This vegan taco meat is made with tofu, walnuts and spices and makes a wonderfully chewy and ‘meaty’ vegan meat substitute.
This vegan taco meat is the best thing ever to go in your tacos! Or on top of your nachos.
It’s chewy and delicious and high in protein and makes a nice big portion so you can either serve a bunch of people for taco night or just eat tacos for days in a row (highly recommended).
It’s also really easy to make! Don’t let all the process photos fool you into thinking it’s more complicated than it is, this is simple.
How To Make Vegan Taco Meat
Full instructions and measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is just a summary of the recipe to go along with the process photos below.
- The base ingredients for this vegan taco meat are tofu and walnuts. The walnuts are processed in the food processor into crumbles and the tofu is mashed with a fork.
- Then you add garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, nutritional yeast, olive oil, soy sauce, maple syrup and tomato paste to a jug and mix it into a sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the crumbled tofu and walnuts and mix it until everything is coated with the sauce.
- Spread it out over a parchment lined baking tray and bake until perfectly dried out and ‘meaty’ in texture.
- And there you have it! It’s as simple as that.
Dark Soy Sauce
We used a dark soy sauce which is responsible for the great color of this taco meat. Dark soy sauce and tomato paste combine to create a really great color there.
We tried a batch using regular soy sauce and it was delicious but the color was not nearly so rich, so just bear it in mind that you can use any soy sauce but there might be a slight difference in color.
How To Serve Vegan Taco Meat
So of course, it’s wonderful on some vegan tacos.
Serve in tacos with shredded lettuce, salsa, guacamole and some vegan sour cream for a seriously delicious dinner!
But you’ll also love this on your fully loaded vegan nachos. Our recipe for vegan nachos features this vegan taco meat as one of the stars of the show.
This would also make a wonderful addition to other delicious vegan Mexican recipes like our vegan enchiladas, vegan quesadillas and veggie fajitas. It would be great in a vegan burrito or vegan burrito bowl too. It would also be divine sprinkled on a salad or over some vegan chili.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy over the next 4-5 days. You can serve it cold or you can reheat it. You can also freeze it if you want to. When you’re ready for it, thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat as usual.
More Vegan Meat Substitutes!
- Vegan Steak
- Vegan Chicken
- Vegan Tuna
- Vegan Pepperoni
- Vegan Meatballs
- Vegan Bacon
- Vegan Burger
- Seitan Strips
Vegan Taco Meat
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan taco meat is made with tofu, walnuts and spices and makes a wonderfully chewy and ‘meaty’ vegan meat substitute.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200g) Walnuts
- 16oz (450g) Extra Firm Tofu
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce*
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Add walnuts to the food processor and process into crumbles. Mash the tofu with a fork. Add the crushed walnuts and tofu pieces to a dish.
- Add the garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, nutritional yeast, olive oil, soy sauce, maple syrup and tomato paste to a jug and whisk into a thick sauce.
- Mix the sauce in with the tofu and walnut crumbles and mix in until everything is coated in the sauce.
- Transfer to a parchment lined baking tray and spread out evenly across the tray.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, bring it out at the 15 minute mark and give it a stir and then put it back in.
- Serve in tacos with shredded lettuce, salsa, guacamole and vegan sour cream.
Notes
*If you want this vegan taco meat to be entirely gluten-free then use a gluten-free soy sauce or switch for tamari. If you use a regular (not dark) soy sauce, the color of the taco meat will be much lighter.
*This makes a fairly large portion, enough for 6 people if served with tacos and other fillings.
*Nutritional information is for vegan taco meat only and not anything else you would serve it with.
*This recipe was first published in October 2018.
- Category: Side, Savory, Gluten-Free
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan, Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving (of 6)
- Calories: 342
- Sugar: 4.9g
- Sodium: 306mg
- Fat: 28.6g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2g
- Carbohydrates: 10.7g
- Fiber: 2.8g
- Protein: 14.7g
Keywords: vegan taco meat
Best 🌮 meat recipe! So simple and tasty! Followed the recipe exactly.
★★★★★
Thanks Ashlee!
Hi! To reheat leftovers from the refrigerator, do you just put the “meat” in the microwave or toss is in a skillet on the stove? What would you recommend?
Hi Latrisha, either of those options would work fine! 🙂
Do you not need to press and drain the tofu first?
★★★★
Hi Lyn, since we use an extra firm tofu, it’s not required to press it first.
This recipe was super great! I didn’t have any tofu on hand, so I used white button mushrooms and it turned out great!
★★★★★
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
Loved this recipe!! I don’t use oil when I cook so I omitted the oil and it came out great! Super tasty, had the best tacos ever! Thanks for sharing.
This was so so good! Added so much flavor to our vegan burritos and didn’t need to add any salt, which I love. I’m going to try making this without any oil next time. Hopefully it will still brown in the oven. Do you think this would work in an air fryer?
Hi Allison! So glad you enjoyed it. I do think it would work in the air fryer, but I’m not sure how long it would need. 🙂
Thanks, Alison!
Hi Allison! I made some yesterday without oil and it was great. I didn’t make it with oil to compare but without oil was delicious. I had to leave it in the oven for a bit longer than the recipe says and had to mix it a couple times but it came out great anyways.
Awesome, thank you so much!
Must try this recipe, when I can get some tofu ! It looks so good. Can I use the ‘meat’ with rice or potatoes instead of tacos?
★★★★★
Yes! Use it for anything you like! It’s super tasty and high in protein so would go wonderfully with anything savory really. 🙂
This has to be the best vegan recipe in the world!!!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Olivia!
This looks delicious! Do you have a walnut substitution suggestion? I was thinking perhaps a combination of Brazil nuts and maybe almonds or hazelnuts? We have Walnut and pecan allergies. Thanks.
Hi Janis, I think those sub ideas are great! Any of those options or a mix of them would likely work great.
Thank you Alison! 🙏
This is the best vegan taco meat I’ve ever made. Perfection of flavors and textures! 🙌
★★★★★
Thanks so much Beth Ann! 🙂
Can this be frozen?
Yes!
I love your recipes! I can’t wait to try this this weekend.
Thanks Karen! Hope you love it! 🙂
Great recipe! Have to tell you, the pictures of the final product are awesome!! Just looking at them, I would absolutely *have* to make this ASAP!! Thanks so much for sharing. Stay safe! 🌈
★★★★★
Thanks so much Trish! 🙂
I have a nut allergy can I use seeds instead of nuts?
Hi Renel, maybe! I’m not entirely sure if they would have a good texture in this. Another option that may work better than seeds is to replace the walnuts with cauliflower. Pulse it in the food processor just like you would for the nuts. Cauliflower is another winning texture for taco meat! So I think that would work great instead of the walnuts.
If I wanted to use this as a ground meat for pasta, could I use Italian seasonings instead? Would it still come out the same?
You can definitely experiment with the seasonings.
Amazing recipe! I would recommend doing 1/2 cup at a time with the walnuts. I added the whole 2 cups and had powder AND large chunks so I had to pick through and dump the good stuff into the tofu bowl. Other than that, my crew would like more cayenne but that’s a personal preference. Some had in tacos, some had a taco salad and some had loaded nachos. This might be our new favorite recipe!!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing and the wonderful review!