5 Quick Ways To Make Vegan Tacos More Exciting

Tacos are one of life's great joys, offering an extensive array of options that cater to virtually every diet and palate. While there is no shortage of taco ingredients for carnivores, like carnitas, lobster, and chorizo (and don't forget the creamy cheeses and delicious sauces to top everything off), vegan tacos are often underinspired and left with basic ingredients like grilled or sautéed veggies. But while grilled vegetables are delicious and healthy, they aren't exactly the most innovative option.

The tortillas are the easy part, since the typical ingredients in flour tortillas are flour, baking soda, salt, oil, and water. However, you want to ensure that you aren't getting tortillas that have been cooked in lard. The same goes for corn tortillas, which replace the flour with masa. The tricky part is finding the best ways to fill your tortillas so you get delicious, satisfying tacos that hit all the notes of a complete meatless meal. Luckily, vegan cuisine has some incredible options that are not only easy to work with but also offer delicious and creative ways to elevate plant-based tacos.

Tacos are an explosion of flavors and textures, and they wouldn't be complete without creamy components like traditional Mexican crema. But these ingredients are dairy-based, so they just won't work in a plant-based taco. Thankfully, there are great vegan options that are easy to keep on hand so you can add a creamy component to help balance the spiciness of the fillings and create a more complete taco. Vegan cremas and sour creams are made from ingredients like almonds, water, corn starch, salt, and lime juice, and can be made as thin or thick as you like, so you can drizzle them as desired on your tacos.

Equally important is the cheese, with options like cotija and queso fresco often finding their way into tacos. Like a good crema, cheese brings a tangy flair that can help diffuse the heat of spicy ingredients. Luckily, there is a range of varieties, usually made from tree nuts or tofu, that are nearly imperceptible substitutes. As with dairy-based cheeses, these can be shredded or crumbled so they are as visually appealing as they are delicious.

Chickpeas are a gem when it comes to vegan cuisine. They are incredibly affordable, high in protein, full of fiber, and loaded with flavor and texture. You can roast them for a crunchy, ready-to-eat snack that can be customized with a variety of flavors, and you can also use them to make an incredible taco filling. And the best part is, you can use canned chickpeas, so as long as your pantry is well stocked, you can cook this dish in a flash for an easy last-minute week-night meal.

You'll want to heat some oil on the stovetop, drain the chickpeas, and toss them in the pan. If you give them a few minutes to cook before adding your taco seasonings, you'll get chickpeas that are soft and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, so you'll not only have quick and easy vegan tacos, but they'll be full of flavor and texture.

Jackfruit has made a splash in the vegan world thanks to its ability to mimic shredded meat and quick prep time. You can buy it in whole fruit form and harvest the flesh yourself, but it is more convenient to buy it pre-packaged in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. It also comes in canned and frozen varieties, both of which work well for making tacos and make it a convenient vegan taco choice.

It absorbs flavors easily and while you can make an excellent "pulled jackfruit" that tastes like meat in the slow cooker, you can take it from raw to cooked in less than half an hour, mixing it with flavorful vegan ingredients like onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers, herbs, and spices, to create mouthwatering tacos. Simply sauté the shredded fruit with other ingredients like veggies, spices, and sauce, until it's developed a beautiful brown coloring on the outside, then build your tacos and enjoy.

Tempeh is a popular vegan meat alternative because it is easy to work with and easy to find. Tempeh, which is quite different from its vegan cousin, seitan, is made from fermented soybeans. It can be crumbled easily with your fingers or a fork so it resembles ground beef, which makes it an ideal ingredient for a quick taco fix. You can add in your seasonings while you cook it, but you'll get better flavor if you give it a bit of time to marinade in advance, using ingredients like lime juice and garlic to give it strong taco-inspired flavors.

Tempeh's versatility makes it a great ingredient for pairing with other things, such as black beans, so you can create a taco with plenty of textures and flavors. Simply toss these add-ins into the pan while you are cooking the tempeh so the flavors of the spices and seasonings blend perfectly throughout.

One of the classic components of a good taco is a crunchy topping like a slaw, often made with ingredients like shredded cabbage, cilantro, and lime juice. This not only adds flavor but texture to a taco, creating a more complete dish. And while it is a completely vegan component of any taco, you can give it a creative upgrade by going with a fusion approach and top your taco fillings with an umami-packed condiment like kimchi, which still gives you your vegan ingredients and a crunchy texture but adds a flavor punch with Korean ingredients.

This spicy and sour dish of fermented cabbage is easy to make at home and as long as it is stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, it should keep for three to six months. This makes it a perfect go-to option to spice up your vegan tacos in a pinch, but keep in mind that the kimchi will continue to ferment as it sits, which will strengthen the flavor and soften the cabbage as time goes on.