly and don't do anything too noticeable for flavor.
Dijon Mustard
I usually go with Grey Poupon or Maille because I have unresolved French condiment loyalty issues, but honestly, whatever mustard you already have will work. If yours is stone-ground or spicy brown, you can still have a run with it. Personally, I don't love some of the health food store-variety mustards because many brands have a strongly apple cider vinegar flavor to me.
White Wine
White wine helps drag every last bit of caramelized flavor off the bottom of the pan. Double-check it's vegan on barnivore.com.
Since you aren't going to use up a whole bottle to make this, use up the rest of it to make mushroom risotto or pumpkin risotto.
Tamari
Tamari keeps this recipe gluten-free and has a nice well-rounded brothy flavor. Don't overthink it though. Soy sauce works. Coconut aminos work if you don't do soy. The world won't end if you use what's already in your fridge (I mean, unless you keep uranium-235 in your crisper drawer).
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make Vegan Chopped Liver
Wanna skip the ramble and get straight to spreading things on toast like a vegan deli god? The printable recipe card's waiting for you at the bottom of this blog post. But if you want the full rundown of every little step, stick with me here.
Step One
ParLentil Advisory:
Add the lentils and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower to a simmer and cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes.
Step Two
A Hero Ain't Walnuthing But A Sandwich:
While the lentils do their thing, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant and lightly golden. Move them to a plate to cool.
Step Three
Drainspotting:
Once the lentils are cooked, drain them using a colander or mesh strainer and set them aside.
Step Four
A Wrinkle Onion Time:
Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. After about 90 seconds, toss in the onions and sauté for 6-7 minutes until they're soft and just golden.
Step Five
Mush Ado About Nothing:
Add the mushrooms and garlic to the skillet and cook for another 7 minutes until the liquid has released and mostly evaporated.
Step Six
Wineston Churchill:
Mix in the thyme, oregano, black pepper, mustard, wine, and tamari. Cook for 12-14 minutes on medium-high until most of the liquid has reduced and been absorbed. Remove from heat and let it cool and continue to release steam for 5 minutes.
Step Seven
Blend Me Your Ear And I'll Sing You a Song:
Move the lentils, walnuts, and mushroom mix into a food processor. Blend until smooth and spreadable, scraping the sides as needed.
Step Eight
Liver Let Die:
Adjust the seasoning, chill until serving, and garnish with parsley and chives.
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💡Serving Ideas
If you're building out a full-on deli spread or Jewish holidays' contemporary appetizer tables, there are a bunch of other recipes on the site that play real nice with this one. Thick slices of vegan challah (or round challah if it's Rosh Hashanah) would be the obvious wingman here.
For the full Ashkenazi tradition fantasy, hit it with some crispy zucchini latkes or a slab of potato kugel with vegan sour cream or a cup of vegan borscht on the side.
👉Top tips
- Toast the Walnuts Just a Little: Heat brings out their oils and intensifies their complex flavors. But obviously don't burn those bad boys beyond lightly golden brown either.
- Dry Out Those Mushrooms: Don't stop cooking just because things look "done." Keep going until pretty much all the mushroom liquid ghosts out of the pan. Moist mushrooms = loose and watery spread, nobody wants classic Jewish pâté that eats like gravy. Do you?
- Let It Chill Before Serving: You wanna serve this straight from the high powered blender or room temperature? Nah, son. Let the fridge do its thing so this tastes like actual vegetarian chopped liver.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Use short pulses in your food processor and scrape the sides often; over-processing will turn it too homogenous in its consistency and under-processing will leave it chunky (which isn't an entirely bad thing if you prefer that texture anyway, right?).
You can swap mushrooms for tofu or well-cooked eggplant, but you'll lose some of the depth and umami flavor that mushrooms bring. You can get around that by adding some vegan Worcestershire sauce or miso to the recipe.
🧊 Refrigeration
Once fully cooled, transfer the delicious spread into a container with a tight-fitting lid. Keep it refrigerated for up to 5 days for the best flavor and texture.
You could, but then you'd have to live with the consequences. And I will not be answering your DMs about why it came back looking like you threw a dusty old drop ceiling tile into a particle accelerator.
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Vegan Chopped Liver Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown lentils
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup walnuts
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 8 oz. white button mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons tamari
Optional Garnishes:
- Parsley leaves
- Chives minced
Instructions
- Combine the lentils and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender, 20-25 minutes.
- While the lentils cook, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and lightly browned. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Drain the cooked lentils in a colander or wire mesh strainer and set aside.
- In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. After 90 seconds when the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and sauté for 6-7 minutes until translucent and lightly golden.
- Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to sauté for 7 minutes until their liquid releases and evaporates
- Add the thyme, oregano, black pepper, mustard, wine, and tamari, and cook for 12-14 minutes on medium-high until most of the liquid has reduced and absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool and continue to release steam for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the lentils, walnuts, and mushroom mixture to a food processor. Process until the mixture reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency, pausing as needed to scrape down the sides. Adjust seasoning to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve, optionally garnish with parsley and chives.
Notes
Heat the walnuts just enough to wake up their oils and deepen the flavor. Don't burn them or your vegan chopped liver will suck more than the CGI version of Fiddler on the Roof that comes out in the future. 🍄 Unloose the Juice
Keep cooking the mushrooms until the pan’s basically dry. If you rush this, you’re making mushroom gravy, or a chopped liver river. That’s a different recipe m’dear.
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hg says
Tastes great, perfect consistency to eat with crackers. My wife took it for lunch 3 times this week, and she never eats leftovers.