Mains, Mexican
Posted on March 9, 2023January 10, 2024 by Anna Rios
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These Vegan al Pastor Tacos are meaty and flavorful. A homemade seitan recipe marinated in an authentic al pastor marinade made with guajillo chiles, achiote pepper, pineapple, garlic, and onion. Impress anyone with these tacos, meat-eaters, and everything in between!
Vegan al Pastor Tacos
Let’s start by saying that I was never a huge fan of beef al pastor tacos since they always left me feeling pretty slumped and without energy. They also tend to cause heartburn and indigestion as they are packed with saturated fat. However, these vegan al pastor tacos provide all the flavor with none of the heartburn or slump! They are so satisfying and perfect for those wanting to eat less meat or go plant-based. This is also one of the best seitan recipes I’ve ever tried!
Vegan al Pastor Tacos Ingredients and Substitutes:
- Vital Wheat Gluten: This is the key ingredient for making seitan.Click hereto check out my favorite one to buy! I typically get it at Whole Foods or purchase it online. In order to make this recipe gluten-free, substitute the seitan for soy curls or TVP. That will also make the recipe easier as you don’t have to make the seitan from scratch 🙂
- Chickpeas: You can substitute these with any white beans such as cannellini, great northern, or Peruvian beans.
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour. This helps it bind together.
- Soy sauce: This helps provide the umami flavor we get from meat. You can also use liquid aminos, tamari, or salsa Maggie.
- Spices: I highly recommend adding cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt to the seitan mixture for the best results. You can adjust or substitute any of these to flavor preference.
Marinade ingredients:
- Dried chilies: You can find guajillo and puya chilies at most grocery stores in the Mexican section. I typically go to Mexican groceries to assure they have them as most American grocery stores are limited on options.
- Pineapple juice: I like using the juice from canned pineapple chunks, you can also use the pineapple at the end when cooking the seitan in a pan. I’ve also used fresh or frozen pineapple (1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup water if you don’t have canned pineapple. Blend and use the thick liquid as the “juice”. It works just as well!
- Achiote powder: Using ground achiote is more convenient for me but you can also use achiote paste. I typically just buy the small bag (1.25 ounces) in the same section you would find the dried chilies in the store.
- White vinegar: This is also a key ingredient to give it an authentic flavor.
Tips for the Best Seitan
- After processing all the ingredients you will get a nice seitan dough. Knead seitan dough for at least 5 minutes while also pounding it with your fist. It’s really fun!
- Let the seitan cool off completely and store in the refrigerator overnight for best results. The texture gets firmer and meatier the next day!
- Play around with flavors and be sure to add umami to the dough such as soy sauce/liquid aminos/salsa Maggie.
Other Delicious Vegan Meat Options:
Tacos de Soya (TVP textured vegetable protein)
Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos
Vegan Birria
Portobello Carne Asada
Vegan al Pastor Tacos
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- Author: Anna Rios
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Vegan al Pastor Tacos are meaty and flavorful. A homemade seitan recipe marinated in an authentic al pastor marinade made with guajillo chiles, achiote pepper, pineapple, garlic, and onion. Impress anyone with these tacos, meat-eaters, and everything in between!
Ingredients
UnitsScale
Seitan
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Al Pastor Marinade
- 3 guajillo chilies, dried, de-stemmed and de-seeded
- 2 puya chilies, dried, de-stemmed and de-seeded
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 small onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1.25 ounces of achiote powder (about 1/4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano, dried
Tacos:
- 12–14 corn tortillas
- 3/4 cup pineapple chunks (optional but recommended)
- Cilantro, minced
- Onion, diced
- Salsa of choice
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Set a pot of water to boil, and add 2 tbsp soy sauce.
- Add all seitan ingredients to a food processor and process until a dough forms.
- Take it out of the food processor and onto a countertop. Knead and pound for 5 minutes.
- Add to boiling water and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 50 minutes.
- While the seitan is cooking, prep the marinade. Turn the skillet on medium-high heat and toast dried guajillo and puya chilies until they get a bright red color for 45 seconds on each side (do not burn them!). Immediately add to a bowl of boiling hot water and cover. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Add all al pastor marinade ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Once the seitan is done cooking, take it out and set it aside to cool off. Once it’s cooled, slice it into bite-sized chunks. I like to slice it the same way al pastor meat is usually sliced.
- Place seitan in a sealable container along with marinade and pineapple chunks. Seal and marinade overnight or for at least 3-4 hours. Seitan is always firmer the next day and closer to the texture of meat. However, I’ve made this recipe without marinading or waiting overnight and it turned out pretty good still.
- When ready to cook, add some oil to a large pan on medium-high heat. Add marinaded seitan to the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes until most of the marinade is soaked up.
- Serve on tortillas as tacos or in burritos, nachos, etc. if having as tacos, add cilantro, onion, lime juice, and salsa!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: Mains
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/3 cup
