Cauliflower Tacos

Posted 2024-12-13 12:25:53

These colorful cauliflower tacos are as delicious as they are pretty. With a cashew crema, they are not only vegetarian, but vegan too.

Cauliflower tacos on a cutting board with ingredients around.

The Prettiest Taco

If there was a beauty pageant for tacos, this recipe for cauliflower tacos would surely win. The combination of colors, the textures, the shapes… this pretty taco is a winner in so many ways.

Pickled Red Cabbage

The first step is to make the pickled cabbage. This doesn’t take much, but it does take a couple of hours to properly pickle and turn a neon pink color. Just heat cider vinegar, water, salt and sugar together and pour it over the shredded red cabbage. You’ll have more than you need for these tacos, but you can add it to other sandwiches and salads throughout your week and it will keep several weeks in the fridge.

Cashew Crema

The cashew crema is something special. It’s creamy and delicious with a bright lime flavor. Using this instead of sour cream on your taco not only makes the meal delicious, but vegan too. The recipe calls for the zest of half a lime, but you can add the zest of the entire lime if you like lime as much as I do.

raw cauliflower and chickpeas tossed with spices on a baking sheet with a bowl of pickled red cabbage and spice jars near by.

Roasting Cauliflower

Make sure you cut the cauliflower florets into pieces that will be easy to place in a taco and bite into. Toss the cauliflower, some sliced shallots and canned chickpeas in spices and olive oil and roast for about half an hour, or until tender to a knifepoint. The turmeric will give the cauliflower that beautiful yellow color that compliments the bright pink cabbage so nicely.

Hands building a cauliflower taco with cashew crema and pickled red cabbage.

How to Serve Cauliflower Tacos

You serve your cauliflower tacos the way you like them. That means, set up a taco station so everyone can build their tacos the way they want to. I like to put the cashew crema down first so it grabs onto the other ingredients. Then the cauliflower and chickpeas, then the cabbage, some leaves of cilantro and slices of Jalapeño pepper and finish with a squeeze of lime and a little more crema. Beautiful, delicious, mine… and they could be yours!

Hands holding a filled cauliflower taco over a taco station.

Cauliflower Tacos

Prep Time: 15 m
Cook Time: 30 m
Pickling Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 45 m
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 shallots sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
8 flour or corn tortillas
2 Jalapeño peppers sliced
Chopped fresh cilantro

Pickled Red Cabbage:

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
3 cups thinly shredded red cabbage

Cashew Crema:

½ cup raw cashews
⅓ cup water
Zest from ½ lime
Juice from 1 lime
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

To make the Pickled Red Cabbage, bring the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to a boil in a small saucepan. Place the red cabbage in a bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the top. Let the cabbage cool to room temperature and then cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to as long as 7 days.
To make the Cashew Lime Crema, place the cashews in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 20 to 60 minutes until the cashews are soft. Drain and place the nuts in a high-speed blender or food processor. Add the water, lime zest, lime juice and salt and process until the crema is smooth.
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Place the cauliflower, chickpeas, and shallots in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Spread the mixture out in a single layer on a large sheet pan.
Transfer the sheet pan to the oven and roast the cauliflower for 30 to 35 minutes, tossing a couple times during the cooking process.
When you are ready to serve, heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Brush both sides of the tortillas with oil and add each one to the pan for a few minutes on both sides.
To assemble tacos, fill each tortillas with some of the cauliflower mixture. Remove the pickled red cabbage from the brine and place some on top of the cauliflower. Drizzle with the cashew crema and top with Jalapeño slices and fresh cilantro.

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