Easy Vegan Lentil Meat Tacos Recipe (Instant Pot)

Love tacos, but trying to eat vegan? Don't worry, there's a delicious way for you to have your taco and enjoy it too! With this easy vegan lentil tacos recipe of brown lentils, mushrooms & pecans all seasoned with the perfect blend of spices - get ready for Mexican-style comfort food without having to break out any meat substitutes.

Topping these plant based tacos off is simple: add whatever makes them taste best in your eyes (or as they say south of the border..my ojos!) Now, who wants some tasty veggie goodness for Taco Tuesday?

This recipe is inspired by my vegan bolognese sauce.

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Ingredients

A quick list of the ingredients you will need to make these vegetarian lentil tacos.

You can find the ingredients with quantities and the recipe to print out on the recipe card below.

Lentil Taco Filling

• Dry Lentils
• Mushrooms
• Onion
• Pecans
• Taco Seasoning

Topping

• Tomatoes
• Avocados
• Black Beans
• Salsa
• Corn
• Fresh Cilantro 
• Red Cabbage

Others

• warm tortillas

Instruction

Cook the lentils according to the package instructions.

Chop the mushrooms, nuts and onions. You can use a food processor for this. And saute them vigorously in the pan on medium heat. Here you can either add a dash of water or vegetable stock from time to time.

Add most but not all the taco seasoning and then taste it. If necessary, add a little more. If you like it a bit more spicy or even hot, you can also add a little Tabasco if you wish.

While the mushrooms are sautéing, prepare the remaining ingredients.

When the mushrooms are seared, add the cooked lentils and season again with the seasoning. You can also add some salsa and add extra flavor.

Now you can assemble the tacos together. Put some of the taco meat in a tortilla and add your topping as you like.

Make this recipe, check out my vegan sloppy joes, pulled BBQ jackfruit recipe or Pineapple BBQ Pulled Jackfruit.

Substitutions

• Lentil Types: I prefer to use brown or black lentils for those savory dishes where I replace ground meat. Here you can use brown lentils or french green lentils. I would not recommend red lentils or yellow lentils as they become too soft and tend to become mushy, which we don't want with this vegan lentil taco meat.
• Mushrooms: You can also substitute the mushrooms with more lentils. The mushrooms give the taco dish a nice umami flavor what I love for meatless meals.
• Lentils: You don't like lentils, then you can try replacing them with more mushrooms. Or try chopped cauliflower and use it as a replacement.
• Gluten-free Tacos: The vegan taco meat is gluten-free. With corn tortillas, you made gluten-free tacos very easily. Instead of flour tortillas, corn tortillas are a great substitute, and they taste at least as good as with wheat tortillas.
• Pecan: If you don't want to use pecans, you replace with other nuts such as walnuts, almonds and the like. If you don't want to use nuts in your vegetarian tacos, you can of course also use seeds like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds and chop them.

Variations

• Taco Salad: Who doesn't love a good taco bowl with a good meat substitute. This vegetarian lentil meat is the perfect plant-based protein. Use some greens, tomatoes, fresh corn, salsa, guacamole.
• Burrito Bowls: Instead of using whole-wheat tortilla make this into a bowl with rice or cauliflower rice, quinoa and your favorite chopped veggies, topped with salsa and guacamole.
• Spicy Lentil Tacos: You want these easy lentil tacos a little spicier, add some hot sauce, jalapeños, red pepper flakes.
• Beans: Add black beans or red kidney beans to the lentil taco.

Storage

• Fridge: The taco filling can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for about 5 days. So you can prepare it ideally as a meal prep and use it for vegan burritos, vegan taco bowls and more.
• Freeze: The taco filling can be frozen. I recommend that you freeze tacos that have not been put together. Instead, freeze the lentil filling and the tortillas separately. And thaw and warm up.

Meal Prep

These easy vegan tacos can be prepared in advance. Simply prepare the “lentil meat” as described above and heat it up the next day. You can also cut the remaining ingredients into small pieces and keep them in the fridge.

Serving Suggestion

• Mexican Rice
• Refried Beans
• Mexican Corn Salad

Tips

If you want to prepare it faster, you can also use canned lentils instead of cooking lentils yourself.

I like to cook the lentils myself. Lentils are one of the fastest cooked legumes. I cook lentils in a normal pot.

You can use vegan sour cream. I like to prepare it using vegan yogurt and lemon juice.

Use guacamole instead of avocados.

If you don't like coriander, just take some parsley or other herbs you like.

Vary the filling and just prepare your favorite toppings.

Prepare the tacos together with friends and partners. It's a lot of fun.

FAQ