What the hell Kayla, anyone can make a darn taco. Grab the meat, throw it in a pan with a package of taco seasoning, then on a shell with some cheddar and tomatoes maybe some lettuce and it’s all good.
Gross. Really. Gross.
So lets see what a Vegan Taco is like.
We’ll start with the Tortillas.
“But Kayla I can just buy a package of those.”
Sure you can, but when you make them they are better. (Though if you really want, Mission Brand Tortillas are vegan.)
They are super easy to make plus they are vegan AND gluten-free as well!
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour. (Make sure it has Xanthan gum in it)
My two favorite brands of flour for this are:
Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour (Most retail stores)
and
Better Batter Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (online)
The better batter makes a softer more flexible tortilla, but the Bob’s are just as delicious tastewise.
(Measuring Flour Trick: Spoon it into the measuring cup, then slide a knife over top to create a flat surface. NEVER pack the flour in the measuring cup.)
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder (Clabber Girl baking powder is both gluten-free and vegan.)
1/2 Tsp salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 of a cup VERY warm water. You can heat it to just short of boiling.
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all the ingredients together until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Now before you start making tortillas you have to decide how you want to do them and what size you’d like.
6, 8 or 10 inch sizes are standard. Though a 4 inch size would be more like small street tacos.
You also have to decide how you want to make them. Rolling pin or tortilla maker. If you plan on making them regularly, Invest in a good Tortilla maker. Here are a couple I have. I have 6, 8 and 10 inch versions because you never know!
Cast Iron Tortilla Maker and Comal pan 8 or 10 inch, go to store page for 10 inch, tortilla maker.
**USE PARCHMENT PAPER NO MATTER HOW YOU MAKE THEM** Put it on the tortilla maker or on the counter for your rolling pin. Place another sheet on top of it before working with each tortilla since you cannot flour them to prevent them from sticking.
Make small golf ball-sized rounds of dough. These should make an 8 inch tortilla. IF hand rolling, look for them to be about 1/8 of an inch thick.
There are two schools of thought on this. Roll out all the tortillas at one time then cook or roll and cook each one individually. Make sure to keep the dough covered so it doesn’t dry out. I like to roll and cook. Then place them in a tortilla warmer, or place them under a towel on a plate.
Heat your skillet, cast iron works best for this, and use about a tablespoon of vegetable oil, wiping out some of it so it isn’t too oily. You will probably have to use a little more after every few tortillas. I use medium – medium heat. Between Medium and medium-high. I watch them carefully turning them gently through the process so they brown but do not burn. It is VERY easy to burn them.
Simple as that. Now you have fresh tortillas. So what’s next? Let’s move on to the taco seasoning. “But Kayla we can just buy that?”, I wouldn’t trust it. Unless you read the ingredients closely to make sure they are vegan. More though is the salt. Store-bought, even low-sodium taco seasonings are very salt-heavy. Take the Taco Bell Seasoning at the store. EACH SERVING is 13% or 3oo mg or salt. If you eat two or three you’ve taken in half of your salt content for a full day in just three tacos. Home made seasoning is far healthier.
Home Made Taco Seasoning
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C + 2 Tbsp. Chili Powder (You can buy chili powders in heat levels. For this just a regular chili powder is fine. if you want it hotter, find a spicier powder.)
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
2 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (If you want it spicer ass a bit more of this)
1/4 C Coriander
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/4 C + 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Comino cumin
DIRECTIONS:
Measure and combine, blending completely
How much you use depends on each person’s taste. You’ll see what I use when we get to the actual meat portion.
OK, so we have Tortillas and seasoning now. We just need the meat right? Nope. Why start cooking the hot portion when the cold items aren’t done? IF you do, you’ll have hot portions getting cold then. Gross. So lets do the last real cold part of this first.
What is it though? It’s Pico! You have to have pico with your tacos!
PICO DE GALLO
INGREDIENTS:
6 Roma (plum) tomatoes, diced (If you’ve read any of my other recipes you know this is my tomato of choice. More flavor raw, is better for cooking, and is truly the gold standard tomato!)
½ red onion, minced (I’ve honestly tried other onions but the red just makes pico.)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced (I use a whole habanero or 3 jalapenos for mine but we all know I’m a spicy freak.)
½ lime, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch of garlic powder
1 pinch of ground cumin, or to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Just mix it all together LOL. These are just the ratios I like when making it.
“Ok Kayla, so far you have shown us nothing that would make tacos any different then we would have made before reading all this. So where is the magical vegan portion?”
Well, you’re right, there are a ton of ways you could make these faster and easier. Maybe not as healthy, and homemade is always better than processed, but there is one step left that changes these from greasy drippy tacos to delicious, healthy vegan tacos.
The Meat.
“Oh, Kayla you’re just going to use one of those fake meats or beans or something.” Well actually Yes I am. Because plant-based meats, especially in foods like tacos, cannot be distinguished from real meat. For this, my Meat of choice is the Impossible Ground plant-based meat.
TACO MEAT: (Do you really need a picture of that?)
INGREDIENTS:
1 to 2 – 12 ounce packages of Impossible Foods Beef Made From Plants.
2 Tablespoons of taco seasoning for each package of meat.
DIRECTIONS:
Simply fry the Impossible beef like any other burger meat you would use.
Mix in the spices while you cook them. Unlike store-bought seasoning, where you cook it, drain the meat, and then add water with the seasoning, this cooks the meat in the spices. Mix it well until the spices ar completely integrated. There will be virtually no liquid with the plant-based meat. So you don’t have to worry about draining off huge amounts of anything, especially grease and fat!
That’s it. The meat is the easiest part of the whole thing. But it is the most important part to make these truly vegan tacos.
Now Assemble your tacos and enjoy! don’t forget some hot sauce! I love the Marie Sharps brand. Especially the BEWARE Habanero sauce. My sauce of choice though that I use on everything, carry in my backpack and is like ketchup to me is their Red Hornet Sauce which clocks in at around 1.2 million Scoval units. It’s freaking delicious!
I hope you enjoy your tacos as much as I do mine.
