Plant based taco salad recipe
This delicious vegan taco salad is made with a savory mushroom meat and topped with a creamy avocado lime dressing. It’s packed with freshness and flavor and is ridiculously healthy and easy to make. Gluten free and dairy free. Healthy vegan dinner ideas.
This recipe is
- a great side dish for a summer potluck
- perfect for a healthy plant based lunch
- fresh
- delicious
- dairy free, gluten free and vegan
- easy to meal prep
- great for taco tuesday
Ingredients
- Mushrooms – My favorite vegan taco meat are mushrooms. If you cook them right, they turn out chewy, and drenched with umami flavor. White mushrooms work great for this recipe. You can also use extra firm tofu and crumble it up, brown lentils or vegan ground beef like Beyond Beef.
- Romaine lettuce – I prefer romaine lettuce because it’s a nice crisp lettuce that holds up well under dressing.
- Red onion – They add a nice sweet bite to this salad. Green onions also go great in this salad.
- Taco seasoning – To make this easier, just use a packet of taco seasoning.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves take the dressing to a whole new level.
- Tomatoes – This recipe uses both canned tomatoes and fresh tomatoes – I love cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes. You can also use pico de gallo instead.
- Black beans – Pinto beans would also go well.
- Fresh Corn – or defrost some frozen corn
- Tortilla chips – This adds a nice crunch. You can also use crunchy tortilla strips.
- Creamy avocado lime dressing – To make this delicious creamy dressing just blend up some dairy free sour cream with avocado, lime juice, fresh cilantro (if you’re not a fan of cilantro, leave it out) pinch of salt, cumin, minced garlic, onion powder and maple syrup. If you can’t find vegan sour cream, use vegan unsweetened yogurt or vegan mayo.
Recipe tips
The key to cooking these mushrooms right is to chop them up finely so that they resemble ground beef. Make sure to pre-heat your oiled, large skillet on medium-high heat for a couple of minutes.
Once you add the mushrooms, cook them until you’ve cooked the water out and they start to brown. This will ensure to get the most flavor out of the mushrooms and it will prevent them from being soggy and gross.
This avocado lime dressing was a blast to make as well. It takes this taco salad to a whole new level and is full of healthy fats thanks to the avocado.
If you can’t find dairy free sour cream, you can use plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt or vegan mayo which is sometimes easier to find now that big brands like Hellman’s even has a vegan mayo.
Top the salad off with toppings of your choice. My favorites are: corn, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, hot sauce, vegan cheese shreds, lime wedges and tortilla chips. Bell peppers and extra veggies would also be good in this easy vegan taco salad recipe.
Make this salad in a large bowl and mix everything together, but the creamy dressing, unless you’re going to eat it all in one sitting and not have leftovers. The dressing will make it soggy if you’re wanting it for leftovers.
If you want to learn how to cook dried beans in the instant pot, stove top or slow cooker, check out my article on how to cook dried beans from scratch.
To store
This taco salad will last about one day in the fridge if it’s mixed with the dressing. If you want it to last for longer, don’t mix the taco salad dressing in until you’re ready to serve. Keep it in an airtight container and it will last 4-5 days.
What to serve with taco salad
Here are some delicious side dish ideas to serve with your taco salad.
- Chips and salsa
- Mexican rice
- Black bean soup
- Elote
- Refried beans
- Guacamole and chips
- Corn and bean salad
- Black bean quinoa salad
Try these recipes next:
- Black bean and tofu tacos
- Vegan pasta salad
- Vegan summer rolls
- Citrus rainbow salad
- Vegan egg salad sandwich
- Taco pasta salad
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Taco Salad with creamy avocado dressing
Ingredients
- 8 ounces white button mushrooms
- ¼ red onion (to sauté)
- 1 packet of taco seasoning (see notes to make your own)
- ½ cup diced canned tomatoes
- 1 head of romaine lettuce (chopped)
- 16 ounces Black beans (rinsed and drained)
- ½ cup Corn
- ½ cup Fresh tomatoes (this is to top the salad with)
- ¼ of a red onion (to put in the salad fresh)
- Tortilla chips
- Hot sauce (to top)
Avocado dressing
- ½ cup vegan sour cream
- ½ lime (juiced)
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ large or 1 small avocado
- 1 teaspoon of maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
Mushroom meat
- Wipe off the mushrooms and chop them up very finely. You want them to resemble crumbles of beef8 ounces white button mushrooms
- Dice ¼ of a red onion¼ red onion
- Heat a frying pan on medium heat with a little bit of oil
- Add the chopped onion and mushrooms. Sauté for five minutes.8 ounces white button mushrooms, ¼ red onion
- Add a packet of taco seasoning. Cook on medium heat until mushrooms shrink and cook out their water (about 5-10 minutes)1 packet of taco seasoning
- Add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes thicken the mixture and resemble ground beef (about 5 minutes)½ cup diced canned tomatoes
Avocado lime dressing
- Blend all ingredients in a blender½ cup vegan sour cream, 1 garlic clove, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ large or 1 small avocado, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ⅓ cup chopped cilantro, ½ lime
- Add a tiny bit of liquid – either lime juice or water – if you need to thin this out
Taco Salad
- Chop the romaine and place it in a large bowl.
- Top with mushroom meat, corn, tomatoes, olives, red onions and avocado yogurt lime dressing. Crush tortilla chips and add on top with hot sauce (optional)1 head of romaine lettuce, 16 ounces Black beans, ½ cup Corn, ½ cup Fresh tomatoes, ¼ of a red onion, Tortilla chips, Hot sauce
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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