I love Mexican food: tacos, burritos, nachos, guacamole, salsa etc. I think it’s the delicious combination of flavours and textures. The meals always feel so comforting, hearty and satisfying. Needless to say I haven’t indulged in the traditional cooked versions of these meals in quite some time… but I enjoy using common cooked dishes as inspiration for creating raw meals, and decided to try and make some vegan Mexican tacos.
I used romaine leaves in place of taco shells because I wanted to keep things simple. They are so fresh and crunchy and always make a good base for your other desired ingredients. This high fibre lettuce is a great source of vitamin A and C and folate, and also carotenoids, anthocyanins and phenolics. Next I use cauliflower which I pulse until it resembles a rice-like texture. Then comes the simple salsa and the deliciously creamy and spicy chipotle sauce. I use chipotle powder in this sauce which is simply a dried, smoke jalapeno pepper. It has a delicious, rich, spicy flavour. Jalapeno’s have a unique compound in them called capsaicin which has been shown to have strong anti-cancer properties.
You are left with a brightly coloured, nutritious meal that is both fun and delicious for everyone to eat. These vegan Mexican tacos make a great dish to eat for lunch or dinner.

Mexican Taco’s with a Spicy Chipotle Sauce
Olivia BudgenIngredients
Rice
- 1 small head cauliflower
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano powder
Salsa
- 1/2 large red capsicum
- 1 large tomato
- 1 small red onion
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 handful fresh cilantro
Sauce
- 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes soaked for half an hour
- 1 large tomato
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1/2 small lemon juiced
- 1/4 medium avocado
- 1/4 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika powder
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup water
Other
- 10 fresh cos (romaine) lettuce leaves
- 1/2 cup purple cabbage chopped
- extra avocado slices
Instructions
- Pulse the cauliflower, cumin and oregano until it resembles rice. Be careful not to over-blend.
- Finely chop all the salsa ingredients and add to a bowl.
- Blend all the sauce ingredients.
- Layer the rice, salsa, cabbage and avocado slices on the cos lettuce leaves.
- Top with the sauce and extra cilantro. Enjoy!
Hi Olivia,
Great article! I’m interested in the kidney filtration video but note the link is missing. Please share the link.
Thank you!
Hi Mary, thanks for your comment and letting me know about the video. I will fix that. For now, here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO4V9so3bxI&feature=youtu.be