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We loved this recipe! Followed it exactly and my husband declared it the best vegetarian recipe we’ve done (and we do at least 2 meatless dinners per week).
Karen
This recipe is one of my all-time favorites for freezer meal prepping!
It is made in a flash with cauliflower, walnuts, chipotles, spices, and baked into a crumbly mixture that resembles taco meat so closely that no one will notice that it’s meatless!
But besides being easy to make, I love this recipe because of how it freezer. You can stick it in a bag or a bowl, and it will stay soft enough to scoop out one serving at a time – just enough for a single-serve batch of tacos, burritos, nachos, or a Tex-Mex style rice bowl.
How To Make Freezer Cauliflower Walnut Taco Meat
Blend everything up in your food processor, spread it on a baking sheet, and bake.
Pack it into a container and freezer it for later.
And there you go! Now you can scoop out one serving (or more) at a time, straight from the freezer, and reheat it in a skillet to get a nice little crispiness to it. If you want it to resemble more of a saucy taco meat, just add a little water.
Cauliflower Walnut Meat
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Freezer Meal Cauliflower Walnut Taco Meat! It’s so easy: just mix, bake, and freeze. Meatless, gluten free, vegan!
Ingredients
PULSE IN A FOOD PROCESSOR:
- 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 cups whole walnuts
- 2 individual chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- optional: lime juice, onion or garlic powder, cayenne to taste
Instructions
BAKE: 375 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Freeze for later!
FINAL STEP: Serve in tacos (yummy!), enchiladas, rice bowls, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, the usual.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: cauliflower walnut meat, freezer meal cauliflower walnut meat
View original recipe here.
You might also like our freezer meals post.
Yummy!
Do you think subbing some of the walnuts with almonds would still taste good?
How long can you freeze this?
Should keep for 3-6 months!
OMGeee this is a delicious! Going to get another head of coliflower to make another batch!
Great flavor, but so so spicy! I only used one chipotle pepper and a little bit of the sauce. Any suggestions?
We have made this recipe with all the ingredients and we have made it without pepper or cayenne and it was still so good kids ate it!
Ok, I know this is from a long time ago, but for anyone else wondering how to make it less spicy, cut open the adobo peppers, scrape the seeds out, and add into your recipe!! It worked for me, and it wasn’t that spicy!!
Ok, I was really skeptical before making this. walnuts+cauliflower…? I wasn’t convinced. But it seemed really easy to make so I gave it a try
You guys! IT WAS AMAZING! so easy and so tasty. The chipotle peppers added the perfect amount of spice for me. 100% will make again… and again… and again.
Glad you enjoyed it, Katie!
what’s the yummy sauce drizzled on top?
Vegan queso! 🙂 https://pinchofyum.com/3-ingredient-vegan-queso
This is an amateur question, but to defrost do you just put it in the oven and use after its warm again? Or do you just let it thaw through the day and use? I’m a freezer newbie☺
It’ll stay soft and crumbly in the freezer, so all you need to do is scoop it out and heat on the stove or in the microwave!
Do you think subbing some of the walnuts with almonds would still taste good?
Ok, so can definitely see that this is a winner. But I”ve messed up both times, the taste is there but not the texture. First time I used riced frozen cauliflower from store and it came out pretty paste like, I assumed it was because it was previously frozen. This time I used a whole head of cauliflower chopped in florets as recipe shows and still, same paste. With my processor (Hamilton Beach) it goes from florets to paste really really quickly. Next time I think I’ll try to put it in the processor as two batches and see if that works. If anyone has others tips, please let me know. Super pumped about the taste and hopeful for the amazing texture too!
P.S. POY Staff…if there’s ANYWAY you can add a ‘I made it” tag onto these comments so we can review comments from people who have actually made the dishes rather than “Yah! High Five Lindsay!” comments that would be a GAME. CHANGER 🙂
Kelsey- are you using the “pulse” function? Don’t run the food processor continuously, just pulse it. Didn’t need very much at all to get a good texture, maybe 10 times. If you are pulsing, maybe there’s a lower setting on your machine? My Cuisinart did a great job without over processing it.
I would also love the “I made it” tag. Reading everyone’s I want to make it comments are really unhelpful to people who actually make your recipes.
I hate to be a dweeb, but, I only have bags of walnut pieces….does that measure the same or will 2 cups of walnut pieces be more than using whole walnuts? I feel like this is a stupid question….also do you know what 3 cups cauliflower florets translates to if you buy already riced cauliflower? Thanks for your help!
In response to the pasty texture questions: Don’t use a food processor, sharpen your knife skills and chop away until you have smallish pieces. Riced is too small and will overcook quickly. Walnuts chopped to your liking will be fine, don’t need to be whole. I haven’t made this yet but it will be on the table tonight! Looks delicious.
Made this last week and froze it and ate it today for the first time as a taco. Delicious! So easy and so tasty. We are working back eating vegetarian (maybe someday vegan) and I did not miss the meat one bit. I work absolutely keep this on hand in the freezer!
It’s always a good day when you find this cauliflower walnut taco meat in the freezer. Glad you enjoyed this, Autumn!
Would recommend freezing this before or after you bake it in the oven?
We’d recommend freezing it after. 🙂
TY. This recipe is so easy and yummy. I’m single so I’m thrilled that I can make it for a taco night and freeze the rest for later meals. Great go-to for nights I have nothing planned !!!
🎉
Wow! I changed this slightly by adding a chopped up carrot and winging it on the spices, but honestly I think I could have eaten the whole bowl chopped and raw! It was delicious.
For the comments regarding spiciness, I washed all of the seeds out of the chipotle peppers, rinsed under some water, and subbed some tomato paste in place of the chipotle sauce. I know that sort of defeats the purpose of having the smoked chipotles, so I made sure to add plenty of smoked paprika to make up for it! You probably could just do some tomato paste and smoked paprika for the flavor without the heat?
We loved this recipe! Followed it exactly and my husband declared it the best vegetarian recipe we’ve done (and we do at least 2 meatless dinners per week).
Glad to hear it, Karen!
This recipe is so easy and so fantastic! I could not stop eating it straight off the baking sheet…! I made 3 batches and can’t wait to use this for lunches and quick dinners. Now I’m off to try the Vegan Queso. 🙂
Awesome, Jen! We’re so glad you like the recipe!
This recipe is SO good! Just made it tonight to put in a taco salad for myself and with all of the other ingredients, even my husband had no idea it wasn’t actual “meat”. Will definitely be making more to keep in the freezer.
Any tips on making this without turning on the oven? It’s still 90 degrees in California! Would it word on the stove top?
We haven’t tried, so it’s hard to say. We do it in the oven because you can spread the mixture out on the sheet pan, so it cooks up evenly and kind of dries everything out to give it a nice meaty texture. I think it’d work on the stovetop, but the mixture will have a bit more liquid to it.
Cannot believe this only has 8 reviews?! POY’s best kept secret apparently. One of my OG POY faves forever! Just made this for the first time in ages and will be adding it back into regular rotation.