Tacos for breakfast? Yes, please. These Vegan Breakfast Tacos are packed full of protein, savoury goodness and spicy flavours. They are a delicious recipe to have for a weekend brunch or for when you are craving breakfast for dinner. Corn tortillas, tofu (the vegan scrambled eggs), black beans, roasted yams, guac, salsa, spices and green onion- the gang’s all here!
how to make vegan eggs
You might be new on the vegan/plant-based journey and be wondering how to make vegan eggs. Let me help you out here. First off, there are many different types of vegan eggs. There are ones for baking such as a flax egg or chia egg. The flax and chia make a gel or yolky texture when mixed with water. But those types of eggs don’t make for very good vegan scrambled eggs.
I’ve found I love using tofu for when I’m looking for a good scramble. Especially in these vegan breakfast tacos, I wanted a consistency that mimics classic scrambled eggs. The tofu filling in these tacos acts as the vegan scrambled eggs. I find tofu has a similar texture when it is broken up and sautéd. There is no crazy prep for the tofu. If you choose to press the tofu (see the instructions) that will involve a little waiting time but otherwise, you just crumble the tofu up to the desired size. The tofu mixed with some spices gives these tacos the texture and taste I was looking for.
So now you know that there are many types of vegan eggs. But when wanting vegan scrambled eggs, the extra firm tofu is the route I took, and it didn’t disappoint.
Need some sweet to go with the savoury? Try these Easy Blueberry Banana Pancakes or this Cinnamon Roll French Toast.
why do you press tofu?
There are many different opinions about pressing tofu. If you aren’t sure what I mean when I say pressing tofu, it is the simple process of wrapping your extra firm tofu in a towel and placing something heavy on top of it to remove excess water from it. Ideally, you should be pressing it and leaving it for 1-4 hours. Removing the excess water helps the tofu to absorb more marinade and get crispier when frying. With this tofu taco recipe I’m not too fussed with the time, obviously the longer you leave it the more the tofu will absorb the spices and become crispier but there are so many yummy flavours in these vegan tofu tacos I found the time for pressing the tofu wasn’t super impactful.
here are a few reasons why I love these vegan breakfast tacos, so listen up!
- These vegan tofu tacos will keep that belly nice and full. They are packed with protein thanks to the tofu and the black beans. Tofu contains all 9 essential amino acids and is rich in iron and calcium. It’s a powerful food, which is why it’s the star of these tacos. For more information on tofu, read here. At the moment my go-to tofu brand is the sprouted tofu by Sol Cuisine. This is the brand I used in this tofu taco recipe.
- Once you have your tofu pressed, and your cashews soaked, this tofu taco recipe requires little time. You can prepare your yams days in advance and then just reheat them with the black beans and tofu. A little secret about soaking cashews is that you don’t have to soak them overnight. They are already a soft nut, so I find soaking them in boiled water (pot removed from the stove, but the water is hot) works like a charm. You only need to soak them for 20-30 minutes then, which speeds up the process. The tofu and beans take no time to cook, the guacamole is done before you know it, and the cashew sauce just needs to be blended. This recipe has a lot of components but it’s actually quite straightforward to make, once it’s broken down.
- This tofu taco recipe is quite versatile. If you don’t feel like waking up to the taco train, the tofu scramble would be a delicious base for a breakfast bowl. The tofu acts as vegan scrambled eggs and complementing the tofu you could add the same ingredients used in the tacos, just leave out the corn tortillas.
If you feel like vegan scrambled eggs, and tacos for breakfast, this is the recipe for you. These vegan breakfast tacos are a nice change-up from waffles and pancakes. Don’t get me wrong I love smothering cooked batter in maple syrup. But these vegan tofu tacos are filling yet won’t weigh you down as I sometimes find pancakes do. The tacos are seasoned nicely, loaded with wholesome goodness and are absolutely mouthwatering. Bring a little Taco Tuesday to your weekend brunch.
vegan breakfast tacos
Ingredients
roasted yams
- 2 small yams
- 2 tsp avocado oil
- salt and pepper
Tofu
- 1/2 block of extra firm tofu (~200g/ double recipe if using full 400g)
- 1-2 tsp oil of choice
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 4-5 tsp water (to thin spices)
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup black beans
Cashew Sauce
- 1/4 cup cashews (soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes )
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 2-3 tbsp water
Guacamole
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 2 tbsp red onion (finely diced)
- sea salt
Other Toppings
- green onion
- salsa
- 6 mini corn tortillas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Slice your yams into round disks. Toss in 2 tsp of oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Then flip the yams and bake for another 15 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the cashew to the boiling water. Take the pot off the stove. Let soak for 30 minutes.
- Press the tofu: wrap the tofu in a towel and set something heavy on it for 10-20 minutes- to remove excess moisture (the longer the better).
- Prepare the guacamole. Add all the ingredients into a bowl and mash/ stir to combine. Set aside.
- Add 1-2 tsp of oil to a cast-iron pan over medium heat. Add the tofu, while breaking it apart with your fingers or a spatula so that it crumbles into smaller pieces. Mix the tofu spices with 4-5 tsp of water so that a thin paste forms. Add the spices to the tofu, tossing the tofu in the spices. Let cook for 2 minutes, continuing to stir the tofu. Next, add the rinsed and drained black beans. Toss to incorporate among the tofu, let cook for 2-4 minutes.
- Prepare the cashew drizzle. Drain the water from the cashews, and along with the other ingredients for the sauce, add to a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.
- Assemble the tacos. Add some of the tofu/black bean mixture to a taco, and top with guacamole, salsa, the roasted yams, green onion and the cashew lime drizzle. Do the same with the rest of the tacos. Makes roughly 6 tacos. Option to warm the tortillas up before adding the taco filling to them/ toasting them in a pan beforehand.
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This looks like an amazing breakfast I can’t wait to try. I love how you explained about the tofu – which kind to use and how to press it. Also super tip for the cashews. Yum. Yum. Yum.
I’m all about tips and short cuts 😉