Ohhhh Emmmm Geeee.
Are you ready to make your own walnut meat that is both tasty and healthy!? If so, read on, in this blog post we will show you easy step by step guide on how to make delicious walnut meat with a food processor.
This is a great substitute to regular "meat" and is a great addition to your diet.
This walnut meat goes great with tacos, cauliflower rice, nachos and more!
Easy Step By Step Guide To Make Homemade Walnut Meat
Step 1 (Optional): Soak The Walnuts & Sun-Dried Tomatoes
The first step is to soak 1/2 cup of walnuts and about 5 to 6 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes in water for about 20 minutes. This step is optional but highly recommended. The reason that we recommend that you soak the walnuts is that if you were to process them dry they have less of a meat consistency and don't taste as good. However, if you are pressed for time you can skip this step.
Soaking the walnuts makes them softer and gives it more of meat-like texture.
The reason for soaking the sun-dried tomatoes is that they are really hard if not soaked. If you don't soak them then you end up with larger chunks in your final product. By soaking the tomatoes you make them softer and easier for your food processor to break down. This way it mixes in better.
Step 2: Gather Ingredients & Use A Food Processor
Get all the ingredients below together. I like to do this after I start soaking the walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes to save on time...
- 1/2 cupof walnuts (soaked for20minutes)
- 1 cupof DRY almonds
- 5to6Oil free Sun Dried Tomatoes (soaked for20minutes)
- 1 tablespoon chickpea miso *OR* 2 tsp of tamari sauce
- 1/2 teaspoonpaprika
- 1/4 teaspoonof each = garlic powder and onion powder
- dash of = salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
Once you have all your ingredients together it's time to put them in your food processor. I like to use the regular standard blade that comes with the processor.
Next, you should use the pulse mode on your food processor. The reason for this is that you don't want your walnut meat to be overly processed and turned into walnut butter. So make sure to stay on top of the blending and check in often. Remember that all food processors have different strengths.
I find that it takes about 10-20 seconds before the walnut meat consistency is complete. So how do you know when your walnut meat is ready? It has to pass the eye test. Make sure all the ingredients have been mixed well and that your texture kinda looks like ground meat but made of out walnuts.
Step 3: (Optional) Bake The Walnuts To Slightly Toasted
Now, this step is also optional because some people like to eat this recipe raw. I honestly like the toasted walnut meat the best. Again, if you are tight on time, it is totally OK to eat this raw. They are walnuts after all!
Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees. Place your walnut meat on a baking sheet inside your oven. The total baking time will be 20 minutes. What I like to do is set the timer to 10 minutes and then when the alarm goes off, I go ahead and move around the walnut meat for the 2nd half of the baking. This way you get more of consistent baking throughout the walnut meat.
Keep an eye out on the walnut meat because it can burn easily. Usually, 350 degrees is fine but remember that different ovens and using different racks inside the oven can drastically change the recommended 20-minute baking. So use that as a guide but make sure to be on top of your walnut meat, at least the first time you make this walnut meat.
Like I mentioned earlier, I like the toasted walnut meat version better than the raw walnut meat version. Luckily for you, you can have both. Just taste test the raw version before putting the rest in the oven. Some people like to go half and half.
The raw walnut meat is softer and chewier. The baked walnut meat is crunchier and tastes more like meat in my opinion. Let us know which version you liked best below.
If you've been hanging around Sprouting Zen for some time now, this vegan walnut taco meat recipe might look familiar to you... and you caught me! I used this exact same recipe in my delicious colorful raw vegan romaine lettuce tacos recipe and I've got no shame in my game. This 'meat' is so so good that I use it frequently and as often as I can!
reasons why I love this vegan walnut taco meat
There are few reasons why I *don't* love this recipe. Actually I can't think of one. Okay, maybe cleaning the food processor is a pain sometimes but seriously once you're stuffing your face with this scrumptiousness, it won't even matter to ya! I pinky promise!
