Serves 4
Active time: 20 minutes || Total time: 20 minutes
It’s no secret that I love to use lentils in place of ground meat. Sloppy Joes, shepherd’s pie, burgers…nothing is safe. Especially tacos!
But before I delve into the particulars of this recipe, lets talk a little more generally. This method for “ground meat” can be used in a variety of ways with a little spice switcheroo. Swap out the taco flavors and go Italian (thyme, basil, fresh black pepper) for a meat that would be great in a Bolognese. Add some Sauerkraut to make a great filling for pierogis. So really, anywhere that ground meat would be appropriate, you can sneak these lentils in. Got a favorite Hamburger Helper™ type recipe? Lentils to the rescue instead!
Now on to the taco filling. Ancho chile is dried poblano, and I love to use it straight up (as opposed to a mixed chili powder) for its deep, fruity, naturally smoky flavor. You can use regular old chili powder here, but pick up ground Ancho chili sometime and see if you don’t love it.
The filling is not too spicy, but it does have a little kick from the hot sauce (Cholula is my choice for Mexican inspired foods.) A few squirts of tomato paste provides moisture and binding and really helps to lend a convincing meaty texture. The idea here is to mash the lentils until they hold together, adding splashes of water along the way to keep it juicy.
I like to serve it with cooling ingredients; cilantro for bright freshness, lime for tanginess, avocado (or guacamole) for creaminess and of course some fresh salsa. I’m not really a soy sour cream or cheese person, and here I really don’t find it necessary, but as always, I can’t stop you! For total perfection, grill the tortillas to serve.
Brown lentils have the best color in this recipe but green lentils would work just fine, too. I always whip up a batch of lentils to have on hand, and you should, too. One cup of cooked lentils make about 2 1/2 cups. Just rinse them then bring to a boil in a small covered pot with a big pinch of salt in plenty of water. Lower heat and simmer until tender, then drain. Lentils are so very easy!
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups cooked lentils (from about 1 cup dried)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Cholula)
Spice mix:
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
First combine all of the ingredients for the spice mix and set aside. Also, keep a cup of water within reach, you’ll need to add splashes as you cook.
Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion and garlic in the oil with a pinch of salt for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add spices and toss them for 30 seconds or so to toast.
Lower heat to medium, add lentils, a few splashes of water, tomato paste and hot sauce; use a spatula to mash them a bit as they cook, until they hold together. If your spatula isn’t strong enough to accomplish this, just use a fork. Do this for about 5 minutes, adding splashes of water as necessary if it appears dry. Taste for salt and seasoning; you may want to add more spices or hot sauce. And that’s it, time to serve!
This recipe is so delicious, I’m actually eating a bowl of it right now (just the lentils and nothing else) while I’m re-reading this recipe. For reals.
I love this recipe too much! I think that the BEST part is that it’s 5 Weight Watchers points per serving. Yep… I’m a vegan on Weight Watchers. But, Isa, you make it so yummy!
This recipe was fantastic. I’m pretty much an omnivore but I’ve grown up around vegetarians/vegans (my girlfriend is a vegetarian). I didn’t have the ancho chili so I just used regular chili powder and it still came out delicious. One suggestion I might make that worked really well: I minced a couple of mushrooms as small as possible and sauteed them with the onions and garlic. Really helped add to the faux meaty flavor/texture.
Oh, lord this was amazing. Added 1/2 tsp chipotle powder for some smokey heat….best taco ever.
Substituted Sriracha for Cholula and increased all the spice proportions by fifty percent, then used my finger to get every bit of spare filling out of the pan clean without waiting for it to cool. Absolutely amazing–thank you!
Just ate a massive helping with flour tortillas, guacamole, green salad and extra jalapeños. Total success and the texture is meaty enough without being weird (I don’t like it when meat replacements are too meaty!). Husband has now suggested that we make a tonne of it without spice and freeze it, to be used and spiced up however we fancy! Thank you for another damn fine dinner!
New to vegetarian and vegetarian cooking. This was awesome! I made adjustments based on what we had on hand, but will deffinatly be making this one again. Even my 3rd old ate it with no complaints.
Bless you IsaChandra!! My husband and I have been vegan for a few years, but I recently was diagnosed with celiac disease. We have been living on your Scrambled Tofu and Buckwheat Pancakes (the best pancakes EVER), and now this. What a find. I couldn’t have made the transition to gluten-free without you. I am purchasing Veganomicon in gratitude.
I’ve made this recipe three times in about a month and each time the results have been great! Very tasty tacos! Thanks!
