20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (2024)

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HHere are all the best vegan and vegetarian Mexican recipes: from tacos to enchiladas to refried bean dip! Perfect for eating plant based.

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (1)

You might immediately think of carnitas and taco meat, turns out the Mexican style cuisine is perfect for loading on the veggies. Why? The spiced, tangy, and savory flavors present in this style of cooking bring huge flavor to plant based eating. Tacos, enchiladas, nachos, tostadas and more can easily be made vegetarian by using refried beans, lentils, and even jackfruit as a stand in for meat. Load on the beautiful veggie toppings and you’ve got a seriously plant based meal. Here we’ve rounded up all of our favorite vegetarian Mexican recipes — you’ll notice that we have so many, we’ve highlighted 15 and then just kept going! So keep reading until the end.

Before we start: this is not a list of authentic Mexican dishes! Most of the recipes below are inspired by Mexican flavors and style. For authentic Mexican style recipes, head to this list at Saveur. See also: Easy Mexican Recipes and 20 Tasty Mexican Appetizers.

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (2)

Cauliflower Tacos

These crispy cauliflower tacos are like a vegetarian fish taco, and they've become one of our most popular Mexican-style vegetarian recipes! The charred taco is filled with breaded cauliflower (baked, not fried), refried beans, and a silky sauce. They’re all about one thing: big flavor!— even without the meat.

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (3)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Next up in our vegetarian Mexican recipes: sweet potato black bean enchiladas! MY, are they delicious! The sweet potato filling is a stroke of genius combined with savory black beans. It makes these vegetarian enchiladas super satisfying, even for meat eaters! They’re smothered in salsa verde and Colby cheese.

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (4)

Simple Guacamole

It’s a home run every time! When we serve it, a chorus of “Wow’s” fill the room. (Really. Not hyperbole!) What makes it so great? It’s classic and has the perfect balanced flavor: perfectly savory, creamy, and tangy. Serve this classic vegan Mexican dip withtortilla chipsand your guests — and you — won’t be able to stop eating it.

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Crispy Avocado Tacos

These crispy avocado tacos are destined to be your new favorite vegetarian Mexican recipe! You’ve gotavocado fries, breaded and baked in a hot oven until crispy. Then top that with spiced black beans, pico de gallo, and the refreshing crunch of romaine lettuce. Drizzle on a creamy lime and cilantro sauce, and it’s heaven on a plate. It tastes like restaurant tacos, but it’s easy to whip up in your kitchen.

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Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Here's one of our favorite vegetarian Mexican recipes because of the intense flavor it packs in just over 30 minutes! The secret here is adobo sauce from a can of chipotle chilis: it brings in a smoky flavor without adding too much heat! It's filled with black beans, peppers, and corn, and topped with homemade crunchy tortilla strips. It's a crowd pleaser every time.

This Mexican salad is a chopped salad with Latin-style flavors: colorful veggies, cilantro lime salad dressing, and tortilla strips. It all combines into a super-flavorful dish that can be served as a side, or dressed up to work as a healthy main dish salad. It’s got 3 dressings to choose from, based on your tastes (easiest, easy and vegan).

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Vegan Fajitas (on a Sheet Pan!)

There’s no such thing as too many easy dinner ideas. So let us present our new favorite: these incredible vegan fajitas! Everyone loves this meal, even meat eaters. It’s a great way to make a fun healthy dinner where no one notices there’s no meat! Roast up lots of veggies on a sheet pan with spices, and serve with refried beans and “guac-ish,” a super fast version of guacamole.

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Black Bean Burrito

Something about all those tasty fillings snuggled cozily into a tortilla makes a burrito irresistible. This burrito is packed with flavor from Spanish rice (aka Mexican rice), seasoned black beans, peppers and onions, and mashed avocado. Even better, step it up with a zingy vegan sauce.

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (10)

Vegan Black Bean Enchiladas

WOW is all we can say about this black bean enchiladas recipe! It tops the charts as one of our most crowd-pleasingplant based recipesever. Tortillas are wrapped around a veggie filling oozing with flavor, and it’s all doused in a zestyhomemade enchilada sauce. With the crunchy veggie topping, this dish looks simplyincredible. It tastes even better than it looks!

