Mushroom Spread {Easy Mushroom Pate}
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Mushroom spread is a creamy holiday dip recipe, made with earthy mushrooms, cream cheese, and spices. Don’t let the gray color keep you from the great taste!
Poor gray! It has been given such a bad rap. It connotes gloom, sadness and negativity…a dreary, gray day or the “gray area”. Yet, I love the peacefulness of gray days, and I think gray is my favorite of all the “non-colors”. Not as harsh and heavy as black, not as light and airy as white, but with more substance and character. Gray is quiet. Gray is calm. I am neither, so I need gray, possibly even crave it. I used to be a very black and white person.
I think all youth goes through that black and white period. I see my younger self in my teenager now. And as I’ve aged, I realize that sometimes gray is OK. It doesn’t mean non-committal or middle of the road. For me, it means different ways of seeing something or someone. There are many shades of gray.
Gray can be sharp and cool, like silver or steel or pewter.
Or warm and soft, like taupe, smoke, or mushrooms.
I thought about my mom’s mushroom spread for a long time, knowing it would be a tough one to present in photos.
Mostly because it’s grayish and people don’t, as a rule, like to eat gray food. But this mushroom spread is really delicious and super easy to make.
Sauté mushrooms in some butter, add a clove or two of garlic, some fresh thyme, salt and pepper, then blend the mixture in a food processor. That’s it. It’s also vegetarian and gluten free, (as long as you don’t serve it with crackers). Entertaining season is upon us, and this is an easy addition to a hors d’oeuvres buffet.
Mushroom Spread
Ingredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 8 oz. mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 sprig fresh thyme about 1/2 teaspoon
- Kosher and white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat butter over a medium heat. Sauté mushrooms in butter until soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and thyme and cook another minute or two.
- Cool a few minutes and then blend mushrooms and cream cheese together in food processor.
- Season with kosher salt and pepper. Chill…or not.
- Serve with water crackers
Hi Cynthia, I like the way you write, and think, especially about “gray”. Most of my clothing is gray with some black and white and maybe some blue thrown in-and my hair is salt and pepper). Your Mushroom Spread recipe sounds delicious. Funny how such simple ingredients can turn into mouth-wateringly delicious food!
Thanks Donna! I love gray too! It’s a un-sung color! Yes, this mushroom spread is so easy and delicious and just 2 ingredients!
Great post! I love your mushroom spread and can just taste it with that cream cheese flavor throughout-it would definitely be a favorite for me. I think your photo of the spread is lovely, and so are the others. Great shots.
Thanks Christina! I had this up for a long time…but as you know, mushrooms are hard to photograph!
Love mushrooms. Love cream cheese. I would say this is a win win!
Indeed Andrea!
I like your take on gray. I love the color gray, there’s so many shades of it and I’m comfortable wearing it instead of black, sometimes (especially charcol gray!).
Tasty mushroom spread with thyme and cream cheese – fantastic for appetizers or on crostinis!
Thanks Cristina, I love grey too! It’s a great easy appetizer!
Oooh, yum! My fiancé would love this so much, he adores mushrooms!
It’s so easy to make too!
You know, I used to say that life is not black and white, it’s all the shades of grey in between. Now, of course, people would think I was referring to that book. 😉
But this is a beautiful recipe and I love your black and white photos too.
Oddly enough I wrote this post 4 years ago, long before the book came out…I might have titled this post something entirely different otherwise! Thank you Sabrina!
Yum! Gray is beautiful and I think you did a great job of presenting! Sounds very tasty!
Thank you Carol!
Haha, this is so true! I love gray everywhere else, but with food, it’s often a negative. Certainly not this spread though. I could make a meal out of this with some chilled wine or maybe a bitter beer.
So true Brandon, grey isn’t the most appetizing color! But this mushroom spread is too good not to share!
This dip was so good. I couldn’t stop eating it. I want to try a non-dairy version too. So simple yet so good! Highly recommend.
Looks yummy! Have you ever tried this with crimini or baby belas? I really like their flavor and the mixture might look more tan than gray (not that gray bothers me when set off with a colorful dish and herbal embellishment as you did).
I find the criminis make it a bit more brown…I’ve also done it with a mixture of a couple of different kinds of mushrooms.
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I love mushroom anything. Your soup and pate recipe are so easily. Thank you for making cooking fun. BTW as your sister-in-law, I get to be in on the total process. I get to clean up!!!
Yes! I love that you’re my sous-chef and recipe tester when you visit.
This is so easy to make and it is delicious, a crowd pleaser that never disappoints.
thanks so much!<3
Love this! Mushrooms and white pepper go so well together! Same here about Halloween. I threw the best parties – once I made spiders out of Chou pastry! No kids at home anymore, and no trick or treaters cause we live in the country.
Just made this last week when I realized I had an abundance of mushrooms! Yummy!
Excellent! So easy!