These easy vegan tacos are perfect for your next taco night. I love that they are soy-free, so you don’t have to use tofu or processed meat substitutes. Instead, they’re made from a combination of vegetables and walnuts, seasoned with a classic taco spice mix, to create a healthy taco “meat.”
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This recipe comes from my friend Ali’s new book, Inspiralized & Beyond.
If you’re not familiar with Ali, she’s the force behind Inspiralized.com, a go-to resource for spiralized recipes. (She even designed her own spiralizer– the Inspiralizer— which is what I use in my own home.)
In her latest book, Ali shares even more creative ways to enjoy vegetables, beyond just spiralizing them. For example, in her cover photo, you’ll see that she’s turned zucchini halves into the “bun” for a vegetarian meatball sandwich. She also includes recipes for using vegetables as lasagna sheets, brussels sprouts as mini “slider” buns, and bell peppers stuffed with a savory Philly Cheesesteak filling. If you need some fresh inspiration when it comes to serving vegetables, this book has you covered!
Vegan Taco Meat
These vegan tacos are a great way to sneak more vegetables into your day. The vegan “taco meat” is entirely plant-based, made from mushrooms and cauliflower that have been briefly pulsed in the food processor, then sauteed with crushed walnuts and plenty of taco seasoning.
I served them in traditional taco shells to appease my picky family members, but you can also serve them in jicama “shells,” as Ali suggests in her book, for a lower carb meal with a refreshing crunch.
When you top them with your favorite taco toppings, like shredded lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, and avocado, they’ve got all the classic taco flavor that you love. I hope you’ll enjoy them.
Vegan Tacos
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup crushed walnuts
- 8 ounces button mushrooms , sliced
- 4 cups cauliflower florets , chopped
- 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 2 teaspoons minced jalapeno (about half of one)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (15 ounce can) black beans , drained and rinsed
- Fresh cilantro leaves , for garnish
- 1 small jicama, peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch thick rounds
- 3 limes , quartered
Optional Toppings:
- sliced black olives
- pico de gallo
- avocado
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the walnuts until ground but not powdered, about 7 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl. Place the mushrooms in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, about 15 pulses. Add them to the bowl with the walnuts. Place the cauliflower in the food processor and pulse until crumbled, about 10 pulses; do not overpulse. Add to the bowl with the walnuts and mushrooms.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the garlic and jalapeno and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cauliflower mixture, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is no longer crunchy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for 2 minutes, until heated through. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.
- Transfer the meat mixture to a serving bowl and top with the cilantro. Serve alongside the jicama shells, lime wedges, and optional toppings of your choosing for tableside assembly.
Video
Nutrition
For each of 6 servings: Calories: 238, Fat: 11g, Carbohydrate: 26g, Fiber: 12g, Protein: 11g
Recipe reprinted with permission from Inspiralized & Beyond by Ali Maffucci
Recipe Notes:
- For food combining purposes, this recipe is properly combined when served in jicama shells, or simply in lettuce wraps. If you would like it to be properly combined with a corn or flour tortilla, omit the walnuts.
- This recipe is also Paleo-friendly when you serve the “meat” in a lettuce wrap or jicama shell.
Giveaway (Now Closed)
Congrats to Heidi S.! The winner has been contacted via email. Thanks for your entries!
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite creative way to serve vegetables? I think my favorite might be cauliflower rice. Cauliflower “Fried Rice” and my Mexican Cauliflower Casserole are two staples in my home!
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Disclosure: Ali sent me a complimentary copy of her new cookbook, but I am under no obligation to post a positive review.
This looks like a great recipe! I love the inspiralizer and one of my favorite ways to use it is by making zucchini noodles and cooking them with Megan’s lentil bolognese.
We find that the texture of kale makes a good substitute for noodles, especially in soups, because of the texture. We also love zucchini noodles.
I like collard wraps. The Taco recipe you gave would go good in a collard wrap. Another favorite is a salad with everything in it with one of my favorite dressing.
I make a Cajun Rice with Soaked and Sprouted Wild Rice. Adding marinated mushrooms, broccoli, red and yellow peppers, red onion, tomato, cilantro, avocado, spices and a special curry sauce I create. It is massaged all together and gathered with an ice cream scoop onto a bed of spring mix, baby spinach, or a marinated kale salad!
Whenever my recipe calls for a rice side dish. I use an oriental rice mold utensil. I have a lot of them in different shapes and sizes! It looks so pretty and it is a joy to eat!
Smoothies are the best way to be sure I eat a lot of leafy greens; I don’t know if it’s creative but it sure is tasty!
I’d love to win!
I serve vegan curry inside half a baked squash on a bed of grains or cauliflower rice mmmmm! With baked or fresh banana slices at the side!
Another favourite is celeriac, parsnip and turnip layered with homemade butternut or cauliflower vegan sauce …..bit like dauphinois or lasagne layers! Greens etc on the side!
I love cauliflower cheese sauce, as well as cauliflower rice. Megan’s sweet potato cheese sauce in the cheesy broccoli quinoa casserole is amazing as well!
Love roasted vegetables !!
