Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce
You're going to love this vegetarian lentil tacos recipe. Roasted cauliflower, seasoned lentils and creamy chipotle sauce combine to make a delicious taco!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
Pop quiz! What is a “pulse,” in food terms? Pulses are the edible seeds of legumes, including lentils, chickpeas, dry peas and beans. I’ve been a big fan of pulses ever since I stopped eating meat. All of a sudden, I was craving them and cooking them all the time.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Pulses are packed with protein, fiber and iron. Did you know that one half-cup serving of cooked lentils has twice as many antioxidants as blueberries and twice as much protein as quinoa? Plus, they’re inexpensive and an important drought-resistant crop to many people around the globe. They’re definitely a crave-worthy food, whether you’re a meat eater or not.
I’m writing about pulses today because each year, the United Nations picks a topic of global interest. They named 2016 to be International Year of Pulses because of their significant health, economic and environmental benefits. Gearing up for 2016, the UN asked each country to submit one pulse recipe to represent their country. The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council reached out to me to develop a recipe to be in the running. How cool is that?!
They are running a Facebook competition to pick the winner. With your help, my recipe could be selected as the National Signature Pulse Recipe for the U.S.! You can help me out by going to the USADPLC Facebook page, and voting for mine by Liking the photo. Please do! You’d make this food geek really happy. (Update: Voting is over, and this recipe won! Thank you tremendously for your support!)
Watch How to Make Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos
We’ll talk about these tacos when you get back. They’re a little out there, I know. I discovered that golden, roasted cauliflower makes a great taco filling when I was in Austin. It’s a little crispy, a little chewy and totally perfect.
I cooked up some lentils that are seasoned with onions, garlic, tomato paste, cumin and chili powder. Top all that off with a drizzle of spicy, creamy chipotle sauce and some fresh cilantro, and you have one tasty taco. Not to mention, affordable and good for you, too!
Please let me know how these lentil tacos turn out for you in the comments! Looking for more fun taco recipes? I’ve got you covered right here.
Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce
You’re going to love this vegetarian lentil tacos recipe. Roasted cauliflower, seasoned lentils and creamy chipotle sauce combine to make a delicious taco! Recipe yields 8 modestly portioned tacos.
Ingredients
Cauliflower
- 1 large head of cauliflower, sliced into bite-sized florets
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Seasoned lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow or white onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ cup brown lentils, picked over for debris and rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
Chipotle sauce
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers) or chipotle hot sauce to taste
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Everything else
- 8 small, round corn tortillas
- ½ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves*
Instructions
- To roast the cauliflower: Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss cauliflower florets with enough olive oil to cover them in a light, even layer of oil. Season with salt and pepper and arrange the florets in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, tossing halfway, until the florets are deeply golden on the edges.
- Warm the olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic with a dash of salt for about 5 minutes, until the onions are softened and turning translucent. Add the tomato paste, cumin and chili powder and sauté for another minute, stirring constantly. Add the lentils and the vegetable broth or water. Raise heat and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes to 45 minutes, until the lentils are tender and cooked through. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, and add more broth or water if the liquid evaporates before the lentils are done. Once the lentils are done cooking, drain off any excess liquid, then cover and set aside.
- To prepare the chipotle sauce, just whisk together the ingredients and set aside (if you have no choice but to use whole chipotle peppers from the can, use a blender to purée it all).
- Warm tortillas individually in a pan over medium heat. Stack the warm tortillas and cover them with a tea towel if you won’t be serving the tacos immediately.
- Once all of your components are ready, you can assemble your tacos! Top each tortilla with the lentil mixture, cauliflower, a drizzle of chipotle sauce and a generous sprinkle of chopped cilantro.
Notes
Make it vegan/dairy free/mayo free: Substitute vegan mayonnaise or, better yet, check out A Couple Cooks’ tahini chipotle sauce! (For what it’s worth, I tried making this sauce with yogurt and it really missed the mark. Mayo is much better.)
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use 100% corn, certified gluten-free tortillas.
Chipotle sauce tip: If you have leftover sauce and peppers, pour the leftovers into a small freezer bag, then squeeze the air out of the bag and flatten out the bag. Store it in the freezer, flat, and you can just pull off as much as you need and defrost it!
