These Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos are crispy, spicy, and satisfying! You can make the taquitos in your air fryer or oven; the recipe is gluten-free, vegan, and easy to make.
Crispy Taquitos – Baked or Air-Fried
Crispy, spicy, hearty, satisfying, and tasty! Yes, please! I am talking about these delicious vegan Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos. I love crispy finger food like Air Fryer Chickpeas, Hasselback Potatoes, Vegan Hash Browns, or Vegetable Pakora, and of course, taquitos!
Did you ever make your own taquitos? They are super easy to make and since I tried them for the first time a few months ago, I am hooked. Taquitos are a great snack, just think about your favorite Netflix series and all these hearty taquitos in front of you. Perfect evening, right?
No Chicken Taquitos
After a quick Google search for Buffalo Taquitos, I found about a million “Buffalo Chicken Taquitos”. Seriously, this isn’t very nice, especially since I have a pet chicken called ERNA. Yes, Erna is my rescue chicken, and she is living with me for 10 months now. She is quite a character and pretty popular because her story was shared on “The Dodo”. My Instagram followers love her. If you want to see Erna in action, go and check out my highlighted Insta stories. Here is a picture of Erna:
Having said that, I really cannot imagine that someone would kill my sweetheart Erna just for the pleasure of eating a dish for a few minutes.
There are so many cruelty-free plant-based alternatives to meat which are healthy, protein-rich, and tasty, like these Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos. Once you try them, you might change your mind. Erna would be very glad if other people would stop eating her friends.
Quick and Easy Recipe
It took me only about half an hour to make these crispy Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos. This recipe is super easy to make, and I bet you probably already have most (or all) ingredients at home. You’ll just need tortillas (I used homemade, gluten-free tortillas), chickpeas, a bell pepper, one onion, garlic, tomato sauce, hot sauce, and some spices. So if you are looking for a quick vegan dinner or snack, this easy recipe is perfect for you!
How To Make Baked Taquitos
- Using a fork, roughly mash the chickpeas in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a pan/skillet over medium heat and add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and spice mix and sauté for a further minute.
- Add all other sauce ingredients + chickpeas to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Let simmer on low heat for about 2-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat.
- Taste the mixture, if you want it spicier, add more chili powder to taste.
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees F (210 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place about 2 tbsp of the filling onto each tortilla and roll them up tightly. Place every tortilla seam-side down on the baking sheet, next to each other.
- Brush them with a little bit of vegetable oil (to make them even more crispy).
- Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crispy.
- Drizzle with vegan cheese sauce (optional) or top them with your favorite vegan cheese before baking. Enjoy with your favorite dip!
Air fryer Vegan Taquitos
Spread them in a single layer, seam-side-down, in your air fryer basket with space in between (cook in batches if necessary). Then air fry in a pre-heated air fryer at 350F/175C for 6-8 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy on the edges.
These vegan taquitos will turn out crispy when you bake them in the oven, and even crispier in the air fryer. There is no need to deep-fry them. I mean, you could deep-fry them, but I always get sick when I eat deep-fried food, so I prefer to bake or air-fry my taquitos. The secret is to brush them with a little bit of oil (1 tbsp oil is enough for 10 taquitos) and bake or air-fry them until they are golden brown and crispy!
Since I like spicy meals, I often add chili powder to my savory dishes. Because every person has different taste buds, though, it’s difficult to recommend the right amount of hot sauce and chili powder. 3 tbsp of hot sauce and a pinch of chili powder will add a pleasant spiciness, at least to my taste buds.
If you dislike spicy meals, you better leave out the chili powder completely and just add 1 tbsp (or even less) of hot sauce. And if you are like my boyfriend, who slathers his food in chili powder, I would recommend adding more hot sauce and more chili powder until you are happy with the spiciness.
If you make this delicious meal and maybe even take a photo of it, then I would love to see it. You can DM it to me on Instagram. Don’t forget to tag me in your Insta caption + photo with @elavegan and use the hashtag #elavegan, and I will gladly check out your post. And if you are a fan of Buffalo Chickpea recipes, definitely also try out my Avocado Chickpea Pizza which is gluten-free and vegan as well.
More Crispy Vegan & Gluten-Free Snacks
- Veggie Taquitos
- Crispy Polenta Fries
- Baked Vegan Onion Rings
- Vegan Quesadillas
- Chickpea Fritters
- Roasted Cauliflower Steaks
- Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
- Oven-Baked Tacos
Or browse my list of 32+ Vegan Super Bowl Snacks
Baked or Air-Fried Taquitos
Ingredients
Buffalo chickpea sauce:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium-sized onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or one 15 oz can, drained and rinsed)
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce (passata)
- 3 tbsp hot sauce (or more to taste)
- 2 tbsp plant-based milk
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Sea salt & black pepper to taste
- Chili powder to taste
Tortillas:
- 10 small flour tortillas (gluten-free if needed) about 14 cm in diameter
Dipping Sauce (optional):
- vegan cheese sauce (or your favorite dipping sauce)
Instructions
- Using a fork, roughly mash the chickpeas in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a pan/skillet over medium heat and add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and spice mix and sauté for a further minute.
- Add all other sauce ingredients + chickpeas to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil. Let simmer on low heat for about 2-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat.
