These amazing vegan taquitos make for such a delicious meal your whole family will love! They feature a black bean and vegetable filling, a cheesy vegan cashew cream sauce and crispy tortillas. Plus, they are baked in the oven (not fried) for a healthier recipe. 100% vegan, dairy-free and can be made gluten-free too.
Next time you are craving vegan black bean tacos, then you should make crispy vegan taquitos instead!
When we feel like tacos for dinner, we usually alternate between vegan fish tacos or this lentil walnut taco recipe. But vegan taquitos are our new favorite way to serve tacos, especially for our kids, they cannot get enough of them!
Taquitos are very much like tacos, only the tortillas are rolled with the filling ingredients stuffed inside (they are also called "little rolled tacos"!), then baked in the oven until crispy and finally, you can garnish your crunchy taquito rolls with your favorite taco toppings. We love ours with either vegan cheesy white sauce or vegan sour cream, store-bought salsa and this high-protein guacamole whenever we have a few extra minutes, but taquitos are fun to serve with whatever you like!
Let me know if you gave them a try! ❤️
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❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Amazing dinner recipe for your family, but also makes for such a fun party snack or appetizer
- Kids love them!
- Versatile and can be customized
- Loaded with Mexican-style flavors
- Easy to make
- Oven-baked (not fried) and can be made completely oil-free
- Loaded with vegetables and beans, so healthy!
- Fits many diets: vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian, soy-free and can be made gluten-free
🗒 Ingredient notes (+ substitutions)
- Tortillas: you will need taco-size tortillas to make this recipe (I used street taco-size wheat tortillas). I like using wheat tortillas for their soft and easy-to-roll texture, although taquitos are often made using corn tortillas, so feel free to use this instead. You can also use homemade whole wheat tortillas or red lentil tortillas to make these vegetable taquitos!
- Black beans: use canned black beans for convenience, or cook your own black beans from scratch!
- Tomatoes: I think fresh tomatoes give a better flavor compared to canned tomatoes, but also a better consistency to the bean taquito filling. If you only have canned diced tomatoes, then try to drain them so you don't add too much juice (you don't want the filling to be too watery).
- Lime juice: adds such an amazing tangy flavor to the filling, lemon juice would work too.
- Spices/herbs: I used a mix of chili powder, cumin powder and dried oregano. You can use any spices you like as well, such as smoked paprika for a subtle smoky flavor or cayenne pepper for a little heat.
For the cheesy cashew sauce
- Raw cashews: creamy base for the sauce. Do not use roasted and salted cashews, it would not provide the same texture.
- Nutritional yeast: adds a mild cheesy flavor to the sauce, try not to omit!
- Lime: lime juice in the cashew sauce adds a little tang and enhances the flavor from the nutritional yeast.
⭐️ Full list of ingredients with quantities down below in the recipe card!
📝 Variations to the recipe
Taquitos are so versatile! The filling is somehow similar to a taco filling, so you can use this recipe as a base and modify it to your taste. In any case, I think it works better when the mixture is a little pasty or even sticky, as opposed to having large chunks that are super crumbly, so the taquitos hold better. Here are a few variations you can try:
- Beans: swap the black beans for cooked lentils or chickpeas.
- Cheese: vegan cheese would work well in this recipe, such as this vegan mozzarella cheese from Violife.
- Nuts: add a handful of chopped walnuts to the pan for a little crunch.
- Veggies: include some mushrooms, chopped cauliflower, zucchini, carrots or sweet potatoes. Keep the vegetables small so they blend well within the mixture. Leftover mashed potatoes would be great here too!
- Spicy: add some some jalapeño, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper or a can of spicy green chiles. You could also swap the cashew cream sauce for homemade buffalo sauce made using hemp seeds!
How to make vegan bean taquitos
Step 1: Add the cheese sauce ingredients to a blender (soaked cashew, nutritional yeast, lime juice, water and salt).
Step 2: Blend until smooth and creamy.
Step 3: Warm up a large pan with a little oil, then cook the onion and green bell pepper with some salt for 5 min. Add the spices and garlic and cook for 1-2 more min.
Step 4: Add the black beans (half mashed, half whole), chopped tomatoes and lime juice, then stir and keep cooking for another 7-8 minutes. You are looking for a pasty and creamy consistency, not a saucy texture.
Step 5: Add about ¼ cup of the cashew cheese sauce, stir to combine and then remove from the heat.
Step 6: Add about 2 tablespoons of the filling to the bottom of a small taco, then roll tightly to trap the filling inside.
Step 7: Keep going with all the filling (you should be able to make 10-12 taquitos), transfer over a parchment paper-covered baking sheet (seam side down), spray some oil over (optional) and bake at 400ºF for 13-15 min or until crispy and golden brown.
Step 8: Serve warm and garnished with more of the vegan cashew cheese sauce, salsa and fresh cilantro.
⭐️ Full list of ingredients with quantities down below in the recipe card!
💡 Helpful tips
- Do not overfill the taquitos: they are meant to be skinny and also, the tortillas tend to swell and fluff a bit while baking, which might push some of the filling outside.
- When making the filling, aim to reach a creamy and pasty consistency, which will prevent getting soggy taquitos and keep them closed up.
- If using corn tortillas, then you might want to slightly warm them up by wrapping them in a humid towel in the microwave. This can soften them before rolling, which might prevent cracking.
- You can soak the cashews in cold water overnight or for a speedy recipe, simply soak them in boiling water for 10-15 min!
