Vegan Walnut Lentil Meat Tacos | Easy Plant-Based Taco Recipe

Looking for an easy plant-based taco meat? Our Vegan Walnut Lentil Taco Meat is hearty, packed with flavor, and incredibly easy to make. Plus, it’s 100% whole-food plant-based.

There’s no funky stuff in these tacos, nor any fancy, artisanal, hand-harvested, moon-blessed ingredients required—just simple, whole-food, plant-based goodness that comes together in a flash.

Our plant-based taco meat is perfect in our Walnut Lentil Tacos. These tacos are good, even the most devoted omni will be asking for seconds thirds.

Why you’ll love our plant-based taco meat

✔ Protein-packed – Lentils and walnuts make a satisfying, nutrient-dense combo.
✔ Texture perfection – Not mushy, not dry—just the right amount of chewiness.
✔ Versatile & customizable – Tweak the seasonings or toppings to suit your taste.
✔ Easy to make – Minimal ingredients, maximum flavor.

Walnut Lentil Soft Tacos

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Author: Molly Patrick of Clean Food Dirty Girl

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Ingredients

• ▢ Sprouted corn tortillas
• ▢ Cheesy Sauce (optional, link to recipe below)

Cooked lentils:

• ▢ 1 cup brown lentils (195 g)
• ▢ 2 cups water (475 ml)

Walnut Lentil Taco Mix:

• ▢ 1 cup walnuts, toasted (100 g)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons tomato paste (40 g)
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves, grated
• ▢ 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (4 g)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon sea salt (6 g)
• ▢ ¼ cup water (60 ml)

Tomato, onion, and kale mixture:

• ▢ Kale, thinly chopped
• ▢ A few small shakes of Braggs or coconut aminos
• ▢ Cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ▢ Red onion, minced

Instructions

Cook the lentils:

• Rinse and drain the dried lentils and place them in a small pot with the water.
• Bring the lentils to a boil and then immediately turn the heat way down until they reach just a simmer.
• Leave them simmering without a lid for 30-37 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed and the lentils are soft, but not falling apart. It might take longer depending on your elevation.

For the Walnut Lentil Taco Mix:

• Add the cooked lentils, toasted walnuts, tomato paste, garlic, paprika, tarragon, sea salt and water to your food processor and pulse just until everything is combined.
• Don’t process the mixture so much that it turns into a mushy paste. If there are some lentils still intact, that’s totally fine. You want the mixture to have plenty of texture.
• You might have to stop the food processor and push the mixture down from time to time with a wooden spoon.

For the tomato, onion and kale mixture:

• Add the kale to a bowl, add the aminos and massage with your hands until the kale shrinks in size.
• Add the tomatoes and onions and stir.

For the Cheesy Sauce:

• This is totally optional. These tacos are still bomb without it, but if you’re making them for meat and dairy eaters, add the cheesy sauce. We like to use the cheesy sauce from this mac and cheese recipe.

Assemble the tacos:

• Heat the tortillas, drizzle a little cheesy sauce on each one, add the taco mix and top with the tomato, onion, kale mixture.

This plant-based taco meat from walnuts and lentils has the perfect texture.

The toppings for these vegan tacos are incredibly versatile! Whether you prefer classic choices, crisp chopped lettuce and tomato, or something more fancy, you can easily use whatever you have on hand. Plus, Clean Food Dirty Girl Recipe Club is packed with delicious whole-food, plant-based taco topping ideas. Here are a few you might love:

• Dairy-free sour cream
• Pickled onions
• Whole-food plant-based Jalapeno Lime Crema4
• Lemon Cilantro Slaw

This dairy-free cheesy sauce is soooo creamy and dreamy. It adds to a plant-based taco, but if you don’t have time to make it, no worries!

Now the hard part…to share or not to share your plant-based tacos?

Crunch time: Adding crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and sliced onion for a refreshing bite!

The perfect plant-based threesome. This beautiful lineup of plant-based tacos are packed with flavor and nutrition.

What can we say, these plant-based tacos are NUTS! LOL!

GET IN MY MOUTH.

You won’t be missing meat or faux meat when you have our plant-based taco meat!

Your taco is assembled and ready to go straight into your mouth! Enjoy!

I hope that you have a happy week. May every day be Taco Tuesday!

Xo
Team Dirty

Looking for more plant-based taco meat inspiration? Check out these recipes

• Oil-Free Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos
• Almond Taco Filling
• Plant-Based Chorizo Tofu Crumbles
• Taco-spiced Lentils
• Easy Taco Beans
• Sheet Pan Black Bean & Roasted Veggie Tacos