Can’t decide between taco night and pasta night? Make it a taco pasta night — vegan style! This cheesy vegan taco pasta is loaded with Tex-Mex spices, black beans, veggies, and rotini, all tossed in a rich, dairy-free cheese sauce. It’s delicious, comforting, and easy enough for a busy weeknight.
This taco pasta recipe was passed down to me by my very Italian great-great-grandmother. It's a family classic.
KIDDING! Taco pasta is a totally inauthentic fusion of Mexican and Italian cuisine. I didn’t even come up with the idea — it’s all over Pinterest. But like so many meaty, cheesy dishes, I had to veganize it. This one’s joining the ranks of favorites like my vegan Hamburger Helper, beefy vegan burritos, and vegan Philly cheesesteaks.
Jump to:
I’ll admit, I’m not the first to veganize this dish. There are tons of vegan taco pasta recipes out there. But most of them are basically standard taco pasta made with vegan meat and cheese. I'm sure you could have figured out how to do that on your own, which is why mine is a little different. Instead of dairy or store-bought vegan cheese, we’re whipping up a super creamy, incredibly decadent cashew cheese sauce — inspired by my vegan cashew queso. And for the protein? We’re using one of my favorite Tex-Mex standbys: black beans.
It’s still super easy to throw together, and it’s delicious. This is weeknight vegan comfort food at its finest!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Raw cashews. These will be blended up to make the base for our creamy cheese sauce. They need to be raw (no roasted cashews!) or your sauce will taste like nut butter rather than cheese.
- Water.
- Nutritional yeast flakes. Not to be confused with baker's yeast. Nutritional yeast is a type of deactivated yeast that has a cheesy, savory flavor. Look for it in the natural foods aisle of your grocery store.
- Hot sauce. This will make your sauce taste cheesy, so please don't skip it. Try a very mild brand if you're not into heat. Valentina is a good choice. Cholula has a touch more heat but is still on the mild side. Mild taco sauce could also be used, but you might need to use a bit extra.
- Salt & pepper.
- Olive oil. You can use another neutral high-heat oil if you'd like.
- Onion.
- Red bell pepper.
- Garlic.
- Spices. You'll need ground cumin, chili powder, paprika, and ancho chile powder. Most grocery stores carry them all in the spice aisle.
- Canned black beans.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes. Regular canned diced tomatoes can be substituted, but the dish will have a less smoky flavor.
- Dried pasta. I used rotini, but you can swap this out with your favorite or whatever you have on hand.
- Frozen corn.
- Accompaniments. Have fun here, and serve your pasta with all your taco night favorites! Try avocado, fresh cilantro, scallions, and/or lime wedges for squeezing over your pasta.
How It's 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!
Step 1: Heat the pasta water. Place it over high heat to bring it to a boil, but don't add the pasta just yet. We're trying to coordinate the timing so that the water and sauce are done at the same time.
Step 2: Make the cheese sauce. Place soaked raw cashews into a blender or food processor, along with water, nutritional yeast flakes, hot sauce, and salt. Blend everything until it's nice and smooth.
Step 3: Sweat the onion and pepper. Heat your olive oil in a large pot, then add diced onion and bell pepper. Cook them for a few minutes to start softening up, stirring occasionally.
Step 4: Add garlic and spices. Cook them with the onion and pepper for a minute or so, stirring constantly.
Step 5: Add the tomatoes and beans. Then bring the mixture to a simmer and let it cook for about ten minutes.
Step 6: Cook the pasta. Now you can add it to your boiling water. Just cook it until it's al dente, which means slightly underdone. Be sure to reserve about a half cup of the cooking water before draining it.
Step 7: Add pasta and cheese sauce to the pot. Stir it up and thin the mixture with some of that reserved pasta water, if it's needed.
Step 8: Finish the dish. Remove the pot from heat, then add the corn and season your pasta with salt and pepper to taste. Make any other seasoning adjustments you see fit at this point.
Step 9: Serve. Your vegan taco pasta is done! Serve it with whatever accompaniments you like!
Variations
- Meaty vegan taco pasta. You can add some vegan beef-style crumbles to the dish. Just heat them in a skillet with a bit of oil, then stir them into the finished dish.
- Add veggies. Stir in roasted or sautéed vegetables, such as zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or cabbage.
- Add crunch. Top your taco pasta with some tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips.
- Taco pasta fake bake. I don't recommend actually baking the dish, because that tends to dry out cashew-based sauces. But what you can do is place it in a baking dish while it's hot, sprinkle the top with panko breadcrumbs, then pop it under a broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the topping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just use your favorite gluten-free pasta.
Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. The sauce may thicken over time, so add a splash of water when you reheat them, if needed.
Yes, but you have complete control over how spicy. To keep the dish mild, cut back on the hot sauce, stick with a very mild variety, or use mild taco sauce instead of hot sauce. For extra heat, use additional hot sauce or add some cayenne pepper.
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Cheesy Vegan Taco Pasta
Ingredients
For the Cheese Sauce
- ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tablespoons vinegar-based hot sauce (Note 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the Pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 (15.5 ounce/439 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5 ounce/411 gram) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 10 ounces dried rotini pasta
- 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional Accompaniments
- Diced avocado
- Lime wedges
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Chopped scallions
Instructions
- Begin heating your pasta water. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat. Hold off on adding the pasta for now. You can simply lower the heat if the water boils before you're ready for it.
- Make the cheese sauce while the pasta water heats up. Place all of the ingredients into a high-powered blender or food processor, then blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl or pitcher if needed. Set this aside for now.
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper. Sweat the vegetables for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften.
- Stir in the garlic, ground cumin, chili powder, paprika, and ancho chile powder. Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until it becomes very fragrant.
- Stir in the black beans and fire-roasted tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer and lower the heat. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cook your pasta while the tomato mixture simmers. Once the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook it according to the package directions, until al dente. Reserve about a half cup of the cooking water before draining the pasta into a colander.
- Add the pasta to the pot containing the tomato mixture, then add the cheese sauce. Stir everything up, and thin the sauce with some of the reserved pasta water, if needed. Cook everything for about a minute, just until the mixture is heated throughout.
- Remove the pot from heat. Stir in the corn and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with accompaniments of choice.
Notes
- The hot sauce makes this dish taste cheesy, so I don't recommend skipping it. You can reduce the amount if you're heat-sensitive, opt for a very mild brand, or use taco sauce as an alternative. Valentina hot sauce is delicious and has very little heat.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Hi Alissa, made your Cheesy Taco Pasta for dinner last night. It was an easy recipe to prepare and made for a delicious dinner. Will definitely be making this again!
Thanks for the recipe!