I like to be creative with a veggie take on good old fashioned sloppy joes. Lots of carrots,onions and peppers simmered in an old fashioned tomatoe based sauce flavored with mustard and chili powder. Served open faced over almond flour muffins or some other “bread”and even lettuce wraps. With or without a sprinkling of the type of cheese you care to use
It is not very creative but I do a lot of stir fry. You Taco recipe looks delish!
I love veggies so it’s never a problem wanting to eat them. But I do like to ramp up my veggie consumption by adding riced cauliflower to yogurt and smoothies. I use riced cauliflower in rice bowls too.
I get my kids to eat their veggies by making cute pics on the plates with a variety of veggies. 🙂
Bright and colorful and oh so tempting…hold the mushrooms on mine.
I like to chop up Chayote Squash and make it into a pseudo apple pie! It is so delicious!
A creative way I serve vegetables = with raw almond butter and Pink Himalayan sea salt. Doesn’t matter which vegetable it is, I find it to be quite tasty, and others who listened to my recommendation have agreed.
My favorite dish at the moment is vegan hash because you can use whatever you have and it’s yummy and filling. I like it made with potatoes carrots and kale, etc.
I can’t wait to try these! Thanks for sharing!
I love serving vegetables to my family in unique ways! For example, making pumpkin muffins or sweet potato cookies. They love them and don’t realize what a healthy treat they are eating!
Any recipe of yours I have tried has been wonderful so I’m sure this one will be also. Will try it this week. Thank you for your generous heart in sharing so many of your recipes. Very much appreciated.
Hi Megan! This recipe looks delicious and I’m excited for your giveaway 🙂
My favorite way to use veggies is to sneak them into vegan treats. I have been inspired by your posts on how to use avocado as a base in truffle recipes and sweet potato as a base in frostings. I’ve also been experimenting with using a combination of plant-based milk and coconut oil or aquafaba as egg substitutes.
Cheers and have a great day!
LOVE Your books and recipes on the side! Thank you!
This looks great and since there’s a walnut allergy in the family, I wonder if replacing with almonds would work? Your recipes are awesome and we enjoy them all week long! Thanks for sharing them with us!
I am allergic to mushrooms, what can I use as a substitute for the vegan tacos?
Sounds delicious…looking forward to these tacos! Thank you for the give away opportunity too!
Mashed cauliflower is my go-to when I can’t think of anything else to do with the cauliflower. Spiralized zucchini is always eaten – as long as I don’t put avocado sauce on it. LOL. I did a green bean casserole with “cream sauce” that was well received. My favorite is eggplant lasagna using thinly sliced eggplant as the pasta sheets. One I can generally get everyone to eat is ratatouille. Lots of veggies at once. It’s one of my favorite summer/fall dishes to make.
Spaghetti using a spaghetti squash. Yum!!
This looks delicious. It could also be the base for a taco salad. Shred some lettuce. Add the taco mixture from the recipe above. Then add diced tomatoes, diced avocados and top all with some salsa.
This looks wonderful! Thank you for offering these items!
Thank you for sharing delicious healthy meals the whole family can enjoy!
i don’t know if I am creative with veggies but we eat a lot of them…even my littles. Thanks for the giveaway! That book looks so good!
Your food pictures look awesome – time to change the way I am eating as it isn’t doing anything for me. Can’t wait to try your recipes. Reading your comment area tells me I need to get going on a better way.
Cauliflower pizza is my go to when I want pizza without all of the calories. The cauliflower is sliced, toppings added and baked in the oven. No need to worry about the hassle of making a pizza crust!
SINCE WE LOVE DESSERTS I LOVE TO MAKE CHICK PEA COOKIES AND BLACK BEAN BROWN
I roast veggies on Sunday and leave them in the fridge to dip into all week for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. We all love them here with any meal.
Great to have a soy free option. Great contest idea, too.
I love vegan tacos! I have used a sweet potato as the base with a chickpea pecan filling and avocado cream! Fantastic! Thanks for the inspiration!
I can’t wait to try these tacos with the jicama “shells. ” These sound delicious!
It is not really “creative” but I absolutely LOVE grilled romaine. If you haven’t tried it, you should.
Not a fancy cook, but learning! 😉
I love to make brownies with black beans. Not only do they have protein packed inside, but they have a fudgy texture that I Love!
Very cool! Would love to enter.
Enjoying your website for inspirational meals. Many thanks.
I would LOVE an inspiralizer; thanks for the giveaway!
For my boys, I like to add them to any soups or casseroles, even those veggies they have said they don’t like are easily hidden in soups and even chili, shredded zucchini works great as a filler!!
I love making jackfruit and mushroom tacos with diced jicama for some crunch. Can’t wait to try this one!
This sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
I rotate between lots of salads in the spring/summer and lots of roasted veggies in the fall/winter! And of course, every morning I have a TON of spinach in the chocolate frosty smoothie from your cookbook!
I’ve found that mixing veggies (onions & red peppers & cilantro) into homemade salsa means my toddler will eat them. Muffins or pancakes are another great way to incorporate veggies, along with smoothies.
I’m definitely going to try jicama shells!
I LOVE spiralzing zucchini! One of my favorite meals is spiralized zucchini with basil and salt, topped with 2-3 running fried eggs. I need to get a new spiralizer in order to try other veggies, such as turnip, as I have one of the originals that came out that is a handheld one.
LOVE your recipes!!!