Vegan Walnut Taco Meat (Fast & Easy!)

• servings: 4 servings
• total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups whole walnuts*

8 ounces baby bella (cremini) mushrooms

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari (or coconut aminos for soy free)

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon each smoked paprika**, onion powder, and garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Directions

Roughly chop the mushrooms. Place them in a large food processor, then add the walnuts and tamari, ketchup, cumin, spices, and salt. Pulse gently multiple times until everything is evenly chopped, being careful not to over process (or it will be too mushy). If you don’t have a food processor, use a chef’s knife to roughly chop everything and place in a bowl with the spices.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium low heat. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring until it releases all of its liquid then becomes dry and browned. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Taste and add more salt to taste if desired. Store refrigerated for 1 week or freeze on a sheet pan, then place in a sealed container and freeze up to 3 months.

Notes

Combining this with actual ground meat is an interesting way to stretch the meat further and tone down the saturated fat hit of ground beef. When making the full vegan version, I like throwing in some hemp hearts, too. Kids are willing to eat this in a taco.

Nutrition

• Calories: 278
• Total Fat: 26.5 g
• Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg
• Sodium: 200.8 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 8.6 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g
• Total Sugars: 3.1 g
• Protein: 6.4 g