Lentil tacos with spicy greens–these vegan tacos take simple ingredients and spice them with just the right amount of heat. Sauce with a simple avocado lime crema for an incredible meatless meal!
There’s cautious heat in all three components, the sauce, lentils, and spicy greens–by cautious I mean not too spicy. How much picante heat you give your tacos is up to you. If you like picante as much as my Robbie, add more jalapeño chiles to either the wilted greens, the rustic lentils, or both. Same with the guacamole crema, first taste and then decide if you want cautious or fiery heat.
Click here to PIN Lentil Tacos with Spicy Greens!
Make the sauce and cut the cabbage and jicama first, so that as soon as the lentils and greens are done and ready, all you need to do is warm the tortillas. Let everyone decide at the table how much of what goes in their taco–build your owns.
For these lentil tacos with spicy greens and guacamole crema, you can prep everything but the tortillas ahead. The sprightly green avocado sauce comes together quickly in the blender, you’ll appreciate how the acidic lime keeps the green avocado color from turning brown, even overnight.
The avocado crema is super easy to make in the blender with avocado, lime, fresh green chile and salt. After you taste the avocado sauce with the greens you’ll then want to make my avocado sauce with chickpeas and chard.
About the lentils and greens in these tacos:
- Lentils for the win! Last week I gave you a hearty black and red lentil beer soup recipe. Now rustic green lentils are going into mouthwatering tacos! Whether they’re black, red, brown, or green lentils are quick to cook, making lentils an easy vegetarian protein choice for dinner.
- Lentils are also known as pulses. Nutritional giants, they’re good for your heart, pack vitamin punch, and are fabulous protein options for meatless eating.
- As they cook, the powerhouse pulses readily absorb a variety of flavors, like the chiles in this lentil taco recipe.
- Even though I know it will happen, I’m always surprised at how a seemingly huge pile of greens wilts into a much smaller sweetly bitter tumble. So even though it seems like way too many greens for 8 tacos, trust me on the amount.
More recipes to check out:
- Try my vegetarian twist on classic Mexican Chiles en Nogada–with lentils. The goat cheese walnut sauce is to die for!
- This Jicama Fruit Salad with Cilantro and Lime is a good accompaniment to Mexican food–it’s even delicious as dessert!
To get my latest recipe posts and newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)
- Follow me on Instagram!
- Peruse my Pinterest boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
- Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.
PS If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe.
This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!
Lentil Tacos with Spicy Greens and Guacamole Sauce.
Ingredients
Guacamole sauce:
- ¼ cup water
- 1 avocado
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ or 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon organic cane sugar or honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Lentils:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¾ cup brown or green lentils, rinsed and inspected for rocks masquerading as lentils
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 guajillo chile or other dried red chile, optional (see note)
- ½ or 1 whole jalapeño chile, seeds removed but not chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, amount depending on saltiness of broth
Spicy Greens:
- ½ onion, chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 7 cups coarsely chopped greens, e.g. arugula, beet greens, spinach etc.
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
To serve:
- 8 corn tortillas
- Purple cabbage, thinly shredded
- Jicama, cut in matchstick-size pieces
- Cilantro leaves, for finishing garnish
- Crumbled cotija cheese or grated sharp cheddar cheese, optional
Instructions
Guacamole sauce:
- Put the water in a blender container. Scoop the meat from the avocado and add the blender, along with the lime juice, minced jalapeño chile, garlic, olive oil, cilantro, honey, and salt. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Taste and add more a bit more jalapeño if you like.
Lentils:
- In a medium saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are soft. Add the broth, lentils, dried chile, jalapeño chile, cumin, and oregano. Over low flame, simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the dried and jalapeño chiles and season to taste with salt.
Greens:
- In a skillet, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are soft. Add the greens, cilantro, minced jalapeno chile, and cook until the greens wilt, 5 to 10 minutes. Season with the lime juice, oregano, cumin, and salt. Taste, adding more salt and jalapeño chile if you like.
- Heat the tortillas in a pan or flat top grill over medium heat. Tuck them inside a towel to keep warm.
To serve:
- Spread a spoonful of lentils in each tortilla followed by a spoonful of the greens. Top with jicama and cabbage. Drizzle with guacamole sauce. If you wish, sprinkle on the optional cheese.
