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These chickpea tacos will be your new favorite weeknight dinner! They’re loaded with flavor, easy to make, and ready in a flash.
Making dinner is often the last thing in the world I want to do at the end of a long day.
This isn’t much of an issue on days when I’m developing a new recipe for this side (because we eat it for dinner, obviously!), but the rest of my days are spent writing about and looking at pictures of food. So by the end of the day I’m hungry and don’t have much patience for actually preparing a meal.
That’s where recipes like this one come in. These chickpea tacos are so easy to make! The prep work is minimal (dice an onion, mince some garlic), and the filling cooks up in about twenty minutes. And they’re delicious!
So next time you’ve got a busy week, make sure you stock up on the ingredients listed below. You can have dinner ready in record time and stop being hangry, asap!
Jump to:
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How They’re Made
- Leftovers & Storage
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Vegan Taco Recipes
- Easy Chickpea Tacos
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Canned tomato sauce.
- Adobo sauce. You can get this from a can of chipotle peppers, which are available in the international foods aisle at the supermarket.
- Spices. You’ll need cumin and paprika.
- Lime juice. Freshly squeezed juice is your best bet for excellent taco flavor!
- Salt & pepper.
- Olive oil. You can substitute with any high-heat oil you have on hand. Corn oil, avocado oil, canola oil and coconut oil will all work!
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Canned chickpeas. We’re using canned chickpeas to make like easy. If you like to cook your chickpeas from scratch, that’s fine! You’ll need about 3 ½ cups of cooked chickpeas.
- Fresh cilantro. Skip the cilantro if you think it tastes like soap.
- Tortillas or taco shells. I’m using corn tortillas that I’ve briefly warmed up in a skillet, but you could also use small flour tortillas or premade crispy taco shells.
- Shredded cabbage or lettuce. I’m using red cabbage. Green works too. If you prefer lettuce, go for a crispy variety like Romaine.
- Toppings. The sky is the limit here! My tacos are topped with diced avocado, vegan sour cream (Tofutti brand) and extra cilantro. Other options include hot sauce, cashew cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, vegan queso, vegan shredded cheese, salsa, red onion, and fresh scallions.
Tip: You’ll have some extra adobo sauce and chipotle peppers on your hands after making these. Seal them in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze them for up to 3 months. Then use them in another recipe, like this vegan chipotle mac and cheese or this sweet potato black bean chili.
How They’re Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
- Mix up the sauce first. You’ll want it to be ready to go when you need it. Simply stir together tomato sauce, adobo sauce, spices, lime juice, and some salt.
- Heat some oil in a skillet and add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, then add the garlic and sauté it briefly.
Tip: Make a double, triple or even quadruple batch of sauce. Divide the extra up and freeze it in single batch portions. Then you have even less prep work to do next time you make chickpea tacos.
- Add the chickpeas and sauce to the skillet. Stir it up!
- Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens up a bit.
- Take the skillet off of heat and stir in some chopped fresh cilantro. Add more salt if you’d like, along with some black pepper to taste. Make any other adjustments to the seasonings you’d like.
- Stuff your chickpea taco filling into tortillas or shells, along with some shredded cabbage or lettuce, and pile on the toppings.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover chickpea taco filling will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these tacos gluten-free?
Yes, as long as you use corn tortillas or gluten-free soft (flour) tortillas.
Are chickpea tacos spicy?
These tacos have a slight kick, which comes entirely from the adobo sauce. If you prefer mild tacos, leave the adobo sauce out and substitute smoked paprika for sweet paprika. If you like extra spicy tacos, use some extra adobo sauce, add a minced chipotle pepper to the sauce, or add some hot sauce.