Perfect for your next Taco Tuesday, this easy, delicious, vegan lentil taco meat is nutritious, soy-free, grain-free, high in protein (11 g per 3/4 cup!), frugal, easy-to-make, and ready for use in your favorite tacos, burritos, nachos, and taco salads.

Vegan Lentil Taco Meat for Taco Tuesday

It may be Monday, but I am already thinking about Taco Tuesday.

I hope that you will be, too, as soon as you read this post. This is a filling you are sure to LOVE.

It’s my Vegan Lentil Taco Meat.

I made crispy tacos, stuffed with this lentil taco meat, for my carnivorous 11 year-old (who happens to love tacos) shortly after completing this batch. He devoured them, without noticing (in the least) that his meat had been swapped for lentils.

In short, this is a taco filling for carnivores, herbivores, and everyone in between!

It boasts the following attributes:

*Vegan

*Grain-free

*Soy-free

*High in protein (11 grams per 3/4 cup serving!)

*High in fiber (sorry bran flakes, lentils win)

*Super-frugal

Ready to make it?

Ingredients for Lentil Taco Meat

Here is your pantry list: regular lentils, an onion, spices, salt & pepper, nutritional yeast (completely optional, but it adds excellent umami flavor), and a bit of oil to cook the onion (I have an oil-free option in the recipe for those of you who do not eat oil).

Step 1: Cook the Lentils

Start by cooking the lentils for 20 to 25 minutes, just until they are tender, but not completely falling apart. One cup of dry lentils yields 3 cups of cooked lentils.

Onward!

Step 2: Cook the Onions and Spices

Next. cook the onions in the small amount of oil, followed soon after by the spices.

Step 3: Add the Cooked Lentils

For the home stretch, add the cooked lentils, (optional) nutritional yeast, and a bit more water. Release any accumulated stress by mushing and mashing the lentils, with a fork, until some of the lentils are broken apart and the texture resembles ground meat.

Cook everything for 5 or 6 minutes longer, until most of the water has absorbed, and, SHAZAMM, your taco meat is ready for eating!

Use the taco meat to fill tacos, stuff burritos, spoon over nachos, create taco salads, you name it!

Don’t forget to adjust and modify the spices and seasonings as much as you like to create your signature taco blend!

Happy cooking, everyone!

More Easy, Plant-Based Meat Recipes to Try:

Vegan Oat Mushroom Ground Beef

3-Ingredient Almond Flour Vegetable Nuggets

Mushroom Almond Flour Ground Beef (2 ingredients)

Vegan Ground Beef

Lentil & Mushroom Meatballs

Lentil & Vegetable Kefta

Grain-Free Lentil Loaf