I’m obsessed with the Beef-free Crumbles I mentioned a couple posts ago… This time, I tried my hand at a homemade vegan cheeze sauce, modified and perfected my gluten-free flour tortillas, and created an awesome taco night! The flavors hit the spot of a traditional meat/wheat/dairy full feast, but completely (partially) guilt free. Yippee!

I actually ended up trying two different cheeze sauces I found online. One is an easy, near guiltless cheeze sauce with a base of carrots and potatoes. It has the flavor and consistency of a traditional cheese sauce. The other is a full-fat nacho sauce that is quite flavorful as well, but is more like a pre-seasoned nacho cheese sauce. They both are awesome – but for my go-to cheeze, I’ve been using the former (not only for its low fat properties, but also it’s a more neutral cheeze flavor and goes with just about anything). Please visit the respective sites to grab the recipes! You won’t be sorry.

To make the taco meat, I used the unseasoned beef-free crumbles, but you can use the feisty crumbles, too.

• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 2 t cumin
• 1 T chili powder
• 2 t Adobo seasoning (optional)
• 1 T tomato paste
• 1/2 C tomato sauce (more, if needed, for consistency)
• 1 package Beyond Meat Beef-Free Crumbles

In a large skillet, heat about 1T oil. When hot, add the onion and jalapeno. Sautee a few minutes, until soft and turning golden (~5-8 minutes). Add the garlic and spices and tomato paste, cook another 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and beef crumbles and simmer gently 5-8 minutes until heated through and the flavors mingle. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, you want to make some gluten free tortillas! My original recipe has no fat – but ends up a bit crispier. Feel free to stick with that one, or change it up to this one – I find this version even closer to regular old flour tortillas.

•  3-4 T vegan butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 t baking powder
• 3/4 t salt
• 2 C gluten-free flour blend (Jule’s, Manini’s, or Better Batter are all great)
• 1 C warm water (+/- depending on how dry/wet the air is where you are)

Put the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and combine (I did so with a pastry cutter to cut in the butter; you could also use a fork or your hands, or even a food processor). Add the water, and stir to form a dough. Knead a few minutes until the dough is smooth (you might need to add more flour if you’re in a moist climate). Roll the dough into a log and cut into about 12-16 pieces (depending on how big you want your tortillas). Take each piece and roll into a ball and then flatten in a tortilla press or with a rolling pin to about 1/8-1/4″ thickness (don’t roll it too thin – it’ll be a cracker).

Heat a large skillet (I used a large iron skillet) to medium high heat. Oil lightly, and working in batches, cook the tortillas a couple minutes each side until they’re just starting to brown in places (as a tortilla should). Set aside, keeping warm either in the oven or with a warm towel covering the plate.

Now you’re ready to make tacos!!

• beefy mixture
• cheeze sauce
• tortillas
• black beans (I just drained & rinsed a can of black beans and heated it in a skillet with a bit of Adobo seasoning)
• shredded lettuce
• prepared salsa
• guacamole (easy version: mash the insides of an avocado with a pinch of salt and the juice of a lime; optional – add grated fresh garlic, finely diced onion, finely diced tomato)
• vegan sour cream
• pickled jalapenos
• tortilla chips (for making a side of loaded nachos)
• chopped green onions
• anything else you like to put on your taco

Assemble however you want and enjoy!

BTW – leftover cheese sauce stores well in the fridge, and is awesome reheated with the leftover taco meat or sloppy-joe meat to make a chili-con-queso dip that is out. of. this. world!