This vegan taco salad features delicious lentil taco meat, tortilla chips, avocado, tomato, corn, beans and quick and easy vegan sour cream.

Vegan taco salad with lentils, tomato, corn, avocado and tofu sour cream in a bowl.

Best Vegan Taco Salad Ingredients

There are so many ways you can go with a taco salad! Here are some ingredients you can play around with:

  • Lentil taco meat. I mixed up a quick batch of lentil taco “meat” to give some oomph to the salad. We’ll go over how to make it below.
  • Romaine lettuce. You’ll need a good, crunchy base for your salad. Romaine works well for this.
  • Corn. You can do plain corn, roasted corn, grilled corn or corn salsa.
  • Beans. Black beans or pinto beans work best! Refried beans are also delicious. Instead of corn and beans, you could also just use my black bean corn salad.
  • Avocado. Go with diced avocado or a big scoop of guacamole. You can’t go wrong either way.
  • Onion. Go with chopped green onion or red onion. Both add a nice, tangy flavour and some crunchy texture.
  • Tomato. I don’t love tomato in taco salads but if you do, go for it. Go with fresh, chopped tomato or swap it out for a scoop of your favourite salsa. Pico de gallo is good too!
  • Sauce. So many choices! I made vegan sour cream and a spicy chipotle sauce but vegan queso or avocado sauce are also delicious.
  • Tortilla chips. I like a couple crushed tortilla chips in my taco salads. I think they’re a key ingredient. You can simply crush up some store-bought tortilla chips, or make your own crispy tortilla strips.
  • Extra veggies. To add more veggies, try grated carrots and diced bell peppers.

How to Make Lentil Taco Meat

To make lentil taco meat you’ll need 2 cups of cooked green or brown lentils. To cook the lentils:

  • Bring 2.25 cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized sauce pan.
  • Reduce heat, add 1 cup of dry brown or green lentils, cover and reduce to a light simmer.
  • Cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

While the lentils finish cooking, you can begin making the lentil taco meat recipe. To make the taco “meat”, add 1 cup of diced white onion to a skillet with 1/2 cup of water and all the spices. Once you’ve cooked that up, add the now cooked lentils and mix well. Heat for another few minutes until everything is mixed together. You may need a little additional water or vegetable broth if it seems a bit dry.

That’s it! You can use the lentil taco mixture for Vegan Tostadas, Lentil Tacos, Vegan Breakfast Tacos.

Diced onions and taco seasonings in a black skillet.
Lentil taco meat with onions in a skillet with a wooden spoon.
Healthy taco salad with avocado, corn, black beans and sour cream.

How to Make Vegan Sour Cream

To make the sour cream, you’ll need 1/2 cup of soft tofu and a blender or immersion blender. You could also just whisk it with a fork but a blender will produce a smoother result. I made just enough for the recipe but you can easily double it and use any leftovers in other recipes.

Mix the tofu with apple cider vinegar, lemon and garlic powder and enjoy as an alternative to tofu!

Tofu sour cream in a small glass jar.

Chipotle Sauce

In addition to the sour cream, I also made some spicy chipotle sauce. If you want to try it, blend 1/2 cup of soft tofu with 1 chipotle pepper in adobo and 1 tsp of the sauce. Add 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp maple syrup and a pinch of salt and enjoy as an additional topping.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

You can use any kind of tortilla chips or crackers or this recipe but I wanted to share a quick, easy and healthy way to make your own chips! To make your own tortilla chips:

  1. Turn the oven on to broil.
  2. Cut corn tortillas into triangles.
  3. Place them on a baking tray and sprinkle with salt, pepper and if desired, other spices like paprika and onion powder.
  4. Broil until crispy, flipping once and taking care not to burn them – they’ll burn quickly once they turn brown so watch carefully! They only take a few minutes per side.
Taco salad with tortilla chips, corn, black beans, lentils and tomato.
Mixed up vegan taco salad in a bowl with a fork.

This lentil taco salad is easy to make, full of nutrition, oil-free, vegan, gluten-free and high in protein. Enjoy as is or customize with additional ingredients like grated carrot, bell peppers, red onion or cilantro.

Topped with an easy tofu-based sour cream, you’ll love this hearty, filling plant-based salad!

More Recipes

Leftover lentils can be used to make lentil tostadas or added to recipes like brown rice burrito bowl, breakfast tacos, breakfast burritos or any other Mexican-inspired dish.

If you have extra sour cream it also works well with any of those recipes or it could be served over stuffed sweet potatoes.

Print
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A lentil taco salad with tomato, sour cream and pieces of pita in it.

Vegan Taco Salad

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Vegan, Mexican
Save Recipe

Description

A hearty vegan salad with delicious lentil taco “meat” and all the fixings. 


Ingredients

For the Lentil Taco Meat

  • 2 cups cooked green or brown lentils
  • 1 cup finely diced white onion
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tsp each garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder and cumin
  • 1/2 tsp each oregano, paprika
  • salt and pepper, to taste

For the Tofu Sour Cream

For the Salad

  • romaine lettuce
  • diced avocado
  • diced tomato
  • corn
  • black beans, pinto beans or refried beans

Instructions

  1. To make the lentil taco filling, add the diced onion and spices to a skillet with a few tablespoons of the water. Cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat until soft and fragrant. Add the cooked lentils and the rest of the water and cook for a few more minutes until the lentils are heated through and coated in the spices. If needed, add a bit of extra water if it starts to dry out.
  2. To make the tofu sour cream, blend all the ingredients together until smooth.
  3. To assemble the salads, add a handful of romaine lettuce to a bowl then top with avocado, tomato, corn and beans. Add a couple tablespoons and about 1/2 cup of the lentil mixture to each salad.

Keywords: lentil taco salad, healthy, easy, vegetarian, plant-based