*Cilantro note: For those who dislike cilantro, substitute some fresh spring greens instead.
If you love this recipe: Check out my other taco recipes and lentil recipes!
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This recipe was created for USDAPLC as part of their National Signature Recipe Contest and I was compensated for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Made these for a weeknight dinner again tonight. Sub the lentils for black eyes peas and didn’t make the chipotle dip for keeping it simple. Made some quick pico de gayo instead and topped with avocado slices. What a party in our mouths! Thanks again Kate :)
These were delicious and very filling!
This recipe was awesome. My husband loves tacos and he is a picky eater. He thought these were as good as ground beef tacos. This will definitely add to our regular lineup for dinner recipes.
I really loved the sauce which I made with Veganise.
I cooked the lentils prior, and then added to the mixture. I decreased the water to just 1cup as well, and it was ready in minutes and tasted great.
Hi! I was wondering how this would do as leftovers. I was considering making it for a week’s worth of lunches Thoughts or advice?
Hi Susan, that’s a good question. They are definitely prettiest if composed right before eating. If you can store the tortillas separately from the other components, I think these would be a good candidate for lunches. (The tortillas might get too soggy and fall apart otherwise.) Here are recipes that pack well for lunch.
My god these are good! This is the type of recipe you feed your meat-eating friends – and no one misses the meat! Spicy and satisfying.
Hooray! So happy you think so, Melissa. I think this is a great one to try on non-vegetarians. Thanks for the review!
These were very good! Wouldn’t change anything about this recipe.
Well, thank you Grace! I really appreciate your review :)
This recipe was absolutely amazing, great for a Monday night dinner!
That’s great! If you would want to leave a star review, Jose, I would appreciate it. :)
I made these for the first time last weekend (late to the party, I know!) and loved them so much I made them again tonight (this time in the form of stuffed sweet potatoes instead of tacos – call me crazy but it was delicious). I’m hooked!
Never late to the party! I love when people go back to try older recipes. Thanks so much for trying them and for the review, Daphne!
SO. MUCH. YES.
BF said they’re the best tacos he’s ever had :)
Ha, thanks Kelsey! I love that.
Hi Kate! My boyfriend and I have tried a number of your creations, and they never disappoint. I need to be better at commenting. :) These tacos were great as well, and we’ve made them a couple of times. However, this weekend, we took your lentil mixture from this recipe, doubled the seasonings, added some fire roasted tomatoes, veggie broth, kidney and pinto beans, and created a chili. We even roasted the cauliflower and stirred it in at the end. Topped our bowls with sour cream, avocado and cilantro. It turned out really well! Your experiments inspired us to try something new on our own, so thank you! :)
Your support is appreciated! Thank you, Aidan. Your creation sounds wonderful!
I made this meal for my family… very picky eaters… and they love it! Great fasting food.
Hooray!
This is my favorite recipe of yours, and I. just keep coming back to it again and again!!
I love that! Thank you, Meg for sharing.
These were fantastic!!!!! I used red lentils and chipotle sauce. In addition, I added adobo chili powder to the lentils. Thank you, from one Kansas City girl to another!
Great!! Hope you are staying warm these very cold days, Allison. Thanks for the review!
I make this dish at least every other week for our family and it’s a bit hit for all of us. So yummy, healthy and delicious. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I’m glad you like it so much and that it’s such a hit for your family. If you would want to leave a star review since you like it so much, that would be great!
I made this today. It was amazing!!! The only thing I did different was add thin slices of avocado and use organic blue corn taco shells. This is the fourth recipe of yours I’ve tried, every one has been five stars.
Sounds delicious! Thank you for your review, Jacqueline. :)
I love tacos, and these were easy and fantastic! Thank you!
I cook from your site often and these are definitely a favorite! My wife declared after eating them, it’s one of the best things you have ever made!
I used vegan mayo and harissa paste with a squeeze of lime for the sauce because I had a jar open. Yum, yum, yum!!
Thanks for cooking my recipes often! Thanks for your review, Kelly.
