This is the best vegan tacos recipe! They’re flavor-packed and filling, made with ground walnut meat, classic Tex-Mex spices, and a little brown sugar. Serve with your favorite tortillas, creamy guacamole, and tangy salsa.
This is another vegan tacos recipe that I think you’ll love! My vegan mushroom fajita tacos and black bean tacos are already a hit. But I wanted to share the best vegan tacos that mimic ground taco meat, similar to how jackfruit tacos mimic pulled chicken. Ground walnut meat is crumbly, juicy, and tender, and it’s so easy to season with your favorite flavors. I usually like mine a little spicy with paprika and chipotle powder.
Corn (or flour) tortillas are crisped up in a pan, piled high with walnut taco meat, and then topped with pickled onions, creamy guacamole, and homemade salsa in this easy vegan tacos recipe. Yum!
What Makes These Vegan Tacos So Good?
- Ready in 30 minutes. You’ll need to soak the walnuts, but this is easy to do ahead of time. Afterward, these tacos take no more than 20-30 minutes to prepare. It’s quick and delicious, my formula for a weeknight meal!
- Flexible recipe. Play around with the seasonings, add veggies, and spice up your tacos with jalapeños, extra chili powder, or cayenne.
- Family-friendly. I love serving my tacos with toppings like pickled onions, diced tomatoes, avocado slices, and more, and letting everyone build their own tacos.
Notes on Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make the best vegan tacos ever. You’ll find the full ingredients list and recipe instructions in the printable recipe card below.
- Soaked Walnuts – You’ll need to boil the walnuts in water for 30 minutes, or soak them overnight so they soften. Afterward, drain them.
- Oil – Whatever cooking oil you like is fine. I generally use olive oil.
- Seasoning – Combine onion powder, garlic powder, chipotle powder or chili powder, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and ground black pepper. Alternatively, you can use a ready-made taco seasoning or fajita seasoning.
- Soy Sauce – You can use low-sodium soy sauce or regular, whichever you prefer. Swap soy sauce with coconut aminos or tamari as needed.
- Brown Sugar – Coconut sugar , cane sugar, or any other kind of sugar will work as substitutes. The sweetness of the sugar balances the savory, umami flavors.
- Add-Ons – Add salsa, pico de gallo, or guacamole to your tacos (all of which can be homemade or store-bought). Lime crema, vegan sour cream, spicy mayo, or your sauce of choice, plus the juice of a lime, are also good additions.
- Pickled Onions – I love to make my own pickled onions because it’s so quick and easy!
How to Make Vegan Taco Meat
Here’s how the walnut taco meat comes together in a few quick steps.
Soak the walnuts.
- Prepare the walnuts. First, boil the raw walnuts for 30 minutes, or soak them overnight, then drain them completely.
- Blend the walnut meat. In a food processor, add the drained walnuts, oil, a splash of water, and spices. Season with salt and pepper, then pulse until the mixture resembles a mince. (Depending on the saltiness, you may want to add the teaspoon of brown sugar to balance it out and tie in all the flavors.)
- Cook. In a pan over medium heat, add the walnut meat mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until fully heated through. The walnut meat will be juicy and slightly crispy in some parts. Remove from heat, and assemble your tacos!
How to Assemble Vegan Tacos
Not only are these vegan tacos quick to make, they’re fun to assemble and perfect for your next taco night. First, you’ll toast the tortillas. Then, I’ll show you how I fix up these vegan tacos with my favorite toppings. Feel free to make them your own!
- Heat the oil. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (if possible, brush with a pastry brush).
- Toast the Tortilla. Next, place a taco shell in the skillet. Heat until golden brown spots appear, and they are slightly puffy for a few seconds. Then, flip and cook the other side. Set on a plate to assemble.
Lay out the tortillas.
- Build the tacos . To assemble the tacos, spoon about ¼ cup of walnut meat onto each 6” inch tortilla.
Add pickled onions.
- Add toppings. Then add some pickled onions, pico de gallo, a dollop of guacamole/a dollop of lime crema, and some parsley or cilantro on top. Serve with lime and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Vegan Tacos
- Don’t over-Process the meat. If you blend the walnut meat for too long, it could turn into a paste. You want it to be nice and crumbly with regard to texture.
- Don’t vary the seasonings too much. Yes, these tacos are customizable. But, you want to keep the base flavors pretty similar to what is in this recipe. Otherwise, you may end up with a seasoning that is too overpowering.
- You don’t have to make everything from scratch. Don’t feel like you have to make the guac and salsa from scratch – it’ll taste great if you do, but you can also buy them and be just as satisfied!
- Walnut meat substitution. If you don’t have walnut meat, you could easily use a veggie burger, crumble it, and add the seasonings to it. I do highly recommend the walnut meat, though, because it tastes incredible!
Taco Toppings
When it comes to taco toppings, it’s hard to go wrong, and it’s hard to run out of ideas! There are so many fixings that will make your tacos taste next-level delicious:
- More veggies. Add some diced tomatoes, sliced avocado, corn kernels, lettuce, sliced jalapeños, and diced onions instead of pickled onions, if you prefer.