🍴 Serving suggestions
These vegan taquitos hold well when you grab them, so you could simply dip them in sauces or salsa or choose to garnish them on a plate instead.
You should have extra cashew cream sauce to drizzle over the taquitos, but also add some salsa and cilantro if desired. There are plenty of store-bought salsa brands that are healthy, which is great to save some time. But, here are more garnishing ideas to try:
- Fresh diced tomatoes
- Roasted mango habanero salsa
- Diced red onion or green onion
- Spicy peach salsa
- Chipotle mayo sauce
- Sliced jalapeño or marinated nacho jalapeños
- Vegan avocado lime crema or diced avocado
- Cucumber pico de Gallo or Pineapple pico de gallo
- Vegan Rotel dip
Taquitos make for a full satisfying meal on their own, although you can also serve them with other Mexican-inspired recipes for a nice Mexican dinner, such as Mexican horchata, Mexican tomato brown rice and a healthy bean chili salad.
❗️Storage tips
They are best when eaten right away as they are going to be more crispy when just out of the oven. But, leftovers are also great and make for a tasty lunch the next day. Keep the leftover vegan taquitos apart from any garnishing ingredients (or they will get soggy) in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheat using the oven (a mini toaster oven is great for this) to make them crispy again (at 400ºF for 5-7 minutes or until heated through) or use the microwave if in a pinch (although they will soften in that case, heat up 30 seconds at the time).
FAQs
They are very similar, but not exactly the same. Both are filled with similar ingredients, but flautas are usually larger using bigger tortillas whereas taquitos are smaller and shorter. Also, taquitos are more often made using corn tortillas compared to flautas where they use both wheat or corn tortillas equally. Despite their mild differences, both the terms taquitos and flautas are often used interchangeably for the same dishes.
Yes! Simply don't use any oil when making the taquito filling and also, do not spray oil over the taquitos before baking them. They won't crisp as much, but they will still be delicious!
Traditional taquitos are more often made using corn tortillas, although I like to use wheat tortillas for their more pliable texture. You could also make mini taquitos if using street corn tortillas (you will have more than 10-12 in that case).
Yes! Simply use a gluten-free tortilla brand, the rest of the recipe is completely gluten-free! Corn tortillas are often GF and some wheat tortillas are made using GF flour, so just check what's available in your grocery store.
If you decided not to spray oil over the taquitos before baking them, then they might not become very crispy.
Yes, you can! I recommend spraying some oil at the bottom of your pan for the best result and also, start by roasting the taquitos seam down first. Work in batches so you don't crowd the pan too much and roast for a few minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Similar recipes to try
I hope you enjoy these vegan taquitos as much as we do! If you try it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it was. Your feedback is so helpful!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Taquitos
Equipment
- Blender
- Large pan
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 10-12 small tortillas - I used wheat soft tacos, street taco size
- 1 onion - diced
- 1 green bell pepper - diced
- 3 cloves of garlic - crushed
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ¾ cup fresh tomatoes - diced
- 15 oz black beans - rinsed and drained
- ½ lime - juiced
- ¼ cup cashew cream (see recipe below)
- salt to taste
For the cheesy cashew cream
- ¾ cup raw cashews - soaked
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ lime - juiced
- ½ cup water
To serve (choose your favorite)
- the rest of the cashew cream
- pico de gallo or salsa
- cilantro
- guacamole
Instructions
- Start by making the cashew cream: soak the cashews in cold water overnight or in boiling water for 15 minutes. Then, drain well and transfer to a blender. Add the nutritional yeast, lime juice, salt and water and blend until smooth (take a few breaks to scrape the walls and blend again). Set aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Rinse and drain the black beans and then, mash about half of them (I use a fork and a plate). Set aside.
- Warm up a large non-stick pan with a little oil. Then, add the onions, green bell pepper and a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Then, add the spices (chili powder, cumin and oregano) and garlic and cook for one more minute while stirring.
- Then, add the tomatoes, lime juice and black beans (both whole and mashed) to the pan. Stir well and cook for another 7-8 minutes stirring often on low-medium heat (it should become creamy or pasty, but not saucy or watery). Then, add a ¼ cup of the cashew cream (keep the rest for serving and dipping), stir to incorporate and remove from the heat.
- Lay a tortilla over a clean surface and scoop about 2 heaping tablespoons on the bottom half, then roll the tortilla all the way up. Transfer over the prepared baking sheet with the seam down. Keep going with the rest of the filling, you should be able to make 10-12 taquitos.
- Spray some oil over the taquitos for a crispier result, but this is optional. Then, bake for about 13-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve warm garnished with the remaining of the cheesy cashew cream, some salsa or pico de gallo and cilantro over.
Video
Notes
- Storage: these taquitos are best when just baked (they are crispier), but they also make for great leftovers. Just keep them in an air-tight container in the fridge for up top 3-4 days and reheat in the oven at 400º (mini toaster oven are great for this) until warmed through. You can also use the microwave, although they won't be as crispy in that case.
- You can use other ingredients in the filling such as lentils, mushrooms, zucchini or leafy greens and feel free to add different spices, such as cayenne pepper and chipotle pepper.
- Other garnishing ingredients include: cucumber pico de gallo, diced avocado, red onion, hot sauce, avocado lime crema, jalapeño, etc. See blog post for more ideas!
- Nutrition: please note that the nutritional information is an estimate per serving provided for informational purposes only (calculated by software) and accuracy is not guaranteed. Consult with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if you need precise nutrition calculations for health reasons.
This was a great recipe, what a fun way to serve tacos...
Thanks for your comment! 😊