Best Summer Vegan Tacos
Best Summer Vegan Tacos
If you love spicy flavors and a loaded taco, then you’ll surely love these delicious Best Summer Vegan Tacos, made with buffalo , roasted poblano peppers and corn, jalapeños, guacamole, and an easy dairy-free ranch sauce. These little tacos have so much flavor and is a great meatless alternative for lunch or dinner for the entire family.
These vegan tacos are for every taco fan out there! I'm literally obsessed with these tacos and I promise that you will be too!
I like to make tacos on Tuesdays, or any day of the week. Tacos are the perfect food that is filling, easily customizable, and always delicious. You can stick anything in a tortilla and top with a good cool, fresh sauce. It will likely taste good!
Overall, these vegan tacos are super easy to make, a great quick weeknight option, entirely meatless, includes bold flavors, balance between savory, spicy, and fresh, and just plain DELICIOUS.
These tacos are filled with a delicious buffalo sauce on the chickpeas and spices. Then, you can top it with roasted herb tomatoes, roasted poblano peppers, corn, jalapeños, guacamole, and homemade ranch sauce. Everyone in my family loves these tacos and they’re sure to a real hit in your household.
Plus, you can always go for a milder buffalo sauce for the kids or anyone who isn't a lover of extremely spicy flavor.
How to Make Summer Vegan Tacos
The three parts of these summer vegan tacos are the buffalo chickpeas, the dairy-free ranch sauce, and the toppings.
Start by making the flavorful chickpeas in buffalo sauce and cooking it together over the stovetop and roast the poblano peppers and corn. Then meanwhile, you can make the simple dairy-free ranch dressing. And finally, heat your tortillas and enjoy!
Vegan Tacos Ingredients
Here’s what you need for these summer vegan tacos:
- Chickpeas. Remove as much moisture from the chickpeas as possible for the crispiest texture.
- Herbs + spice. I use an array of spices like salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, and thyme.
- Olive oil. you can also use avocado oil if you prefer.
- Buffalo sauce. You can use store-bought or homemade.
- Poblano peppers. I love roasting these for a nice savory flavor.
- Jalapeños. I like the extra spicy flavor.
- White corn. You can cut the kernels directly from the corn cobb or use frozen corn.
- Tortillas. I like to use street-sized flour tortillas, however, you can use corn or flour.
- Avocado. I like use Haas Avocados.
- Onion. I like to use red onions and chop them up finely.
Vegan Creamy Ranch Sauce
To top your tacos and tame the heat a bit, make a dairy-free ranch dressing with:
- Plant-based milk. You'll need a can of full-fat of coconut cream or milk.
- Vegan mayonnaise. Use any kind you like.
- Cilantro. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, use basil.
- Herbs. You'll need the following: dried dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
Best Taco Toppings
Everyone is different when it comes to taco toppings, which is why I love using a variety of ingredients.
This is a great opportunity to teach children about what they like, how much to add, and helps to develop their palate—which is what I try to do with my son. Plus, maybe they’ll try something new on their own—who knows?!
Some of the most popular taco toppings in my house are:
- Black beans
- Pineapple chunks
- Roasted veggies
- Corn
- Jalapeno
- Cilantro
- Green onion
- Lime juice
- Green salsa
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce
- Pico de Gallo
- Cheese
- Vegan sauce of some kind (homemade)
Meal Prepping Ideas for these Vegan Tacos
This is a great vegan taco recipe for meal prep. Simply prepare the buffalo chickpeas, dairy-free sauce and toppings ahead of time. Store them in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days. Then heat and assemble your tacos when you’re ready to enjoy!
Ingredient Substitutions and Swaps
This vegan taco recipe is fairly easy to customize. If you don’t have every item on the ingredient list, here are some simple swaps and substitutions that won’t sacrifice flavor:
- Substitute the cilantro in the vegan sauce/dressing with basil or parsley.
- Swap fresh parsley or cilantro for another fresh herb, such as basil or dill.
- Try bell peppers instead of poblano peppers. Mango or pineapple will add a nice tropical spin and sweetness.
- Switch things up by adding mushrooms, black beans, lentils, walnut meat, or other meat substitutes instead of chickpeas.
What Kind of Tortilla is Best for Vegan Tacos?