- Condiment toppings. Salsa , pico de gallo (borrowed from my breakfast tacos ), spicy mayo, guacamole , and even hot sauce are all welcome additions to these tacos.
- Garnishes. Chopped parsley or cilantro is a great way to finish off your taco.
Serving Suggestions
Need some ideas on what goes with homemade vegan tacos? I’ve got you covered! Here are some of my go-to simple side dishes for taco night.
- Beans. A side of black beans or a serving of vegan refried beans could go perfectly with these vegan tacos.
- Corn. You can also serve corn on the side of your tacos, instead of in them. Grilled Mexican street corn is a great summer side dish option if that sounds appealing to you!
- Salad. If you’re looking for a light side dish, make yourself a nice leafy green salad to go with your tacos.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerate. If you have leftover walnut meat, save it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for 3-4 days. I don’t recommend frying tortillas and then trying to save them, because they’re best when made fresh. You can save any homemade guacamole/pico de gallo in the fridge, though.
- Reheat. When you want to reheat the walnut meat, add it and a little bit of oil to a pan on the stovetop over medium heat, and then cook until it’s juicy and tender again. After that, fry up a couple more tortillas, and get to building!
More Vegan Tex-Mex Recipes
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
- Vegan Burritos
- Vegan Chili
- Taco Bake
- Vegan Birria Tacos
- Beer-Battered Vegan Fish Tacos
Ingredients
For the Walnut Meat
- 2 cups raw walnuts , soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes, or overnight, then drained
- 1 ½ tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp chipotle powder , or chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar , or coconut sugar or cane sugar or any kind of sugar
For the Tacos
- 1 cup salsa , or pico de gallo, homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup guacamole , homemade or store-bought
- pickled onions
- ½ cup lime crema , or vegan sour cream or spicy mayo or your sauce of choice, plus the juice of a lime
Instructions
For the Walnut Meat
- Soak the raw walnuts in boiling water for 30 minutes, or overnight, then drain them completely.
- In a food processor, add the drained walnuts, oil, water, onion powder, garlic powder, soy sauce, chipotle powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and ground black pepper, and pulse about 10 to 20 times until it is ground down into a kind of mince. Depending on the level of saltiness, you may want to add the teaspoon of brown sugar to balance it all out and tie in all the flavors .
- In a pan over medium heat, add the walnut meat mixture. Stir for about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until fully heated through, juicy and slightly crispy in some parts.
- Remove from heat and use for your tacos!
For Taco Assembly
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (if possible, brush with a pastry brush).
- Place a taco shell in the heat until golden brown spots appear and they are slightly puffy for a few seconds, then flip and cook the same way. Set on a plate to assemble.
- Assemble tacos by spooning on about ¼ cup of walnut meat per 6” inch tortilla, some pickled onions, pico de gallo, a dollop of guacamole/a dollop of lime crema, them some parsley or cilantro on top. Serve with lime and enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t vary the ingredients too much. Yes, tacos are customizable, but you want to keep the base flavors pretty similar to what is in this recipe. Otherwise you might end up with a seasoning that is too overpowering.
- Not everything has to be homemade. Don’t feel like you have to make the guac and salsa from scratch – it’ll taste incredible if you do, but you can also buy them, and still have delicious tacos!
- Substitution: If you don’t have walnut meat, you could easily use a veggie burger, crumble it, and add the seasonings to it. I do highly recommend the walnut meat, though, because it tastes incredible!
The Best Vegan Tacos
Ingredients
For the Walnut Meat
- 2 cups raw walnuts soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes, or overnight, then drained
- 1 ½ tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp chipotle powder or chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar or coconut sugar or cane sugar or any kind of sugar
For the Tacos
- 1 cup salsa or pico de gallo, homemade or store-bought
- 1 cup guacamole homemade or store-bought
- pickled onions
- ½ cup lime crema or vegan sour cream or spicy mayo or your sauce of choice, plus the juice of a lime
Instructions
For the Walnut Meat
- Soak the raw walnuts in boiling water for 30 minutes, or overnight, then drain them completely.
- In a food processor, add the drained walnuts, oil, water, onion powder, garlic powder, soy sauce, chipotle powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, sea salt, and ground black pepper, and pulse about 10 to 20 times until it is ground down into a kind of mince. Depending on the level of saltiness, you may want to add the teaspoon of brown sugar to balance it all out and tie in all the flavors .
- In a pan over medium heat, add the walnut meat mixture. Stir for about 5 minutes, turning frequently, until fully heated through, juicy and slightly crispy in some parts.
- Remove from heat and use for your tacos!
For Taco Assembly
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (if possible, brush with a pastry brush).
- Place a taco shell in the heat until golden brown spots appear and they are slightly puffy for a few seconds, then flip and cook the same way. Set on a plate to assemble.
- Assemble tacos by spooning on about ¼ cup of walnut meat per 6” inch tortilla, some pickled onions, pico de gallo, a dollop of guacamole/a dollop of lime crema, them some parsley or cilantro on top. Serve with lime and enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t vary the ingredients too much. Yes, tacos are customizable, but you want to keep the base flavors pretty similar to what is in this recipe. Otherwise you might end up with a seasoning that is too overpowering.
