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This is not your average vegan taco salad. It’s full of butter rich flavor from sweet potato noodles as well as smooth cashew cream. The avocado pico de gallo brings a pop of color, and a bed of kale ribbons finishes off the picture of perfection. Not only does it look delicious, it tastes heavenly!
Whoever said vegan food isn’t filling hasn’t loaded up on this vegetarian taco salad…
Table of Contents
Not Your Average Taco Salad
I’ve eaten a lot of taco salads at a lot of restaurants. Any time I ask for the vegetarian option, I’m told to swap the meat with beans. Every once in a while I’ll get a mushroom topping option. The tomatoes are usually slimy and not ripe, and the iceburg lettuce is wilted. Not in this salad!
I chose sweet potato noodles for the base, as they add a mild sweetness to the dish, as well as a heartiness. The avocado pico de gallo ups the fat content, and provides a rich creaminess. And don’t skip out on the cashew cream! It ties the whole dish together, in my opinion.
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Vegan Swaps
While this recipe was designed to be eaten on a Seasonal Cleanse, you can definitely make it your own. Each component of this salad is meant to fuel your body with a balance of healthy fats, fiber, protein and carbs. So keep that in mind while making swaps. If you’re looking to lower the fat (or just get rid of the avocados), then you can replace the avocado with diced tomatoes or bell peppers.
Swap the cashews with almonds or macademia nuts in the cashew cream recipe. Change out the walnuts with cashews or almonds. And don’t be afraid to go wild with toppings! If you like it on your tacos, then you’ll probably like it on this vegetarian taco salad.
Pro Tips
Because I want you to get the best from this salad, I’m offering all my tried and true tips + tricks for making this vegetarian taco salad a hit from the first bite.
First, don’t skip on soaking the nuts! Walnuts have a completely different texture raw vs soaked. If you want the right consistency for the ‘meat,’ then soaking is important.
The same is true for the cashew cream. If you are a sour cream lover, then this cream is for you! Yet the cashews need time to soften up through soaking before they can become the cream of your dreams.
Finally, if you like taco salad that you eat with crunchy chips, then you can still love this version! Just bake those spiralized sweet potatoes until crispy. This will give you a crunchy base for your vegan taco salad, as well as give a satisfying crunch to each bite.
Need help getting the noodles crispy? Make sure to rub in the oil with your hands, so every bit of sweet potato is covered. Spread out the noodles on the baking sheet, to give them a bit of breathing room. And don’t be afraid to broil them (watching closely!) at the end of baking to finish.
Whole Foods to Help You THRIVE
This vegan taco salad recipe comes directly from the pages of my 21-Day Cleanse. This reset is NOT: a juice cleanse, a punishment, or a starvation diet. It’s not a diet at all. It is a week long, whole food, plant based meal plan designed to help you reset your body, eating habits, sleeping habits, energy levels, and more.
Yes people often lose weight while doing this, because your fueling your body with 100% plants (delicious ones, I might add). Yet even greater, you’ll find that following this plan for 7 days will bring you better, more restful sleep. It will give help your body feel energized, and clear brain fog.
I knew I needed to do more than survive in my life, so I created a plan to help me and this community THRIVE. And guess what? It did just that!
More Vegan Recipes
With recipes like these, how can you not try the 21-Day Cleanse. Your body and mind will thank you!
- Mediterranean Roasted Veggies
- Turmeric Tea
- Maple Smoothie Bowl
- Oven-Roasted Almonds
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Brain Fuel Smoothie
- Vegan Protein Bars
Spiralized Sweet Potato Taco Bowl
Jen HansardVideo
Ingredients
Walnut Taco Meat
- ⅓ cup raw walnuts soaked overnight
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin ground
- pinch sea salt, unrefined
Sweet Potato Swoodles
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil extra virgin
- 1 sweet potato peeled, spiralized
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin ground
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, unrefined
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ground ground
- pinch cayenne pepper optional
Pico de gallo
- ¼ avocado diced
- ¼ cup mango diced
- 1 tablespoon jalapeño pepper minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- pinch sea salt, unrefined
Toppings
- 1 cup kale cut into thin ribbons
- 1 lime wedges
- 2 tablespoon cashew cream optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it lightly.
- Make the walnut taco meat: Pulse the soaked walnuts, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt in a food processor until finely chopped. (Or finely chop the walnuts by hand and stir in the remaining ingredients.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Toss the spiralized sweet potato with the olive oil, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne, if using. Spread on the baking sheet and bake until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the pico de gallo: Stir together the avocado, mango, jalapeño, cilantro, garlic, lime juice and salt.
- Pile the sweet potato noodles on a plate. Top with the walnut meat, kale, pico de gallo and cashew cream, if desired. Serve with lime wedges.
Recipe Notes
- Prep Tip: If you forgot to soak the walnuts, cover them with hot water for 30 minutes, then drain.
- Oven Tip: Check the sweet potato noodles halfway through baking and pull out any thin strands that are browning faster.
- No Spiralizer: Cut the sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes and roast at 425 °F for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing halfway.
- Make Ahead: Make the walnut taco meat and pico de gallo up to 1 day ahead, but cut the avocado and stir it into the pico just before serving.
This is my favorite recipe on the site!! It’s from the Winter cleanse. My whole family loves it. It’s where I discovered I like roasted kale. You simply must try this .
Hi Jill! It’s one of my families faves as well, nothing like a good taco salad!
I’ve made this several times and it’s fabulous. However, the last time I made it the walnut mixture seemed off. Do you rinse the soaked walnuts or just drain them? I can’t remember what I did the first couple of times and wondering if that mattered.
Hey Terri – Glad you asked! Soak, drain, then rinse. 🙂
AMAZING!!! I made this early. I just LOVE all the Mexican Insured recipes. They sooooo delicious and comforting to me.
Is yam used in this recipe? It looks orange in the photos. The sweet potato that I’m familiar with is white inside.
Hi Susie! Yes, we use an orange sweet potato in this recipe. Yet yam or white sweet potatoes would work well too. Glad you’re rawkin this salad with us!
Good tasting, but time-consuming. I did my own change ups and next time I will probably do it differently!