So why do I love this vegan walnut taco meat recipe?
- It's sooo easy to make and only requires 10 ingredients (including salt, pepper and cayenne so really it's like 7 ingredients), which I almost always usually have at home already. I make sure to always have almonds, walnuts and sun dried tomatoes at home for this specific recipe. Yes. It's *that* serious between us.
- Only requires ONE kitchen tool - a food processor. This means I get to spend more time eating and less time worrying about a gigantic pile of dirty stuff in my sink.
- It's flexible! If you want it to be more garlicky, Add more garlic. If you're going for spicy, add more spice! You can tweak it, pinch it, change it. The fact remains the same = it's gonna be super tasty.
- Takes your 'blaaa' vegan dishes to another level. I don't have more of an explanation than that.
- It beats all other supermarket 'vegan meats' (in my humble opinion), simply because it's free of any chemicals, fillers, refined oil and refined sugars.
Now a days there are a bunch of "vegan" alternative meats in the stores but it's important to pay attention to WHAT is in them. Many of those store bought products are filled with chemicals, sugars, refined oils, and other heavily processed ingredients. Just because it's 'vegan' doesn't automatically make it 'good-for-you'.
What you want to look for is artificial ingredients like added sugar (yes even if its organic sugar). Added sweeteners like stevia are a lot better.
Also try to avoid vegetable oils that are horrible for your health. Stay away from canola, corn, sunflower and other vegetable oils. Instead opt for extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and guess which other type of oil is good for you? Yes, that's right, walnut oil.
ways to use this vegan walnut taco meat
My favorite ways to use this "meat" is inside tacos, like I did in my raw vegan romaine lettuce taco recipe.I've included a picture of the tacos below, so that you can picture it. The first layer is the 10-ingredient vegan walnut taco meat and then I added the pico de gallo and guac on top. SOOOO good!
I also love this 'meat' on top of these vegan loaded nachos, or even served on the side in a bowl with rice and Red Kidney Beans. Obviously this is not 'real' meat, but it is a nice and tasty crunchy addition to many meals and will bring your taste-buds to a place of bliss.
Just check out these nachosss for a sec.↓
Now doesn't that look ahhhmaazinggg!? And it's vegan. And it's oil free. And it's good for you. So go, go, go make yourself some vegan walnut taco meat, and sprinkle it over anything and everything you boss-chef-person. <3
If you haven't already noticed, walnuts are my favorite. Not only because of their many benefits but also because they are sooo versatile. You can make so many things with walnuts - from walnut meat to homemade walnut butters! To learn more about how to make homemade walnut butter make sure to check out that recipe post!
Benefits Of Walnuts
There is a whole host of benefits behind walnuts. The great thing about this walnut meat is that it is cholesterol-free. So for those that have high cholesterol and want to bring it down, this is a great alternative to regular meat.
Walnuts are full of omega 3s that have been shown to be great for your brain. Do you think it's a coincidence that walnuts look like brains? I think not!
The usual American diet is full of omega 6's and not enough omega 3's. What this does is throw off the optimal omega 3 to omega 6 ratios that nature intended. So what does a bad ratio cause? Inflammation! Inflammation is something you want to avoid at all costs. That is why we get a lot of diseases nowadays in our world of fake food. The irony that fake walnut meat is actually healthy for you and helps balance your omega 3 to 6 ratio and helps lower inflammation.
All in all, walnuts are a superfood and a key staple in my diet. I hope that the taste of this taco walnut meat tastes good for you too and you can incorporate this healthy alternative to your diet soon.
The great thing about this homemade walnut meat is that it fits almost any healthy diet you might be trying at the moment. Whether that be keto, plant based vegan diet, whole 30 diet or any other diet that urges you to eat REAL foods.
Do you like walnuts just as much as I do? Let me know below. Cheers to a healthier you and tasty walnut meats!
