These Mexican inspired Vegan Potato Tacos make the perfect healthy plant-based meal for dinner! They are gluten-free, oil-free and loaded with crispy cornmeal potatoes, spiced veggies and creamy avocado!
VEGAN POTATO TACOS
Do you like crispy tacos? These Mexican Vegan Potato Tacos have a super crispy texture thanks to a cornmeal crust coating over them. I used to love cornmeal crusted tilapia back in the day, so I decided to try that on potatoes and the flavor was so good, as well as give a really hefty crunch. Even better? Stuff them in tacos! I love anything taco or Mexican-inspired, just like these Taco Spiced Potatoes!
I have eaten these delicious Mexican potatoes on their own on a plate with just lots of avocado and my 5 Minute Mexican Tahini Sauce or also in tacos. They are delicious any way you want to eat them. I used to make potatoes like these all the time for my hubby for breakfast (minus the taco shells) as a healthy breakfast. I decided to change up my way and add the cornmeal and lime and it turned out fantastic.
Of course, there has to be some peppers too.
I used a combo of these gorgeous peppers for color, but feel free to use any combo you like. Red looks best because of the color and presentation, but any will work.
These cornmeal potatoes come together in just 8 easy ingredients (+ salt & water) and is such a simple meal. Food doesn’t have to be complicated guys. In fact, I’m all about REAL food and real recipes that make you feel good!
These vegan potato tacos are easy to make, gluten-free, oil-free, healthy, plant-based, delicious, simple, full of flavor and have both crispy and creamy textures!
MORE VEGAN MEXICAN RECIPES
- Vegan Mexican Casserole
- 30 Minute Mexican Chili
- Tomatillo Salsa Verde
- Easy Homemade Salsa Recipe
- Best Vegan Black Bean Soup
- The Best Enchilada Sauce
- Vegan Tortilla Soup
Vegan Potato Tacos (Oil-free!)
Ingredients
FOR THE POTATOES
- 4 heaping cups (627g) chopped and peeled red potatoes in 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons (30g) water (add more as needed to make the cornmeal stick)
- 1/4 cup (40g) cornmeal
- 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
FOR THE VEGGIES
- 2 cups (210g) chopped bell peppers (use any kind or combo you like)
- 1/2 cup (80g) chopped onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 3/4 cup water
TOPPING
- chopped avocado
- corn or flour tortillas
- Mexican Tahini Sauce
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Peel and chop your potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Add 1 tablespoon lime juice and 2 tablespoons water to a large bowl and toss the potatoes in it to coat well. Preheat your oven at this time to 415 degrees and line a large sheetpan with parchment paper, do not use foil or the potatoes will stick!
- In a separate small bowl or cup, combine the cornmeal, chili powder and salt. (listed under the "potatoes") Toss that over the potatoes and stir to coat the potatoes well. If needed, add a tiny bit more water to make the cornmeal stick to the potatoes. Drain over a strainer any excess liquid and shake it off, you don't want the potatoes too wet before going into the oven. Spread them out evenly on the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the veggie mixture. Add all the ingredients listed under "veggies" to a large pan and stir well. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes with the lid on. They should be tender and the water evaporated after 8 minutes. Check on them a couple of times while they are cooking. If more water is needed, add just a tiny bit more. You don't want any remaining water though after they are done cooking.
- Remove your potatoes from the oven and immediately scrape them from the paper using a thin metal spatula. These tend to stick a bit, so you will need to use a spatula to remove them rather quickly to a plate. A thin spatula makes this easy.
- Serve in a bowl or in tacos or whatever you like. I eat them both as just breakfast potatoes and in tacos as a lunch/dinner. Top with the avocado and Mexican tahini sauce.
- These potatoes need to be eaten immediately while they are crispy, as they will start to soften sitting at room temperature. For leftovers and to make them crispy again, simply add them back to the oven at 300 degrees for just a few minutes.
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Brandi, I just made these last night and I’m in love! Not just because they are really good, but because my picky husband ate them, loved them, went back for more and then asked if we can have leftovers tonight for dinner. I don’ think you can get a more rave review than a guy who asks “where’s the meat?” and plotting how he’ll get chicken on his tacos deciding that this recipe is so good that he wouldn’t change a thing. I would highly recommend this recipe for anyone asking themselves if they really can go vegan.
It may have been my oven, but 415 degrees for 25-30 minutes steamed my potatoes, but they did not get crispy for me. I will probably up it to 450 next time I make it. Even though they were more steamy, they were still delicious! It hardly mattered…more preference.
