Vegan tacos with mushrooms and kidney beans, plus lettuce, tomato, pickles and a tomato-corn sauce. Ready-made taco kits usually include seasoning and sauce, but I prefer making the sauce at home.
Ingredients
For the taco filling
- 1 package ready-made taco shells
- 300 g fresh mushrooms
- 1 cup cooked kidney beans
- 1 medium onion
- Chopped lettuce
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- A pinch of taco seasoning or seven-spice blend
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- Vegan mayonnaise + a squeeze of lemon
- Sliced pickled cucumber or jalapeño
- Salt to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 5 medium tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup cooked corn
- 1 tbsp red-pepper paste
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- A pinch of dried thyme
- A pinch of black pepper
- Salt to taste
Method
1. Cook the mushrooms
- Slice the onion and sauté it in the oil until softened.
- Add the sliced mushrooms.
- Once softened, add the cooked kidney beans.
- Add taco seasoning or seven-spice blend, black pepper and salt to taste, then turn off the heat.
2. Make the tomato sauce
Finely chop the onion and sauté it in the oil until softened, then add the garlic and fresh ginger as in the original method. Add the red-pepper paste. Finely chop the tomatoes and add them to the onion. Cook until the mixture thickens into a sauce, then add the corn, dried thyme, black pepper and salt.
3. Assemble the tacos
- Warm the taco shells in the microwave for 1 minute or in a 180°C oven for 2 minutes.
- Add the mushroom-and-bean mixture first.
- Add lettuce, tomato and pickled cucumber or jalapeño.
- Add 1 spoonful of vegan mayonnaise with lemon.
- Top with the tomato-and-corn sauce.
Serve on a plate, optionally with crispy roasted potatoes. Enjoy 🙂
Why mushroom-and-bean tacos make a strong vegan meal
The strongest protein source here is not the mushrooms—it is the kidney beans. They bring plant protein together with fiber, folate, iron and potassium, while mushrooms add texture, B vitamins and minerals such as selenium and copper.
The full package matters: beans + mushrooms + tomatoes + corn + lettuce in one meal. A recent meta-analysis of randomized trials found that whole pulses modestly reduce LDL and non-HDL cholesterol. Source.
So these tacos do not need meat to be filling or protein-rich: the beans do the heavy lifting nutritionally, the mushrooms provide the savory texture, and the vegetables build the rest of the plate.
Try our vegan mushroom stroganoff with cashew sauce, or try the quinoa and black-bean burger.