So good!!! I made this tonight… unfortunately my organic cauliflower had a ton of bugs hiding in the florets and I spent ages (about an hour and a half lol) getting rid of them… it didn’t occur to me other people might have this problem til I googled it at the end and I guess I should have just soaked them in salt water?? Anyways great recipe thanks and love your blog!
That’s news to me! Thank you for your review.
Excellent recipe. Made it for dinner last night. My husband was unsure about having this type of taco, but one bite and his mind was changed. I sure am happy to have found your website.
It is different, but so good! I’m glad your husband was open to it. Thanks for sharing, Janet!
I loved this recipe so much! I used pre-cooked lentils so they came out a bit mushy when I added them to the cooked garlic and onions and then I added the tomato paste and spices … but it was a bit like refried beans and worked very well! I also added some coleslaw mix then the chipotle mayonnaise on top and everything was so delicious. My fiancé and I loved them so much. Thank you!
I’m glad you liked them, even with the refried beans texture. :) Love that they were a hit for you and your fiance!
Made and love this recipe. Soo yummy!!! Thanks so much for sharing.
You’re welcome! If you would want to leave a star review, I would appreciate it.
I made this tonight, I’m trying to get more vegetarian dinners in our rotation. A big hit! I don’t like lentils, so I used a can of drained and rinsed black beans. And I omitted the stock, since I didn’t have to cook the beans, and used a little water to thin out the tomato paste and help it coat the beans. Very very yummy!! And my toddler loves roasted cauliflower, so she was very happy with the deconstructed taco.
Thank you, Elizabeth for your review.
Loved this recipe! Easy and tastes great. I’m a vegetarian, and I was getting tired of the faux ground beef aka soy. This was a fabulous alternative. I added some leftover shredded carrot to the lentils, and it worked. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you liked it. You can get a lot of protein from different beans, grains, etc!
Hi Kate. I am making these this week and have a question. Could the chipotle/adobo sauce be replaced with a different flavor profile? My husband and I both don’t tend to enjoy it much. Would an avocado crema work?? Thanks so much!
Sure! You could use a sauce you like. You can always replace the adobo with another spicy sauce too.
I just made these, THEY ARE SOO GOOD is unreal. 10/10 recommend
Yes! Thanks, Gisell.
Made these and they’re AMAZING. The sauce was the key to pulling it all together and bringing it from good to Great. Kids loved them. Hubby loved them. A+ recipe!!
I love that the entire family loves this recipe! Thanks for sharing, MJ.
Made these tonight. I has to sub lemin for lime, but it was still delicious. Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing!
Wow, just wow, that chipotle sauce was even better than I thought
It is the key for sure! Thank you, Amy.
Thank you! Sounds great.
I´ve been looking for recipes using cauliflower – apart from the indian recipes I know & love – all along! I´m not quite sure about the ” mayo” – but if you say so – so be it!
Cuddle your dog for me – I love dogs as well,
Stefan
It does really make these come together nicely. Let me know what you think, Stefan!
Hi Kate!
Can I use lentils from a can? I know… lazy option but just wondering! Thanks! Looks delicious!
You can, if needed. I really like cooking the lentils for the flavor. Thanks!
Delicious! So impressed. You converted me into a lentil lover. My son loved this dinner too.
Yes! That’s a win. Thanks for your comment, Lorrie.
Quote from carnivore husband about these tacos: “Restaurant quality.” I made them as shown in your recipe, except that I added smoked paprika to the cauliflower before roasting. YUM!
I discovered your blog last week after getting sick twice from eating beef on vacation and deciding that I’m done with meat (I’ve been vegetarian in the past and have been leaning back towards it for a while now. Not sure what possessed me to have beef twice on vacay??). I’ve made your pesto pasta, buddha bowl and these tacos and all of them have been DELICIOUS! No one in my house has even noticed that we haven’t had meat this week. :D
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you!!!
I’m sorry you got sick, Kristen! But, I’m so happy you found the blog. Let me know what you think as you try different recipes.