- Taste the mixture, if you want it spicier, add more chili powder to taste.
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees F (210 degrees C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place about 2 tbsp of the filling onto each tortilla and roll them up tightly. Place every tortilla seam-side down on the baking sheet, next to each other.
- Brush them with a little bit of vegetable oil (to make them even more crispy).
- Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and crispy.
- Drizzle with vegan cheese sauce (optional) or top them with your favorite vegan cheese before baking. Enjoy with your favorite dip!
Notes
- I used homemade gluten-free tortillas.
- I describe the method for air-fryer taquitos in the blog post above.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Brian McCrudden
Delicious recipe, thanks!
My wife can’t eat any bell peppers.
Any suggestions on a good substitute for the future?
Ela
You could use zucchini or your favorite veggies instead. 🙂
Tracy
So my corn tortillas when I rolled them up split on both sides? I didn’t put too much in them. Do y think because I used white corn tortillas that were gluten free?
Ela
Hi Tracy! I never made the recipe with corn tortillas. I always make my own homemade tortillas: https://elavegan.com/gluten-free-tortillas-recipe/
Maybe you can try it again with the homemade ones or with store-bought flour tortillas. 🙂
Vicky
I just made these and they are delicious! However I am bummed out that many tortillas peeled of and cracked! I waited for the filing to cool down to avoid this. I also heated up the tortillas before rolling them. They were fine until they baked and cracked in the oven. Any suggestions on how to avoid this? I intend to make this dish regularly!
Thanks!
Ela
Hi Vicky! 🙂 Did you make my homemade tortillas? Mine do not crack in the oven. Maybe your temperature was too high?
Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Jenn
Excellent! These were a hit for my hubby and myself being plant based eaters, and my older omnivore teens. I love meals we all enjoy without changing recipes to suit wants!! Adding this one to the “make again” list!
Ela
Amazing! Thanks a lot for your great feedback, Jenn! 🙂
Tracy
Oh so yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Ela
You are very welcome, Tracy! 🙂
Sarj
Hi, this looks amazing.
Can’t wait to make it.
By plant based milk, can I use like almond milk or hazelnut milk or does it have to be like Soy milk.
Ela
Sure, almond milk or hazelnut milk is totally fine. 🙂
Kristine
I made these today and they came out kind of sour/vinegar-ey tasting. I used Frank’s buffalo sauce for my hot sauce, which has vinegar in it already. And I put the tablespoon of balsalmic vinegar in as well, like the recipe calls for. Do you think it was my hot sauce choice that caused this problem? What hot sauce do you use?
Thank you! And I love your page 🙂
Ela
Hi Kristine, I use a local brand which doesn’t have a strong sour/vinegary taste, so maybe next time leave out the balsamic vinegar.
I am glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Hana Maria Igielski
Ela, it is so good flexible recipe! We love it, we don’t need bread at all. We simply use it instead of bread. Thank you!
Ela
That’s awesome! Great idea. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
Omi
You know all those packs you get from eating Taco Bell would be great in this recipe
Cloe
Am I crazy? I can’t find canned chickpeas anywhere, they all say garbanzo beans? Even online. Are they the same?
Ela
Of course! It’s the same. 🙂
Neo
What kind of tortilla did you use in this recipe?
Can your chick pea flour recipe work in this one?
Ela
Yes, I used my gluten-free tortilla recipe (with chickpea flour and tapioca flour). It’s actually linked in the recipe. 🙂
abbie
delicious! i did have some trouble mashing the chickpeas so i just left them in their original form. we’re they supposed to be fully mashed?
Ela
No, that’s fine! I sometimes leave them whole as well. 🙂
Dot Moore
Ahhhhmaaaaazing!!!!! So easy to prepare, you’re awesome!
Made my husbands tummy very happy!
Ela
Wonderful! Thanks a lot for your feedback. 🙂
Isabelle
I made these the other day and they are absolutely delicious!!! Thank you for the recipie! ❤️
Ela
That’s awesome! Thank you, Isabelle. 🙂
Samaria
What color bell pepper do you recommend?
Ela
Yellow, orange or red! 🙂
Alicya
How would I cook the chick peas for this? I’ve honestly haven’t ever cooked chick peas
Ela
You can use canned chickpeas as mentioned in the recipe.
Chloe
Can you sub the bell pepper for something else or omit it?
Ela
It adds a nice flavor but you can add something else, for example, tomatoes or zucchini or omit it.
Miss
These are amazing! I doubled the recipe and added half chickpeas half black beans. Everyone loved them! Including my non-vegan parents, my son who isn’t so fond of chickpeas, and my 2 year old in which we battle her to eat anything at supper time! We even had it for leftovers the next day and none of my 4 children complained! Not even the one that complains about leftovers. A win all around! Thank you!
Ela
That’s awesome! So happy everyone enjoyed the taquitos. 🙂
Thanks for your feedback!
Maddie
Made these tonight — WOW! So so delicious. I had some trouble with my tortillas cracking because I didn’t warm them sufficiently beforehand. What I learned from having leftover filling is that it makes a great dip for tortilla chips! My boyfriend loved this recipe too, despite not being a huge chickpea fan. Can’t wait to make this again.
Ela
That’s really wonderful! Thanks for your feedback, Maddie! 🙂