These vegan taquitos are out of this world delicious. Crunchy, taste like junk food, but filled with protein and veggies. It doesn’t get better than this!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mi Rancho. The opinions and text are all mine.
The first time my husband ate these, he looked me dead in the eyes and said “These taste just like Jack in the Box tacos.” Ummm, does that mean you love them or they need more work? It turns out, food that reminds him of drunk college nights are the way to his heart. Who knew?
Vegan Taquitos
While I do see where my husband was going with that, I don’t want to scare anyone off. Because these may taste like junk food, but I assure you they are made with the best of ingredients!
- 1 1/2 cup veggies
- 1 cup whole beans
- the absolute best corn tortillas, by Mi Rancho
We have been using Mi Rancho corn tortillas for years. Not only because they are made from few whole food ingredients but because this brand knows what they are doing. The tortillas are soft, taste homemade, and for those of you that avoid oil, they are oil free!
The amazing flavor comes from this special process called nixtamalization. It’s a slow process that brings out the very best in these corn tortillas. Learn more about it here in this video!
They also boast other great characteristics:
- organic
- non GMO
- gluten free
- no added sugar or salt
- 11-18 grams of whole grains per serving (depending on the size)
I also love the company itself. They are family owned (love supporting family owned businesses) and they have been making tortillas for 80 years! I mean, mind blowing right? That’s called dedication and it’s no wonder they are so good!
They started as a small Mexican grocery store in Oakland and through hard work built themselves into a premium tortilla manufacturer. I just love a good story…such a sap.
What’s the difference between flautas and taquitos?
The main difference between the two, is that taquitos (like these vegan taquitos) are made from corn tortillas. While flautas are made from flour tortillas. Taquitos are also generally smaller and more-so served as appetizers, while flautas are bigger and a main meal.
I love both, and use the Mi Rancho Flour tortillas when making flautas.
Tips for making mini sized vegan taquitos
One of my favorite things about Mi Rancho, is their organic taco slider tortillas. I love that they are the perfect size for party appetizers and for little fingers to hold. Plus, I can eat more since they are small. It doesn’t really count when you eat little things right?
When I make this vegan taquitos recipe for party snacks, I have a good system that gets a ton done in a quick time. Here is what I do:
- Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel, heat in the microwave to get them even softer and super pliable.
- Set them on the table with my filling and a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Put some filling in the center of the tortilla at the top of the stack,
- Roll it by putting the edge right in the middle of the filling, and tightly roll so that the filling spreads to the end and seals it.
- Put on the parchment paper seam side down. No toothpick is needed because the tortillas are so soft that they easily stick with the addition of the filling.
- Repeat until done!
How do you freeze taquitos?
Once you’ve made a bunch of the taquitos, you can bake and serve them right away or you can freeze them. There are many ways that these can be frozen:
- Half bake, freeze, then bake the rest of the way right before you will eat them.
- Freeze unbaked, then fully bake once you are ready to eat. The only downside with this is because they haven’t baked at all, you will need to freeze in a flat single layer to keep them together and keep their shape.
- Freeze just the filling and put together when ready to eat.
I wouldn’t recommend fully baking them and freezing because once you defrost you will need to bake them again to get them crispy and then they will end up over baked.
Tips for freezing
Here is how I prep my taquitos for putting them in the freezer:
- make sure they are completely cool
- wrap in parchment
- wrap in foil
- put in an airtight container or ziploc freezer bag
How to Make Vegan Taquitos
The great thing about these taquitos, other than using my favorite Mi Rancho tortillas, is that they are easy to make and prep ahead. Plus they use up leftover veggies or those about to go bad.
- Blend all the filling ingredients.
- Fill tortillas.
- Bake.
- Devour!
Ingredient substitutions
These vegan taquitos have a whopping 1 1/2 cups of veggies in them! I recommend 1/2 cup is either a fresh mild or sweet pepper or diced green chiles in the can. It just adds a good flavor punch to the final result.
But the other cup can be anything you have lying around. Use up leftovers, those veggies about to go bad, whatever! I would only caution using anything too sharp in flavor because you don’t want it to take over. My favorite veggies to use are:
- spinach
- mushrooms
- zucchini/squash
The recipes also calls for a cup of lentils. After trying multiple types of beans, these were our favorite. However many other beans will work. Black beans or pinto beans are the next best substitute, but if you wanted to try another kind too, go for it!
