Are Meatless Monday and Taco Tuesday weekly staples on your family's menu? Try our spicy lentil taco recipe for a vegan, high in protein, and healthy plant-based meal everyone will love--kids included.
More great options for tasty Mexican-style meals you will love are tacos with quinoa taco meat or cauliflower meat.
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Ingredients
Our lentil taco meat recipe is made with low cost pantry staples that are easy to find at the grocery store. Chances are, you'll have most of these ingredients already.
- Legumes: brown or green lentils
- Vegetables: onion, garlic, tomato paste
- Dried Spices: chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, cayenne, and black pepper
- Liquid: vegetable broth
- Citrus: freshly squeezed lime juice
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make
- In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a full boil, then add the rinsed lentils. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, then uncover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Heat up the olive oil until shimmering, then cook the onion until golden brown. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and dried spices and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.
3. Add the cooked lentil mixture to the skillet and mix well to combine.
4. Add the remaining vegetable broth (1 ½ cups) and stir it in. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and add filtered water if the lentil taco meat starts to look dry, the legumes can absorb a lot of liquid.
5. Give it a good stir and taste it. You can serve it now, or take the flavor a step further.
6. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice to the lentil taco meat. This will decrease the spiciness a bit and give a hint of lime to the meat.
7. This recipe makes 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups of lentil taco meat.
8. Serve while still warm.
Recipe FAQs
Once cooked, one cup of dry lentils will plump up and double in size and make an equivalent of a pound of ground beef. Add spices, like taco seasoning, and aromatics, like onions and garlic, to make them taste more like tacos made from ground beef.
No, it isn't necessary to soak lentils prior to cooking. They will cook in about 25-30 minutes. However, if lentils cause you lots of gassiness, soak them for 4 hours or up to overnight, then dump the soaking water and rinse with cold running water before cooking them.
For this lentil taco meat recipe, we used tomato paste and homemade taco seasoning to make the cooked lentils taste like taco meat.
In this recipe, we found on average brown lentils take about 25-35 minutes to cook while green is slightly longer at 45-50 minutes. Red lentils, which we don't recommend using here, cook much more quickly in 15-20 minutes. If your lentils have been sitting around a while in your pantry, they may take longer to cook.
Serve
For your next vegan taco Tuesday night with this lentil taco meat, serve up homemade pico de gallo, guacamole, fresh chopped cilantro, and avocado cilantro dressing, and let everyone build their own!
Lentil taco meat tastes amazing when used in other Tex Mex meals like tacos, burritos, tostadas, and quesadillas.
You can also use it in a lettuce wrap if you're on a low-carb diet.
Store
Make Ahead: This Lentil Taco meat can be made ahead if needed.
Leftovers: Allow the lentils to cool before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Reheat: The taco meat can be reheated in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat until heated through.
Freeze: This lentil taco meat can be frozen for up to one month in a freezer safe container.
Expert Tips
- Brown lentils cook in 25 to 35 minutes and green cook in 45 to 50 minutes.
- Don't use red lentils to make lentil taco meat, as they get too mushy.
- Use vegetable broth to cook the lentils, as it adds more flavor.
- The spices and salt are added in the last stage of cooking. That way the spices have the most flavor and the cooking lentils in salted water might make them tough.
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Recipe
Lentil Taco Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 4 cups vegetable broth, reserve 1 ½ cups for later
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice, from about 4 limes
Instructions
- Bring 2 ½ cups of vegetable broth to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Meanwhile, rinse the lentils in a strainer, then add them to the broth once it boils. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 to 35 minutes until tender, then uncover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes to thicken.
- Heat up the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, then saute the chopped onion for roughly 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and stir constantly for one minute.
- Add the tomato paste and the dried spices and cook for a minute, while stirring constantly.
- Put the cooked lentils in the skillet and stir until well blended. Pour in 1 ½ cups of the remaining vegetable broth and cook uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding filtered water when necessary, as this meat will absorb a lot of liquid.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the freshly squeezed lime juice. If you want, you can mash the lentils or put half in a food processor to change up the texture and appearance.
- Serve while still warm.
Notes
- Brown lentils cook in 25 to 35 minutes and green cook in 45 to 50 minutes.
- Don't use red lentils, as they get too mushy.
- Use vegetable broth to cook the lentils, as it adds more flavor.
- The spices and salt are added in the last stage of cooking. That way the spices have the most flavor and the cooking lentils in salted water might make them tough.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Akaila Powell
This was a smash!!!!
Emma
Hi Akaila, We are thrilled that the lentil tacos were well received.
Laura
Wow! Absolutely delicious!! I think I did not thicken my lentils enough in the simmering step. I cooked them down a lot more to reduce the liquid in the last step and they came out just fine.
I did presoak my lentils… i’m wondering if that’s why they were more liquidy?
Emma
We're glad you enjoyed the lentil meat so much, Laura! I'm not sure why the meat was liquidy for you. I've never presoaked the lentils for this recipe, as there's no need for that step, so that may be why.
Kim B
This is so good! Made tacos for dinner tonight and made this "meat" for the 1st time. Definitely a keeper. I did not use the ancho chili powder and it was plenty spicy for me. Thank you for a delicious alternative to processed vegan meat tacos.
Emma
You're welcome, Kim! We're so glad that you enjoyed the lentil meat!
Heather Buzby
Thank you for this recipe! I've found lentils to be an easier meat substitute for us omnivores. I adjusted the spice level to our personal taste (ie kids who don't handle spice), and used it in quesadillas. These lentils basically have the effect of crossing Mexican ground beef and refried beans. Super delicious and versatile, will definitely make this again!
Emma
We're so glad that you enjoyed the lentil meat! The soft texture of the lentils does make it easier to eat. It's great to hear that even the kids enjoyed it, too!
Natalie
Just started making vegetarian dishes. This recipe was so easy and my husband LOVED it!! I did add a few chopped chipotles in adobo for a little smoke and heat.
Emma
That's wonderful to hear, Natalie! We're so glad that you and your husband enjoyed the lentils. Chipotle peppers would be a great addition!
Norma
I just made these today and they were delicious!! I made tacos with spinach, avocado slices and salsa verde! Thank you very much for the recipe. I will definitely keep it in rotation!!
Emma
So glad you enjoyed it, Norma! We're thrilled that you're adding it to your meal rotation.
Alex
The meat is spicy and chewy, and has a slightly creamy texture. It's a yummy addition to tacos!
Emma
Thank you for your review, Alex! I'm glad you enjoyed the lentil meat.
Beth
This meat is spicy, but the lime juice adds a nice flavor. This overall is soft, and reminds me of a thick stew. It has a wonderful savory flavor. The spices and lime still shine through even when this is served with toppings.
Emma
I'm so glad that you enjoyed it, Beth!