Great alternative for meat. I served on our family get together and they were shocked that there were no meat in the taco. I hope to see more of this kind of blog.
oh my god i just ate this AND IT WAS SO DELICIOUS I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF. super great! thanks! i have no idea how you can concoct so many amazing tasting things but I LOVE IT. thanks for making vegan food magically taste way better than all the animal-y food i’ve ever made, your spice skillz kick ass 🙂 and thanks for the four amazing cookbooks i have of yours, i’m now famous for vegan baked treats thanks to you and Terry. soo good!
hearts and rainbows!
laura
Thank you so much!
Ah!! This was SO good. I’m excited to try out lentils with many more meals. I’m already addicted to the snobby joes. Thanks!
Just made this recipe…for the second time! It only gets better, thanks for sharing! Ooh, since we don’t have access to ground ancho, and the chili powder we have is mostly a combination of spices already called for in the recipe, we tried ground cayenne instead and it works great!
Isa- thank you! I didn’t follow the recipe exactly because I wanted to make it tonight with what I had on hand, but the method worked so well!!!!
Told my husband to expect these often 🙂 I served them on lettuce leaves and this was perfect for staying in the leaf. Nice and thick.
This beats all other taco meat subs I’ve tried to date.
made tacos tonight and this was absolutely delicious!! topped the lentils with tomatoes, avocados, red onion, cilantro, lettuce and a bit of lime. yum!
I made these for my parents for their first Meatless Monday and they both loved it. My mom’s a vegan, like me, but my dad is a hardcore carnivore and said he’d never have tacos any other way again. He also said he didn’t miss the meat at all (I believe the quote was, “Who needs meat?”). So yeah, this one’s a winner.
Also I’m so glad I made double the amount of lentil filling. I’m gonna have some with rice tomorrow for lunch!
I made this last night and cut spice corners with an organic taco seasoning packet. Pretty darn good!
These were oh so mighty tasty! Had a bunch of things on the side to fill the soft tortillas & ancho lentils with (tomatoes, avocados, cabbage, onion, lime, parsley etc.) and my omni fam devoured the entire batch easily. This was my first time making lentils & it was very simple to put together. I just purchased veganomicon & am so excited to cook as many things as possible. i just tried the potato rolls (yum). I kind of stalk this blog. thanks for being so awesome! your descriptions are humorous, recipes tantalizing and I only wish I had more time in the day to cook away. keep on keepin on!
I thought this was awesome! It was a nice change from just black beans that I usually do. I didn’t have dried Ancho powder but I did have Dried whole ancho peppers, so i put them in my food processor and got them to power as much as I could. It worked just fine in this recipe. I also substituted the Cholua for Sriracha because that is what I had. Its a nice take on re-fried beans. I think I could even get my meat loving Fiance to eat this! Thanks for the great recipe, I think this may be a staple for my Mexican nights!
I am not a vegan, but have vegan-leaning tendencies and I loved, loved, loved these. My hubby also liked them a whole lot and he’s kinda a carnivore! I liked them more than ground beef tacos.
I found this web site by accident, because of some kids at my work who have food allergies. I tried these and my family loves them. I just added regular taco seasoning and bam. I like these better than ground beef and I can make these in a jufffy. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas. I am not a vegan but I love what I have tried so far.
Thank you!
Once again I’ve tried another recipe from either one your cookbooks or this site, and BAM!, it’s an instant favorite. These lentil tacos were so tasty and so richly spiced. They kinda kick my own red bean/green chili tacos in the dirt. My man and my kid both had seconds, which is the highest compliment. Wait, my man wants me to qualify that with, “Tell her I had four of them.”
Anyway, I served them with a citrus-y slaw with chopped fresh jalapeños and cilantro, oh and some fresh guacamole.
Thank you, Isa. Keep up the excellent work.
Loved this recipe! Used chipotle powder in place of the ancho chile. In addition, instead of using a corn or sprouted grain wrap, i used the large leaf collard greens instead. Adds a crunchy raw texture to the taco!
Oh mercy!!! Those were fantastic!! The rich tasting filling and the avocado, lime, and cilantro: perfect!
I just discovered this a few months ago, and I am so sad it took me so long!! This is amazing and has become my default ‘ground beef’ recipe for everything. Love it!!
I made these today for lunch. It was really yummy. My suggestion for your new cookbook would be a Veggie Burger section. I love your lentil burgers you have posted. Different variations for burgers would be awesome. Also, I see you have a recipe using mock duck from a can. I am a little apprehensive about eating imported food, since I am hearing that you what’s in the food may not necessarily be posted on the label. I got to find a way to make it myself. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes you share.
Thank you! There will be many burgers to choose from, thanks for the love!