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Vegan street tacos are easy to make using homemade plant-based taco meat made with lentils, oats, and spices! Serve it up with tortillas and your favorite toppings to make plant-based tacos that get rave reviews!
Tacos are an easy dish to make vegan! The possibilities for using different ingredients to make vegan taco meat are endless! Plus, in my house, they’re always a hit!
Want to explore more ways to make vegan tacos? I think you’re going to love these tofu tacos, breakfast tacos, and cauliflower tacos. Serve them up with instant pot pinto beans, and Spanish cauliflower rice for an entire meal.
Why This Vegan Tacos Recipe Works
- An easy plant-based taco that’s perfect for Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, or anytime a taco craving strikes.
- Vegan street tacos make mealtime fun and delicious!
- A family-friendly meal that’s easy enough for weeknights.
What Goes Into This Recipe
These vegan lentil tacos are made with mostly easy pantry staples. If you don’t have them all, they’re easy to pick up at the grocery store.
- Brown lentils: Gives plant-based tacos a great meaty texture. Green lentils work as well! Here’s a complete guide to lentils if you want to learn more about them.
- Vegetable broth: Cooking the lentils in vegetable broth instead of water gives them more flavor. If you swap for water, you might need to boost the seasoning.
- Rolled oats: Soaks up the moisture and gives more texture to the plant-based taco meat.
- Dried onion flakes: An easy way to add flavor without any prep!
- No-chicken or vegetable bouillon or paste: This handy pantry staple gives a boost of flavor to the taco filling.
- Sugar: Just a touch to enhance the flavor.
- Seasoning: We will be using paprika, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, onion flakes, and cayenne pepper to season the vegan taco meat. You can also use one tablespoon of taco seasoning instead of the individual spices.
- Oil: Used for sauteing fresh onion to mix into the mixture.
- Minced fresh onion: Added just at the end after the mixture is ready for additional flavor.
- Corn tortillas, diced onion, and cilantro: For serving up these tasty lentil tacos!
How To Make Plant-Based Tacos
This recipe for plant-based tacos goes together quickly in just a few simple steps. For detailed instructions, check the recipe card.
- 1) Place the lentils in a saucepan with vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the lentils are soft.
- 2) Add drained lentils to a food processor with the oats. Add the flour, onion flakes, bouillon, sugar, and spices in a food processor and process until combined. Add more vegetable broth one tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.
- 3) Heat a bit of oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet and add the fresh minced onions. Cook until lightly browned.
- 4) Add the mixture from the food processor to the skillet and heat until browned.
- 5) Warm the corn tortillas and serve with plant-based taco meat. Top with cilantro and diced fresh onions.
Expert Tips and FAQs
- Don’t skip warming the corn tortillas. It softens them and makes them easier to fold without breaking and they taste better.
- Use brown or green lentils for the best texture. Red or yellow lentils are too mushy when cooked to make good plant-based tacos.
- Add more taco toppings if you want! There’s lots of room to jazz up your vegan street tacos and make them your own. Add salsa, veggies, or anything else you want!
- No food processor? You can try using a blender if you don’t have a food processor, but I haven’t tested it.
- A budget-friendly option for spices. Use a tablespoon or 1 ½ tablespoon of taco seasoning from a packet. It’s usually cheaper than buying all the spices.
The easiest way is to wrap them up in foil and warm them in the oven for 5-8 minutes. But for more flavor and a bit of char, warm them up on a grill or over a gas flame.
How to Serve
- Add your favorite taco sauce. Tomato blender salsa or tomatillo green chili salsa are two options!
- Add a squeeze of lime to the plant-based tacos just before serving.
- Add a spoonful of homemade guacamole or vegan sour cream.
- Sides: Serve up with Mexican rice and pot beans.
- Use this vegan taco meat as a filling for quesadillas, taco salad, or loaded burritos.
More Vegan Mexican Favorites
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
Plant Based Street Tacos with Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 cup of brown lentils rinsed and thoroughly drained
- 2 cups of vegetable broth
- 1 cup of rolled oats
- 1 Tablespoon of all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon of dried onion flakes
- 1 cube of no-chicken or vegetable bouillon/paste equivalent
- ¼ teaspoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon of chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon of oil
- 2 Tablespoons of minced onion
- 12 to 14 corn tortillas
- 1 medium onion minced (for topping)
- 1 bunch of cilantro minced (for topping)
Instructions
- Place lentils in a saucepan with vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the lentils are soft. Drain and place in a food processor with oats. Add flour, onion flakes, bouillon, sugar, and spices in a food processor and process until combined. Add 1 tablespoon at a time of extra vegetable broth if you need it.
- In a large skillet, heat a bit of oil on medium-high heat and add the 2 Tablespoons of minced onions. Saute until slightly browned. Add the filling mixture from the food processor and heat until browned.
- Warm corn tortillas, fill with filling, and top with cilantro and onion, if using.
Notes
- Don’t skip warming the corn tortillas. It softens them and makes them easier to fold without breaking and they taste better.
- Use brown or green lentils for the best texture. Red or yellow lentils are too mushy when cooked to make good plant-based tacos.
- Add more taco toppings if you want! There’s lots of room to jazz up your vegan street tacos and make them your own. Add salsa, veggies, or anything else you want!
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Although plantbasedonabudget.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Plantbasedonabudget.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
These lentil tacos have a great flavor. But it clumped together quite a bit. Making it very hard to put them on the corn tortillas. Wondering if I didn’t add enough liquid?
It’s possible! So glad you enjoyed the taste! They’re so flavorful!
Such versatile tacos! Looks amazing
Love that they’re protein packed too!
These street tacos with lentils are such a delicious weeknight meal, thanks for the recipe!
Yess – so filling and delicious!
I love these simple but super flavorful tacos!
Same! Such a filling and delicious taco recipe!
These tacos are SO good!
These are my new favorite for taco Tuesday!
Such yummy tacos!