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Elote (Mexican Street Corn)

What makes elote (Mexican grilled corn) so irresistible is the contrasts of flavors and textures. Sweet corn is charred to smoky perfection on the grill. Then it's slathered in creamy mayo and sour cream sauce, seasoned with chili powder, and topped with chunks of feta or queso fresco cheese. The crunch of the corn against the creamy, messy sauce is pretty much to die for.

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Easy Refried Bean Dip

This refried bean dip is seriously tasty, but guess what? It has no cheese to speak of. Somehow it’s just as satisfying as acheesy Mexican dip, without the extra calories. This one uses ourInstant Pot refried beans, stovetop refried beans, or canned refried beans, mixed with green chilis and cumin. Top it with salsa fresca and it's a healthy spin on a bean dip that's seriously satisfying.

Also try: 5 Minute Bean Dip

This salsa is classic but so savory and good, you won't be able to stop dipping chips! It's a classic salsa fresca: a tomato salsa using fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, and jalapenos. It's tangy, it's savory, it's a little garlicky, and it's 100% WOW.

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Best Jackfruit Tacos

A fruit standing in for meat? We know, sounds a little odd. But turns out this tropical fruit magically mimics pulled pork in a way you'd never dream! This meaty filling is flavored with adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers), tomato paste, cocoa powder, cumin, and oregano. Add salsa and serve with our easy refried black beans, and you've got dinner.

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Homemade Sopes

What are sopes? Sopes are a sort of thick tortilla with upturned edges, topped with meat, beans, and sauces. They’re actually quite simple to make at home, not nearly as fussy as making homemade tortillas. Tortillas can be difficult to press thin enough, but sopes are intentionally thicker and easier to press. Spread with refried black beans or pinto beans, then sprinkle with bright pink pickled onions and a bit of crunchy romaine. Then dollop away with cilantro lime crema, Mexican crema or cashew cream. Delish!

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Mexican Coleslaw

Here's a healthy spin on coleslaw that’s little lighter and fresher. This Mexican coleslaw recipe has no mayo, and instead focuses on fresh flavors: crunchy cabbage, red onion, cilantro, and cumin. It’s got both cumin seed and ground cumin for a double hit of flavor. Oh–and it doubles as a taco topping.

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Loaded Quinoa Tacos

Another favorite in our vegetarian Mexican recipes...quinoa tacos! Quinoa…as a taco filling? Yes, these tacos are a bit outside the box, but they’re supremely tasty. The quinoa filling is toasted and mixed with taco spices and lime. Combine it with a bell pepper slaw, spicy sour cream (orcashew cream), and feta cheese, and you’ve got a new level of delicious. Oh and pickled red onions for color and crunch!

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Best Mexican Pizza

Here's vegetarian recipe that's not traditional Mexican, but a fusion: Mexican pizza! Why not combine the best of Italian and Mexican flavors into everyone's favorite food? Instead of tomato sauce, you'll use a layer of refried beans. To with Monterrey jack and cheddar instead of the typical mozzarella. And then layer with toppings: veggies, corn, cilantro, and the spicy crunchy of pickled jalapeños and onions. And then a little sour cream and hot sauce for good measure!

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Best Pico de Gallo

There’s something so carefree about pico de gallo. Perhaps because it conjures up images of consuming loads of fresh pico while watching the waves on the beach in Mexico? Whatever the case, if you’ve got ripe tomatoes, pico is the perfect place to start. Use it as a salsa with tortilla chips, use it on top of grilled orbroiled salmon, or of course, throw it into ataco.

One of our top vegetarian Mexican recipes is our Simple Refried Black Beans. They take no time at all to make, and the savory flavor is unreal. So why not throw them into a taco? These refried bean tacos top the beans with a tangy, crunchy bell pepper slaw and cilantro. Then, they're dolloped with a vegan chipotle cream (or you could use sour cream with a little adobo sauce). They're to die for.

