Estos Tacos de tempeh are protein-packed vegan tacos filled with ground tempeh cooked in a blend of Mexican spices and cauliflower rice. It’s a delicious low-carb, high-protein filling for tacos also full of iron and perfect for a healthy vegan dinner.
We are big fans of vegan tacos and when I don’t make Lentil Tacos or Sofrita tofu tacos, I love to make these healthy tacos with tempeh. It took us some time to enjoy the flavors of tempeh basically because I didn’t really know how to cook it.
In fact, store-bought tempeh is pretty strong and earthy in flavor, and if cooked without seasoning, it’s difficult to enjoy it fully. But as soon as you find the right tempeh marinade or tempeh seasoning, it turns into the most delicious meal packed with protein, iron, and riboflavin.
So if you are looking for a change to black beans in vegan tacos. let me share with you how to make tempeh tacos for your next vegan taco night. Tempeh is basically a pressed cake made of cultured soybeans.
The result is a hard, nutty, earthy block of packed soybeans with a lumpy texture. It’s very different from el queso de soja, which is flavorless, soft, and made from soy milk. Nutrition wise tempeh is easier to digest if you have sensitivity to soy products because the soybeans are fermented. It’s also higher in proteins and iron.
¿Te gusta esta receta?
Deja un comentario abajo o diríjase a nuestra página de Facebook donde respondo (casi) todos los comentarios, nuestro página Instagram para inspirarse o nuestra Pinterest ¡Para guardar recetas!
Tacos de tempeh
Ingredientes
- 2 cucharaditas de Aceite de Oliva
- ½ Red Onion - cortado en cubitos
- 8 onzas de Tempeh - crumbled in tiny pieces
- 1 ¼ taza de Arroz de coliflor - fresh or frozen, see note to make your own*
- 1 cucharadita de Comino
- 1 cucharadita de Ajo en polvo
- 2 cucharaditas de Paprika
- 1 cucharada de Jarabe de arce
- ½ cucharadita de orégano
- ¼ cucharadita de Chile en polvo - or pepper
- ¼ cucharadita de Salt
- ¼ taza de Agua
- 3 cucharadas de La salsa de soya - or tamari sauce
- 1 cucharada de Jugo de lima
- ½ taza de Pasta de tomate
Servir
- 4-6 Tortillas de harina - or corn tortillas
- 1 Aguacate
Instrucciones para la impresión en alta definición
- First, crumble tempeh into a ground texture. You can place the tempeh in a food processor and pulse it a few times or use your hand to break it into small pieces. Set aside in a bowl.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil and stir fry the onion until fragrant – about 1 minute.
- Stir in ground tempeh and cauliflower rice. Stir fry for 1 minute.
- Stir in spices: cumin, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper, or chili powder.
- Stir in tomato paste, lime juice, water, tamari/soy sauce, and maple syrup.
- Reduce heat, and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture thickens. The longer you cook the mixture, the thicker and dryer the sauce will be. For a smoother sauce, stop heat around 3-4 minutes.
Serving tempeh tacos
- Serve hot in a tacos or use my vegan, gluten-free flatbread recipe.
- Serve tacos with fresh coriander, diced avocado, diced red onion, salsa sauce and vegan sour cream or dairy-free coconut yogurt.
Notas
Nutrición
Ingredientes y sustituciones
Todo lo que necesitas es:
- Tempeh – Also known as fermented soybeans block and sold next to tofu in store.
- Aceite de Oliva – Prefer locally-sourced extra-virgin olive oil.
- Red Onion – or white onions.
- Arroz de coliflor – I am using frozen cauliflower rice, you can make your own by breaking a cauliflower head into florets, Then, place the florets in a food processor and pulse them until a rice-like texture forms.
- Comino, Paprika, Ajo en polvo – This is the best spice combination, but feel free to use a spice mix you like.
- Pasta de tomate – I like to use organic tomato paste made from only tomatoes.
- La salsa de soya or tamari sauce
- Jugo de lima – If you don’t have lime juice, you can also use lemon juice.
- Sal y Pimienta – adjust to taste.
- Jarabe de arce – If you don’t like maple syrup, you can use any liquid sweetener you love like coconut nectar, agave syrup, or rice malt syrup.
