Smashed Chickpea Tacos with Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce
These Smashed Chickpea Tacos with Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce are the perfect blend of seasoned chickpeas, fresh slaw and a bit of spice! Taco Tuesday never looked so good.
Happy Taco Tuesday!
It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, and today I have a new taco recipe that is going to have you doing a happy dance in your kitchen.
Smashed Chickpea Tacos with Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce!
These tacos are layers upon layers of flavor.
And the base of the flavors comes from the smashed chickpeas.
Now let’s take a second and talk about chickpeas. Chickpea skins in particular. I KNOW this is a tedious task, but you really, really need to remove the skins for the best results. If not, you will end up with skins in your teeth, and nobody wants that.
BUT, I have developed a couple tricks to help make this process a little less painful.
TSV TIP: Add the rinsed chickpeas to a large bowl of water. Then, rub handfuls of chickpeas between your hands, letting the skins fall off and float to the top of the water. Do this a few times and you will have more than half of the skins done with.
Next, grab a handful at a time and peel off any leftover skins – putting the clean ones in a fresh bowl.
That is literally the hardest part of the recipe, I swear.
I sometimes dream of the day there is a brand of canned chickpeas that removes the skins for you.
To season the chickpeas you just need to sauté some red onions in oil, add the chickpeas and a packet of taco seasoning. Give everything a quick mash and the “meat” of your tacos is ready to go.
The other major component of these tacos is a TSV classic – Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce!
You have seen this sauce used in my enchiladas & stuffed peppers – and what better way to use it again then on top of tacos? You guys tell me all the time that this sauce is one of your favorites. And if you’re not a huge fan of spice, don’t worry – this just has a small kick, nothing too crazy.
Load your tacos up with all of your favorite toppings. I opted for a lime-marinated slaw, thinly sliced radishes, cilantro and serrano peppers. Some other great adds would be avocado, salsa or corn. Use what you have on hand, and get creative.
For the tortillas I opted for corn, but flour would work too.
Have leftovers? The smashed chickpeas are great in taco bowls too!
Smashed Chickpea Tacos with Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce*
- 2 15 oz cans chickpeas drained, rinsed & skins removed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 red onion finely diced
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- 1 cup purple cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 lime juiced
- 8 corn tortillas
- radish slices, serrano peppers, cilantro, lime wedges for topping
Instructions
- Prepare Vegan Jalapeño Cream Sauce and set aside.
- Drain, rise and remove the skins from your chickpeas (see description above for my favorite way to do this). Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add red onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add chickpeas and taco seasoning to the pan. Pour 1/4 cup of water in the pan and simmer for 5-7 minutes (or until most of the water is evaporated).
- Using a potato masher (or a fork), mash chickpeas until your desired consistency is reached. Turn heat to low until ready to eat - adding additional water 1 tablespoon at a time if it starts to dry out.
- Combine lettuce, cabbage and lime juice in a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside until ready to use.
- In a pan (or over an open flame), grill tortillas until warmed through and slightly crispy.
- To assemble tacos, layer each tortilla with 1/4 cup of chickpea mixture, slaw and any toppings you are using. Drizzle Jalapeño Cream Sauce over each taco and serve.
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase I will receive a small percentage of the sale. Please know I would never link a product unless I have personally used it and loved it!
This recipe was amazing!!! I’m not vegan but I like this way better than meat tacos! I changed the recipe a bit and added some extra seasonings to the chickpeas. I also substituted mayonnaise in the sauce for the vegan cream cheese since I couldn’t get to a store. Great for dairy allergies!
Those sound like great additions – and I’m so glad you liked them!!!
I made this tonight and it was AMAAAAZING. Seriously, I was thrilled.. it’s been so long since I have had delicious tacos. The cream sauce was such a creative addition! Thanks for the great recipe ? I’ll take a picture next time and use your hash tag… They got eaten too quickly today!
Haha – too bad you weren’t able to snap a pic but I’m glad they were a hit 🙂
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Followed the recipe exactly…wow, what an amazing meal. Filing and bursting with flavor. And, easy to make and cleanup. Plenty of leftovers! The jalapeño cream sauce is an absolute must. SpIcy but not overwhelming. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you liked these! Tacos are always a good idea 🙂
Full disclosure: I didn’t make this recipe as instructed… I didn’t have the ingredients to make the sauce (which sounds awesome!) but I used the base concept of chickpeas and taco seasoning… so simple but somehow I’d never thought to do it! Added sweet potato and peppers to the mix. Topped with some chao cheese, spinach, and avocado. So easy – made A TON – and it’s delicious and filling. Love your blog, thank you for doing what you do!