This cruelty-free vegan "foie gras" is SO buttery, creamy, and surprisingly close to the real one! It is prepared from raw cashews and infused with aromatics like miso, nutritional yeast, tahini, and truffle oil. Even meat-eaters are amazed by how good this vegan foie gras tastes!
I'm SO EXCITED to share this recipe with you guys! I present you with the most astonishing vegan foie gras, taste, and texture-wise.
Making foie gras vegan is quite a challenge, the real one has a silky and soft texture with a buttery and subtle taste. This vegan foie gras has that rich and creamy texture that melts in your mouth just like real foie gras.
This recipe is the result of over 10 trials, testing with tofu, flavorings, herbs, agar-agar, mushrooms, chestnuts, and many other ingredients until achieving what I believe is the most accurate vegan foie gras.
📘 What is Foie Gras
Foie gras is a popular French delicacy made of duck liver. It is often served during the Christmas holidays as an appetizer.
I'm not going to go into details, you know how foie gras is made, the ducks are force-fed with a metal tube that is inserted into their mouths. If you have never seen how the ducks are treated, make a quick search on Google images, I guarantee you will feel disgusted or might even shed a tear. I did eat foie gras in the past, and I really liked it but I was not aware (or maybe didn't want to know) of what was really going on.
Thankfully, this "foie gras" is completely vegan and made from plant-based ingredients!
🥣 How to Make Vegan Foie Gras
It starts with cashews that are soaked overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
Next, blend the cashews with all the other ingredients until completely smooth. When it comes to the ingredients, we are using:
- Cocoa butter and refined coconut oil: Both are essential to creating that melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- White miso and nutritional yeast: Both bring umami and saltiness.
- Cognac: Since cognac is used in the authentic recipe, we are using it here as well to add fruity notes.
- Tahini: For a mildly nutty and earthy flavor.
- Truffle oil and shiitake powder: It's hard to describe the taste of truffle oil, but once again it is used as an aromatic.
- Black pepper: For a hint of spiciness.
Once your mixture is smooth, transfer it to a springform pan and let it harden in the refrigerator for at least 24H.
To make it look even more authentic you can recreate the yellow grease on the outside with a mix of refined coconut oil and turmeric for the color. It's completely optional and has absolutely no impact on the taste, it just makes it look more like real foie gras. I didn't do it here.
💬 FAQ
- I can't find cocoa butter, can I use a substitute? While I personally would not recommend it, some readers had success replacing the cocoa butter with coconut oil. You have to be aware that if using only coconut oil, the foie gras will be a lot softer at room temperature.
- Can I omit the cognac? Unfortunately, no. Cognac brings a ton of flavor to this foie gras. Do not worry, considering the low amount used, it is perfectly safe to serve to kids!
- Can I omit the shiitake powder? Yes, shiitake powder is not essential to this recipe.
- Which mold should I use for this recipe? If you want to shape it into a log, I recommend using 3 stacked cake rings.
- How do you serve vegan foie gras? Vegan foie gras is often served chilled as an appetizer. Spread a thin layer of foie gras on toasted bread and enjoy!
- How long does vegan foie gras keep? It will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
If you are looking for a vegan foie gras recipe, look no further! This is the best recipe you will find! This vegan foie gras will definitely be on our table on Christmas eve!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe and if you liked it!
📖 Recipe
The Best Vegan Foie Gras
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews
- ¼ cup deodorized cocoa butter melted
- ¼ cup refined coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoon white miso
- 2 tablespoon and ½ teaspoon cognac
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- 1 teaspoon truffle oil
- ½ teaspoon shiitake powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper or white pepper if you prefer
Yellow fat (optional)
- 3 tablespoon refined coconut oil
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
- Soak the cashews overnight or bring a large pot of water to a boil, pour over the cashews in a bowl, and let sit for 3 hours. Drain and rinse the cashews.
- To make the shiitake powder: Grind 3 dried shiitake mushrooms in a small grinder or food processor until you get a very fine powder. Set aside ½ teaspoon powder and keep the leftover in an airtight container for other uses.
