These easy Lentil Tacos made with lentil cauliflower meat for a delicious healthy vegan taco night packed with plant-based proteins. Bonus, this lentil taco recipe also contains a recipe of vegan, gluten-free tortillas!
We love eating vegan South American food and when we’re not making my copycat Chipotle Sofritas Recipe, we make my Vegan Enchiladas. But sometimes, we want something even more elaborate, and we do these lentil tacos!
What Are Lentil Tacos?
Lentil tacos are meat-free tacos filled with a lentil taco meat replacement. They are perfect for a healthy and yummy Taco Tuesday!
They are naturally vegan, gluten-free, and a healthy plant-based protein meal for anyone looking to decrease meat consumption or start a vegan diet.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Making this recipe is really easy, you need a meat alternative, flat tortillas, and plenty of vegetables!
- Vegan Meat: I recommend using my Lentil Taco Meat for this recipe, but you can absolutely use commercial vegan meat such as Beyond Meat or Impossible. I still recommend cooking it following my lentil taco meat recipe to have all the spices and flavors you need!
- Tortillas: There are many options for this. The easiest is to just buy any vegan flatbread or tortilla from your favorite store, but the healthiest is to make your own 2-Ingredient Flatbread, Flaxseed Tortillas, Quinoa Tortillas, or Red Lentil Tortillas.
- Red Onion – diced finely.
- Avocado – ripe, cubed, or mashed and flavored with a teaspoon of lime juice.
- Coconut Yogurt – this works as a dairy-free sour cream replacement. Of course, you can also use vegan sour cream from the grocery store, but coconut yogurt is a much healthier substitute for sour cream. It’s only made from 2 ingredients; coconut cream and probiotics.
- Hot Sauce – optional for those who love spicy tacos.
- Fresh Cilantro – You can also toast it for a delicious crunchy texture.
- Corn Kernels – They bring a lovely color and a fresh taste. I like to make them on the cob, but you can also buy them canned.
- Salsa Sauce – Make your own or buy it ready-made.
- Lettuce – I prefer the iceberg variety.
- Shredded Red Cabbage – For color and crunchiness.
- Jalapeno Sices – or chipotle peppers
- Bell Pepper – diced bell pepper of any color – red, yellow, or orange.
- Chili Powder – optional, if you want more zing. You can also make a mix using cumin, salt, oregano, garlic powder, and paprika.
How To Make Lentil Tacos
To make a healthy lentil taco recipe, you need the following:
- Lentil taco meat is a healthy vegan meat replacement made of canned brown lentils. Follow my lentil cauliflower taco meat recipe to make your own in less than 15 minutes. It’s the easiest recipe made with only a few simple ingredients.
- All you need is a large skillet, a drizzle of olive oil, taco seasoning, tomato paste, vegetable broth, and canned brown lentils that you stir in a pan. You can also use green lentils, but they contain less fiber than brown lentils. It takes a few minutes to cook the lentil taco meat mixture until the lentils are as tender and flavorsome as ground beef. If you don’t have lentils, you can also make my TVP Taco Meat. They bring a similar texture but a slightly different flavor.
- You can use store-bought tortillas, most of them are accidentally vegan, and it’s easy to find vegan, gluten-free tortillas as well.
- But if you feel like making some fresh homemade tortillas, you can also follow one of my vegan, gluten-free tortillas recipes below:
- Coconut flour tortillas – a vegan, low-carb tortilla recipe made with gluten-free coconut flour.
- Quinoa Tortilla – for a very healthy option.
- 2-Ingredient Lentil Wrap – This is probably my easiest flatbread.
- Paleo tortillas – a vegan almond flour tortilla recipe 100% grain-free.
- Red lentil tortillas – if you love lentils that much, marry the lentil taco meat with an easy 2-ingredient red lentil flatbread!
Now, you have three options.
- Tortillas – warm your tortillas on a warm skillet and fill them with warm lentil taco meat and some of the filling listed below.
- Burritos – preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Fill each tortilla with 1/4 cup of lentil taco meat, wrap it into a burrito shape, place it on a large baking sheet, and repeat until the dish is full. Sprinkle vegan cheese on top and bake until the cheese is grilled and melted. You can add some brown rice, guacamole, and salsa verde inside the burrito for a boost of taste.
- Quesadillas – place one tortilla in a skillet, spread 1/4 cup of lentil taco meat, sprinkle vegan cheese, and place another tortilla on top. Cook for 2 minutes on each side until the tortillas are crispy.
You can also make loaded nachos with this recipe by pouring the meat and taco fillings on top of toasted corn tortillas.
Serving With Toppings
Whether you made a vegan taco, burrito, or quesadillas, adding some fresh, crunchy topping on top of your warm meal is a must!
Storing And Making Ahead
You can make the lentil taco meat ahead and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Then, rewarm the cauliflower lentil tacos meat in the microwave or a warm skillet – the cooking time varies, but usually, 2-3 minutes are enough.
Finally, add the lentil meat to a warm taco shell or tortillas. Spread a single layer of lentil meat, then add some of the fresh crunchy toppings recommended above.
More Vegan Meal Recipes
Below I listed some more healthy vegan dinner recipe inspiration for you to try:
Like This Recipe?
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Lentil Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 batch Lentil Taco Meat Recipe
- 1 batch Vegan Gluten-free Tortillas
Toppings
- 2 ripe Avocado - diced
- 1 Red Onion - diced
- 1 cup Corn Kernels - or diced yellow pepper
- 1 cup Coconut Yogurt
- 1 handful Fresh Cilantro
Instructions
- Prepare one batch of lentil taco meat following my recipe here.
- Cook one batch of my vegan, gluten-free tortillas with coconut flour or with almond flour. You can also buy your favorite vegan tortillas from the store for a quick dinner.
- Warm the tortillas on a skillet for 1 minute on each side, or until warm and puffy.
- Fill each taco with about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of warm lentil taco meat and top with some of the fresh topping recommended above: diced avocado, diced red onion, corn kernels, a dollop of fresh coconut yogurt, and cilantro.
- For spicy tacos, add some hot salsa sauce or drops of hot sauce.
love it
This is delicious and so easy to make. Thank you guys, you make my life easier. Please do more savory recipes 🙂
I will put this on my to do list, thank you !
Love Tacos this will be a favorite