- Not everything has to be homemade. Don’t feel like you have to make the guac and salsa from scratch - it’ll taste incredible if you do, but you can also buy them, and still have delicious tacos!
- Substitution: If you don’t have walnut meat, you could easily use a veggie burger, crumble it, and add the seasonings to it. I do highly recommend the walnut meat, though, because it tastes incredible!
Nutrition
The Best Vegan Tacos https://jessicainthekitchen.com/the-best-vegan-tacos/ February 25, 2022
Baba Ghanoush is a creamy Mediterranean dip that’s smoky, tangy, and all-around irresistible. It’s a staple at Middle Eastern restaurants, but I’ll show you how to make it at home!
Any Middle Eastern restaurant worth its salt will offer hummus and baba ghanoush on their appetizer menu. Some people may prefer one or the other, but I always say: why not both?! Baba ghanoush has a uniquely smoky flavour, along with the brightness of lemon and the herbaceous addition of parsley. That smoky flavour comes from charring the eggplant over an open flame, but since we’re making this at home, my workaround is using smoked paprika instead.
Like hummus, traditional baba ghanoush is often topped with ground sumac, which is an astringent spice made from dried berries. It’s good stuff, but it’s also pricy! If you happen to have it on hand, by all means, use it! But if not, I think topping this with a drizzle of high-quality olive oil is the perfect finishing touch.
While baba ghanoush is great for serving with veggies and pita chips for an appetizer, I also love making a Mediterranean-inspired meal by whipping up a batch of this, along with Vegan Beet Falafel and Mediterranean Chickpea Salad .
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that this is important information on the ingredients and instructions and the FULL recipe with amounts and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
- Eggplant – Chinese eggplants, globe eggplants or Italian eggplants work best.
- Tahini – Here’s how to make your own tahini .
- Lemon juice
- Garlic
- Ground cumin
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Parsley – You can use more if you like.
- Smoked paprika
Tips for Choosing Eggplants
Eggplant isn’t the most popular vegetable at the grocery store, which means sometimes it sits and sits and sits , and by the time you come along to purchase it, it’s past its prime. An older eggplant can impart a bitter flavour, so it’s important to buy one that’s fresh. The skin should be shiny, rather than dull, and it should be firm all around, without any soft spots. It should feel heavy for its size, and the stem should be green, not brown and dry. Rather than buying one huge eggplant, it’s always better to buy a few smaller ones, as these are less likely to be bitter.
How to Make Baba Ghanoush
Get your pita bread ready for dipping, because we’re making baba ghanoush! Here’s what you need to do.
Prepare. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
Roast the eggplants. Pierce the eggplants with a fork and place them on a baking sheet with the garlic. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the eggplants are tender and the skin is wrinkly.
Cool and prepare the eggplant. Let the eggplants cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then peel off the skin and cut off the stem. Place the eggplant in a colander to let excess moisture drain off; after 5 minutes, use a wooden spoon or spatula to press the eggplant to remove any remaining liquid.
Puree . Place the eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, roasted garlic, cumin, sea salt, olive oil, parsley, and smoked paprika in a food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired.
Serve. Scoop the finished baba ghanoush into a serving bowl and garnish with olive oil and chopped parsley. Serve with crudités, fresh pita bread, or pita chips.
Tips for Success
Here are some tips to help you make perfect baba ghanoush at home.
- Dealing with a bitter eggplant. If you notice that your eggplant is bitter, you can offset this by adding a touch of maple syrup or blended dates.
- Peeling the eggplants. Sometimes the eggplant doesn’t peel after roasting. That’s okay! Just cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, then scoop out the flesh.
- Amping up the garlic flavour. You can skip roasting the garlic if you want a more pronounced garlic flavour in your dip.
How to Store
Baba ghanoush should be refrigerated in an airtight container and eaten within 3 to 4 days. It’s eaten cold, so there’s no need to reheat!
Can This Recipe Be Frozen?
Baba ghanoush is best enjoyed fresh, but you can freeze it if you’d like. Place it in a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs eggplants , chinese eggplants, globe eggplants or italian eggplants work best – not overripe
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- generous pinch of salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon parsley , chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Prick the eggplants a few times with a fork, place on a baking sheet along with the garlic cloves still in their skins. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. The skin should be wrinkly.
- Remove from oven. When eggplants have cooled for about 5-10 minutes, peel off the skin (it should easily peel off), or cut into the eggplant along the skin, tear to the sides, and scoop out the flesh, leaving the skin behind.
- Strain the eggplant over a mesh colander to remove any excess liquid and remove any extra bits of eggplant skin for about 5 minutes. Using a spoon or a spatula, press out that extra liquid and discard it.
- In a food processor (or a bowl if you don’t have a food processor), add the eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, roasted garlic, cumin, sea salt, olive oil, parsley and smoked paprika. Puree until smooth, or using your fork or whisk, whisk vigorously until smooth.
- Taste to see if you need to adjust the seasonings. Serve garnished with olive oil, and chopped parsley.
