Baked Vegan Taquitos Trial: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free

A couple years ago, my friend Sara posted a recipe for some awesome creamy chicken taquitos which became a hit on her blog. I enjoyed making them, but sadly, I can’t figure out how to recreate them since I have no idea what to do as a sub for cream cheese that is dairy and soy free.

But in her cookbook, she includes a recipe for vegetarian taquitos that I enjoyed eating, so I set out to try adapting them to be Joseph-safe.

The Changes

The recipe calls for whole wheat tortillas, but I just swapped them for corn tortillas. I also chose to cut out the cheese and red peppers (because I don’t care for peppers, not because of allergies). I also changed the method for oiling the taquitos before baking them to avoid using cooking spray (which usually contains soy).

The Method

In a food processor, puree 3/4 cup of the beans (about half the can), salsa, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice until smooth.

Transfer to a medium bowl and add remaining beans, corn and spinach. Unfortunately, I forgot to drain the spinach before mixing it in. I tried to make up for it by pressing paper towels onto the mixture, but I bet I got less than half the liquid. I’m sure it affected the taste some, because these were a lot more spinachy than before. So learn from my mistake!

Corn tortillas are prone to cracking, so I’m going to share what I’ve learned to deal with them. First – the fresher the tortillas are, the less prone they are to cracking. This is a “do as I say not as I do” thing, because I tend to buy tortillas and then leave them in my pantry until I want to use them. Second – wrap a couple tortillas in moist paper towels and microwave them for 20-30 seconds. I wrap the paper towel so there’s a layer below, between and above the tortillas, and find I need to rewet the towel every other time. And you’ll want to work quickly, because they will lose their softness as they cool.

Place a spoonful (about 3 Tablespoons worth) of filling on the warmed tortilla and wrap it up.

Place rolled tortillas on a foil lined baking sheet. When all taquitos are rolled, brush canola oil over the top of each, then sprinkle with salt. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes until edges are golden brown and crisp.

You can serve these with salsa, though our family doesn’t care for that so we just ate them plain. I would love to come up with a way to adapt Sara’s Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch to be Joseph-safe to go with these though.

Baked Vegan Taquitos

Adapted from Our Best Bites

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 Tablespoons bottled salsa
• 1 garlic clove, pressed/minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
• 13-15 corn tortillas
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line baking sheet with foil.

Puree 3/4 cup black beans, salsa, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the rest of the beans, spinach, and corn. Mix together.

Place about 3 Tablespoons filling on each tortilla, then wrap and place on baking sheet. Brush canola oil over each taquito, then sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until edges are golden brown and crisp.

Makes 13-15 taquitos.

---

 

This recipe is featured in my cookbook The Best of the Rice of Life: Over 70 Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and Nut-free Recipes available now in print (Amazon, Create Space) and e-book (Kindle, iBooks, nook, Kobo and Smashwords).

 

---

 

What I Thought

These didn’t live up to my memory of these taquitos. I missed the cheese. I also remember the spinach being a lot more subtle (I blame the lack of draining). I felt like they needed a bit more kick to make up for the lack of cheese. My husband complained that they weren’t taquitos because they didn’t have meat and they weren’t greasy. My daughter just nibbled down the sides, trying to eat as little of the filling as possible. Joseph ate an entire taquito, probably burning his mouth in the process. Poor guy. So I’d do it again, though I’ll probably have to make a carnivore version, with cheese, first to appease my husband.

Shared on Allergy Friendly Friday, Go Ahead Honey… It’s Gluten-Free, My Meatless Mondays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, and Gluten-Free Wednesdays