Tempeh Tacos on the Stove

The reasons you’ll LOVE these tempeh tacos!

• This method is unfussy. This meal could not be more simple! All you have to do is sauté the onion and garlic, combine the tempeh with the seasonings and cook it up.
• Great for serving a crowd. This method can easily be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. As an added plus, everyone LOVES taco night!
• Many serving options. You can use this seasoned tempeh to make, not only tacos, but taco salad, nachos, stuffed sweet potato, Mexican casseroles and the list goes on.
• Healthy tacos. These tempeh tacos are actually good for you! They’re made with only tempeh, onion, garlic and seasonings. That’s it! And tempeh is packed with protein – there’s over 30 grams per 1 cup of tempeh. WIN!
• An memorable texture. If you’ve wanted to try tofu but simply can’t get behind the texture, I highly recommend tempeh! It has a much meatier texture that I genuinely love!

GUYS! These Tempeh Tacos needs to happen in your life asap! Wait, are you a tempeh fan? Because you should be.

I’m relatively new to tempeh. A year ago, I tried it for the first time and quickly became obsessed. I’m not a HUGE fan of tofu, but I am completely in love with tempeh. I started truly getting into making it last year, after one of my video clients had me do a roundup video of 4 different tempeh recipes. (ps- ALL of Brittany’s recipes are standout!). One of the recipes included crumbling the tempeh into a sauce as a meat replacement for spaghetti sauce. That had me thinking – what other ways could I use it as a meat replacer??

Enter: Tempeh Tacos!

What is Tempeh?

Tempeh is a plant-based protein source that is made from fermented soybeans. It kind of looks like someone smashed together a bunch of beans and then baked it into a cake. It has a firm texture that can easily be sliced or even crumbled. Tempeh is high in both fiber and protein making it a great plant-based meat alternative.

On it’s own and uncooked, tempeh has a quite mild taste and is almost flavorless. However, it does a great job soaking up marinades and flavors, and if cooked well, tastes MEMORABLE!

You can learn more about cooking tempeh HERE and find even more tempeh recipes HERE.

My go-to brand of tempeh:

I often get asked what my go-to brand of tempeh is and I have 2. My all time go-to is Trader Joe’s Tempeh! It’s by far the cheapest on the market (at least in my area of the PNW) and it tastes great! But you can never go wrong with Light Life’s Tempeh either. Both are great options.

Ingredients for tempeh tacos

This method for tempeh taco “meat” requires simple ingredients that are mostly spices you may already have on hand.

• Olive oil. For cooking the onion and garlic.
• Onion + garlic. Diced onion and garlic adds flavor-packed flavor to the tempeh taco “meat”.
• Spice blend. A regular here the savory mix of spices used to season the tempeh in this dish. It’s so much tastier than store-bought taco seasoning packets and so unfussy too! However, you can completely use store-bought for the tempeh, if you prefer. The taco seasoning from Trader Joe’s is genuinely flavorful!
• Tempeh. To keep these tacos vegan, we’re using tempeh. You’ll need one 8 ounce block to make around 4 servings of tacos.
• Water. Adding a bit of water will help the seasoning blend coat the crumbled tempeh and thicken the mixture up.

How to make tempeh tacos:

Making these well-seasoned tempeh tacos is such a breeze! A regular here that everything is cooked in one skillet and the only chopping you have to do is for the onion and garlic. Here’s a short rundown of the instructions:

1.Start this method by sautéing the onion and garlic.

2. Next, crumble in the tempeh and add in all the spices and the water. Stir to combine and let this mixture cook for about 5 minutes and until the tempeh is heated and the water has absorbed.

3. Enjoy the tempeh taco filling wrapped in warm tortillas with your go-to toppings or skip the tortilla and serve it over fresh greens for a taco salad!

Certainly give these Tempeh Tacos a try! I think you might be surprised how much you love them!:) THEN give these tempeh fajitas a try.:)

See the video