Vegan Chickpea Walnut Taco Meat 🌮 is Spicy, Smoky, Packed with Plant-Based Protein, and perfect for people who are not into tofu. Now, your Taco Tuesdays Can be solely about these Vegan Chickpea Walnut Meat Tacos with Sour Cream Cashew Crema.
Also try these Vegan Birria Tacos🌮

You can replace chickpeas with mushrooms or lentils or cauliflower or black beans. Or you can simply use ground walnut to make this vegan taco meat.

These days I'm, getting crazily inclined towards Non-Meat Tacos. I've made quite a few Tacos which are actually quite popular in my blog.
Non-Meat Tacos are versatile,
Healthy, and you have so many options.
Try Black Bean and Corn Tacos or
Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower and Black Bean Tacos or
Crispy Roasted Cauliflower Taco with Chipotle Romesco or
Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos or

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🍲Ingredients
These are the ingredients that you'll need to make this Vegan Chickpea Walnut Taco Meat.
- Raw Walnuts
- Chickpea - drained and rinsed
- Garlic Powder
- Oregano
- Spices - Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika, Ground Cumin
- Soy Sauce or Tamari
- Nutritional Yeast
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black pepper
- Coconut Sugar
See the recipe card for quantities. Also, check out the video for a visual 🎥
🍴🌮Instructions
Here is how to make Vegan Walnut Taco Meat with Chickpeas with Step by Step images.
Step 1: Toast Walnuts
Layout Walnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and toast walnuts for 7-8 minutes in a preheated oven at 350°F. Toasted Walnuts adds a smoky flavor to the taco meat. More importantly, toasting walnuts doesn't change their nutritional value.

Step 2: Pulse everything in a Food Processor
In a food processor add toasted walnuts, Chickpeas, Garlic Powder, Oregano, Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika, Ground Cumin, Soy Sauce, Nutritional Yeast, Kosher Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, and Coconut Sugar. Pulse just until it gets a semi-fine mealy consistency. Don't pulse all the way.

Step 3: Assemble
Assemble your Vegan Chickpea Walnut Taco Meat in a Corn Tortilla or a Flour Tortilla to make a Taco. Or Enjoy this as a Salad or Serve this with Nachos or Add some cooked rice to make Burrito.
Hint: I have not used Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce since in my home, Kids don't like anything spicy. But, to add extra heat feel free to add some.

Allergic to Walnuts?
If you are allergic to walnuts then you can use Sunflower seeds in its place. Just follow the recipe exactly as is.
🌮Corn Tortillas or Flour Tortillas?
This recipe works with both Corn tortillas and Flour tortillas. But, I would personally choose corn tortillas because they are low in fat and carbs when compared to flour tortillas.
🌾Is this Gluten-Free?
Apart from Tortillas, the ingredients of this recipe are Gluten-Free. So, you can replace Corn Tortillas or Flour Tortillas with Gluten-Free Tortillas. See this recipe and learn how to make Gluten-Free Tortillas.
🥘 Variations
- Lentils - Use Brown lentils or Green lentils instead of chickpeas to make this recipe. I don't recommend red lentils since they get creamy and mushy.
- Black Bean - Black Bean adds a Nuttiness and its also an excellent source of Plant-based Protein.
- Corn - You can use some fresh corn on the cobb or frozen corn to make these tacos.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes - To add depth of flour you can add some Sun dried tomatoes as well.
See this Vegan Taquitos - Baked Taquitos

🧊Storage
Store the leftovers in an air-tight container. It will last for 5-6 days in the refrigerator and up to 1-month in the Freezer if stored properly.
💡Top tip
- Make sure you toast walnuts before your proceed with the recipe for best taste.
- If you don't haven Canned Chickpeas you can use 300gm of Fresh Cooked Chickpeas.
- Don't Pulse all the way. Pulse until it gets a semi-fine mealy consistency.
If you like this recipe, please leave a rating below. Also, take a snap and share it on Instagram with #recipemagik. Tag me @recipemagik and let me know how it went.
10-minute Vegan Chickpea Walnut Taco Meat
INGREDIENTS
Walnut Chickpea Meat Tacos
- 3 cups California walnuts chopped
- 2 cans (13.5oz) chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 Tablespoon ketchup I used Heinz Tomato Ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce can be replaced with Tamari
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast optional
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 Teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar can replace with stevia or maple syrup
To Serve
- Corn Tortillas or Flour Tortillas
- Cilantro, Guacamole, Red Onions, Cashew Crema optional for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat Oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place raw walnuts on the baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes.
- In a Food Processor combine toasted walnuts, canned chickpeas, ketchup, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, ground cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, oregano, coconut sugar, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Don't pulse into a smooth paste. Pulse it gets a semi-fine mealy consistency.
- Assemble your vegan Chickpea walnut taco meat in tacos with corn tortillas or flour tortillas or serve as a salad or serve as a burrito or simply serve with nachos.
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