Easy Textured Vegetable Protein Vegan Tacos

Mar 24, 2024

These simple, easy, and utterly scrumptious vegan tacos call upon the plant power of TVP (textured vegetable protein), providing a nutritious touch to a budget-friendly, comfort food meal for the whole family. Just mix up your TVP taco filling with onions, garlic, mushrooms, jalapenos, lime juice, and spices. Then grab your tacos and fillings, including this home-made cashew cream! You can pre-prep eight tacos with this recipe, or set out the filling, tortillas, and toppings and let everyone make their own taco the way they like it. You can make a skinny taco light on the veggie toppings or create an overflowing masterpiece (that’s my trick) with greens, avocados, sauces, and tomatoes so that every bite is a messy adventure!

Best of all, you can get a whole balanced meal on the table in under 30 minutes with this Easy TVP Vegan Tacos recipe–what with your whole grain corn tortillas, plant protein, veggies, and healthy fats. Bam! A nutritious meal that makes great leftovers too. Plus, you can mix up the flavors, try different types of tortillas (crispy, whole wheat), veggies (cabbage, cucumber), and seasonings (extra spice), if you prefer.

Dietetic intern Carol Ramirez helped create this recipe in my kitchen.

While I love Mexican cuisine, I am not a true expert. I was so happy to invite my dietetic intern and colleague Carlos Ramirez to help create this recipe with me in my kitchen. We had such a fun day cooking together, doing our photo shoot, and then eating the goods as we developed this recipe.

Carlos and I enjoyed these yummy tacos after creating this recipe.

What is Textured Vegetable Protein?

You might not be aware of TVP–which means textured vegetable protein–but it’s an old school plant protein you should be including in your diet more often. I grew up on TVP, as my mother would use it to make loaves, burgers, patties, and more. It was very inexpensive, and we would buy it in bulk–because it is dry, it has a very long shelf storage life. Mild in flavor and with a chewy “meaty” texture, it can be reconstituted and then take the place of ground meat in many recipes. TVP is processed when manufacturers make soybean oil–the result is a protein paste that is very nutritious. It can be pushed into different forms, like strips, flakes, nuggets. Usually TVP is made from soy, but it can also include wheat, oat, and cottonseeds.

Easy Textured Vegetable Protein Vegan Tacos

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5 from 2 reviews

Author: The Plant-Powered Dietitian
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Diet: Vegan

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Description

These Easy Textured Vegetable Protein Vegan Tacos call up on the nutrition power of textured vegetable protein–an old school, nutritious, economical plant protein that turns out a really delicious, plant-based taco meal everyone will love in just 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Textured Vegetable Protein Taco Filling:

1 ½ cups TVP (textured vegetable protein), dried
1 ½ cups boiling water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 ounces mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup canned diced jalapenos, drained (or 1 small fresh, diced)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 lime, juiced

Cashew Cream:

1 cup cashews, raw
Boiling water
½ cup plant-based milk
1/2 small lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled, whole
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Pinch sea salt (optional)
Pinch white pepper

Tortillas and Toppings:

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed in skillet
4 small radishes, sliced
1 avocado, peeled, chopped or sliced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup sprouts or microgreens (may substitute with baby lettuce)
3 green onions, sliced
2 limes, sliced into wedges

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Instructions

To make TVP Taco Filling: Soak TVP in boiling water for 10 minutes. Toss with a fork after soaking. Drain out any extra liquid. Set aside.
While the TVP is soaking, start soaking the cashews (see step 8), and prepare the vegetables and toppings.
Heat a skillet or sauté pan over medium heat and add extra virgin olive oil.
Add diced onions and garlic and sauté until softens (about 5 minutes).
Add chopped mushrooms and rehydrated TVP and cook for 2 minutes.
Add jalapenos, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper and cook for an additional minute.
Add vegetable broth, soy sauce, tomato paste, and lime juice, and cook for about 5 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and vegetables are tender. Set aside.
Place cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 15 minutes. Drain cashews. Place cashews in blender or food processor with ½ cup plant-based milk, lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt (optional), and white pepper. Process cashews until very smooth. May have to pause and scrape down sides a few times. Texture should be thick and creamy. Remove from blender and place in a serving bowl. Makes 1 ½ cups cashew cream)
To make the TVP tacos: Assemble the TVP filling, cashew cream, tortillas, and toppings to prepare your tacos. Fill each tortilla with:
- 1/2 cup TVP taco filling
- ½ small radish, sliced
- 1/8th avocado
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons sprouts or microgreens
- 1/8th of the sliced green onions
- 1 lime wedge
- 3 tablespoons cashew cream
Makes 4 servings (2 tacos each).

Notes

TVP may contain gluten, so read labels before purchasing it if you are gluten-free.

I bought these adorable hand-made pottery taco holders from a local artist in New Orleans. It’s really helpful to use taco holders for premaking tacos, because it keeps all the ingredients neatly contained. Try these ceramic taco holders I found on Amazon here.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Category: Entree
Cuisine: Mexican, American