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The BEST Vegan Nachos

And rounding out this list of vegetarian Mexican recipes: nachos! And lentils on nachos: why not? These loaded vegan nachos are the best because they’re piled high with smoky, meaty lentils, crunchy veggies, and topped with ourvegan nacho cheese. To keep them healthy, look for organic corn chips with minimal ingredients (ideally corn, oil, and salt).

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20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (22)

Cauliflower Tacos

★5 Stars☆★4 Stars☆★3 Stars☆★2 Stars☆★1 Star☆No reviews
  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 8 tacos 1x
Print Recipe

Description

These cauliflower tacos with breaded cauliflower, refried beans and silky Yum Yum sauce are all about one thing: big flavor!

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 recipeCrispy Breaded Cauliflower
  • 15-ounce can vegetarian refried beans (orEasy Refried Black BeansorHomemade Refried Beans)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin
  • 2 cups red cabbage, shredded
  • 2 limes (1 for the cabbage & 1 to serve)
  • 3 tablespoonsYum Yum Sauce or Spicy Chipotle Sauce
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • Fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Make theCrispy Breaded Cauliflower(about 40 minutes total; use the remaining time to complete the steps below.)
  2. If using purchased refried beans, taste and if needed, mix with ½ teaspoon cumin and/or a pinch or twokosher salt. (Or, you can make ourSupremely Simple Refried Black Beansbut for this recipe we preferred using storebought so we could focus on the cauliflower!)
  3. Thinlyslice the cabbage, enough for 2 cups. Mix it with 2 tablespoons lime juice and a pinch or two of salt. Allow it to stand at room temperature until serving.
  4. Make theYum Yum SauceorSpicy Chipotle Sauce.
  5. Warm the tortillas, or char them by placing them on grates above an open gas flame on medium heat for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm.
  6. Chop the cilantrofor a garnish.
  7. To serve, place refried beans in a tortilla, top with cabbage, breaded cauliflower, Yum Yum sauce, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to spritz prior to serving. (If you have leftover cauliflower, you can reheat them in a 350F oven for 10 minutes, flipping once.)
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Mexican Inspired

Keywords: Cauliflower Tacos

More vegetarian Mexican recipes

Need more recipes? We have so many vegetarian Mexican recipes, we’ve continued our favorites list below. We couldn’t stop at just 15!

Mexican style appetizers & sides

  • Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad (a great side dish for the main dish recipes above!)
  • Mexican Sweet Potatoes
  • Loaded Mexican Fries
  • Easy Instant Pot Pinto Beans
  • Grillable Loaded Nachos
  • Skillet Mexican Cheese Dip Recipe
  • Mexican Quinoa Recipe
  • Grilled Mexican Corn with Mayo
  • Guacamole
  • Mango Salsa
  • Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa
  • Homemade Tortilla Chips

Mexican style main dishes

  • Best Ever Taco Pizza
  • Instant Pot Tacos
  • Mexican Pinwheel Recipe
  • Grilled Mango Tacos with Dream Sauce
  • Mexican Lasagna
  • Easy Vegan Tacos
  • Spiced Chickpea Tacos with Avocado
  • Mexican Fried Rice Nachos
  • Chipotle Black Bean Lettuce Wraps
  • Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos
  • Lentil Tacos

Mexican style drinks

  • BEST Classic Margarita
  • Watermelon Margarita with Lime
  • Blackberry Margarita
  • Best Frozen Margarita Recipe
  • Strawberry Margarita with Lime Ice
  • Lemon Margarita
  • Lime Frozen Daiquiri

Published on / Last updated on

Categorized In:

  • Recipe Collections

Tagged with:

  • Mexican
  • Roundup

About the authors

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (23)

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes for memorable kitchen moments! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

About Us

20 Best Vegetarian Mexican Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is traditional Mexican food vegetarian? ›

Fortunately, many foods from Mexican culture, such as rice, beans, and fruits, are naturally vegan, and many traditional dishes do not call for animal-based ingredients. Colonization of the Americas forever changed the diets of many – including the Indigenous peoples in Mexico.

