Chickpea Tacos with Avocado Cream

These vegan Chickpea Tacos with Avocado Cream are your new Taco Tuesday fix! Easy to prep, very nutritious, and delicious!

Things to Love About Vegan Chickpea Tacos

• No meat analogues: I appreciate the convenience of vegan taco meats and seasoned vegan ground rounds, but I don’t always love them straight up. I typically add extra veg and beans, so it’s not that much more difficult to make a mix myself.
• Easy: As I said, this is simply veg and beans with seasonings. It’s an easy prep with simple ingredients. The whole is more than the sum of the parts for these Chickpea Tacos. The crushing of the chickpeas helps them take up more of the seasonings, and it’s just delicious!
• Avocado Cream: Need I say more??? 

You can serve these Chickpea Tacos traditionally, spooning the filling in taco shells or soft tortillas.

Or, try making taco bowls with warm rice on the bottom, the chickpea taco mix on top, and a good sprinkling of lettuce and fresh veg – all topped off with the avocado cream and a good squeeze of lime juice.

Chickpea Tacos FAQ

• Is there a difference between chickpeas and garbanzo beans?
  • No, they are the same, both words are used interchangeably.
• Can I use another bean in these tacos?
  • For this recipes, I find chickpeas work best. You might try green lentils or french le puy lentils (but not red lentils as a substitute.
• Are chickpeas good for you?
  • Yes! Chickpeas and all legumes are very healthy to eat. Read more here.

Have I sold you?

Right then, let’s get to these Chickpea Tacos!

Enjoy, guys, please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

x Dreena

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5 from 4 votes

Vegan Chickpea Tacos & Avocado Cream

Serve this mildly spicy (or not!) taco filling in taco shells with Avocado Cream, lettuce, and other fresh veggies like chopped tomatoes, jicama, or cucumber. Or serve the filling simply over rice with the toppings, or tuck all into a whole-grain tortilla.

Course entree, Main Course, sauces

Servings 4

Ingredients

Chickpea Taco Filling

• 2 14/15 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons water plus more if needed
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup minced zucchini and/or bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or fresh minced chile pepper to taste, see Note
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon molasses

Avocado Cream

• 1 1/2 cups cubed ripe avocado about 1 large or 2 small/medium avocados
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
• ½ – 2/3 cup water to thin as desired
• 1/2 tsp scant sea salt

Instructions

For the Chickpea Taco Filling

• Mash the chickpeas by pressing with the bottom of a measuring cup on a cutting board. (This doesn’t have to be thorough, just a rough mash/squish of most of the beans.)
• Heat the water in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, zucchini or bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, allspice, pepper flakes, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the onion has softened. If the mixture is drying out and sticking, add another splash of water. Add the mashed chickpeas, lime juice, and molasses and stir thoroughly. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes, until mixture is heated through. Taste, and if you’d like extra salt or heat, add additional seasonings. If mixture is still dry or sticking, add another 2 to 3 teaspoons of water, increase the heat briefly, and scrape the skillet to help bring up the spices from the bottom of the skillet.

For the Avocado Cream

• Using a blender or immersion blender and deep cup puree all ingredients (starting with ½ cup water) until smooth. With 1/2 cup water, the mixture will still be fairly thick, like a cream to dollop on soup or chili. For a thinner sauce, add the extra water (or more as needed), and then you can drizzle on pizza, burritos, salad, and more. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Notes

• Chile Pepper Note: If you’d prefer adding some chopped jalapeño or other hot pepper to this mixture instead of crushed red pepper flakes—go for it! Add as much as you normally like.

 

• Avocado Cream Note: This cream/sauce is spectacular with spicy dishes like these tacos, chili, burritos, enchiladas, etc. However, it’s so luscious and creamy, you will want to try it on other dishes, like cooked grains, soups, baked potatoes, pizza, and salads.

recipe reprinted from The Cheese Trap

images credit: Hannah Kaminsky