Oil-Free, Vegan, Layered Taco Dip

If you’ve been following us for awhile, you may have noticed our love of all things taco (really all things with a Mexican flavor, if I am speaking honestly).  I mean, taco bowls, taco salad dip, fajitas, margaritas, nachos, guacamole, salsa…we certainly share a lot of dishes with these flavors.  If you like them as much as we do, you no doubt appreciate it!  Well, this time we took our favorite Taco Salad Dip and created oil free layers for a Whole-Food, Plant-based option that does not disappoint. What is better than a healthy and tasty appetizer (or dinner, let’s be honest)?  And for your complete enjoyment, we made a video of the Oil-Free, Vegan, Layered Taco Dip!  Enjoy!

Oil-Free, Vegan, Layered Taco Dip

The challenge in this recipe was replicating that creamy, delicious base layer without the use of full-fat sour cream and cream cheese.  So naturally, we turned to nuts.  Cashew Sour Cream made a perfect base layer.  Tangy and flavorful and simple.

Next up were the “filling” layers.  We opted for beans; we knew we wanted them to be creamy rather than chunky, so we made a black bean mash in the food processor.  We topped that with crumbled, taco flavored seitan.  Seriously, this was brilliant.  It tasted just like taco filling!  Even if you don’t want the whole taco dip, grab some seitan, process it up and make yourself some tacos!

The final challenge was the cheese.  There are so many vegan cheese options you could use at this point.  But, we wanted to make our own and incorporate a special ingredient.  So enter a smoky, spicy pumpkin queso.  At first, I wasn’t sure how we would make this work, but with the spices and magic of nutritional yeast, a tasty queso was the next layer.

Then we topped it with some taco sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and sliced olives – took some pictures (naturally) and grabbed the chips.  We don’t mess around with food.  It’s quick pics, and then we dig in!

Grab the ingredients and let’s get layering!

Oil-Free, Vegan, Layered Taco Dip

8 Layers of Tacoey Goodness! All Vegan and Plantbased!  It's a Winner!

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Ingredients

• 1 C Raw cashews
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1 can Black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• Water
• 2 package Seitan ( 16 oz), food processed to crumbles
• 1 package Taco seasoning
• 1 can Pumpkin
• tbsp Lemon juice
• 1/2 c nutritional yeast
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• 2 tbsp miso
• 1/2 chipotle in adobo pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Liquid Aminos
• taco sauce
• lettuce, shredded
• tomatoes, chopped
• olives, sliced
• tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Cashew Sour Cream - in food processor - process until creamy - cashews, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar
2. Black Bean Mash - in food processor - process until creamy - black beans, smoked paprika, apple cider vinegar, and water
3. Taco Seitan - in food processor - process seitan to crumbles, warm in a pan, add taco seasoning and water according to season directions, cook until water evaporates
4. Pumpkin Nacho Cheese - in food processor - process pumpkin, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, miso, chipotle, apple cider vinegar, and liquid aminos until creamy - salt to taste

ASSEMBLE

1. Cashew Sour Cream
2. Black Bean Mash
3. Taco Seitan 
4. Pumpkin Queso
5. Taco Sauce
6. Lettuce
7. Tomatoes
8. Olives

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 g
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

We hope this Oil-Free, Vegan, Layered Taco Dip makes an appearance at your next gathering, football Sunday, holiday party, or frankly your next meal.  Enjoy!

Eat More Plants & Live VegInspired!

Kathy