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These cauliflower tacos with breaded cauliflower, refried beans and silky Yum Yum sauce are all about onething: big flavor!
Behold the taco. Canvas for all kinds of deliciousness, from traditional like barbacoa with tomatillo salsa to fusion like Korean beef or Thai tofu. Most of the time Alex and I eat a whole food plant based diet, so we’re always looking for creative ways to use veggies. And the taco is the perfect canvas for creating some insane veggie flavors and textures! And this one is our new favorite: these Crispy Cauliflower Tacos.
Related: Best Healthy Dinner Recipes & 10 Best Vegetarian Tacos
What people are saying about these cauliflower tacos
These cauliflower tacos have quickly become a fan favorite on A Couple Cooks! It’s been so fun to hear from those of you who’ve made and loved these cauliflower tacos. So many of you have convinced people wary about veggies with this recipe! Here’s some of what people are saying:
- We made the cauliflower tacos tonight. Husband said, “these are the best vegetarian tacos we have ever made!” We have made a LOT of vegetarian tacos in the past 10 years. Sooo good!!
- Made them tonight and they were delicious! I’ve been trying to find plant based recipes that my husband will eat and enjoy and he gave these a thumbs up! Definitely going into the rotation!
- I made these cauliflower tacos for a vegetarian and three carnivores tonight!! All of us loved them!! Such interesting flavors!!
How to make cauliflower tacos
OK, on to this recipe! We have a delicious cauliflower tacos recipe in our cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking, but we’ve never posted one here on A Couple Cooks. So here goes: the star of these easy cauliflower tacos is our Crispy Breaded Cauliflower. It’s roasted in the oven and covered in a savory, salty, sweet and lightly spicy breading. It’s a bit of a play on breaded fish tacos (though of course the flavor is quite different!).
Accessorize that with some refried black beans, tart cabbage slaw, and cilantro. (We used canned refried beans, but you can also make our homemade version.) Then cover it all in a delicious sauce: this Yum Yum Sauce recipe. Yum Yum Sauce is used in Japanese steakhouses and served with seafood, but here we’ve used it as a bit of a “fusion” element to accessorize with this vegetarian taco recipe. It’s so, so tasty and adds a richness to the tacos that’s incredible. It’s certainly not a health food in itself, but a little goes a long way here!
If you’d like to make a different sauce from the Yum Yum Sauce for these cauliflower tacos (there’s a vegan variation in that sauce recipe), here are a few more ideas for delicious taco sauces that would be great here:
- Avocado cream
- Cilantro drizzle (vegan)
- Spicy Chipotle Sauce (vegan)
- Cilantro yogurt
- Creamy cilantro sauce (vegan)
Looking for more vegan & vegetarian tacos?
Outside of these crispy cauliflower tacos, here are a few of our favorite vegan and vegetarian tacos recipes:
- Easy Black Bean Tacos
- Quick Refried Bean Tacos
- Easy Tofu Tacos with tofu crumbles
- Loaded Quinoa Tacos
- Instant Pot Tacos
- Grilled Mango Tacos
- “Verde” Lentil Vegan Tacos
- BBQ Bean Tacos
- Chickpea Tacos
- Tacos Rancheros
- Vegetarian Lentil Tacos
This cauliflower tacos recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and naturally sweet. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, use the vegan Yum Yum Sauce variation or the Chipotle Tahini Sauce.
Cauliflower Tacos with Yum Yum Sauce
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star
4.6 from 20 reviews
- Author: Sonja
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
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Description
These cauliflower tacos with breaded cauliflower, refried beans and silky Yum Yum sauce are all about one thing: big flavor!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 recipe Crispy Breaded Cauliflower
- 15-ounce can vegetarian refried beans (or Easy Refried Black Beans or Homemade Refried Beans)
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 cups red cabbage, shredded
- 2 limes (1 for the cabbage & 1 to serve)
- 3 tablespoons Yum Yum Sauce(use vegan mayo or substituteSpicy Chipotle Sauce)
- 8 corn tortillas
- Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the Crispy Breaded Cauliflower (about 40 minutes total; use the remaining time to complete the steps below.)
- If using purchased refried beans, taste and if needed, mix with ½ teaspoon cumin and/or a pinch or two kosher salt. (Or, you can make our Supremely Simple Refried Black Beans but for this recipe we preferred using storebought so we could focus on the cauliflower!)
- Thinly slice the cabbage, enough for 2 cups. Mix it with 2 tablespoons lime juice and a pinch or two of salt. Allow it to stand at room temperature until serving.
- Make theYum Yum Sauce.
- Warm the tortillas, or char them by placing them on grates above an open gas flame on medium heat for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm.
- Chop the cilantro for a garnish.
- To serve, place refried beans in a tortilla, top with cabbage, breaded cauliflower, Yum Yum sauce, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to spritz prior to serving. (If you have leftover cauliflower, you can reheat them in a 350F oven for 10 minutes, flipping once.)
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mexican Inspired
vegan vegetarian gluten free
Published on / Last updated on
Categorized In:
- Dinner Recipes
- Recipes
About the authors
Sonja & Alex
Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.
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