soy curl tacos

Amazingly satisfying vegan taco meat made with ground soy curls and walnuts. The meaty texture is perfect for filling tacos and burritos or topping salads and grain bowls. Gluten-free and easily made oil-free and/or nut-free.

The Best Vegan Taco Meat

salty vegetable broth

olive oil, optional (Omit for oil-free.)

onion, chopped

jalapeno,

garlic,

salsa

walnut

yeast,

chili powder

cumin

oregano

smoked paprika

onion powder

garlic powder

black pepper

cayenne pepper, optional

tamari or soy sauce

Soak

Place soy curls in a large bowl, and cover with broth to rehydrate. Add a bit of water to the bowl if needed so that the soy curls are mostly submerged. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes, then drain in a colander.

Saute

Preheat a large saute pan over medium heat, and add the oil, if using. Stirring occasionally, cook the onion for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the jalapeno to the pan, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan, and cook for about 1 minute.

Cook

One handful at a time, pick up the drained soy curls and squeeze them over the sink to remove some of the moisture. Add the soy curls to the pan, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until they begin to brown and are hot. Add salsa to the pan and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

Process

Place walnuts in a food processor, and pulse into coarse crumbs. Next, add the spices to the food processor: nutritional yeast, chili powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne. Pulse to combine.

Season

Transfer the soy curl-onion mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times to chop the soy curls. Add the tamari, and process until uniformly ground.

Heat

Preheat the saute over medium heat again, and transfer the ground mixture to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until hot and fragrant. Add up to 1/4 cup water as needed for moisture and to prevent sticking. Taste and adjust seasonings, as desired.

Umami-infused soy curls get pan-fried till crispy, tossed in a homemade taco-spiced oil, then joined by guac and salsa for (dare I say it?) the ultimate vegan tacos. One bite of these, and even skeptics will agree–these meaty, crisp-chewy soy curls taste just like chicken!

Ultimate Vegan Tacos

(480 mL) water

Better than Bouillon “no chicken” base ((see Note 1

(114 grams) soy curls ((see Note 2))

tamari ((or soy sauce), divided)

cornstarch ((see Note 3

avocado oil

flour tortillas (or corn

ancho (or regular) chili powder

chipotle chile flakes

organic brown sugar

Simple Guacamole ((see next recipe card))

Mango Avocado Salsa ((or salsa of choice

Lime wedges

Heat the water and Better Than Bouillon in a medium saucepan until barely simmering, whisking to dissolve the BTB. Or, heat in the microwave until very warm.

If there are a lot of dusty soy curls crumbs, strain those in a fine-mesh sieve, then measure them out.

Soak the soy curls: Add the soy curls to the hot broth and push down to submerge. Remove the pan from the burner. Soak for 10 minutes, stirring a few times throughout. Drain the soy curls in a colander and let cool off a bit. While they soak, make the Simple Guacamole (and/or salsa of choice).

Squeeze out the liquid (once they’re no longer super hot): Take one handful of soy curls and cup them between both hands. Positioned over the sink or a bowl, give one firm and long squeeze until the broth goes from a steady stream to droplets. Set aside on a cutting board and repeat. You should have squeezed out a fair amount of liquid (~heaping ⅓ cup or 90 mL).

Slice the thicker soy curl pieces lengthwise so they’re ~ ¼” wide / 6 mm (or just roughly chop them), as this helps the soy curls crisp up more and cook evenly.Note: If short on time, skip this step.

Batter the soy curls: To the soy curls in the bowl, add ½ tablespoon of tamari, then toss with your hands or a silicone spatula. Add another ½ tablespoon tamari and toss again. Add the last ½ tablespoon of tamari and toss well. Then, add the cornstarch and several cracks of pepper and toss again until well-coated.

Pan fry the soy curls: Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of oil for 2 minutes. Once shimmering, add the soy curls and stir to coat in the oil. Stir every 2 minutes, stirring closer to every 90 seconds toward the end of cooking, until browned and crisp on the outside, for a total of 10 to 12 minutes.

While the soy curls are cooking, temper the Taco Seasoning.Mix together all the ingredients for the Taco Seasoning in a small bowl. Heat your smallest saucepan over medium heat with 1 ½ tablespoons of oil.After a minute or two, or once shimmering, add the Taco Seasoning. Stir almost constantly for 30 seconds, or until very aromatic. Immediately take off the heat and pour into a medium bowl to cool slightly.

Once the soy curls are done pan-frying, transfer to the bowl with the tempered Taco Seasoning and toss to coat the soy curls. Taste, adding a pinch of salt as needed.

Warm the tortillas: Heat your frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes. Add a couple tortillas and heat until warm and they puff up a bit; repeat. Or, simply warm in the microwave.

Assemble: Spread some Simple Guacamole onto each tortilla: top with seasoned soy curls, and salsa of choice (using a slotted spoon if there’s a lot of liquid). Serve with lime wedges to squeeze on top.

We saw this recipe as part of a summer recipe YouTube video…. Amazing.  It deserves its own video.  Several great flavors, layers of flavors.  The soy curls came out fantastic.  The salsa had such a great mix of spicy and sweet.  Absolutely perfect tacos!

Great vegan tacos! First time cooking with soy curls and definitely wont be the last. My non vegan brother and I loved them! We just used store bought salsa but the mango avo salsa will definitelyyy be a must for next time! Thanks Nisha for another delicious, satisfying, simple to make recipe!

Just made these the other night. Easily the best taco we've ever had! Will definitely serve these at the next family get together.

The only thing I'll change is waaaay less onion and jalapeno seeds in the salsa. But that's strictly a personal taste thing. Still amazing though!!

Nisha really is the Ina Garten of vegan cooking!

Um, did I just catch a "This is Spinal Tap" reference? " . . . cranks the . . . dial . . . to 11." :)- 

Thanks for the tadka recommendation for the spices: I've used soy curls before and like them, but this technique will make them much better!

Loved this!!! Favorite vegan tacos ever -my kids don’t love avocado so made a vegan queso to add creaminess , can’t wait to try soy curls in more recipes

Yum! Another hit- I accidentally burnt the spices a little but it was still tasty. I’ll definitely be making these again! The soy curls fried up so easy.

guac was great with the tacos, super easy!

I have had a bag of soy curls sitting in my pantry for the last 6 months. When I saw you mention them on YouTube, I came to search your site and found these. I'm so glad I took the plunge and tried them out because my mind has been blown. My meat-eating hubby really thought it was chicken (I even had to show him the package to prove to him it was not chicken!). I cannot wait to try more soy curl recipes and to make these tacos again!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/QaJu8WzF.mp4

Top 2 soy curl tacos recipes from across the web

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The Best Vegan Taco Meat

Ultimate Vegan Tacos

Top 2 soy curl tacos recipes from across the web

The most viewed soy curl tacos recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

The Best Vegan Taco Meat

Ultimate Vegan Tacos

The most viewed soy curl tacos recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine