Gluten Free
High-Protein Vegan Birria Tacos
Prep
30 minutes
Cook
45 minutes
Yield
6 servings
Transform traditional Mexican birria into delicious vegan birria tacos with crispy tofu, rich chili sauce, and authentic spices, ready in just 30 minutes.
These vegan birria tacos are inspired by the traditional Mexican dish Birria, which is traditionally a soup or stew made with chili pepper-based meat adobo, garlic, cumin, bay leaves, and thyme and cooked to perfection on low heat. These tacos are inspired by the flavors and spices, but of course in taco-form with tofu to make them plant-based.
This post is sponsored by my friends at Seed. I love their daily symbiotic to help keep my gut health (and overall health) in check. On top of eating nutritious, healthy food like these tacos, I always make sure to incorporate Seed into my daily routine.
❤️ Why You’ll Love These High-Protein Vegan Birria Tacos
- Quick Prep: These vegan birria tacos can be prepped in only 30 minutes.
- Flavorful: The spices in this sauce and tacos are so good and flavorful. It’s a party in your mouth.
- Delicious: Actually, though, this may be your new favorite meal!
🍲 Ingredients:
Tofu: Tofu has several anti-inflammatories and antioxidant properties. It’s a good source of protein in a plant-based diet and is so versatile.
Spices: What really makes this so flavorful and delicious is all the spices. It may look like an overwhelming ingredient list, but I promise that you already have most of these ingredients in your spice drawer! Of course, you can substitute anything or remove anything, but in my opinion, this is the best way to make vegan birria tacos.
👩🍳 How to make vegan birria tacos:
- To make the sauce, add the olive oil, garlic, and onion to a pot over medium-high heat. Stir and sauté until tender and golden.
- Next, add all of the spices and cook for 3 – 5 minutes to allow the flavors to come alive.
- In the meantime, lightly toast the dried chilies in a separate pan until softened, and fragrant, and the oils begin to release.
- Add the tomatoes, water, and chilies to the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Let this mixture cook for 30 – 45 minutes, stirring often and allowing the water to reduce. The longer you let it cook, the stronger the flavors will be!
- Remove the bay leaves from the pot once reduced.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender once completed, blend until smooth, and transfer back into the pot on low until ready to use.
- While the sauce simmers, make the crispy-crumbled tofu,
- Preheat the oven to 400F and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Drain the excess water from the tofu package and crumble it into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the cornstarch, olive oil, tomato paste, and ALL of the spices.
- Mix the ingredients together until well combined.
- Set onto the prepared tray and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Make sure to flip halfway through.
- Remove the bay leaves and transfer them to a bowl
- Add a couple of tbsp’s of the sauce and mix until combined. Set aside.
- To make the Birria Tacos, place a large pan over medium-high heat and lightly spray with oil.
- Take one of the corn tortillas and dip it in the sauce- make sure you cover both sides.
- Place the corn tortilla into the pan and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Flip the tortilla once it is slightly brown on that side and add a handful of cheddar cheese, followed by ¼ cup of crispy-crumbled tofu.
- After 1 – 2 minutes, fold one side of the corn tortilla shell over to create a taco.
- Cook for another couple of minutes, and flip again in this new shape if necessary.
- Remove the taco from the pan and set it onto a serving tray.
- Repeat these steps for ALL of the tacos.
- Once completed, garnish with the white onion, crumbled feta, dollops of crema, and cilantro leaves.
- Sprinkle some flaky salt and serve with lime wedges! ENJOY!
🗒 Tips & Tricks
- Perfect Your Sauce: Let your sauce mixture cook for 30-45 minutes, stirring often. The longer you let it cook, the stronger the flavors will be!
- Crispy Tofu: Make sure to flip your tofu halfway through baking to achieve an even golden brown color.
- Tortilla Technique: When dipping tortillas into the sauce, make sure to cover both sides and cook until slightly brown before adding your filling.