- Add the cashews to the bowl of a blender with the water, white miso, cognac, nutritional yeast, tahini, shiitake powder, and truffle oil.
- Melt the cocoa butter in a small saucepan and measure ¼ cup of melted cocoa butter and add them to the blender. Do the same for the coconut oil.
- Add the salt and pepper and blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides from time to time. The mixture will be very thick, if you don't have a powerful blender, use a food processor.
- Stack two 3-inch (2.75-inch tall) cake rind molds and line them with parchment paper (sides and bottom). Pour the mixture into the molds and flatten the top. Alternatively, you can use any pan you have on hand: round, rectangular, etc. Smooth the top using a knife and cover it with plastic film.
- Place in the refrigerator for at least one day, it will become much firmer and the flavors will have time to merge.
- For the yellow fat (optional): Melt the refined coconut oil and turmeric over low heat and mix well. Let sit at room temperature until the coconut oil becomes spreadable again. Using your fingers, spread some colored coconut oil around the foie gras to make it look like yellow fat.
- Serve cold and spread on toasted bread, crackers, etc. This vegan foie gras pairs well with sweet white wines.
Video
Notes
- You must absolutely use deodorized cocoa butter, otherwise, the cocoa butter taste will cover the main flavors.
- The miso is important in this recipe, use white miso (with a pale yellow color), if your miso is darker use half the amount and reduce the salt. Using a strong miso will make the foie gras too salty and cover the taste of all the other ingredients.
- This foie gras has the same texture as the real one, which means it will soften at room temperature.
- For a slightly more reddish color: add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste. It won't affect the flavor.
Bonjour Thomas,
I've just stumbled upon your blog, this post in particular, and am extremely excited at the prospect of trying this. The beurre de cacao doesn't seem so easy to find. Since I am not vegan, do you think I could just use regular butter in its place?
Thanks again so much for posting, I'm sure it will be delicious.
Bonjour Carole,
Le beurre de cacao est très facile à trouver ! Il te suffit de rechercher "beurre de cacao barry" sur google et tu devrais en trouver sur des sites comme Cuisine Addict ou Amazon.
Je ne pense pas qu'utiliser du beurre donnerait la même texture, le beurre de cacao a la particularité de devenir très dur quand il refroidit (encore plus que du beurre).
Thank you, Thomas, for your quick reply. I shall try to find the beurre de cacao in smaller quantities than 700g, considering that your recipe only calls for a few tbsp.
Une dernière question quant à l'huile de coco raffinée (je ne trouve que de la vierge dans mes boutiques bio): pourrait-on envisager -- sacrilège! -- du gras de canard à sa place?
Merci de ta patience!
J'ai peur qu'avec autant de changements le résultat ne soit pas très satisfaisant... De plus, c'est une recette vegan donc si c'est pour y ajouter du canard je ne vois pas trop l'intérêt 🙂
L'huile de coco raffinée est aussi disponible sur Amazon, elle est d'ailleurs moins chère que l'huile vierge.
N'ayez crainte, je vais essayer de mettre la main sur du beurre de cacao, de préférence chez un commerçant du quartier, plutôt que de faire appel à Amazon. Si nécessaire, l'huile de coco itou. Comme j'ai mentionné au passant, je ne suis pas végan, mais les abats de toutes sortes sont interdits pour mon mari. J'essaie juste de faire en sorte qu'il ne se sente pas trop brimé pendant la période des fêtes.
Merci encore de ta patience. J'ai vraiment hâte de tester avant de le servir aux copains du sud-ouest!
J'éspère que la recette te plaira !
Hello Thomas,
Well, after all this time, I finally made this on Friday and we tasted it tonight. Pretty brilliant! I copied your trick and used two stacked pastry circles and my (very) French husband was fooled by the appearance. I'd held back on the salt, but won't on the next round; I'd also used port wine, since that was all I could find at the moment. The cognac may give it just the little oomph it needs.
