Beetroot tacos a.k.a. the best tacos ever.
These tacos tick all the boxes. Smoky? Check! Spicy? Check! A little bit crispy? Check! Totally fun to look at and eat? Check! Double check.
Yes, these babies are all that
While this recipe may seem daunting at first, it does not actually require as much effort as you would imagine. A lot of it is just waiting for things to marinade/bake/cook. Although, yes, waiting is difficult too!
Serve this at your next dinner party, whip it up for taco tuesday, it is dressed it impress!
Beetroot Tacos with Mung Beans and Blackened Tofu, Radish Slaw and Crispy Corn
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These tacos are a gorgeous shade of pink, and are stuffed with spicy, smoky chunks of firm tofu and crispy corn kernels. The perfect showstopper for taco tuesday!
Author: Sasha Gill
Recipe type: Vegan
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- ¼ cup white flour
- 2 tbsp beetroot powder*
- 6 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ a block of tofu, pressed
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp chili powder, or to taste
- Pinch of salt
- 8 radishes, sliced finely
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ cup mung beans
- To Serve: Cilantro, Crispy Corn/Corn nuts**, lemon or lime wedges, Cholula sauce, or siracha
Instructions
- First, place the rinsed mung beans in a saucepan and add enough water so that the level is 1-2 inches above the beans. Bring this to a boil and allow to cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the tofu. Press it well, and once it is ready, cut it into cubes. Place the tofu cubes into a shallow bowl or baking pan (I use a bread pan, it's the perfect size) and pour the soy sauce over it, and leave it to marinade for about 30 minutes, flipping the cubes halfway.
- As the tofu soaks up the soy sauce, prep the taco shells. Sift together the flour, beet powder and salt and make a well in the middle. Add the water and knead into a smooth, elastic ball, about 5-8 minutes of kneading. Divide this into 4-6 balls, and roll each out into a thin circular disk. Set aside for now
- To make the radish slaw, slice the radishes into very thin slices, and toss in the lemon juice and sugar, leave this to infuse and soften as you continue with the tofu. Preheat the oven to 180C. Add all the spices, pepper and salt to a plate and use a spoon to mix well. Take each tofu cube out of the marinade and toss in the spice mixture, then place on a baking tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes. You can also fry these in a nonstick pan or grill with some oil.
- As the tofu cooks, finish up your tacos. Heat up a non-stick frying pan and cook each taco on each side until bubbly and browned. Leave the cooked tacos on a plate, covered, so that they don't dry out.
- When all your components are ready you can assemble. Place a layer of mung beans, topped with a few tofu cubes, some radish slaw, and garnish generously with cilantro and crispy corn kernels. Eat warm!
Notes
*If you do not have beet powder, just replace all the water with beet juice, which those pre-cooked beetroot packets are full of!
**You can get crispy corn from Holland and Barrett like I do, or from the world food aisle in supermarkets like Tesco, they are sometimes called Corn Nuts.
**You can get crispy corn from Holland and Barrett like I do, or from the world food aisle in supermarkets like Tesco, they are sometimes called Corn Nuts.
Hi Sasha I would love to make this recipe but wondered if I could substitute the white flour (do you mean plain?) with gluten free plain flour?
Thanks
I got your recipe from Vegan food and Living magazine.
Hi there! I am not sure if using GF plain flour will work in place of regular plain flour for the tacos. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, I would suggest either using GF masa harina flour (e.g. using this taco recipe https://www.thespruce.com/homemade-gluten-free-corn-tortilla-recipe-1451345) and adding some beet powder to it. Alternatively, any GF tortilla recipe can be subbed in and if you want to keep the colour, just add some beet powder to the dough 🙂 Hope that helps! x
thank you so much for your quick reply and advice,
Claire