🗒 Variations
These vegan birria tacos are completely customizable – here are a few ways to make them your own:
- Swap the cheddar, feta, and sour cream for your favorite dairy-free options to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Customize it with extra toppings of your choice, like salsa verde or avocado.
- Adjust the spices to your taste preference. Make it more spicy or less; it’s up to you!
🗒 Best served with
👝 How To Store Leftovers
Store the tofu filling and sauce separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator.
Common Questions
The human microbiome is a community of 38,000,000,000,000 (that’s 38 trillion) microorganisms, mostly bacteria, living in and on your body. The genes harboured in these trillions of microbial cells are essential for human development, immunity, and nutrition. There is a close relationship between what we eat and our gut microbiome, which means that we can improve our health by modifying our diet. No surprise there, right?
To further support a healthy microbiome, I recommend incorporating Seed’s DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic into your routine. DS-01™ is a pre-and-probiotic containing 24 clinically and scientifically studied probiotic strains (and 53.6 billion AFU) for benefits in and beyond the gut. Think healthy regularity, ease of bloating, smooth skin, heart health, and so much more.
Use code FOODBYMARIA for 15% off your first month’s supply of Seed’s DS-01™. And be sure to follow Seed for more information throughout the month of May on the importance of nutrition and digestion.
Vegan Birria Tacos
Ingredients
For the Sauce,
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large white onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. coriander
- 1 ½ tsp. cumin
- 1 ½ tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup water
- 14 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juice
- 4 – 6 dried chilies guajillo or pasilla chilies
For the Crispy Crumbled Tofu,
- 350 g package firm tofu crumbled
- 1 ½ tbsp. corn starch
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 ½ tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 ½ tbsp. oregano
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. red chili flakes
- 3 bay leaves
For the Tacos,
- 6 small soft corn tortilla shells
- 1 cup vegan cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup white onion diced
- 1/3 cup vegan sour cream
- ¼ cup vegan feta crumbled
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 2 tbsp. flaky salt
- wedges from 1 lime
Instructions
- To make the sauce, add the olive oil, garlic and onion to a pot over medium-high heat. Stir and sauté until tender and golden.
- Next, add all of the spices and cook for 3 – 5 minutes to allow the flavours to come alive.
- In the meantime, lightly toast the dried chilies in a separate pan until softened, fragrant, and the oils begin to release.
- Add the tomatoes, water, and chilies to the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Let this mixture cook for 30 – 45 minutes, stirring often and allowing the water to reduce. The longer you let it cook, the stronger the flavours will be!
- Remove the bay leaves from the pot once reduced.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender once completed, blend until smooth, and transfer back into the pot on low until ready to use.
While the sauce simmers, make the crispy-crumbled tofu,
- Preheat the oven to 400F and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Drain the excess water from the tofu package and crumble into a medium-sized bowl.
- Add the cornstarch, olive oil, tomato paste, and ALL of the spices.
- Mix the ingredients together until well combined.
- Set onto the prepared tray and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Make sure to flip halfway through.
- Remove the bay leaves and transfer to a bowl
- Add a couple tbsp’s of the sauce and mix until combined. Set aside.
- To make the Birria Tacos, place a large pan over medium-high heat and lightly spray with oil.
- Take one of the corn tortillas and dip it in the sauce- make sure you cover both sides.
- Place the corn tortilla into the pan and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Flip the tortilla once it is slightly brown on that side and add a handful of cheddar cheese, followed by ¼ cup of crispy-crumbled tofu.
- After 1 – 2 minutes, fold one side of the corn tortilla shell over to create a taco.
- Cook for another couple minutes, and flip again in this new shape if necessary.
- Remove the taco from the pan and set onto a serving tray.
- Repeat these steps for ALL of the tacos.
- Once completed, garnish with the white onion, crumbled feta, dollops of crema, and cilantro leaves.
- Sprinkle some flaky salt and serve with lime wedges! ENJOY!!
