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!
These are amazing and so dirt cheap to make. I had everything on hand except for ground ancho chile so I used this South African smoked spice blend that worked perfectly. Garnished with avocado, cilantro, lime, red onion. so good!
Had these for dinner tonight… incredible! Served on sprouted corn tortillas and made some vegan sour cream and fresh guacamole. Thank you for the recipe!
This is one of my favourite recipes! I actually have to be careful that I don’t make it too often so that I don’t get sick of it!! Thanks so much for all the great awesome totally stupendous recipes on this site… It doesn’t get much better than this 🙂
I tried these tonight, soooo good! My only addition was grated carrot
Delicious! Even impressed my carnivorous 12 year old son! initially they were too spicy for his taste, added some cooked sweet potato to the lentil mixture, added great flavor and cut the spice just enough. This will be added to our “favorites for dinner!
I made this twice today. First for lunch.. then again for dinner. That’s how good it was! It is definitely going to be a regular occurrence around here. Thank you so much!
These are so good – a new fave at my newly (mostly) vegan house 😉 Tonight I added yellow potatoes into the mix after mashing (diced and sauteed in oil) – yum! So creamy and delish.
Hi! I don’t usually take the time to comment on recipes I’ve tried but I just wanted to let you know that I made these tonight. Both my husband & I loved them! Thank you so much for the recipe. Have a wonderful Holiday Season!
I’d reserve cooking water from lentils for the “splash of water” – that broth is golden!
I cooked this tonight. I used green split peas instead of normal lentils and it was still awesome. Thanks! 🙂
Oh my life, these are AMAZING!! Made these today, in provincial UK it’s tough to find many common US ingredients and so I subbed the Ancho for half a teaspoon of cayenne and quarter to half a teaspoon of smoked paprika (no idea if this would be even close to how ancho tastes but it tasted brilliant), I used franks extra hot sauce but only used 1tbsp. I can’t do “hot” or “spicy” sadly due to illness, but this combination of spices was spot on for heat for me. The coriander/cilantro and line really set this off nicely. I used fried wheat tortillas as my diet doesn’t start until 02/01/13 so what the hell. I have 2 saved for later but want them NOW!
Thanks Isa, you’re a genius (as ever)
I have to admit these did not look overly appetizing to me. I am vegetarian and love the challenge of taking meat dishes and making them good and veggie, at first glance these looked like they would be overcooked boring lentils, holy smokes was I wrong. I made these at home to taste test before attempting them with a multi-family gathering. I was *shocked* at how good they were. My wife told me to be quiet because I kept raving about how much flavor they had. My son said they looked like refried beans, which they did, but had 1000 times more flavor. The entire first batch I made I ended up eating without ever even trying it in a taco. You could use this filling in just about anything, or just as a veggie meatloaf-ish meal. I just made them again and managed to eek out a few tacos, amazingly good! I did not have tomato paste so I used ketchup, worked great. I used red lentils (no store had brown and red are smaller and cooked really fast), I also used Valentina hotsauce and while eating the tacos I honestly could not think of what I would have added, they are that good! Great recipe!
this is an awsome website!
Absolutely delicious, Isa. This wasn’t on the top 100 for nothing! 🙂
I have to share a modification to this! Maybe someone else has done it already, but I undercooked the lentils on accident and so a few days later I made a soup out of them in order to soften them up a bit. I threw in a couple cups of veggie broth and am currently boiling it down to a thick, smoky tomato soup-type concoction. It’s AMAZING. Especially with tortilla chips.
Everyone loves these! My parents a a bunch of hippies so that’s kind of expected! Making them for my lovely boyfriend tonight – he’s very traditional in just about everything sooo fingers crossed.
Taco Salad!
I served this as a taco salad and it was great! These taco lentils are marvelous! I didn’t have hot sauce or ancho so I used curry ketchup and chipotle – still great!
I made these tonight following the recipe exactly, then served them on small flour tortillas with diced red onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Isa, if there was ever was a superhero with strictly food-related powers, it would be you.
Just had this and it’s delicious! Can’t wait for leftovers. I added cabbage and a cilantro lime sauce. mmmm.
this was beautiful, had it with cherry tom, roasted capsicum, lettuce and cashew sour cream! thanks Isa 🙂
I just made these with homemade vegan flour tortillas and some of your cilantro sour cream! It was really good. I live in Switzerland so to get anything “mexican”, I have to make it myself. Thanks for the yummy ideas!!!
So good! The whole family loved it. 🙂
Oh my holy WOW. These are the best tacos I have ever had! I LOVE this recipe. I want to run away with this recipe. Once the lentils are cooked, the recipe comes together really quickly. I served them with fresh guacamole and cashew sour cream (which you have to make a couple of days in advance, but it’s worth it and I hate soy substitutes).
Wow wow WOW!!! My vegan self thanks you… And my family too!
Great recipe. Easy enough. Lentils Cooke quickly,
So my customers (family) didnt wait too long.
Definitely avocado accentuates the texture and
Helps to combine the flavor in your mouth.
I made these for a friend who has somewhat involuntarily started eating vegan & gluten-free (for health reasons). He said they were the best taco he’s ever eaten. Thanks for another great recipe, Isa!
These were awesome. We loved them! Thanks for all of your fabulous recipes! They are appreciated.