We had this tonight with your king oyster scallops, and will probably have it again tomorrow in a "salade riche".
Thank you so much for having developed the recipe, and have a lovely Christmas.
Hi Carole,
Thanks for the feedback! 🙂 Enjoy the holidays too!
Bonjour Thomas,
Combien de temps peut-t-on garder un Vegan Foie Gras au frais ? Je compte tester cette recette et en faire directement pour mes proches.
meilleures salutations
Bonjour Sandrine,
Vous pouvez garder le foie gras 4-5 jours au frigo et plusieurs mois au congel. Pour décongeler, il suffit de le mettre au frigo la veille et le laisser décongeler tranquillement.
Hey!
Another french 😉
Thank you for all your amazing work!
I have the same question than Janet Paula... can it be frozen? how long can i keep it in the fridge??
I can't wait to have the cocoa butter to try it!
Oh and another question, i guess someone else asked it but i couldn't find the answer again... is it such a blasphème if i put olive or sunflower oil without truffe??
Thank you again!
Hey Alice,
It can be frozen and will keep for months in the freezer. You can keep the foie gras in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days.
Yes, you can use sunflower oil instead of truffle oil, or simply omit it.
can you freeze it?
And how long does it last in the fridge?
Thank you !!
You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5-6 days. Yes, you can freeze it and thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Hello, where can i get shiitake powder and truffle oil?
Thank you!
Hi Ann,
It depends on where you live, maybe try searching on Amazon. I don't buy shiitake powder, I just buy dried shiitakes and grind them into a powder.
I've just put it in my Fridge to harden it. The color and texture is more like a hazelnut spread, due to the use of dark miso I guess, even though I cut the quantity in half as indicated.
I have bought cashew already mixed, which turned out to still have very small bits of cashew.
I have used the quantities in grams shown above by another user and the mix turned out too liquid, so I have added a bit of tahini and more cashew mash + more cocoa butter, also to correct the powerful taste of dark miso.
I have reduced the Salt.
For the Time Being, i just want to go buy cashew nuts and white miso to try it all over again the right was, but i will wait to taste it first!
What do you mean by cashews already mixed? If you are talking about cashew butter, then it's not really a substitute for raw cashews, and it's probably why your mixture turned out too liquid.
It is not à butter, It is called Cashewmus in german, purée de cajou en français.
I found it on Nu3.
Yes, it's cashew butter. Next time try using raw cashews, the texture and taste will be very different.
You named this one right but it is so great you could of called it The Very Besy Vegan Foie Gras. It is truly very best we have tasted
I'm glad you liked the "foie gras"! Thanks for the feedback!
I like the log shape you used in your pic, do you have a link for that mold please?
I used a few cookie cutters stacked together. You could also use 2-3 small springform pans stacked, or maybe cut a bottle to make a tube and use it as the mold.
I've also just removed both ends from an empty tin (think 400g of tomatoes), and have had pretty good results. If you don't fill them all the way to the top, you can actually get two lovely logs. Just make sure that the inside is well-lined with parchment, and that it doesn't shift as you're filling your mold.
Brilliant recipe, Thomas!
I used to love pate with black truffle pieces. Can I use that instead of the oil and if so, how much of it do you suggest please?
Of course, you can add a few pieces of black truffle if you want. I used oil as a flavoring to get a very subtle mushroomy flavor, it's not essential to the recipe but it gives the foie gras a more complex flavor. If you use fresh black truffle, I would recommend not using too much so it's not overpowering.
This recipe is nothing short of genius, thank you so much! I recommend leaving it in the fridge for a few days, it really improves the taste. Also, if you’re over the age of 40 I would add extra cognac and salt 😉
Thank you so much Lisa! I'm super happy you liked it 🙂
Hello can you update the link for the cocoa butter? The thing is about the deodorized... can't find one like that. Thanks a lot
I had all but two of the ingredients to make this dish (cocoa butter and truffle oil) yet it still took me a few weeks to make it. I'm glad I finally did. I made it yesterday and we are eating it now so it's been over 24 hrs. The only thing that is missing is a little fresh garlic. I will add some next time, two small cloves will probably be plenty. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It will be perfect for parties and holidays.
