Tempeh Tacos!!! These vegetarian tacos are made with an easy vegan taco filling made from tempeh. They're super fast to make, healthy, and delicious, and the tempeh taco meat is full of plant-based protein and gut-friendly bacteria thanks to the tempeh.
Taaaaaaaaaco time!!!
I want you to picture me using my Oprah Voice when I say were making TEMPEH TACOOOOOOOOS TODAY!!! You get a taco, and you get a taco, and YOU get a TEMPEH TACO!!!
I love taco night because it's always a choose-your-own-adventure situation. If you, like me, live in a household where some members are vegetarian and some are not, you probably already know how awesome taco night is for accommodating everyone.
Vegetarian? Make vegetarian taco meat. Vegan? Skip the cheese. Gluten-free? Use a gluten-free tortilla, or skip the tortilla altogether and make a taco bowl! As a nutritionist, I love that these tempeh tacos are loaded with plant-based protein and that you can pile them up with so many veggies.
If you have leftover tempeh, you can use it to make our tempeh bacon or try our community favorite, Sriracha Tempeh Bowls. Or, do what I do and make a double batch of this tested-till-perfect tempeh taco meat and freeze it for a busy week.
Looking for more tacos? 🌮
We love tacos here on HNL. Just look at these Crispy Bean and Cheese Tacos or these Sheet-Pan Halloumi Tacos for proof!
Let's make tempeh tacos together!
Step 1: season your tempeh
This is super easy, my friends.
You're going to want to get your hands on a block of tempeh and crumble it on up. Get all your rage out on that block of tempeh, you'll feel better when you do!
We're going to pre-season the tempeh to make sure the flavours stick. I do this by putting the tempeh crumbles into a bowl, drizzling with oil, and then adding the spices. Give everything a toss, and set aside.
Step 2: make your tempeh taco meat
Heat some oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Add the onions and cook until starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Then add in the seasoned tempeh, being sure to scrape ALL of the oil and seasoning out of the bowl.
Sauté until the tempeh is lightly browned, then remove from the heat. That's it! Your vegan taco meat is done!
Step 3: assemble your tempeh tacos
All that's left to do now is gather up your support crew and taco toppings. Whenever I'm making tacos for a crowd I like to lay out all of the fixings and then have people make their own tacos. What am I, your mother?!
I like to add spicy black beans, thinly sliced cabbage, avocado, jalapeños, and lots of cilantro. You do you!
Can I make this recipe in advance?
You sure can! You can either season the tempeh and then put it in the fridge until you're ready to cook it, OR you can cook the tempeh taco meat and then re-heat it when you're ready to eat. All of the fixings can be made in advance as well.
Tempeh is super freezer-friendly, so you can, by all means, whip up a big batch of tempeh taco meat and then stash it in the freezer for another time.
Tempeh Tacos
Ingredients
Tempeh Taco Meat
- 8 oz tempeh crumbled
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil for frying
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
Taco Fixings
- soft corn or flour tortillas
- shredded cabbage
- avocados sliced
- hot sauce and lime wedges for serving
- cilantro
- pickled jalapeños
Instructions
- Place the crumbled tempeh in a small bowl and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.8 oz tempeh, 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Toss to coat well, then sprinkle the cumin, oregano, and chili powder, and smoked paprika over top, and toss with the tempeh.1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil, and then add the diced onion.2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 large yellow onion
- Sauté the onion for about five minutes, until it it starting to brown. Then add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes.3 cloves garlic
- Add the seasoned tempeh. Sauté, stirring every couple of minutes, until the tempeh is golden brown.
- Remove the tempeh from the skillet and into a bowl.
- Now you can use the still warm skillet to warm your tortillas (you can also do this in the oven) if you like.soft corn or flour tortillas
- To assemble the tacos, sprinkle a bit of shredded cabbage onto a warmed tortilla. Top with tempeh, avocado slices, and salsa. Serve with hot sauce and a wedge of lime. Enjoy!shredded cabbage, avocados, hot sauce and lime wedges for serving, cilantro, pickled jalapeños
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- Nutrition calculation is based on six tacos made with corn tortillas.
- The number of tacos you get out of this recipe will vary depending on how much filling you prefer to use per tacos. For me it made six nice-sized tacos, and I found two tacos per person to be a good serving size.
hannah says
Hi, is there a link to the salsa recipe?
Katie Trant says
What's in the photo is just jarred salsa 🙂
Jess says
Wow these tacos are amazing!! Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe
Pamela says
These look delicious! And that salsa!? Yum! Can’t wait to try them!
Emily says
Thanks for this recipe. I've been trying to figure out how to eat some more Tempeh rather than tofu and didn't really know what to do with it. So excited to try these.
kellie@foodtoglow says
Love your updated photos, Katie. 🙂 They jump off the page and say "make me now!" Pinning and hoping to make very very soon.
Marsha Gainey says
These were so fresh tasting and delish! I made them with corn tortillas, and next time I'm going to try flour tortillas. I had salsa left over and have been pouring it over my breakfast eggs. The salsa alone is yumm-o. Definitely a different take on tacos.
Katie Trant says
Glad you liked them! I love that salsa, and it's so good with the tempeh and fresh cabbage. Yum!
Hilary says
Looks deilcious! I looove tah-cos 😉
Katie Trant says
Thanks! Me tooooo!
theveganmuffinwoman says
These look insanely good!
themuffinmyth says
Thanks! They are!
Jessica&Love says
YUMMY!!! 😀
themuffinmyth says
They totally are!
Deena Kakaya says
You know I've never taken to tempeh, not sure if the smell of texture puts me off but I have to say that you and Kellie combined have certainly encouraged me to try again-look at those tack-oh's (;) and yes totally agree on the salsa front x
themuffinmyth says
It's funny, I totally love the texture of tempeh and prefer it to tofu. I like the nuttiness. But if you're a tempeh sceptic, these tacos are certainly a place to start!
kellie@foodtoglow says
I am in love with this! No matter how you say it, these tempeh tacos are look and sound so fab. The last time I did anything with tempeh it was tempeh jalfrezi (not blogged it yet. I think the pictures are from last year!). Tempeh needs help and spices and salsa are just the trick. A good selling job for poor old ugly tempeh 😉
themuffinmyth says
I actually love the taste of tempeh and often eat it plain, just pan fried in a bit of olive oil. But I know it's a bit of an acquired taste (just like your beloved tempeh) so for tempeh beginners the fresh salsa and herbs do help a lot.
More Than Greens says
They look amazing! Gorgeous photos too!
I say tah-co with long 'a' but my parents (Australian) and housemates (English) all say tac-o with a short 'a'. I get made fun of for the opposite to you! No idea why I say it differently to my parents but seems it's more of a personal thing than a regional or accent thing...
Same debate with nachos; nah-choes or nach-oss?! 😉
themuffinmyth says
That's so funny! Yeah, we have the same debate with nachos and pasta; pah-sta or paaasta.
Sandra says
I've always wanted to try tempeh but I could never find a recipe that interested me, until now. I love tacos for the versatility, and if I made some of the tempeh for me I could still have some "meat" for my husband. Looks so delicious 🙂
themuffinmyth says
Tempeh is one of my favourites! I also highly recommend you check out the summer rolls with miso glazed tempeh (link at the bottom of this post). It's a great way to have tempeh!