vegan lentil tacos

Vegan Lentil Tacos! These are the BEST swap for ground meat tacos with the same amount of protein and half the fat!

Vegan Lentil Tacos

lentils, cooked (from 1 cup dry lentils)

White onion, finely diced

olive oil

garlic cloves,

vegetable broth

Tortillas,

Taco toppings: shredded lettuce, sliced jalapeños, homemade guacamole

chili powder

garlic onion oregano

cumin

paprika

sea salt

black pepper

First, in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, sweat the onion in 1 tbsp. oil. Stir frequently, about 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Then, add the garlic and spice mixture and cook for another minute or two, stirring frequently. Remember, you don&#8217;t want to burn the spices just crank up the flavor by cooking them.

Vegan Lentil Tacos_Step1.mov

While you are cooking this, warm the tortillas. You can do this in the oven or microwave. I just place them on the burner behind my frying pan and let them warm up while I cook the filling, this way I don&#8217;t have to turn on the oven.

Next, add the lentils and stir to combine. Then, add the vegetable broth and using a potato masher or fork, gently mash the lentils until they start to look like ground meat. Then, cook another few minutes until hot. Note, if the lentils start to dry out, add another tbsp. or two of vegetable broth (can also use salsa here)

Vegan Lentil Tacos_Step2.mov

Finally, place a heaping spoonful or two into the taco shell and add your fillings. The filling will make about 8 tacos, depending on how stuffed you like them!

Vegan Lentil Tacos_Step3.mov

Love these lentils on tortillas and as nachos.

Used canned pinto beans. Turned out very well.

These are super delicious and easy to whip up!

Perfect spice combo! This will be my "to go" taco recipe from now on! Thanks you!

This is absolutely delicious! I made taco salads using corn tortilla chips. I didn't have vegetable broth so I simply used water. Perfect in every way! Thanks for a great recipe!!!+

This was delicious.  I have just started cooking vegan meals so it was nice to fix something that my husband and I both loved.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/&rdquo;KUnbFDPd&rdquo;.mp4

”Vegan

These tacos feature a seriously delicious lentil-walnut-mushroom taco “meat,” silky-smooth avocado crema, and a zesty, spicy cabbage slaw. They&#039;re shockingly tasty but also nutrient-rich!

Lentil Tacos with Avocado Crema

(135 grams) brown or green lentils

¼ packed cup (32 grams) walnuts

(227 grams) cremini mushrooms, (stems removed & very roughly chopped)

flaxseed meal

nutritional yeast

kosher salt, (plus more to taste)

smoked paprika

taco seasoning

porcini mushroom powder ((optional, see Note 1))

vegan beef broth seasoning

Avocado Crema ((see 2nd recipe card))

Spicy Cabbage Slaw ((see 3rd recipe card))

taco-sized corn or flour tortillas ((see Note 2))

lime,

Cook the lentils. Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan and lightly salt the water. Once boiling, add the lentils. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the lentils for just 8 to 10 minutes. You want to slightly undercook them: they should be mostly but not fully cooked with a distinct bite, as they’ll get cooked later.

While the lentils cook, toast the walnuts. Heat a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add the walnuts and toast for 4 to 5 minutes until they smell toasty and are darker in spots.

Drain the lentils well, then add to a food processor. Blend for several seconds, followed by a few pulses, until partially blended with a few pieces still intact. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. Wipe out the food processor bowl.Watch this Youtube video at the 11:26 mark to see the desired texture.

Add the toasted walnuts to the food processor. Blend briefly until you have fine crumbs, but don’t over-blend into walnut butter. Add the roughly chopped mushrooms and shallots to the food processor with the walnuts. Blend a few times, followed by a few pulses until they are very finely chopped.Watch this Youtube video at the 11:39 and 11:46 marks to see the desired texture.

Make the taco meat filling. Add the walnut-veg mixture to the bowl with the lentils. Add in the flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, 2 tablespoons taco seasoning, plus mushroom powder and beef broth seasoning (if using). Use your hands to mix the taco meat until the mixture comes together with your hands. It should easily come together but not be very sticky.If the mixture is too sticky, add a tablespoon or two of flour and toss to combine.

Cook the taco meat. Heat a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet over medium/medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add ⅓ to ½ of the mixture to the pan (to avoid overcrowding) and break the taco meat up with a wooden spoon or angled spatula into as small pieces as you can. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until browned and slightly crispy. Repeat with remaining taco meat, adding more oil as needed.

Warm the tortillas. Add a few tortillas to a cast iron (or other) skillet over medium-high heat. Warm for about 30 seconds per side. Stack and wrap tortillas in a dish towel to keep them warm.

Assemble. Dollop some Avocado Crema onto each warmed tortilla and spread out. Top with taco meat and Spicy Cabbage Slaw. If desired, sprinkle a bit of cilantro onto each taco, and serve with lime wedges.

Truly so delicious! I was skeptical seeing the lentil/mushroom mush but the flavors were so bold. I made this without a food processor (cut mushrooms and shallots by hand and blended the lentils and walnuts) and it still turned out great!

Although i used canned lentils (that's what i had on hand!), meat was very good and a winner with the kids. Loved the avocado crema. Thank you!

Yes I did. That's how I knew almost immediately I had screwed up =)

The problem was that I filled my food processor to the rim. In the video, the food processor is only half full. When it is completely full, the mushrooms on top keep the mushrooms at the bottoms where they are - so the bottom ones get mushed while the top ones never get to the blades. Whereas when there is space left in the bowl, the centrifugal force will spin the fine pieces to the side, and the larger pieces at the top will naturally fall into the hollow this creates around the axis of the processor.

Anyway, I tried to salvage the taco meat mush by baking it on a tray as suggested in one comment below. It worked OK, good enough to convince me to try again!

Oh I'll try that! I made a mistake and overfilled the food processor with shallots &amp; mushrooms, and now I have mushroom shallot puree instead of finely chopped mushrooms and shallots, so my unfried taco meat is sticky.

Plus, it will just roast on its own in the oven while I do other things.

Thank you for the tip

Hi Nisha,

Thank you for this recipe - I prepped this morning and haven't eaten the tacos yet, but I thought the recipe would benefit from a word of caution: do not completely fill the food processor bowl with the shallots &amp; mushrooms (work in batches if you have to). Otherwise you'll get mushroom-shallot purée, not finely chopped shallots and mushrooms.

I'll update after dinner to share how it turned out =)

What a great Taco Tuesday. Nisha thank you for making amazing recipies. This lifestyle transistion has been so easy because of your genius flavor and texture combinations. I love this recipe the best because the lentils, nuts, and mushrooms made up the meat. Not just Tofu or Tempeh.

This was an amazing recipe! Even my husband, who is not plant-based, loved the lentil taco "meat!"

Top 2 vegan lentil tacos recipes from across the web

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Lentil Tacos with Avocado Crema

Top 2 vegan lentil tacos recipes from across the web

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

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Vegan Lentil Tacos

Lentil Tacos with Avocado Crema

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