Vegan Walnut Taco Meat

Recently I have been looking for easy natural substitutes to make some of my favorite foods into vegan versions… specifically tacos.

But I’ve also been craving Sloppy Joes and Maid Rite (loose meat) sandwiches, and ground beef & black olive pizza. I’ve been seeing a lot of buzz around using walnuts as a ground beef substitute. And- OMGosh!- it really does make the perfect substitute.

I have made a plain Walnut Meat for pizza topping which I posted a couple of months ago. And, I also have a Walnut Sloppy Joes meat & a Copy Cat Maid Rite that I’ll post separately. For those who have never heard of a Maid Rite sandwich, it’s a popular sandwich chain in the mid-west region of the US that only serves seasoned loose meat (ground beef) sandwiches.

I’ve been trying to get away from using processed, packaged meat substitutes because there are really no health benefits to those. They are easy, but usually over-processed. Finding this walnut meat substitute is a game changer for me. There are some days that I really miss the old comfort foods that I grew up with, so finding creative vegan substitutes for these foods is exciting.

It’s surprisingly quick to make the Walnut meat (literally minutes of cook time in a skillet); however, you do need to plan ahead because the walnuts need to be soaked. This is an important step that shouldn’t be skipped. While the walnuts can be soaked as little as 30 minutes (if you use hot water), I find it’s best to soak for a full day. If you have time to soak overnight, just add the walnuts in a glass jar, cover with cold water, and cover. I like to use a glass canning jar since they have airtight lids, and I don’t have to worry about spilling water in my refrigerator if bump the container.

The longer you soak the walnuts, the softer they will be (but I never soak them longer than 1 day). According to what I’ve read, soaking walnuts makes them more digestible, and the nutrients become more bioavailable; soaking helps to reduce phytic acid, lectins, and oxalates in raw walnuts that block nutrient absorption.

There are also a lot of health benefits to eating walnuts. They are a good source of protein, rich in antioxidants & a good source of omega-3 fat. Plus walnuts may decrease inflammation in the body, promote a health gut, and reduce the risk of certain cancers (i.e., breast, prostate & colorectal cancer). Of specific interest to me, it seems like walnuts may actually increase the beneficial effects of breast cancer treatment. I’ve read there was a 2019 human study that demonstrated that adding 2 oz of walnuts per day to the diets of women with breast cancer showed activation of pathways that promote apoptosis & cell adhesion, while pathways that promote cell proliferation and migration were inhibited. However, regardless of whether walnuts are as beneficial as studies seem to indicate, the walnut taco meat makes a great taco meat substitute & is delicious!

Vegan Walnut Taco Meat

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Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup walnuts (about 4 ounces or 115 grams)
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• ⅛ cup sun dried tomatoes (dried, not packed in oil) (about 7 grams)
• ½ Tablespoon taco seasoning -homemade or store bought (https://flipsidebaking.com/2022/05/02/how-to-make-taco-seasoning/)
• 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice (about 1/2 medium sized lime)
• 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (optional)
• ¼ cup vegetable broth or water, as needed

Instructions

 

Prep:

• Soak walnuts in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes. (see notes below about prepping walnuts).
• Add the sun-dried tomatoes to a small bowl and cover with warm water. Allow to soak for at least 5 minutes (or longer).
• Chop the onion & garlic. Set aside.
• Drain & rinse the walnuts. (Discard the water the walnuts were soaked in. Do not use it as cooking water.)
• Add the walnuts to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse into a semi-fine meal. It should look like a meat-like texture, but be careful not to over process it into walnut butter. Set aside.
• Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the water & dice into small pieces (the tomato water can saved to use as cooking water, if you wish). Set aside.

Cooking:

• In a skillet on the stovetop, sauté the diced onions in the vegetable broth (or saved tomato water) until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add in the garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Sprinkle the taco seasoning over the onion & garlic; stir to combine.
• Add in the sun-dried tomatoes, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add additional broth or water, as needed.
• Add in the crumbled walnut, nutritional yeast, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice; stir to combine.
• Cook for another 5-10 minutes, adding additional broth or water, as needed,
• Take off the stove & serve in tacos shells or in a bowl with beans & rice. Some topping options are: vegan cheese shreds, lettuce, guacamole, rice, black beans, salsa, etc.
• Store leftovers in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days, or up to 1 month in the freezer.

Notes

Soaking Walnuts:

1. The walnuts can be soaked for just 30 minutes if you cover them with hot water to soak.   I heat the water in my electric kettle & pour the near boiling water over the walnuts if soaking only for 30 minutes. 
2. However, the walnuts can be soaked overnight or up to 1- 2 days in the refrigerator instead.  If soaking overnight or longer, add the walnuts to a bowl and cover with cold water.  Seal the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and refrigerate overnight.  
   • I like to add my walnuts to a quart size mason jar, fill the jar with cold water, and seal with the lid.  This keeps me from spilling water in the refrigerator while soaking them.  

Sun-Dried Tomatoes: 

1.  I like to use dried sun-dried tomatoes to avoid extra oil.  I find mine at Vitamin Cottage/Natural Grocers, but Trader Joe’s also sells dried sun-dried tomatoes.
2. If using the sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, I recommend patting some of the extra oil off the tomatoes before using.  

Serving size:

1. This is a small batch recipe because I am only cooking vegan for 1, so this small batch gives me plenty of leftovers as written.  For me, this recipe actually makes enough for 3 servings of 2 tacos (6 tacos total).   However, if you are serving 3-4 people and want to be sure you have enough “taco meat” for everyone, I would definitely double the recipe.