What are the best vegetables for Mexican food? ›

Some of the most popular vegetables in Mexico are tomatoes, onions, and peppers since they're used to make salsas. Other traditional Mexican vegetables include garlic, squash, cabbage, nopales, and more.

What is the #1 most popular food in Mexico? ›

1. Tacos: Tacos are a staple of Mexican cuisine and are enjoyed in many different variations. A traditional taco consists of a corn or flour tortilla filled with meat, beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and other toppings.

What is the tastiest Mexican food? ›

Top 20 Mexican foods to try
  • Tacos al pastor. These tacos are made with marinated pork that is cooked on a spit and then sliced thin. ...
  • Enchiladas. These rolled tortillas are filled with meat or cheese and topped with a flavourful sauce. ...
  • Tamales. ...
  • Chiles rellenos. ...
  • Pozole. ...
  • Guacamole. ...
  • Sopaipillas. ...
  • Tortas.
Jan 29, 2023

What Mexican food is plant based? ›

Authentic Mexican burritos are prepared with beans, rice, salsa, and guacamole, making it a perfect vegan meal. It is often enjoyed as a classic Mexican dish.

Which dish from the Hispanic world should a vegetarian choose? ›

Traditional Vegetarian food in Latin America

Try quesadillas, tortilla soup or frijoles (refried beans) in Mexico. Enjoy vegan empanadas, porontas granados (bean stew) or a quinoa salad in Chile, or have vegetarian arroz tapado (mushrooms on a bed of rice combined with vegetables) or avocado risotto in Peru.

What do Mexican vegans eat? ›

Major Mexican food staples that define the country's history and character are maize, beans, and chilli peppers…and they are all vegan and easily found in most dishes! Guacamole, salsa, and lime also add depth, flavour, and tanginess to dishes like tacos, chilaquiles, and enchiladas.

What is not authentic Mexican food? ›

Check out these seven other Mexican dishes that didn't originate from Mexico.
  • Burritos. Wait, does this mean Los Angeles gets to take credit?! They'll never let us live it down! ...
  • Churro. Mexico, you may want to send China a hand-written 'thank you' letter. ...
  • Tacos al Pastor. ...
  • Salsa. ...
  • Calaveras. ...
  • Rosca de Reyes. ...
  • Fajitas.

What is Mexico's national dish? ›

Mole poblano is perhaps the best known of all mole varieties. An ancient dish native to the state of Puebla, it has been called the national dish of Mexico, and ranked first as the most typical of Mexican dishes.

What are 4 popular Mexican dishes? ›

filters
  • 1 Nachos81%
  • 2 Burritos80%
  • 3 Fajitas79%
  • 4 Salsa79%
  • 5 Quesadilla79%
  • 6 Guacamole68%
  • 7 Chili con Carne66%
  • 8 Chimichangas65%

What are the top 3 traditional foods in Mexico? ›

Corn is the main base of Mexican cuisine. Corn, chili, and beans were the “holy trinity” of food for Mesoamerican civilizations. In fact, corn is the source of great Mexican dishes such as 'enchiladas', 'huaraches', 'machetes', 'tlacoyos', 'sopes', 'molotes' and 'quesadillas'.

What are the 4 meals in Mexico? ›

It's Not Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in Mexico
  • When Do We Eat? Mexican mealtimes don't correspond exactly to American mealtimes. ...
  • Desayuno. Desayuno is more like a light snack to start your day, than a full meal. ...
  • El Almuerzo. This is more like an American brunch or big breakfast. ...
  • Comida. ...
  • Cena. ...
  • Snacks. ...
  • Beverages.
Jun 13, 2022

What are some traditional Mexican dinners? ›

10 Must-Try Traditional Mexican Dishes that Will Make Your Mouth Water
  • Tacos al Pastor. Sink your teeth into the epitome of Mexican street food - the legendary Tacos al Pastor. ...
  • Mole. ...
  • Chiles en Nogada. ...
  • Guacamole. ...
  • Tamales. ...
  • Pozole. ...
  • Churros. ...
  • Enchiladas.

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