Taco Salad with Chickpea ‘Beef’
I should probably be sharing a Hawaiian recipe today to keep up with the recent theme around here, but my craving for Mexican has officially returned.
Okay, who am I kidding, it never left.
I’m a fan, y’all. I’m also a fan of meals that don’t leave me standing in a hot kitchen for hours. Enter: salad. Now I know some salads might be boring but this taco salad is anything but.
Mostly because I got a little too excited and topped it with all.the.things. To start, there’s a mixture of black beans, diced tomato, bell pepper, corn, green onion, cilantro and fresh lime juice.
Then for protein, there’s vegan chickpea taco ‘beef’ from mashed chickpeas, walnuts, and taco seasoning. {credit to Andrea’s Collard Wraps for the inspiration} It would make a great filling for tacos too!
Then my favorite part: the crunchy sea salted tortilla strips. Not only do they give the salad an awesome texture but they also smell like heaven coming out of the oven. Scrum-diddly-umptious.
Top all of that with creamy avocado and a dressing made from ranch and spicy salsa, and you’ve got yourself a party on the buds!
Like, taste buds. Like…fiesta in your mouth? Just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.
Alright friends, I’m keepin’ it short and sweet so I can get in bed and catch up on my sleep! All of these fiestas can make a girl tired.
Have a great weekend!
Ingredients
2 heads lettuce, washed and chopped (I used one romaine and one green lettuce)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen and defrosted
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
6 green onions, diced
1 cup fresh cilantro, minced
juice of 2 limes
2 avocados, diced
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup walnuts
6 tablespoons taco seasoning + 1/2 cup water
10 corn tortillas
high heat oil or cooking spray
sea salt
8 ounces of your favorite salsa
8 ounces ranch dressing {this brand is vegan}
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Place corn tortillas on a surface for cutting and slice them into 1/4 inch pieces, then cut them in half in the opposite direction. Lightly coat with oil or cooking spray, sprinkle wuth sea salt, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring them around half way through. Remove from the oven and set aside, then reduce the heat to 400°F.
- Prepare the chickpea ‘beef’ by placing the walnuts and the chickpeas into a food processor along with taco seasoning that has been mixed with water. Pulse until a chunky mixture is formed, being careful not to puree it.
- Spread the mixture onto parchment paper, place onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring half way through. The mixture should be slightly dried out so that it forms bigger crumbles.
- While the ‘beef’ is in the oven, prepare the salads by layering lettuce, mixed veggies, tortilla strips and avocado.
- To make the dressing, combine the salsa and ranch dressing in a bowl and stir until mixed together. Top the salads with cooked ‘beef’ and dressing and serve!
Notes
*I made a large amount to have leftovers for the week. Simply half the recipe if you prefer less.
Wow, that is a yummy looking taco salad – chickpea ‘beef’, genius idea! I love tacos!
Sounds amazing! I love taco salads. Never made my own tortilla strips before, but now I feel like I’ve been missing out!
I MUST try the chickpea beef, I MUST! This weekend, I’m aiming for a non-stop fiesta in my mouth with this taco salad allupinmy grill ;)
Oh how I love Mexican food! It’s soooo good! This taco salad looks amazing! The chickpea beef sounds awesome!!
This salad looks like absolute perfection, and exactly what I’ve been craving lately. And that chickpea ‘beef’? Brilliant! I’m definitely going to have to give this a try… Thanks for the inspiration, lady! Happy Friday :D
taco salads will forever be one of my favourite meals – whenever I make tacos for dinner, I’m more looking forward to using the leftovers for a taco salad the next day ;-) annnnd now I have a craving…
Lovin’ the chickpea beef–brilliant. Have a great weekend Sarah!
This is such an awesome twist on taco salad! Love the chickpea “meat” – I’ll have to try it with sunflower seeds in place of the walnuts.
I was just on bloglovin and this lovely recipe caught my eye. I just had to check it out! Love it ;-)
Omg what a great idea! Love both the chickpea beef & crunchy tortilla chips! Definitely giving this salad a go :)
The chickpea beef is such a great idea! And this salad … soooo my kind of salad! We eat mexican food all the time – I never get sick of it!
What a fantastic dish! I love the way you used the tortillas in here. I really want to make this salad now.
I had to make this last night right after I got the email. It was outstanding. The ‘ground beef’ was not only delicious but looked like real beef. Thanks for such a great meal idea. You amaze me how much you accomplish with a job and busy home life! I am going to use some of the ‘beef’ with marinara sauce with zucchini ‘noodles’ made with my spiral cutter!
Thank you so much for the feedback and for the sweet compliment, Carolyn. :)
I think using the ‘beef’ in marinara sounds like a great idea! Especially with zucchini noodles. I just bought a spiralizer myself recently and love it!
This salad sounds perfect! I’ve never heard of chickpea ‘beef’ before but I definitely want to try it.
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I feel ya! I was planning on posting Greek recipes last week, but other cravings got in the way! Mexican is always one of the first things I want when I get home from vacation. Loving this! And I’m totally going to try that chickpea beef, so interesting!
Woohoo! Love the chickpea walnut meat here. And these tacos sound fantastic! Can’t wait to give this version a whirl!
That chickpea “beef” looks amazing! I’m allergic to walnuts, so I’ll have to try it out with pecans. Can’t wait.
This salad is all things I love in the world! I always seem to have some black beans, corn, and limes around that I throw into my salads and then crunch some chips on top. I LOVE your mixture of yummy toppings and I can’t wait to try this chickpea “beef”! I’m wondering if I can trick my meat loving husband into eating it :)
Brett would LOVE this salad – he is crazy for all things Mexican! Im a huge fan too so Im guessing there’d be two happy diners at our house with this dish :) I’m so intrigued by the chickpea “beef” too, I’ll definitely be giving this a try!
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Just made tacos with this meat recipe, so good!!!!
have you tried adding onions or any other veggies to the “beef”?
I haven’t but you certainly could!
Could I use pecans instead of walnuts or do you think it would ruin the taste?
I don’t think it would ruin the taste!