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Cauliflower Taco Meat. Easy 1 Pan Cauliflower Walnut Crumble. No Skillet needed .Use in tacos, wraps, burrito, nachos, salads! Vegan Glutenfree Soyfree Recipe. Can be nut-free. Jump to Recipe
Tacos need a filling that is flavorful, has texture, is easy and versatile. This Cauliflower Walnut filling fits perfectly! All the flavor, all the texture! Change up the spices and herbs for variation in flavor.
Pulse the walnuts and onion in a food processor, then pulse cauliflower, spices. Then spread the mixture and bake until preferred consistency. No stove top cooking needed. 1 Processor to 1 baking dish.
Change up the flavors to preference. I use my own chili powder blend. Change that up with different Mexican chilies for flavor variation. Add some bbq sauce for bbq crumble and clumpier. Use Cajun blend or Jamaican jerk blend. This taco “meat” is bean and lentil free. Add some spiced beans or refried beans to the tacos if you like.
Add this Taco meat to this Enchilada, or Spanish Rice Bowl, top these Nachos or add to this Lentil Tortilla Soup.
More Taco fillings, easy Carrot Walnut Taco Meat, Mango BBQ Soycurl/jackfruit Tacos. Berbere Spiced Jackfruit Tacos so much flavor!, Chipotle Shredded Butternut Tacos
Cauliflower Taco Meat - Cauliflower Walnut Taco Filling
Ingredients
Cauliflower Walnut "Taco" Meat:
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 jalapeno, optional
- 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
- 1/2 medium tomato, , or 2 tbsp salsa, or oil packed sundried tomato
- 2 tbsp or more chili powder blend, (recipe that I use below)
- zest of a lime
- 1/2 tsp salt
Cilantro Avocado Cream:
- 1 avocado
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 tsp or more salt
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- a dash of black pepper and cayenne
Chili Blend:
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp paprika, (1 tsp sweet and 1 tsp smoked or 1.5 sweet and 1/2 tsp smoked for less heat)
- 1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder or flakes
- a good dash of ground cinnamon, , all spice/clove, black pepper, cayenne
Instructions
- Line a large baking dish with parchment. Preheat the oven to 375 deg F (190 C ).
- Process the walnuts, onion and jalapeno until coarse mixture in a food processor.
- Add cauliflower florets and tomato and pulse a few times to break some of the large cauliflower pieces.
- Add the spices, salt, zest, 1 tsp oil and process until the cauliflower is evenly shredded. If using store bought chili blend, add 1/4 tsp or more chipotle chili flakes/powder and dashes of ground cinnamon, clove and black pepper for additional flavor.
- Transfer the cauliflower walnut mixture to the parchment lined baking dish. Spread evenly.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes. Move the mixture around twice in between. The onion should start caramelizing and the mixture should be crumbly but not overly dry. (taste the mixture carefully when moving it around the second time and add salt, spices if needed **). Bake until desired consistency.
- Cilantro Avocado Cream: Blend all the ingredients with 1/3 cup or more water until smooth. Add more lime juice or salt to taste.
- Assemble the tacos in warm tortillas with warm taco meat, salsa, avocado dressing, cilantro, jalapeno/pickled jalapeno and serve. Or add the taco meat to burritos, Nachos, Enchiladas, Salads.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This taco meat is a game changer. Bean taco fillings are okay, but they can get boring. This is so much like the texture and even taste of ground beef taco meat, it is amazing.
yay!
As usual, and I am not taking that for granted, another great recipe that you can adapt, change up add a bit more of this or less of that… and you just KNOW it will be great. I searched for walnut and cauliflower taco meat and checked many recipes before finding this one. Note to self: just go to Vegan Richa for whatever you want to make and don’t waste time searching :). Tacos tonight!
🧡🧡🧡🧡
I made these tonight, and was a bit wary of the flavor combination because I have never tried walnut and cauliflower before; however, every single recipe of Vegan Richa’s I have tried have amounted to a delicious success! It was wrong of me to doubt. Try this! It’s super wonderful, flavorful, and has lots of umami. For me, I like food very spicy, so I needed extra spice. I was too conservative with the jalapeno, and could have added more. I used a few more walnuts within my food processor. It’s baking in the oven right now and smells phenomenal! I have my corn tortillas, salsa, and guac ready. Thanks for another amazing dish!
Awesome! yes add more cayenne, taco blend etc. more walnuts or cauliflower would need more spices. so adjust away. you can add more spices midway while baking when you taste too
Soooooo excited to try this recipe this weekend with some guests coming over. If I make it ahead of time, and refrigerate/freeze, how would I go about reheating it without over cooking it or having the cauliflower get all mushy? Or should I just make it the day of? Trying to save time so I can spend time with our guests…
Bake it to reheat, it will make it crisp again.
I’ve just made this and it is sensational, people. It doesn’t taste of cauliflower, so although I love cauliflower, a person I live with really hates it, so not tasting of cauli is a bonus in my house.
I made a few alterations:
I put in about a 1/2 glass of wine – I guess you could use red wine vinegar with some water instead if you don’t have alcohol in the house. I left out most of the spices because where I live it’s almost impossible to get them, but I kept the ground cumin because, as we all know, cumin is life itself. Also I put a little more nutritional yeast than I at first intended, because I’m not really used to the powder version yet, but in fact it was really great – I’d say about a heaped tablespoon or even two went in there. Also instead of the onion I used a large bunch of Chinese chives, the flat ones used for pot stickers and that give everything added extra magic. Anyway, the result was tender and “meaty” and delicious.
Thank you so much Richa. Your recipes are so versatile, easy, and delicious. Where would we be without you?
Super tasty! I’m working more vegan meals into our rotation and my four kids gobbled this up. My oldest kept coming into the kitchen while it baked, saying, “It smells do good – just like meat.”
yay! thats a success then!
Richa, I forgot to mention that your spice blend is beyond brilliant!
Is it possible to cook this on the stovetop instead of baking? I am in Las Vegas heat!
yes.. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cauliflower walnut mixture, spices, salt and garlic and toss well. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Then uncover and cook over low heat until it dries to preferred texture. Taste and add more salt and spices mid way.
You might need to do this in 2 batches , so that the cauliflower mixture is not thicker than 1/4 inch evenly on the pan.
Thank you, Richa!
Made this early for tonight’s dinner, and I see a few family members have done a pre-dinner sampling! Early reviewers are loving it!! :).
Thanks again Richa!
Awesome!
I tried this recipe for the first time yesterday. Wow! I had the most amazing tacos with it. Using cauli & walnuts (the preferred food of the heart) is pure genius. I cannot thank you enough for bringing tacos back into the rotation in my house.
Awesome!! so glad you loved it!