Thank you for the feedback Gigi! Happy to hear you liked the "foie gras" 🙂
Dear Thomas,
I'm meat-eater and I use Foie Gras sometimes, knowing the texture and taste very well. So, I can compare this recipe with the real thing. It amazingly identical! 🙂
Congratulations, this is great (and important) recipe!
P.S. I didn't have cocoa butter so I used coconut - and it worked well. I will look for coco next time.
Hi Vitki,
Thank you so much for your feedback and rating! I'm so happy you liked it, especially as a meat-eater, that is awesome!
Hey Thomas, thank you so much for this! Question: do you know if this would sear if I tried to or if it would just melt into a mess? By the way, my blue cheese worked out and tastes delicious - thank you!
Hey Lucas,
It can be seared but just like real foie gras it becomes quite soft and a bit hard to handle, but it doesn't melt completely and keeps most of its shape. If you pan sear it, make sure to use a non-stick skillet.
Glad to hear you successfully made the blue cheese! 🙂
Hello, this recipe looks good. However I sometimes cook for a reformed alcoholic. Is there a replacement for the cognac>
Thank you,
Elaine
Hi Elaine,
That is a difficult one. You could boil the cognac for 1 minute to remove the alcohol content and you will still get the flavor (but I'm not sure if it's okay if it has an alcohol taste?). Or you could simply omit it, it will still taste very good.
I am wondering if a chickpea miso would work?
I haven't tried but I think it should work!
Salut Thomas,
J'adore tes recettes, je galère cependant pas mal avec les mesures en cup, très américaine je le sais bien mais au combien impressises et nécessitant la fameuse cup. As tu les masses de chaque ingrédient ?
Hi Thomas,
I love you're recipes but I'm strugling a lot with the cup "unit". I know it is what americans use but it requires the cup to succeed ^^Do you have the weight for each ingredients ?
Thanks Julie
Salut Julie,
Merci ! J'essais désormais de mettre les mesures en grammes dans les nouvelles recettes mais effectivement certaines n'ont que les mesures en cup.
Cette recette sera surement mise à jour bientôt avec les grammes quand j'en referais pour les fêtes. En attendant, tu peux trouver les équivalences cups/grams/ml sur Internet.
Just made this yesterday—the flavor is phenomenal! I found a great way to make a cylindrical mold: my Diamond kosher salt shaker was almost empty. I popped off the metal bottom, used a carton knife to cut off the top, and lined it with freezer paper (coated side in). After stuffing the carton, I wrapped both ends tightly with plastic wrap.
I'm so glad you liked the "foie gras" Jill! Thanks for sharing your mold technique!
Hi Thomas,
This recipe looks amazing! I would love to be able to try it but unfortunately I'm allergic to nuts. You mention trying with tofu, chestnuts and other methods, were there any I could try that came close?
Thanks,
Felicity
This recipe is not really versatile honestly, all the ingredients are important here. You could try using chestnuts, the flavor should still be pretty good but I'm afraid it won't taste as close as the original.
Hello there! I made this dish over the weekend. Loved the flavors. Thank you for creating an amazing recipe!
I am wondering how long I can store it in the fridge? Is a week too long? I am hoping to bring it to a party on Thursday. I made it on Saturday. So, that's 5 days. Do you think the dish would still be good?
Thanks so much!
Anzela.
You're welcome Anzela!
I would say about 3-4 days. A week will be too long and it won't taste the same, I found that the flavor tends to ease after 3 days.
Nooooooo, I used not desodorized cacao butter... :'(
I was thinking when I tasted it, that I must have been wrong with conversion from cups to grammes as some websites gives different result... but here is my mistake ^^
Has the coconut oil has to be desodorized or not also ? I don't know if refined = desodorized
Yes, it's better if the coconut is also deodorized. Refined coconut oil is usually deodorized.
