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Vegan Obazda spread makes a great snack or appetiser.
Oktoberfest is over, but it doesn’t mean we can’t eat German food, right? This creamy spread called Obazda or Obatzda is one of those Bavarian foods that everybody seems to love. Back in my vegetarian days it used to be one of my favourite snacks too. The classic German recipe is made with camembert, cream cheese, and butter, and it’s usually served with fresh pretzels or crackers. In this version I use tempeh and rejuvelac to make a tangy and delicious spread. It’s best if you let the spread ferment overnight or even longer before serving, but otherwise you don’t have a lot of work with this recipe.
I prefer to steam the tempeh for this recipe, since my body really doesn’t like large amount of raw tempeh, but if you don’t have a problem with uncooked tempeh, you can skip that step to save a few minutes. For a more authentic version use vegan butter, but if you want to keep this healthier and oil-free, you can also use tahini or cashew butter.
It’s one of those recipes, where you can totally play around with the ratio of ingredients and spice it to your liking. Most people add caraway to Obazda, but I’m not a big fan of that, to be honest. You can also use spring onion, white onion or chives instead of the red onion, and add cashew cream cheese for extra creaminess. Some also add a splash of wheat beer to the mixture. Or just serve it with a cold beer, both good!
If you try this recipe, let me know! I would highly appreciate if you could leave a comment and rate it. Also don’t forget to take a picture and tag it on Instagram (use the hashtag #greenevi) or post it on Facebook! I love seeing what you come up with! ♥︎
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Vegan Obazda (German Style Tempeh Spread)
- Total Time: 25 mins
Ingredients
- 400 g/14 oz tempeh
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup of rejuvelac *
- 1 tbsp vegan butter or tahini or cashew butter
- 1 tsp white miso
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Cut tempeh into large cubes. Bring water (or vegetable broth) to a boil in a small pot, and add tempeh. Cover and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Drain tempeh and let cool a bit. Once cold enough to handle, add steamed tempeh, rejuvelac, vegan butter or nut butter, miso, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, parsley and spices to a food processor and blend until creamy. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl. Add chopped onion and mix well.
- Cover bowl with a cheesecloth and let sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours, so the spread can ferment. After fermentation place it in the fridge or serve right away. Enjoy!
Notes
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Spread, Snack
- Cuisine: Vegan
Whoa! I’ve never come across puréed tempeh before but I can see how it would add so much flavor and texture to this dip. So creative!!
Oh, it’s really good, try it! 😉
That looks truly delicious! What makes this spread German? Thought it’s very Asian with tempeh and miso.
Yes, the ingredients are not that German, but it tastes a lot like the original version with camembert 😉
p.s Totally love those watermelon beets.
Looks great. I haven’t had tempeh before, I will look for it in shops.
Oh, you have to try tempeh, it’s so good!
What a nice vegan version for Obatzda. I love the original, I make different versions of it all the time and had it at the Oktober Fest as well with one of those huge pretzels. But I’ve never imagined a version made with tempeh, I would love to try it.
Obatzda is really such a great food! My boyfriend and his German family used to make this for me when I was vegetarian and I loved it so so so much! I really hope that in the next years they’ll start to sell a vegan version around Oktober Fest. I enjoy it the most if someone else made it for me 😀
I’ve never heard of Obazda, but since I’m a huge fan of both camembert and cream cheese, the authentic German recipe sounds great (and so healthy and skinny haha) so I’ll need to try it one day. Certainly, with caraway seeds:) In a meanwhile, I won’t mind having this vegan version. It looks so inviting too, Evi!
Hahaha, I’m sure you’d love both the original and the vegan version. And maybe I should try caraway seeds too, haven’t had them since I was small. I can imagine I don’t hate them anymore 😀
What can I use instead of rejuvelac? Or can I leave it out?
Hi! I heard that some people use sauerkraut liquid as a substitution for rejuvelac, but I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure. You could of course also just leave it out, but then the taste will be quite different, since you need rejuvelac for the fermentation. My best idea would be to use probiotics instead of rejuvelac, if that’s something you can buy easier. Or a soy yogurt with probiotics, that might do the trick too 😉
That looks fabulous!
Thank you 🙂