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Home » Recipes » Tacos

Vegan Cauliflower Taco Meat

Published: Nov 2, 2020 · Modified: Jan 8, 2021 by Lexi

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Did someone say #TacoTuesday?! This Vegan Taco "Meat" substitute is made with cauliflower, quinoa and a spicy chipotle sauce. Perfect for vegetarian tacos, burrito bowls, nachos and more! Video tutorial below.

close up view of taco with vegan cauliflower quinoa taco meat and pickled onion.

This versatile vegan taco meat is so easy to make, meal prep and freezer friendly, and packed with flavor!

The "meat" is a mixture of finely minced mushrooms, riced cauliflower and quinoa for a meaty, crumbled texture. For flavor, we cook the mixture in a spicy, smoky chipotle sauce that comes together in less than five minutes.

This recipe is so versatile and tastes great with all of your favorite taco toppings. A few of our favorites: guacamole (always!), corn salsa, pickled onion, spicy black beans and fresh vegetables.

vegan taco meat in a large pan garnished with cilantro.

Ingredients

  • Onion & garlic
  • Cauliflower: you'll need to rice the cauliflower before using, which can be done with a food processor or a grater. Alternatively, most grocery stores sell pre-riced cauliflower these days!
  • Mushrooms: regular button mushrooms do the trick but feel free to use something more flavorful like shiitakes or cremini mushrooms.
  • Quinoa: cook the quinoa ahead of time according to package directions.
  • Seasonings: oregano, salt, fresh cilantro
  • Chipotle sauce: made from chipotles in adobo (you can find these in the canned section of most grocery stores), lime juice, oil, coconut sugar, cumin, salt and paprika.
overhead view of tacos with vegan cauliflower quinoa taco meat.

Instructions

Cook the quinoa according to package directions. We sometimes cook ours in vegetable broth for more flavor, but this is totally optional and water works perfectly fine.

Prep: Rice cauliflower by pulsing in a food processor until it resembles grains of rice. Alternatively, you can use a grater to grate the cauliflower (although this is a bit more time consuming). You can also purchase pre-riced cauliflower at most grocery stores.

Sauté: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened (5-7 minutes). 

overhead view of vegan taco meat in a large pan garnished with cilantro.

Make the sauce: Meanwhile, add all sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. If you're sensitive to spice, hold back on the adobo sauce. You can always add more if desired.

Assemble: Add cauliflower rice, oregano and salt to skillet and continue cooking for 5 minutes, until cauliflower starts to soften. Add in cooked quinoa and chipotle sauce and stir well. Continue cooking for 5-7 minutes, then add in fresh cilantro and cook a few more minutes. 

Serve hot in tacos, burrito bowls, salads, etc.  

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat or in the microwave for 60 seconds.

You can also freeze this vegan taco meat for up to 6 months. Reheat in a skillet or microwave until defrosted. It's easiest if you defrost it in the refrigerator overnight.

overhead view of vegan tacos in blue pan with pickled onions and avocado.

Uses for vegan taco meat

  • Tacos (with these spicy black beans!)
  • Burrito bowls
  • Burritos (including breakfast burritos)
  • On nachos
  • Straight from the pan!

More vegan weeknight dinner recipes

  • Greek Chickpea Salad
  • Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Soup
  • Lemon Rice Soup (Vegan)
  • Pineapple Teriyaki Tofu
  • The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
close up view of tacos with vegan cauliflower quinoa taco meat and pickled onion.

If you make this vegan cauliflower quinoa taco meat, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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close up view of taco with vegan cauliflower quinoa taco meat and pickled onion.

Vegan Cauliflower Taco Meat


★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

Did someone say #TacoTuesday?! This Vegan Taco "Meat" substitute is made with cauliflower, quinoa and a spicy chipotle sauce. Perfect for vegetarian tacos, burrito bowls, nachos and more!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tbsp oil (vegetable, olive oil, avocado oil, etc)
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 tsp finely minced garlic
  • 1 small head of cauliflower, riced (2 ½- 3 cups)
  • 8 oz button mushrooms, finely diced 
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa (½ cup dry)
  • 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp fine grain kosher salt
  • 2-3 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Chipotle Sauce:

  • ⅓ cup water
  • 3 tbsp oil (we used avocado but olive oil or vegetable oil work)
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
  • 1 ½ tbsp adobo sauce from can
  • 1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 ½ tsp coconut sugar or agave
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp fine grain kosher salt
  • ½ tsp paprika

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. 
  2. Rice cauliflower by pulsing in a food processor until it resembles grains of rice. Alternatively, you can use a grater to grate the cauliflower. 
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened (5-7 minutes). 
  4. Meanwhile, add all sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. 
  5. Add cauliflower rice, oregano and salt to skillet and continue cooking for 5 minutes, until cauliflower starts to soften. 
  6. Add in cooked quinoa and chipotle sauce and stir well. Continue cooking for 5-7 minutes, then add in fresh cilantro and cook a few more minutes. 
  7. Serve hot in tacos, burrito bowls, salads, etc.  

Notes

If you have leftover cauliflower, simply freeze to use in another dish at another time.  You can also use pre-riced store-bought cauliflower. If using frozen, defrost and pat dry before adding to pan. 

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Mexican-American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Taco
  • Calories: 255
  • Sugar: 5.7 g
  • Sodium: 630.2 mg
  • Fat: 11.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 30.9 g
  • Fiber: 5.9 g
  • Protein: 8.3 g

Keywords: vegan taco meat

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crowded_kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #crowdedkitchen

More Vegan Taco Recipes

  • Super Crispy Potato Tacos
  • Vegan Avocado Crema
  • Quick Pickled Red Cabbage
  • Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Tacos

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Wendy

    May 27, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    I LOVE this recipe!!! My quinoa didn’t turn out but it was great without it. So satisfying- major comfort food made with healthy ingredients. My non vegan chef husband loved it too! I’m going to make it tonight again. I’ll try the quinoa this time!! Thank you for such an excellent recipe!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lexi

      May 30, 2022 at 1:25 pm

      So glad you enjoyed!

      Reply
  2. Nicky Bennett

    January 25, 2021 at 5:36 am

    Tried this recipe for the second time tonight, great new addition for taco night!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Lexi

      January 25, 2021 at 10:48 am

      So glad to hear that, Nicky! Thanks so much for your comment!

      Reply
  3. Beth A

    January 05, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    I can’t wait to try this! I want options that are not soy based. This even has veggies! I use a walnut mixture that the kids call ‘crunchy meat’ haha!

    Reply
    • Lexi

      January 07, 2021 at 9:33 am

      Love that!! Can't wait to hear what you think 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

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