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Merle O’Neal, known for her high-protein recipes and playful kitchen experiments, returns with a video dedicated entirely to tacos. These easy vegan taco recipes each bring something different to the table – from smoky, slow-cooked flavors to crispy, saucy textures. All are designed for peak summer cooking, with easy prep and no compromise on flavor.
Her lineup includes an oyster mushroom barbacoa taco, a buffalo cauliflower taco with a refried bean double shell, and a soy curl al pastor taco inspired by Thee Burger Dude. Each one balances heat, tang, and crunch in its own way – ideal for casual summer meals.
Read more: The Secret To Vegan Meal Prep That Actually Works
Make your own tasty tacos
Oyster mushroom barbacoa tacos
The first taco takes inspiration from barbacoa, a dish traditionally made with beef cheek or lamb and slow-cooked in a pit oven. O’Neal adapts the recipe using oyster mushrooms and a spicy guajillo pepper sauce. “We’re going to do the cheap and easy version where I barely slow cook it at all,” she says.
She starts by rehydrating dried guajillo peppers and removing most of the seeds. “I do want it to be spicy,” she admits, “but the internet says to remove them, so I’m removing them.” She blends the peppers with vegetable broth, apple cider vinegar, lime, cumin, oregano, and salt to form a smoky marinade.
The oyster mushrooms get torn by hand and sautéed until crispy. “Oyster mushrooms like this are just a fantastic meat substitute when it comes to texture,” she says. “They don’t inherently taste like meat, but they can take on some meaty or familiar flavors.”
After simmering the mushrooms with the sauce, she assembles the tacos with avocado, onions, and lime. “This is so beyond delicious,” she says after the first bite. “The creaminess with the avocado, the chew from the oyster mushroom, and that sauce…”
Buffalo cauliflower double-shell tacos
The second taco leans into vibrant, familiar flavors with roasted cauliflower and buffalo sauce. It’s less traditional, but fully summer-ready.
She starts by breaking the cauliflower into small florets directly over a baking sheet. “That way when stuff scatters everywhere, it’s still contained,” she says. She seasons them with olive oil, salt, and pepper before roasting. Once they’re crisp, she tosses them with buffalo sauce. “I like to add the buffalo sauce after I roast it – that way it is crispier,” she explains.
For texture contrast, she layers the buffalo cauliflower inside a soft tortilla spread with refried beans, then adds a hard taco shell inside. The idea, borrowed from Rainbow Plant Life, delivers crunch, creaminess, and structure in one bite. “She did soft tacos with refried beans, and then you put a hard shell taco in the middle,” O’Neal says. “So you get the soft and the crunchy and the creamy.”
After loading everything up with pickled onions and lime, she takes a bite and nods in approval. “That is good, man,” she says. “The refried bean thing builds this out a little bit more, which is nice.”
Soy curls al pastor tacos
For the final recipe, O’Neal takes inspiration from vegan creator Thee Burger Dude and recreates a smoky, sweet al pastor taco using soy curls. “It’s a new day because there’s only so many tacos a girl can eat in one day,” she jokes, before jumping into the last of the easy vegan taco recipes.
She rehydrates the soy curls in water, then squeezes out the excess liquid. “I don’t cook with soy curls that often,” she admits. “I find that they have this aftertaste that isn’t my favorite. I want to figure out a way to enjoy them.”
To flavor the soy curls, she builds a sauce with rehydrated guajillo peppers, chipotle in adobo, garlic, pineapple juice, vinegar, achiote paste, cumin, oregano, and cinnamon. “There are levels to that flavor,” she says after blending and browning the curls in a pan. “That is just phenomenal.”
She assembles the final tacos with salsa verde and extra pineapple, noting that the charred soy curls and sweet marinade balance each other perfectly. “I think we saved the best for last,” she says. “There’s a nice heat coming off the sauce… the pineapple makes it so sweet and juicy.”
With that, her trio is complete. All three tacos showcase different textures and flavors – from crisp cauliflower to smoky mushrooms and tender soy curls. Whether you’re new to plant-based cooking or just looking for fresh ideas, these easy vegan taco recipes offer plenty of ways to upgrade your summer meals.
Hungry for more? Check out more recipes and videos on Merle O’Neal’s YouTube channel.
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