Everyone loves tacos right? Let’s be honest, you can put anything in a taco and it’s still a taco. But here is the veganized version of the tacos I was used to growing up. No animals were harmed in the making of these tacos 🙂 This is a meat-lover approved recipe! So you can share with all your friends. Unless they have allergies of course, then you may need to make some adjustments! Here are the steps to build some beeeeeeeee-u-ti-ful tacos.Everyone loves tacos right? Let’s be honest, you can put anything in a taco and it’s still a taco. But here is the veganized version of the tacos I was used to growing up. No animals were harmed in the making of these tacos 🙂

Taco “Meat”

This recipe is very versatile. You can alter the spices and use it in spaghetti sauce, for sloppy joes, or anything else that you want to replace ground meat in. I love tacos so they get the starring role for it here 

 I purchase bulk beans/lentils and prepare them in the Instant Pot, without doing a pre-soak. If you don’t have a IP, make sure you soak your beans overnight before you cook them – it will cut down on gas! Trust me! 

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cooked brown lentils (or 1 can, drained & rinsed)
• 1/2 C cooked black beans (or 1/2 can, drained & rinsed)
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or 1/3 cup water (for frying)
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional if using canned beans/lentils)
• 3 tbsp salsa (or vegetable broth, or water)

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet on medium & toss in the chopped walnuts. Cook for around 3 minutes, slowly stir the whole time as they can burn quick. Once you can start to smell them, drop them into a bowl and set aside.
2. Add your oil/water to the skillet and add the chopped onion. Cook onion until it becomes translucent. Toss in the spices and mix well.
3. Add lentils, beans, walnuts and salsa (or broth/water). Mix and cook another 4-5 minutes, stirring. Use a potato masher and mash up the beans/lentils so it starts to look more, well, “meaty”. It just holds together better!
4. Toss it in the bottom of your taco shell and stack with your other ingredients!

Guacamole

I could eat guacamole every day. I know vegans are known for their love of avocados. I try to not use more then 5 a week (there’s 2 of us!), because they do have an impact on the planet in terms of transportation alone. **If anyone would like to help me build a greenhouse so I can grow some up here in Canada, that would be awesome 

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 small tomato
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (depending how much of a garlic lover you are!)
• 1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice! Both are great!
• dash of salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 2 tsp vegan mayo (optional)

Directions:

1. Mash avocados in a bowl and mix in all other ingredients, except tomatoes.
2. Dice tomatoes and remove the seeds and juice. Mix in guacamole.
3. Ta-Da!

Vegan Nacho Cheeze Sauce

Because why wouldn’t you want to drizzle your taco with something that adds a little kick? Or a lot of kick, depending on how hot your hot sauce is!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C raw cashews (soaked for 20 min in boiling water)
• 1/2 bell red pepper
• 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• pinch sea salt
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp hot sauce (optional – you don’t need it, you can also add more if you’re spicy!)

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend til smooth.
2. You’ll need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
3. You might need to add a splash of water to get things going.

Dairy-free Sour Cream

People always ask why vegans want food that imitates non-vegan food. Dairy-free sour cream is a great example. Let’s face it, sour cream tastes awesome. It’s great on so many things and you can make so many things with it. But what we all ignore while eating that baked potato for 5 minutes, is the millions of baby cows that live a life of horror from shortly after they are born until the day they die, whether that be within 20-24 weeks (WEEKS!!) for veal, or 4-5 years old when they can’t reproduce anymore babies. So why would we continue to choose that version? Especially when there are plenty of ways to make it without cruelty? There are also nut-free versions of dairy-free sour cream out there. Mine is cashew based though. (I promised I wouldn’t post too graphic of information on here, but remember, the 269 part of my site does stand for animal activism so I will put a bit here and there and eventually have a section dedicated to that).

Ingredients:

• 1 C raw cashews (soaked in boiling water for 20 min)
• 1/2 C water,
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend til smooth. You will have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times to make sure you don’t miss any cashew pieces.
2. Place in glass jar and refrigerate until use. Will last for 4-5 days with a good seal.

Other Ingredients:

Everyone likes different toppings for their tacos; here’s a few of my go-to’s!

• raw, roasted or fried red and green bell peppers, sliced thin
• chopped greens (spinach, kale, lettuce)
• raw, pickled or fried onions
• shredded vegan cheeze
• chopped jalapenos
• cashew cream
• salsa (love me some tomatillo)
• air-fried butternut squash is another fave (I’ll post a recipe to that soon!)
• just sliced avocados if you aren’t a fan of guacamole (though I’m unsure if we can be friends……)