These lentil tacos are a perfect vegan midweek meal! Stuffed with spicy lentil taco "meat" and piled high with your favorite taco toppings, they're as delicious as they are easy to make.
Lentils are one of my favorite vegan ground beef substitutes. They're satisfying, protein-packed, and have just the right texture. I've had success using them in everything from vegan sausage rolls to lentil burgers to vegan stuffed peppers.
So of course lentils would make an excellent vegan taco filling. They work really well in this recipe, and as an added bonus, they're cheap as heck!
These lentil tacos are absolutely scrumptious and incredibly easy to make. This is also a fantastic recipe for using up leftover lentils!
Tip: Cooked lentils freeze really well! Make a large batch and keep them in the freezer. Once they're thawed, these tacos can be thrown together in about fifteen minutes!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Lentils. We're using plain old brown lentils, which are the most common variety on supermarket shelves. The recipe calls for dried lentils, but feel free to substitute canned or precooked lentils to save time. This recipe is great for using up leftover lentils from dishes like my lentil Bolognese or lentil meatballs.
- Vegetable oil. You can use any high-heat oil that you normally like to cook with, such as olive oil, canola oil, or corn oil.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Spices. You'll need ground cumin, ancho chile powder, dried oregano, and smoked paprika, all of which are available in the spice aisle of most supermarkets.
- Tomato sauce.
- Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari can be substituted if you'd like to keep these tacos totally gluten-free.
- Fresh cilantro.
- Salt and pepper.
- Corn tortillas. Feel free to swap these out with small flour tortillas or hard taco shells, if you prefer.
- Toppings. The tacos in the photos are topped with my cashew queso and guacamole. They were delicious and sloppy! Shredded lettuce or cabbage, diced tomato, salsa, hot sauce, vegan sour cream, or cashew cream would also make great toppings.
Tip: Like your tacos extra spicy? Add some cayenne pepper or your favorite hot sauce to the filling.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Begin by cooking your lentils. Place them in a saucepan, cover them in water, and boil them until they're tender, then drain them into a colander. Be careful not to overcook them.
Heat some oil in a skillet and add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, until it becomes soft and just begins to brown.
Add minced garlic to the skillet, along with your spices. Cook the mixture very briefly, until it becomes very fragrant. Make sure to stir it constantly to prevent anything from burning.
Stir in the tomato sauce and soy sauce, then bring the mixture to a simmer. Let it cook for a few minutes to mingle the flavors and further soften the onion.
Stir in the lentils and cook them in the sauce for just a minute or two. Be very gentle with the lentils to prevent them from getting smashed. You want to preserve their texture!
Take the skillet off of heat and season your lentil taco filling with some salt and pepper. Stir in chopped fresh cilantro. Give it a taste-test and adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
Stuff your taco filling into warm tortillas and pile on your toppings. Enjoy!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover lentil taco filling will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days, or in the freezer for about three months. It can be heated up in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. If you choose to heat it on the stove, add a bit of water and be super careful when stirring to avoid smashing the lentils.
Tip: My cashew queso is also freezer friendly, so consider making a batch of that and freezing it along with your taco filling so you have a quick and easy vegan taco dinner on hand next time you get a craving!
More Vegan Taco Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Easy Lentil Tacos
Ingredients
For the Lentil Taco Filling
- 1 cup dried brown lentils (Note 1)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For Serving
- 8 corn tortillas, warmed in a hot skillet
- Toppings of choice, such as lettuce, tomatoes, vegan cheese, and/or guacamole (Note 2).
Instructions
- Place the lentils into a small saucepan and cover them with a few inches of water.
- Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil.
- Lower the heat and allow the lentils to boil for about 20 minutes, until almost fully cooked but just a tad on the firm side.
- When the lentils have finished cooking, drain them into a colander.
- Coat the bottom of a medium skillet with the oil and place it over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft and is just beginning to brown.
- Lower the heat to medium, and add the garlic, cumin, ancho chile powder, oregano, and smoked paprika. Sauté the mixture for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato sauce and soy sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the lentils and continue to cook everything for 1-2 minutes longer, gently stirring the mixture. Be careful not to smash the lentils.
- Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the cilantro. Season the filling with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stuff the tortillas with the lentil filling and toppings of choice.
- Serve.
Notes
- If you have precooked or canned lentils on hand, feel free to use then to save time. Skip steps 1 through 4 of the recipe. You will need three cups of cooked lentils.
- The tacos shown in the photos are topped with my vegan cashew queso and guacamole.
- This recipe makes about eight tacos, or four servings, with two tacos per serving.
- Nutrition information includes tortillas and filling. It does not include toppings.
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Nice and easy! Also, I only had red lentils on hand and they worked just fine, for anyone in a similar situation.
Delicious recipe. Many thanks!
I look forward to trying this tomorrow, the only ingredient i need to pick up from the store is tomato sauce. I will also probably use Lettuce for the 'shell' as I tend to want to eat MORE wraps/filling when I do tacos, and by removing a high calorie corn or flower shell, i can enjoy more of the STAR of the recipe.
We definitely enjoyed this. The queso was outstanding and the lentil filling was good, but my husband isn't a huge fan of the lentils. Will try it with your chipotle tempeh filling to see if that is even more popular. Another great recipe! We found it worked best to use double corn tortillas (soft), as ours turned out pretty most and otherwise they fell apart easily (but were still delicous!)
I'm glad you enjoyed them! I think the queso would work well with chipotle tempeh tacos!
I wasn’t loving the lentils or queso on their own. But all together? Yum! I used lettuce, avocado, green onion and cilantro. Easy and tasty!
I'm so glad you like it!!
Made these for dinner tonight. They were really good. But that cashew queso is soo delicious! I literally could have eaten it with a spoon! And so easy to make. Thanks for another winnerAlissa.
Yay! Glad you like them! Thanks Kelly!
I haven’t made the taco filling yet...but just made the queso. VERYGood!! And not like “good for vegan queso”...just really REALLY GOOD. One of the easiest and best tasting ones I’ve made. This will likely be my new “go to” Used “Franks” for the hot sauce.
Thank you for a great recipe.
So glad you like it!! Thanks Jennifer!
I 100% agree with this theory! I also often unintentionally participate. But I also remind myself how foolish the whole thing is, our brothers and sisters in Mexico eat tacos every day.
Ah, jealous! I'd love tacos everyday!
These tacos look delicious! And I love that you used lentils as the filling :)
Thank you so much Sarah!