- orégano – or dried basil.
- Chile en polvo– Totally optional if you don’t like spicy tacos.
How To Make Tempeh Taco Meat
It’s very easy to make this tempeh vegan taco meat.
- First, you need to prepare the block of tempeh to make it looks and taste like ground meat. Tempeh blocks are dense, hard, and sticky.
- The best way to ground tempeh is to break it into large pieces and place them in a food processor.
- Then, pulse them a few times until the blade turns the tempeh into a ground meat-like texture.
- Set it aside in a bowl.
- Warm some olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet or non-stick pan.
- Next, add diced red onion and cook it until fragrant and translucent.
- Add the ground tempeh and cauliflower rice and all dry spices: garlic powder, salt, oregano, paprika, cumin, or chili powder.
- Stir fry the tempeh for a few minutes until fragrant which takes about 2 minutes.
- Reduce to low-medium heat and add the soy sauce, lime juice, tomato paste, maple syrup, and water.
- Stir well, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring once in a while until it thickened into a meat-like consistency.
Making Tempeh Tacos
When tempeh taco meat is ready, warm corn tortillas or wheat tortillas in a non-stick pan. Place the tortillas on a place and fill with 1/2 cup of tempeh taco meat. Top the vegan tacos with some of the following vegan taco toppings:
- Jalapeño
- Diced Avocado or Avocado Slices
- Coconut Yogurt or vegan sour cream
- Cilantro fresco
- Red Onion
- Salsa picante
- Salsa Salsa
- Pimiento morrón en cubos
- Queso vegano
Plantear sugerencias
Tempeh is a low-carb vegan protein source. Therefore, it’s a perfect protein to make high-protein low-carb plant-based dinners. You can use my low-carb tortillas sin gluten to make keto-friendly vegan tacos or my Quinoa Tortilla for a super-easy option.
Or, use this tempeh meat to make a ensalada de taco. Place lettuce leaves in a bowl, top with 1/2 cup of tempeh meat and all your favorite taco toppings like avocado, red bell pepper, corn kernel, red onion, and salsa sauce.
Instrucciones de almacenamiento
This tempeh taco meat can be stored for hasta días 4 in a sealed container in the fridge. You can freeze the taco meat in zip-lock bags or containers for up to 3 months. Thaw the tempeh filling the day before in the fridge. Rewarm in a non-stick skillet or microwave-safe bowl and use in tacos.
Intercambios para personas con alergias
Below are some options to make this recipe allergy friendly.
- Bajo FODMAP – tempeh is fermented and therefore a low FODMAP ingredient compared to tofu. To adapt this recipe skip the onion and garlic and replace cauliflower rice with ground walnuts.
- Sin gluten – Use corn tortillas and tamari sauce instead of soy sauce. Make sure your store-bought tempeh doesn’t contain added grains containing gluten.
Preguntas frecuentes
Below are your most frequent questions about this recipe.
Most of the time tempeh is gluten-free, made from soybeans and culture.
However, some brands combine tempeh with grains, so it is worth checking the ingredients listed in the packaging to avoid grains containing gluten.
Yes, the recipe works with firm tofu as well.
First, press the tofu between absorbent paper to remove the liquid.
Don’t pulse the tofu in a food processor, instead make ground tofu by rubbing the tofu between your fingers to create a ground texture.
Most store-bought tempeh products are pasteurized, so it’s safe to eat raw.
Always refer to the brand packaging for more details. If unpasteurized, tempeh must be cooked.
Also, keep in mind that raw tempeh has a jelly-like texture and for most, an unpleasant earthy flavor.
You can make tempeh taste like meat when cooking it with the same spices. By grounding tempeh like in this recipe, you also give it the same texture as ground meat.
More Vegan Taco Recipes
Below are some more plant-based taco recipes for you to try
I have a question about the recipe. We made this with the tomato paste as specified. I was wondering if that should be tomato sauce. The paste kind of over powered the other flavors. Other wise we really enjoyed these tacos. Thanks for the recipe.
I do use tomato paste and we enjoy the strong tomato flavor. However, feel free to use tomato passata or less tomato paste if you found the tomato flavor overpowering
Gracias