Homemade vegan chorizo makes a great addition to your taco Tuesday. Easy and versatile and loaded with flavor! Add it to tacos or use it in another recipe.
We love component meals when we can prep ahead all sorts of meal parts and put them together in different ways. These chorizo crumbles are the perfect addition!
Chorizo Basics
Chorizo is a pork sausage that has been loaded up with Mexican or Spanish seasoning. It’s often used in dishes such as tacos, burritos or enchiladas. As it is pork, it’s not vegan, but since it’s all about the flavor that I am into, I figured let’s figure out how to make a vegan version.
Ingredients to make it vegan
My vegan chorizo idea uses walnuts that have been soaked as a base, much like my walnut taco meat, and is loaded up with Mexican spices. You can then sauté it to get that crisp on the edge texture.
Here are all the ingredients that contribute to both the flavor and texture:
- Walnuts
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Chickpeas
- Garlic
- Mexican spices
How To Make Vegan Chorizo
- Pulse ingredients in a food processor until crumbled.
- Sauté in a pan if you want to warm it up.
- Serve and enjoy!
Toppings
- Vegan Sour Cream
- Salsa
- Mexican Coleslaw
- Vegan Queso Blanco
- Black Beans
- Citrus Cream or Salsa
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Tomatoes
Uses
You can really use this in anything! Obviously we love it in tacos, but it’s also great in:
- Nachos
- Taco bowls
- Mexican pizza
- Quesadillas
- Salad
- Soup
Tips and Tricks
This is a pretty full proof recipe, but here is some info to help you along the way!
- To make this more or less spicy, adjust the amount of Chipotle seasoning. You can even add cayenne if you really want to amp it up!
- To prep this ahead of time, make sure to soak the walnuts and pre-measure out the other ingredients. Then day of all you need to do is pulse and heat if you want!
- This stores in the fridge in an air tight container for about a week.
- You can freeze this as well. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap right over the top to help avoid freezer burn. It should touch the chorizo. Then store in an air tight container until ready to use. It will last many months.
- To reheat, simple defrost to room temp then sauté in a pan with a drizzle of oil or broth if oil free.
Vegan Chorizo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup walnuts , soaked overnight
- 1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas , about 1 can rinsed and drained
- 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes , not in oil, dry or in water (see note)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 tsp cumin
- 4 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt , optional depending on how salty your sun dried tomatoes are
- 1/2 tsp chipotle seasoning , optional for added spice
Instructions
- Put everything into a food processor and pulse until crumbly.
- If you want to warm it, saute in a pan with a drizzle of oil to get it crisp around the edges.
- Serve in and on eveyrhting!
Notes
- If your sun dried tomatoes are in water make sure to dry them well.
- If you don’t use chipotle seasoning and still want the touch of smoky flavor, you can sub smoked paprika. You can also sub cayenne if you simply want spice.
- This makes about 4 cups. Serving size is 1/2 cup.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
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