Also, the Tahini sauce is absolutely amazing and truly made the taco “pop.” I will never be without this Tahini sauce again. 5 stars across the board! Thanks for a winning recipe that we will be making for years to come!
These look fantastic! Unfortunately I am highly allergic to corn! Any ideas for a substitute? Help me please!
Hi Nancy! I would try brown rice flour instead, it is kind of gritty and may help the crisp factor. I haven’t tried it personally, but I think it should work. Let me know!
Just stopping by to say YUM!!!! Had just about every ingredient when Brandi posted this on FB today and I HAD to have this! I am sssooooo glad that I doubled the sauce recipe! I will be dipping lots of food this week…
Thank you for sharing great food recipes that my family truly enjoys.
I’m so glad you loved these Ida, thank you so very much for the feedback!!
Hi Brandi,
I’m new to the oil-free vegan lifestyle, but I just found your blog and am feeling like I can do this! 🙂 One question about these tacos though- would yukon gold potatoes work ok instead of red? Would they crisp differently or is it just a flavor preference?
Thanks so much!
Hi Heidi! Yes, yukon should work well!
We have a taco/tortilla thing going on this summer and this amazing recipe will fit right in. Fabulous idea using cornmeal and lime!!
I really thought this sounded good. I even made a double batch because I thought we would all like it. I think the potatoes needed more seasoning. I liked the sauce, my son did not. Not a loss at all since the components are all separate. I’ll probably just have potatoes with ketchup and use the sauce in another mexican dish or as a dip for veggies.
Sorry you did not enjoy it Dana, it is always super flavorful to me. If you doubled the recipe though, did you possibly forget to double the spices?? I’m always pretty particular about my recipes having a ton of flavor and spices, as I hate bland food, so perhaps that was the issue in the doubling?
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband and I just loved it!! Its a great recipe for potatoes, perfectly balanced spices, and as always your sauces are to die for. The 5 min Mexican tahini sauce was just perfect.
Yay Lisa!! Really happy to hear you and your hubby loved this! Thanks for the review!
Hi! This recipe looks amazing & am hoping to try it – just wondering how many serves does it make?
The God’s honest truth is I could eat potatoes morning, noon and night. They are filling, can be dressed up or are fabulous with just a bit if salt and olive oil, and are THE best comfort food! I’ve eaten them SO many ways, so this incredibly unique combo of lime and cornmeal is extra special! Thank you thank you for this scrumpdilicious recipe, Brandi!! I had them with your Rice, Beans and Sweet Chili Mustard sauce https://thevegan8.com/rice-blackbean-bowl-chili-mustard-sauce/ and it was a marriage made in heaven! Since there was so much chili in the rice dish I added smoked paprika to the potatoes and it was the perfect complement. Thanks for another spectacular meal idea, Brandi!!
This recipe marries my two favorite foods – potatoes and tacos – so of course I had to try it!
Amazing as always – the only thing I would do differently is make a double batch! Lol
Haha I hear you! Thank you so much Bethany for this glowing review!
To make these grain free, could I use something other than cornmeal?
You could try another flour if you like, I just can’t say what the outcome would be since I have only ever used the cornmeal!
Delicious!! The potatoes are so amazing we may not even be using our airfryer after discovering this easy recipe. Also, the Mexican Tahini is sooo good. We turned this into a “mexican bowl” with quinoa, the potatoes/veg mix, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes and the mexican tahini. yum! Your recipes are always AMAZING! Thank you so much.
That is so wonderful to hear Katie, thank you so much for the lovely review!
YUMMO in my TUMMO!! Thanks for this one!! Had leftover steamed red potatoes from Sunday and followed along but shortened baking time 5 minutes. Came out perfect!! While they baked I made vegan ranch dressing for the week and drizzled that on top to see how I liked it with the avocado slices. YUP!!!
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed these Suzi!
I made these this weekend and they were delicious! I did not change a thing. Potatoes were super crunchy and I’m thrilled to have such a tasty oil-free recipe. The onions and peppers really gave a great flavor. I could not stop eating!!!
absolutely need to try this…saw it on fB and then life for in the way and I forgot about it.
Question?? What kind of taco shells do you use ??
They are just the lime corn and salt ones (no oil) corn tortillas that you can find at places like Whole Foods and possibly Sprouts, I can’t remember where I bought them.