These were just amazing! A few tweaks—first, hubs homemade fresh corn tortillas which added a deliciousness factor. Second, added 1/2 tsp maple syrup to the chipotle sauce to help balance the flavors. Also added one generous slice of boiled beet on top which again added a sweetness that complimented other flavors perfectly. Finished w a squeeze of lime! Definitely adding to ‘make again’ recipe list. So so good! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Julie! Sounds like a great way to add your own twist.
The wife and I are trying to work more vegetarian meals into the rotation. Tonight we had our normal chicken tacos and I made the roasted cauliflower and lentil tacos also. All agree that this will become a staple in our meal plan. Very good stuff.
Thank you, Greg!
Vegetarian girlfriend sent me this way.. big moment this is the first vegetarian dish I’ve ever cooked, absolutely delicious! Irish meat and potatoes Dad and brother here in Dublin (Ireland) loved them too
So glad to hear, Andrew! Thank you for your review.
Okay yeah I made this last night and it was greatness. Who knew cauliflower can make great tacos! Thank you so much!
I know! I’m glad you loved it.
Delicious! If you are in a hurry, Boar’s Head makes a chipotle mayonnaise which works just fine. Great combination of flavors!
Thanks for sharing, Melanie!
Delicious! If you are in a hurry, Boar’s Head makes a chipotle mayonnaise which works just fine (spicy!). Great combination of flavors
Thank you, Melanie! I’m happy you like the flavor combination.
Slowly cooking my way through your blog! This was another home run- just absolutely delicious. Everyone needs to make this recipe asap!
Thanks, Patty! I appreciate you taking the time to comment and review.
This is one of my go-to’s for our family dinners. My kids (3 1/2 and 1 1/2) eat it up and my husband asks for it on a regular basis.
Wonderful to hear, Rebekah!
I made these tonight, and they were amazing! I switched it up a bit though – trying that meal prep trend! I made tricolor quinoa my grain instead of tortillas, kinda like a quinoa bowl, with the lentils, cauliflower, and sauce! It was delicious, and super easy to make lunch for my week too! I used colorful cauliflower from trader joe’s, which is way more fun than plain cauliflower, haha. Only one other little comment – my lentils definitely took on the longer side to cook, and I needed almost twice the broth to cook them completely. But this is def gonna be go-to recipe now! Thanks Kate! :)
Meal-prep is so helpful! Thanks for sharing, Samantha. I appreciate your review!
These tacos were so delicious and easy to make. This is the kind of recipe that makes me believe being vegetarian can be possible and enjoyable. Thank you!
It’s all about flavor combination, Emily! I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Amazingly Good!!! We love these so much! My husband now requests them for dinner on a regular basis, and this is someone who complains when there’s not meat in the meal. Thank you!
That’s amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely delicious. It’s gone straight into my recipe book.
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Rebecca!
I know this is an older post but it sounds so good! the only problem is my family cant handle any kind of heat in food, as in they cannot eat chipotle or chili powder. Is there any way of making substitutions without ruining the dish?
The chipotle sauce really brings it together! I would say add just a little if you think its ok to get the smoky taste. Or, just leave it out and use a creamy topping like avocado, etc. Hope this helps!
I used Trader Joe’s precooked lentils. So easy and tasty.
I’m glad you liked it, Jennifer!
These were really tasty! I served them with avocado and cabbage, and really enjoyed them, especially the sauce. I made extra lentils and will try freezing them.
Thank you for sharing, Laura! I appreciate the review.
I can’t tell you how much I love this recipe – especially as my 4 & 7 year olds DEVOUR it!! Another favorite of yours. (Also I don’t do chipotle cause of my young kids but I do a couple shakes of chili powder into the mayo or greek yogurt for the sauce, and then sliced avocado and cilantro).
That’s awesome, Tiffany! You kids have great tastes. Both are so delicious. Thanks for your review!
Another hit! I *love* lentils, but the idea of lentils in tacos didn’t appeal to me. But I opened up a can of chipotle peppers recently (to make your chipotle vinaigrette–which I LOVE btw) and wanted to use it up. My husband and I both liked them a lot. Very “meaty” and fulfilling, and the flavors were very different than the usual black bean and cheese-based tacos/burritos we make. Thanks for all the great food, Kate!
Thank you, Natalie!