Toppings for vegan taquitos
While this vegan taquitos recipe is delicious on it’s own, I love serving them loaded up for an even more amazing meal. Not to mention it looks better too! Here are some of our favorite toppings:
- shredded lettuce
- guacamole
- fresh salsa
- nacho jalapeno slices
- salsa cream sauce
- spicy cilantro sauce
- citrus salsa
- vegan queso
- vegan cheese sauce
- vegan sour cream
Vegan Taquitos
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked lentils
- 1 cup cooked veggies (see note)
- ½ cup chopped mild or sweet pepper ,or diced green chiles (a 4 ounce can)
- ½ cup raw cashews , soaked overnight (see note)
- 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon sea salt , taste and add more if needed (see note)
- 9 regular sized corn tortillas , or 18 taco slider sized ((I use Mi Rancho brand for both sizes)
Optional Toppings:
- Guacamole or avocado
- Fresh or roasted salsa
- Shredded lettuce
- Jalapeno slices
- Cheese sauce
- Queso
- Spicy cilantro sauce
- Salsa cream sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 205 C
- Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Warm the tortillas to make them softer and able to stick together to seal the taquitos. Wrap them in damp paper towels, then wrap that in a kitchen towel. Heat them in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check and heat in 15 second increments until soft and pliable. The kitchen towel helps seal in the heat to almost steam the tortillas.
- Carefully so you don’t burn yourself, put 1 ½ -3 tablespoons (depending on tortilla size) of filling in the center of a tortilla.
- Fold over the edge so that it lands in the middle of the filling, exposing a little bit on the edge. This will help seal the taquito.
- Roll on the tighter side, but not so tight that you squeeze out all the filling. You want the edge of the tortilla to seal down with a bit of filling.
- Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat until done.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until crisp.
- Serve fresh with toppings of choice!
Notes
- This recipe works great with almost any veggie, but avoid any that have super strong flavors. I love zucchini, spinach and mushrooms.
- Because a food processor is recommended for this recipe, I suggest you soak the cashews so they puree easier. You can also grind them dry with a coffee grinder.
- The amount of salt will depend on if your veggies have been cooked with salt. If using leftovers, then don’t add any extra salt until you try the filling.
- The filling makes about 2 cups.
- Serving size is 1 regular sized taquito or 2 mini sized.
- This recipe makes 9 regular sized taquitos or 18 mini ones.
- Nutrition info is for the taquitos only.
Make the filling and store in fridge or freeze until ready to use. You can also make the taquitos and freeze them for later use.
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.
Debra says
Oh my goodness. These were delicious!! Total success! 🙂 Thanks!!
veggiesdontbite says
Yay! I am so happy you liked them! Thank you so much for the great review!
Lindsey says
Looks and sounds delicious! What do the cashews do in this recipe? Wondering if I can leave them out
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Lindsey! They give a creamy cheesy flavor. You can definitely leave them out but it won’t be as rich. Still great though!
Danika Sinram says
So happy to be able to make taquitos at home! Came out amazing!
veggiesdontbite says
So happy you liked them!! It’s surprisingly easy!
Rosemary says
What does the vinegar do in this recipe ? If it is necessary, would ACV substitute ?
veggiesdontbite says
You can definitely leave out if you don’t want it! It simply gives a nice depth of flavor. But ACV works too!
Tami says
Another make again meal in this house! So easy to make, love the extra veggies, they are packed with flavor and the best is to double up to freeze for the teenagers lunches. The 3rd time I made them, I added some carrot with the zucchini and black beans to the lentils cause I was cleaning the fridge and they turned out just a delish as before. The spicy cilantro sauce is freakin tasty with these!!
veggiesdontbite says
I’m so happy you love these as much as we do!!! Thank you so much for the great review!
Tonya says
These were awesome!!! I will make these again. The only problem I had was my tortillas cracked when rolling. They were still delicious!!!
veggiesdontbite says
Thank you so much Tonya! I am so happy you like them! Make sure to heat the tortillas in both sets of towels and also for long enough so that they get almost sticky. If you haven’t tried the Mi Rancho brand it’s the best!
Morgan says
YUM. These were delicious!! Such a good idea for those leftover veggies I always end up throwing out. My picky eaters even ate them!
veggiesdontbite says
So happy to hear!!!! Yay!!
Lisa says
These were fantastic, we had them with your salsa crema. I used leftover zucchini and you couldn’t taste it.
veggiesdontbite says
Woohoo!! So happy you liked them!!
Sue says
Yay! This look great Sophia. We’ve never had taquitos before, but I will definitely make your recipe soon! Thanks.
Wendy says
Thanks for the freezing advise! I’m a single vegetarian and don’t have time to cook every day.
veggiesdontbite says
So glad all the info helped!! Hope you like them!