You can choose either corn or flour tortillas for this vegan taco recipe. If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, corn is your best bet. Whichever option you choose, I recommend the small street taco-size. They’re easy to fill, hold and eat by the dozen!
Of course, in a pinch, larger tortillas will work too. You can also use hard taco shells if you prefer a crunchier taco. If that’s the case, skip heating the tortillas and simply fill your taco shells with the buffalo chickpeas and toppings.
How to Best Char or Warm Tortillas
To lightly toast taco tortillas, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place tortillas directly on the rack. Turn off the oven once heated and let tortillas warm for 2 minutes. Remove from oven. For char on a stovetop, pop one of the tortillas onto a gas burner until you begin to see a little smoke. Remove tortilla to rotate it onto opposite side until it’s lightly charred. Repeat until all tortillas are charred.
How to Store Leftover Vegan Tacos
Place any leftover ingredients in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Other Vegan Recipes You’ll Love
If you are a fan of my Summer Vegan Tacos, you will also love these other vegan dishes also!
- Mind-blowing Avocado Toast
- Vegan Jamaican Jerk Walnut Tacos
- Loaded Potatoes with Spicy Beans
- Vegan Meatball Subs
- Vegan Curry Chickpea Mashed Potato Bowl
- Baked Sticky Orange Cauliflower + Quinoa
MADE OUR RECIPE?
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Best Summer Vegan Tacos
Ingredients
BUFFALO CHICKPEAS:
- 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained + rinsed
- 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ cups Buffalo sauce (Ensure that it's vegan-approved!)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
TOPPINGS:
- 2 cups sweet white corn kernels, frozen or fresh
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 Jalapeños, sliced
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 2 Tbsps Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Hass avocado, pitted + mashed
- Pinch of sea salt + black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- Soft flour or corn tortillas, any size + charred (See Notes!)
DAIRY-FREE RANCH SAUCE:
- 1 Homemade vegan ranch dressing/sauce
Instructions
ROAST THE VEGGIES:
- Begin by preheating the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- Add the poblano peppers and corn kernels unto the prepared baking sheet and drizzle everything with olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt + black pepper. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until corn and peppers are charred and tender. Remove from the oven and let cool before chopping peppers into medium pieces.
TO MAKE THE BUFFALO CHICKPEA:
- In a bowl, add the chickpeas, olive oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper, tossing everything together until chickpeas are well coated.
- In a medium skillet (10-inch or so) over medium-high heat, add the seasoned chickpeas. Saute until chickpeas become golden. Add the buffalo sauce, stir to combine and let cook for 2-3 minutes or until everything begins to bubble.
- Sir occasionally and once the sauce begins to thicken and chickpeas are tender, remove from oven.
CHAR OR WARM TORTILLAS:
- To lightly toast taco tortillas, preheat oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place tortillas directly on rack. Turn off oven once heated and let tortillas warm for 2 minutes. Remove from oven. For char on a stovetop, pop one of the tortillas unto a gas burner until you begin to see a little smoke. Remove tortilla to rotate it onto opposite side until it’s lightly charred. Repeat until all tortillas are charred.
TO MAKE THE GUACAMOLE:
- If using guacamole, add the avocado flesh into a bowl followed by salt, black pepper, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir everything until combined.
TO MAKE THE RANCH SAUCE:
- See my Vegan Ranch Dressing recipe to make this!
ASSEMBLE TACOS:
- To assemble tacos, add 1-2 Tbsps of buffalo chickpeas atop a charred tortilla followed by: roasted poblano peppers, corn, sliced jalapeños, chopped onions, guacamole, and the DF ranch sauce. Repeat until desired amount of tacos are made.
- Bon Appetit!
Tips & Tricks
- STORAGE: Place any leftover ingredients in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- MAKE AHEAD: All ingredients can be made and individually stored as meal prep (excluding tortillas) and assembled when ready to serve.
- TORTILLAS: To lightly toast taco tortillas, preheat oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place tortillas directly on rack. Turn off oven once heated and let tortillas warm for 2 minutes. Remove from oven. For char on a stovetop, pop one of the tortillas unto a gas burner until you begin to see a little smoke. Remove tortilla to rotate it onto opposite side until it’s lightly charred. Repeat until all tortillas are charred.
Nutrition
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