Tempeh Tacos {BEST Healthy Recipe} - Lavender & Macarons (2024)

You'll love these quick and easy Vegan Tempeh Tacos. They're perfectly seasoned and oh so delicious. These meatless tacos make a hearty and protein-packed meal for busy weeknights or a healthy option for summer entertaining.

Tacos are one of my favorites. They are easy to make and the recipe options are endless.

If you're new to Tempeh, but love trying new vegan dishes, these Tempeh Tacos are worth your attention.

Tempeh is made with fermented soybeans and just like tofu, it's an excellent choice of plant-based protein.

Thanks to its chewy texture and outstanding ability to soak up the seasoning, Tempeh has always been a wonderful "meat-like" ingredient that most vegans love.

Ingredients

Here's an overview of the specific ingredients for this recipe. For the exact ingredients and measurements, please scroll to the recipe card below.

Ingredient notes

• Tempeh - I use the brand Lightlife. It's available in most grocery stores. There are several varieties of Tempeh, for this particular recipe I used Tempeh Flax
• Taco seasoning - chili powder, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, coriander, Gluten-free Tamari, Red Vine Vinegar, Olive oil and Maple syrup
• Dressing - tacos need dressing and I absolutely love serving these Tempeh tacos with Vegan Queso sauce. My favorite is from Siete. If you prefer homemade version of Queso, scroll down to the recipe card below for my easy vegan Queso recipe

🔪 Instructions

If you have a store-bought Queso sauce, skip the following steps and scroll down to the step #4.

Vegan Queso sauce ingredients

1. Prepare a vegan Queso sauce: place cashews in a medium bowl and cover them with 1 cup of boiled water. Alternatively, you can boil the cashews in a small pot for 10 minutes. Drain.

2. In a bowl of food processor add drained cashews, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, water and salt. Process until the sauce is creamy and smooth. Adjust the seasoning to your liking.

3. Transfer the sauce into a small bowl and stir in finely chopped tomato and jalapeño. Set aside.

4. Prepare the red cabbage slaw. Using a long knife or a mandoline slicer, thinly slice the cabbage. I actually recommend you to use a mandoline slicer as it's capable to slice the cabbage super thin. Thinly sliced cabbage works best in slaws.

5. Add sliced cabbage in a large bowl and add ¼ teaspoon of salt. Lightly squeeze the cabbage with your hands to soften it. Add olive oil mix and set aside while you prepare tempeh taco filling.

6. Prepare tempeh taco filling by steaming your tempeh. It will help neutrilize its natural bitterness. Cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water.

Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Arrange the tempeh cubes in a steamer basket. Set the steamer basket in the saucepan and cover with the lid. Steam the tempeh for 10 minutes.

7. Combine taco seasoning: in a medium bowl whisk chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, oregano, garlic powder, vinegar, water, 1 tablespoon of oil, Tamari and Maple syrup.

8. Add steamed Tempeh into a bowl and use a fork to crumble it into small "ground meat like" pieces.

At this point you can either leave Tempeh to marinate for 30 minutes or if you're in a rush, cook it right away.

9. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 12-inch skillet and over medium heat. Add Tempeh along with all the spice mix and cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. If Tempeh starts to stick, add 2-3 tablespoon of water.

10. Heat the tortillas over an open flame or in a dry pan over medium heat. Spoon 1 tablespoon of Vegan queso sauce in the center of Tortilla. Add about ⅓ cup of cooked tempeh taco meat, ⅓ cup of shredded cabbage and 1 tablespoon of cilantro. Drizzle with more queso sauce if desired and serve warm.

💭 Recipe Tips

If you don't have a steamer basket, you can also boil the tempeh. Fill a small pot with 1 cup of water, add tempeh, cover the pot with the lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Then, drain the tempeh and continue to the next step.

You can also marinate the tempeh for the tempeh tacos ahead of time. Just coat the tempeh in spices, place the bowl a fridge and then finish cooking just before the meal time rolls around.

🍽 Frequently Asked Questions

Recipe Variations

The main ingredient in this vegan taco recipe is obviously Tempeh. Aside from that, you can customise these tacos with whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Instead of red cabbage, you can use Napa Cabbage. In addition, feel free to throw in some diced tomatoes, green olives, or avocados.

If you make this recipe, please leave me a comment below and rate it. I always appreciate the feedback. Also, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.

If you're looking for a quick overview of the recipe, please check out my Tempeh Tacos web-story.

Recipe