This plant-forward take on taco night comes with everything you love about the classic Mexican street food, minus the meat. However, you’ll still get the same satisfying texture thanks to walnuts.
Besides turning a favorite dish into a plant-forward alternative, walnuts introduce a full range of nutty and savory flavors that bring out the traditional spice mixture you’ll find in tacos for a zesty and aromatic result.
These plant-forward tacos come together effortlessly with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. The total prep and cooking time is less than 15 minutes. In addition, you can store any leftover ground walnuts in the fridge for a few days to make more tacos or experiment with other recipes you could enhance with a meat substitute.
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This recipe will soon become a family favorite. Walnuts’ rich, nutty flavor brings out the savory and tangy taste of the onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and other flavorful ingredients. They’re fun to make, and everyone can customize their tacos by using their favorite toppings to create the perfectly crunchy, spicy and comforting meal. Plus, the flavor pairing of the walnuts and spices are sure to be a hit with teens and young adults who prefer these sharp flavor combinations.
Take Taco Tuesday to the next level with this plant-forward recipe. Make these nutty and savory tacos as a special treat for game day, or prepare the walnut-based meat substitute if you’re planning a taco bar for a gathering.
Ingredients
California Walnut Taco “Meat”
- 1 1/2 cups raw shelled walnuts
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch salt
Tacos
- 8 hard taco shells
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup mild salsa
- 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
Preparation
- Use a food processor to pulse the walnuts until you get a walnut meal with a texture that resembles ground meat. Finely ground walnuts will be more pleasant, but you want to leave a few pieces to get a slightly firm and flaky texture that feels like cooked ground meat.
- Coat a medium skillet with olive oil and sauté the diced onion over medium-low heat for five minutes.
- Add the ground walnuts, chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, salt and soy sauce. Toss the mixture for two to three minutes in the skillet. Stir the ingredients regularly to make sure the ground walnuts absorb the spices and seasoning for tacos brimming with flavor. Note that coconut aminos can be a gluten-free alternative to soy sauce.
- Spoon the mixture into the hard taco shells before topping with the salsa, sour cream, cheese, tomato and lettuce. Or serve the mixture in a bowl and let your guests make their own tacos with the toppings of their choice.
This recipe will make enough tacos for four people, but you can easily adjust the quantities. You can also personalize this recipe by tweaking the spice mixture according to taste or trying other popular taco toppings like cilantro and lime.
Check out more of our delicious taco recipes and have fun preparing them!
