I was obsessed with Taco Bell in my youth. I wanted to create a fun, comfort food for when you are craving taco bell, but you’re vegan. This recipe for caramelized chipotle vegan gordita crunch is amazing. Not only did I veganize them, I gave them a slightly more adult flavor as well. Onions and chipotle peppers are caramelized. That is mixed with tofu, as the meat substitute. As well as all the good spices! A perfect and super easy cheese sauce is spread on a soft flour tortilla, wrapped around a hard taco shell. That is filled with the tofu, lettuce and it is complete with vegan spicy ranch! No words describe how delicious they are. Late night junk food at its finest!
What You Need To Make Your Own Gordita Crunch:
- Extra Firm Tofu: Crumbled tofu makes a ground “beef” substitute to use as the filling.
- Onions and Chipotles: To build the base of the filling mixture.
- Agave Syrup: To caramelize the onions and chipotles.
- Cumin, Paprika, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder: To flavor the tofu.
- Vegetable Broth: The mixture needs a little liquid to bring it all together.
- Vegan Butter, Flour, Non-Dairy Milk, Vegan Cheese: These make a super simple cheese sauce.
- Cashews, Non-dairy Milk, Chives, Dill, Parsley, Garlic, Onion Powder, and Hot Sauce: For Epic spicy ranch!
The spicy ranch that you dollop on top of a vegan Gordita crunch is a must! It is very easy to make. Just add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. You can add other toppings to your Gordita crunch, but I just love to do a layer of tofu, layer of lettuce and dollop of spicy ranch. The cheese sauce that holds the tortilla and taco shell together completes all the perfect taco components. I promise, you’ll want one of these babies everyday.
Why Should You Make These Cheesy Crunchy Tacos?
- Soft taco sandwiched with cheese sauce and a crunchy taco….um…yes.
- The tofu filling is to die for.
- Super easy and easy to find ingredients.
- Spicy ranch!
- They are freaking amazing!
Caramelized Chipotle Vegan Gordita Crunch
Ingredients
Spicy Ranch
- 1 Cup Raw cashews, soaked*
- 1/2 Cup Non-dairy milk, unsweetened I used soy milk
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh chives, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Dill, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon Parsley, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1-2 teaspoons Hot sauce
Caramelized Chipotle Tofu Filling
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1/2 a Sweet onion, diced
- 2 Chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Agave syrup
- 1 Block Extra firm tofu, drained and pressed**
- 1 teaspoon Adobo sauce from the can
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable broth
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Cheese Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan butter, I used Earth Balance
- 2 Tablespoons All purpose flour
- 1 Cup Non-dairy milk
- 1 Cup Vegan cheddar style shreds, I used Violife
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
The Rest
- 6 Hard taco shells
- 6 Flour tortillas
- Lettuce, shredded
Instructions
- Make the spicy ranch first. Drain the cashews you soaked and add them to a blender. Add the remaining ranch ingredients and blend on high until completely smooth. Put in the fridge until ready to use.
- Now make the tofu filling. Heat the olive oil on medium high in a large non-stick skillet. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Sauté, reducing heat as needed until the onions begin to brown. 5-7 minutes.
- Add the agave and continue to sauté, until the onions are nice and brown. Another 2-4 minutes.
- Next, add the chipotles, and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
- Then crumble the tofu you pressed into the skillet. Break up any large chunks with a spatula.
- Sauté the tofu, until it begins to brown. 3-5 minutes.
- Now, add the adobo sauce, all the spices and the vegetable broth. Then add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Continue sautéing for another 5-6 minutes. The broth will be absorbed and you will have a nice spicy filling. Turn the heat off, but leave on the stove to keep warm.
- Now, make the cheese sauce. In a medium sized sauce pan, heat the vegan butter on medium.
- Once the butter has melted, whisk in the flour to create a roux. Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Then add the non-dairy milk and whisk to combine. Making sure there are no lumps. Simmer until it begins to thicken. 2-3 minutes.
- Add the vegan cheese, garlic powder and pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk until the vegan cheese has completely melted. Turn off the heat.
- To put together, spread a layer of cheese sauce onto a flour tortilla. Wrap that around a hard taco shell. Fill with tofu, top with lettuce and spicy ranch. Serve immediately, with more ranch to dip!
These are amazing!! Thank you for creating this recipe, a great “fix” for vegans!!
This was so good! I used some leftover veggie mince and black beans/corn mixture for the protein, but otherwise followed the recipe otherwise. It was so good!
Loved these!! Not too difficult to make and really delicious
This recipe is next level AMAZING! I just made it tonight for my family (including my carnivore of a dad) and everyone was raving. I already want it to be lunch time tomorrow so I can have leftovers. 🙈 Thank you for creating it!
Loved these! So simple to make and flavor was amazing! Definitely will make these again