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This flavorful Plant-Based Taco Meat recipe is a game-changer! It’s made with cauliflower, mushrooms, nuts, and spices, and is an easy vegan substitute for ground beef. The veggie taco meat is an excellent alternative filling for a vegan taco recipe, burritos, wraps, bowls, nachos, and more. Ready within 25 minutes with the help of a food processor.
Meet one of my new favorite recipes! You could not believe how delicious vegan taco meat can be. I’ve been testing this one over and over again – to perfect it, but also because I’ve been craving it on/with everything lately. It quickly became one of my favorite vegan recipes, right up there with my favorite vegan broccoli chickpea curry.
Growing up, tacos were one of my favorite foods (and still are – like many of you, I’m sure). My mom would make us tacos as an easy dinner. I’d help her make the ground beef with taco seasoning from a pouch, and we’d saute corn tortillas in a bit of oil to make them nice and crispy. We’d serve them up with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomato, and be the happiest of eaters.
Since switching to a primarily plant-based diet, I’m still alllll about tacos. I love a good fajita veggie taco or a tempeh taco. However, I’ve also always missed the ground taco meat from my childhood. While I love a good tofu taco or a cauliflower taco, they just aren’t quite the same.
So, vegan taco meat became a MUST-make. I’ve had similar vegan taco meats, vegan ground meat substitutes, and vegan chorizos at restaurants. My favorite types tend to be nut-based, often with a generous amount of spices.
Ingredients for Vegan Ground Meat
I tested this recipe several times, and the first tests ended up a little too dry for me, so I added vegetables! Mushrooms and cauliflower, when diced finely or pulsed in a food processor, add just enough moisture and help give this vegan taco meat a great meaty texture.
The primary ingredients in this vegan meat substitute are:
- Mushrooms
- Cauliflower
- Nuts (I like pecans or walnuts)
- Sundried Tomatoes
- Lots of spices
The sun-dried tomatoes pack an umami punch. Since we use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, the oil helps bind and flavor the mixture as well. For the spices, we replicate the flavor of the taco seasoning packet my mom always used, incorporating a healthy dose of cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper.
How to prepare Vegan Taco Meat
Full instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post!
I like preparing this plant-based taco meat mixture in the food processor. My food processor is small, so I do the veggies in separate batches from the nut mixture, and then stir it all together. If you have a larger food processor, you can combine the diced vegetables, nuts, spices, sun-dried tomatoes, and water in the food processor and pulse until everything is well-mixed and finely chopped. From there, you’ll sauté the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes, and then it’s ready to eat!
The specific batch you see here was for the delicious tacos you’re looking at, as well as a batch of homemade vegan nachos – both of which used this veggie taco meat and my homemade vegan cheese sauce. Two totally decadent recipes that you’d never guess were primarily made with VEGETABLES!
Here are some ideas for how to serve:
- Taco filling
- Vegan nachos
- Mixed with Vegan cheese sauce
- Burrito filling
- Quesadillas
- Taco salads or taco bowl
- Enchiladas
- Tostadas
- Burrito bowls
- Add your favorite salsa and guacamole
Can you freeze plant-based taco meat?
Yes, you can! Just place it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight or at least a few hours, and then reheat over the stove or in the microwave.
Meal Prep Tip: You can pre-make the plant-based taco meat a few days ahead of time, allowing you to quickly prepare tacos (or whatever else you’re using this meat for) on a hectic day.
25-Minute Vegan Taco Meat Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ cups diced cauliflower florets, or cauliflower rice
- 1½ cups diced cremini mushrooms
- 1½ cups nuts, walnuts, pecans, or almonds all work
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- In the bowl of a large food processor, combine all of the ingredients except for the water.1½ cups diced cauliflower florets, 1½ cups diced cremini mushrooms, 1½ cups nuts, 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder, 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Pulse, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the nuts and vegetables are broken down slightly. Add the water and pulse a few more times, until the mixture sticks together but still has texture.¼ cup water
- If you have a small food processor, like me, pulse the vegetables in the food processor first. Place in a large mixing bowl, and then pulse the rest of the ingredients together. Mix all of it together until fully combined.
- Heat a few tablespoons of avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the vegetable-nut mixture. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until it’s cooked to your desired consistency. It should be tender and flavorful. If it dries out too much, you can add a splash of water.
- Serve immediately or keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
This recipe is so great! My husband and I are both huge fans of tacos, but he is also a big meat eater. We both said that we could replace ground beef tacos with this recipe every time and never miss the ground beef. I will be sharing this recipe for sure!
This makes me SO happy to hear, Ashley!! That ground taco meat flavor is exactly what I was going for :D thank you so so much for the feedback, and so glad you’ll be enjoying this recipe often!
does the califlour rice be frozen or does it need to be fresh?
Frozen should work, it just may take a bit longer on the stove to cook out the extra moisture!
I can never find cremini mushrooms, would another kind work? Love your recipes!
Hi Kelly, yes! Any type of mushroom will work well here :)
If I can’t eat cauliflower, what can I substitute?
Hmm I haven’t tested without cauliflower, but you could try it with all mushrooms!!
Any suggestions to cut back or eliminate the nuts? Should I up the mushrooms and/or cauliflower?
Hi Lara, they do provide texture but you could replace with more veggies, or use a seed if you’re cutting out because you’re nut-free!
This is one of my favorite recipes!! We love using it for tacos, burritos, and have even used it for a vegan crunchwrap! I’ve used all types of mushrooms and nuts and they all have worked out well.
I make a ‘mince’ using carrots and beets which could work :)
Yes sounds fab!
What seed would work best because I don’t want to use nuts?
Sunflower seeds would likely work well!
This is a keeper to make again, it was so good! Left out the sun dried tomatoes because one of my kids can’t have tomatoes and it was fine without it. Used 1 cup walnuts and half cup almonds. Served it to my Omni partner and 10, 2, and 1 year old and everyone ate it up. Will double the batch next time as we all could have eaten more.
So glad it was a hit, Rebecca! Thanks so much for the kind review.
Just made this for the first time and I used a can of lintels (drained) instead of cauliflower and it was absolutely delicious! We are trying to get off meat and this recipe will definitely make it easier.
So glad you’re loving it, Penny! Thanks for the feedback.