Sorry to hear about that! That's why I'm recommending using only the deodorized one.
Hi 🙂 I had a heck of a time finding deodorized cocoa butter last year, this year subbed vegan butter and it turned out great. I think the buttery flavour working really well. Adding tahini is such a master stroke! It definitely tastes better than most of the foie gras peddled in French supermarkets.
Thanks for the feedback Lisa 😉
Hello! I am extremely interested by your recipe but in Bosnia in my town I do not find miso or deodorized cocoa butter. My issue is not about being vegan. I just don’t want to use the duck liver. Do you think I can replace the cocoa butter by butter and what about the miso? Thank you!
Hi Flore,
Well the thing is this recipe is not versatile...You can try using butter instead of cocoa butter but the texture won't be the same, it will probably be a lot softer.
Regarding the miso I'm afraid there is no good substitute.
I understand ! Will keep on searching here. thank you for your answer.
Salut ! Je pense faire cette recette pour les fetes mais je ne supporte vraiment pas le gout ni l'odeur des truffes, peut-on le remplacer par autre chose ou juste l'omettre ?
Salut Julie,
Oui bien sûr, il suffit de ne pas en mettre, ça ne devrait pas jouer beaucoup sur le gout.
I'm going to make this for Christmas with my omnivore family, really excited! But I'm so afraid of messing it up with the wrong ingredients! For the miso I have Clearspring Sweet White Miso (https://www.clearspring.co.uk/products/organic-japanese-sweet-white-miso-paste-pasteurised), and for cocoa butter I have this one from Rapunzel (https://www.rapunzel.de/en/organic-product-cocoa-butter-mild-hand-in-hand--1435020.html). Is this okay?
Hi Tine,
I have never tried those brands but from what I read it should be okay! As long as the cocoa butter doesn't have a strong smell it should work!
Hello, what product i can replace cocoa butter? In Poland I cant find it anywhere. If I will add again coconut oil instead cocoa butter , it would be everything taste? Many thanks for your answer. Best regards!
Hi Natalia,
If you use only coconut oil then the texture will be softer, you probably won't be able to make slices but it should still taste great!
Bonjour !
Au vu des commentaires, j'imagine que cette recette a ete publiée il y a un moment déjà. J'espère que vous verrez tout de même mon commentaire.
Je souhaitais savoir s'il était possible de remplacer le beurre de cacao par du beurre de karité (qui est plutôt neutre en goût)?
Aussi, puis-je conserver mon foie gras dans un pot en verre ? Je n'ai pas de cercles à pâtisserie 🙁
Merci !!
Bonjour Eva,
Honnêtement je ne savais même pas que le beurre de karité était utilisable en cuisine ! Dans ce cas, oui il est tout a fait possible de remplacer le beurre de cacao, à condition bien sûr que votre beurre de karité soit consommable et pas uniquement utilisable pour les cosmetiques.
En ce qui concerne le pot en verre, aucun problème 😉
I bought the cocoa butter off of your link, but it's non-deodorized. I haven't yet made the recipe but, based on other comments here who used non-deodorized cocoa butter, I'm concerned this will not go well.
Did you use the exact stuff you're linking to in your recipe?
I will check the link as sometimes products change on Amazon. For this recipe, you need deodorized cocoa butter, you are right.
I'm not always using the exact same brands as I don't live in the US and some brands are not available in Europe.
Will this foie gras roast in a pan well?
Yes it will! Be careful though as it will soften like real foie gras if heated.
I want to make this recipe but I cant find cocoa butter....what can I subsitute for it? thanks
You can use coconut oil, just be aware the foie gras will be a bit softer.
The links for the deodorized cocoa butter and refined coconut oil are not working. DO you have a specific brand you buy or might you have new links? Thanks 🙂
I buy mine in France so I'm afraid I don't have specific brands to recommend, sorry.
I have some family in France thar could but it for me. What are the brands over there? Thanks
I recommend Barry Cocoa Butter