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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.