These BBQ Cauliflower and Chickpea Tacos are delicious, flavorful and filling!
Tacos in the morning, tacos in the evening, tacos in the summertime. If you eat cauliflower in a taco you can eat tacos anytime! Sorry, I just had to get that out, because it has been running through my head for about 2 hours now! I apologize in advance for it now being stuck in your head for the next two hours 🙂
All songs aside, true story: if you stuff your tacos full of cauliflower you can eat them all the time and trust me, you will want to! I tested these tacos about three times before I got them just perfect and it was one of the best weeks of my life.
I have yet to eat these tacos in the morning, but I did enjoy them for both lunches and dinners, for 5 days in a row…
Do you ever find yourself making a dish over and over again because you love it so much? As much as I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and coming up with new recipes for the blog, on the weekdays I usually find myself eating the same things over and over again. It could be that I’m lazy, or it could be my mildly obsessive personality.
When I buy a new outfit that I love, I sometimes wear it every single day for a few days, then wash it and wear it again. And don’t even get me started on how many times I listen to my favorite songs on repeat until my husband probably wants to break the CD so we never have to hear it again.
I also get obsessed with certain ingredients and I find myself putting them in everything I make. Right now cauliflower is that ingredient. I came up with these tacos because what better way is there to eat cauliflower than stuffing inside my other food obsession: tacos. And it turns out, there is not better way!
I’ve been obsessively watching (I told you I had an obsessive personality!) Bobby Flay’s BBQ addiction show lately and it really inspired me to make my own BBQ rub. I feel silly saying that I had never made my own rub before, but I really don’t think I had!
I’m not sure why though, because it is so easy. Literally all you do is add a bunch of spices together and mix them up, and you are done! Then you rub it all over your ingredient of choice and it transforms it into a seriously flavorful meal.
You really can’t have proper BBQ without a healthy serving of slaw on top of it. I took a little shortcut here and used a bag of pre-sliced cole slaw mix, but you could also slice your own cabbage and carrots if you would like.
To me, the most important element of the slaw is the dressing and homemade dressing is always better than the store bought stuff, so that is one shortcut I will never take! For this slaw, I made a classic creamy dressing and then I added the juice of one lime, and let me tell you, it was creamy and tart and delicious!
BBQ Cauliflower & Chickpea Tacos with a Creamy Lime Slaw {gf+v}
- Yield: 4 - 6 1x
Description
A delicious and filling vegan dinner that everyone will love!
Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 10–12 corn tortillas
- sliced jalapenos, if desired
BBQ Rub:
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Creamy Lime Slaw:
- 1 14 ounce bag of cole slaw mix or 6 – 7 cups of thinly chopped cabbage and carrots
- A scant 1/2 cup of veganasie, or mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 teaspoon water
- Juice of one lime
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Make the slaw: In a medium sized bowl add all of the slaw dressing ingredients. Mix ingredients together until a creamy sauce has formed. In a large bowl, add the cabbage mixture and pour dressing over. Mix until everything is combined. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- In a small bowl or jar, add all of the BBQ rub ingredients and mix together.
- Separate all of the cauliflower florets and chop them into bite size pieces. Place florets and chickpeas onto a large sheetpan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with BBQ rub. Toss everything together with your hands so that cauliflower and chickpeas are coated with the rub. Place the sheetpan in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, flipping once.
- If desired, warm up corn tortillas on the stove or in the oven. Add about 1/4 cup of cauliflower and chickpeas to each taco and top with a few tablespoons of slaw. Top with sliced jalapenos if desired.
- Enjoy!
- Category: Entree, Gluten Free, Vegan
You May Also Enjoy:
BBQ Black Bean & Quinoa Tacos with Cilantro Slaw
I had grand plans of getting a photo with Cheeto’s head inside a hamburger bun, apparently he had other plans 🙂
5 Stars. Love both recipes. One Comment and one question.
Comment: I usually double the celery seed, and I sprinkle a little on for show before serving.
Question, what purpose does the 1 tsp of water serve in slaw? It’s such a tiny amount in relation to the total. I added it, not added, and can’t really tell a difference.
