10-Minute Raw Vegan Taco “Meat”

Friends! Vegan taco “meat” is here!

It’s made with delicious wholesome raw ingredients and ready in 10 minutes. Let’s do this!

Wood cutting board with ingredients for making Vegan Taco “Meat”
This recipe starts with raw walnuts, which are blitzed into a fine meal. This creates the perfect texture while providing tons of healthy fat and protein.

Next comes a spicy, smoky red sauce made with sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and dry spices. Once it’s blended into a paste, simply combine the two and – seriously – that’s it!

Food processor with Mexican spices and flavors for making Vegan Taco Meat

Food processor with freshly blended sun-dried tomatoes and spices for Vegan Taco “Meat”

This taco “meat” is seriously dreamy! We love the slightly chunky texture, the heartiness from the sun-dried tomatoes, and the spice from fresh habanero peppers. Mmm, it’s dinner time.

Stirring walnuts and sun-dried tomato mixture in a glass bowl for gluten-free vegan Taco “Meat”

We hope you all LOVE this dish! It’s:

Smoky
Spicy
Healthy fat + Protein-packed
Quick + Easy
Customizable
Versatile
& So delicious

This would make the perfect item to add to things like tacos, burritos, nachos, salads, and more. We could also see it being a lovely addition to dishes like our Tortilla Soup, 1-Pot Lentil Chili, and Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas! You could also add it to a Perfect Roasted Sweet Potato with Garlicky Guacamole, Easy Red Salsa, and a little Vegan Sour Cream for the ultimate decadent (yet healthy) meal!

10-Minute Raw Vegan Taco “Meat”
Easy, delicious, 10-minute vegan taco “meat” made with walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, spices, and peppers! The perfect balance of spice and smokiness, and loaded with protein and healthy fats. Add to tacos, nachos, salads, and more!

WALNUT TACO MEAT

2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (preferably packaged dry, not in oil)*
3 cups raw walnuts
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp coconut sugar (omit if avoiding sugar, or sub a little stevia)
1-2 small habanero peppers (deseeded and chopped // more or less to spice preference // or sub 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus more to taste, but this will make the recipe no longer raw)
1-2 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
~1/4 cup water as needed (plus more as needed)
FOR GARNISH/SERVING (optional)
Tortillas
Cilantro

Avocado
Radish
Instructions
Add sun-dried tomatoes to a small bowl and cover with warm water. Set aside and allow to soak for at least 5 minutes.
To the bowl of a food processor, add walnuts and pulse into a semi-fine meal (some larger chunks are okay. Be careful not to churn into a butter). Transfer walnuts to a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
Drain the sun-dried tomatoes (reserving the water in a small bowl to add back to the sauce later on) and add to the bowl of the food processor. Add garlic, sea salt, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, coconut sugar, habaneros, and nutritional yeast (optional) and blend until a smooth paste is formed. Add 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of reserved water at a time until a thick but pourable sauce is formed (see photo).
Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt for saltiness, garlic for more “zing,” peppers for heat, cumin for smokiness, or coconut sugar to balance the heat.

Add mixture to walnuts and stir to combine. At this point, you can taste and adjust flavors as needed once more. We added a bit more salt.
Enjoy in any setting one would use taco meat: tacos, salad, nachos, burritos, and more. Leftovers can be stored up to 5-7 days in the refrigerator or up to 1 month in the freezer.