Thanks so much, Dion! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe! That’s a good question haha! I probably should change it to, 1-2 teaspoons water, or as needed. 🙂
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for inventing this recipe! My wife found this a few years ago and we’ve been making it every once in awhile ever since. Not something I would have searched for but somehow she randomly found it and decided to try it and we’re hooked. Whenever she asks for recipe suggestions I toss this one out there. And it looks like it’s finally come up in our recipe rotation again this week! Yay! So easy so healthy and so tasty! My favorite tacos by far!
Hi Jeff! That is SO nice to hear!! It’s always been a favorite of mine too! I’m so glad to hear you both have been enjoying it for years now! <3
This recipe is AMAZING!!! It was shared with me from a friend and now has landed a spot in my weekly meal rotation at our house! My husband and kids love them too!! I also love that I can prep everything earlier in the day (while the kids are napping) and then just pop the cauliflower/chickpeas into the oven at dinner time and it’s ready to go! Thank you for your recipe!
Awesome!! That is so nice to hear!!
Unbelieveable! Seriously, for no meat tacos, this is a real winner. I love the BBQ rub plain on veggies too so I always make extra for a sort of dry dip
Yah!! So glad you enjoyed these!
I recently started eating more plant based so I’ve been trying to find some fun recipes to make. This was OUTSTANDING! I didn’t miss the meat at all, and the slaw was to die for! I sliced my jalapeños and pickled them in some lime juice with a pinch of salt and pepper so they weren’t as spicy. I topped my tacos with a little cilantro at the end 🙂
Yah! I’m so glad you enjoyed these tacos!
This recipe is awesome. I’ve made it a bunch of times for vegetarians and meat eaters alike and it’s always a crowd pleaser. Thanks for sharing.
Yah!! That’s so great to hear!
These tacos are absolutely amazing. I initially made these tacos for myself and other vegans at a departmental retreat/lpotluck luncheon and found that many of my meat-loving colleagues enjoyed them as well. At home, I have made them for my wife and me a couple of times; when we followed your recipte there were enough leftovers for her lunch. Yesterday,my wife decidedt that you can’t have enough of a good thins so we made a double batch so we could enjoy them two days in a row. I am so looking forward to dinner tonight.
That is so nice to hear!! I’m so glad everyone, even meat eaters enjoyed them! Thank you for letting me know! 🙂
Hi Izzy, I made these tacos tonite for dinner. It was delish and my daughter and bf like them as well. I will have to put less salt or taste the rub before cooking it but otherwise, it was yummy. I am on a 31-day plant-based challenge with Sophie Uliano and team for the month of October. I am not vegan nor vegetarian yet and I was looking for simple and yet healthy and yummy recipes and I came across your site. I am going to try all your other recipes. I didn’t miss the meat, chicken or fish. I have not cooked with cauliflower nor chickpeas before but I am a fan now thanks to you. Thank you so much for making everything so simple.
That’s awesome! Good luck to you! I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed these tacos 🙂
I have had this recipe saved on my Pinterest page for a while and finally made it tonight. It was fantastic! So easy and delicious.Thank you for sharing!!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it!!
This recipe came across my facebook page and I am so glad it did. This was easy and delicious. I will definitely make it again and again. I signed up for your facebook page because I am seeing other recipes I want to try.
That is so great to hear, Adrienne! I hope you enjoy any other recipes you try! 🙂
The best flavor! This is my favorite recipe of all time.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy it! 🙂
Always a big hit when I make this, thx Izzy
Yah!! I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂
This is such a good idea!! I need this in my tummy RIGHT NOW!! Haha!! I will be making this next week – just watch this space… thanks for the recipe 🙂 x
Haha, I hope you enjoy! 🙂
Second time making this tonight! It’s become one of our weekly favorites! So delicious and easy too! Thank you!!!!
That’s awesome and so glad to hear everyone loves it!! 🙂
Made these tonight….my 3 kids and veggie husband all loved them. Phew – thanks for an easy recipe that they all liked. I improvised a bit as didnt have all the ingredients for the coleslaw, but it tasted great. Added some avocado too. Thanks from the UK!
That is so nice to hear, Jo!! I’m glad everyone enjoyed them! 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!!! I will have to try it out and see if it tastes as good as it looks!! Thanks for the inspo 🙂 Have pinned the recipe 🙂 X
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy!!