Baked Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos
Crispy, spicy, hearty, satisfying, and tasty! Yes, please! I am talking about these delicious vegan Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos. Because who doesn’t love taquitos?! Did you ever make homemade taquitos? They are super easy to make actually 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?
Chicken-Free recipe!
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, for example. 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 Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos
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, 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!
These Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos are:
- Spicy
- Flavorful
- Hearty
- Plant-based (Vegan)
- Chicken-free (“Erna”-free)
- Gluten-free
- Crispy
- Easy to make
- A great comfort dish
- Satisfying
Baked not deep fried
These vegan taquitos will turn out crispy even when you bake them in the oven. 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 my taquitos. The secret is to brush them with a little bit of oil (1 tbsp oil is enough for 10 taquitos) and bake them in the oven until they are golden brown and crispy!
Spicy Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos
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.
Buffalo Chickpea 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
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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Amazing!!!! Made these with my boyfriend who is a total meat eater and he LOVED them that we made them three times in 2 weeks :). Definitely will be adding this to my recipe book!!! Thanks for an amazing recipe
Aww, that’s awesome, Vanessa. Happy you both loved them. 🙂
Tried these and I loved them. I topped w/ vegan cheddar jack cheese. I love meals like this, quick, easy, and simple ingredients.
That’s awesome, Taylor! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Can these be frozen after cooking?
Yes, that should be fine, Kendall. 🙂
Ready good!! Going on my favorite recipes list!
That’s awesome, Lynda. 🙂
Absolutely delicious!! I can’t thank you enough for the recipe. 5 stars!!!
You are very welcome 🙂
Do you think these could be made ahead of time (rolled, but not baked) and baked the next day?
I never tried it, but I think that should be fine. 🙂
Loved these! I didn’t have time to make tortillas so i used store-bought. Also, i didn’t have any tomato sauce so i just left it out and it still came out great! Thanks!!
Happy it turned out great, Meg. 🙂
Delicious and easy to make!! My boyfriend and I are not vegan but love to try different vegan dishes and these are great! Thank you! We will definitely make again!
That’s amazing! I am so glad you both enjoyed it. Thanks for your fantastic feedback Kerra! 🙂
These are amazing! They are absolutely getting added to the rotation. I also took the suggestion of the author and used the recipe for the tortillas…they were perfect! They didn’t fall apart, and they will be my go to do any future tortillas. Now I just can’t wait to make more of the recipes!!
Also, I paired these with rice and beans.
That’s awesome, Ananda! I am so glad you loved the taquitos and the tortillas as well. 🙂
These were a hit for dinner tonight!! I’ll definitely make them again!
Happy they turned out delicious, Lynsey. 🙂
I just made this recipe for lunch. The filling was very tasty. I need to practice my rolling technique, though. I might have used a bit too much filling and it helps if the tortillas are not right out of the fridge. Thank you for the great recipe.
You are very welcome, Suzy! I am so glad you liked them. 🙂
Thank you for the recipie. Taquitos are something I used to love as a child, when I saw this recipie I couldn’t help but give it a try. I am not going to lie, i had low expectations (I’m definitely not the best cook) BUT the flavour was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have milk of any kind So i used a tbsp of water and a tbsp of lime juice and i think it still turned out great. I also opted to make lettuce wraps for half of them. What a great tasty recipie. Thank you!
I am so glad they turned out delicious! Thanks for your awesome feedback, Nell. 🙂
This was delicious!!! I didn’t have corn tortillas so I used flour. Will make with corn next time and there will be a next time!! I made the vegan cheese and loved that too! Thanks for a tasty dinner!!
My pleasure, Leslie! I am so glad you loved the taquitos. You can also try my homemade gluten-free tortillas if you like. 🙂
Can I air fry these without using the oil ?
Yes, that should be fine! 🙂
I love making these, but every time I use corn tortillas, they begin to crack as soon as I place them stuffed on the baking sheet. Do you have a helpful suggestion for this? I tried microwaving them, olive oil glaze, damp towel, etc., but they co to us to crack! Help!! Thank you!
Hi! Maybe heat them in a pan on the stove. This might fix the issue.
Have you tried my gluten-free tortilla recipe? It’s seriously so much better than corn tortillas or any store-bought gluten-free tortillas. They NEVER crack! The recipe is linked a few times in this blog post but here is the link again: https://elavegan.com/gluten-free-tortillas-recipe/
Put them in a plastic or paper bag to hold steam and microwave for about a minute.
Nice recipe and really easy to make! The Gluten free tortillas that I bought to use for this were actually disgusting so I ending up throwing them away and I just ate the filling myself, which was lovely on its own, and served with regular tortillas for the rest of the family! I made a ranch dip on the side! Yummy!!
I am glad you liked the recipe, Gabrielle! I hope you will try out my homemade gluten-free tortillas next time, they are incredible! 🙂
This recipe came out even better than I hoped it would. Its easy to make and I’m sure non vegans would still love it. I am definitely putting this dish in m weekly lineup.
Sounds amazing, Dapne! So glad you loved the taquitos. 🙂
Excellent recipe – had to change a couple ingredient to meet our needs but it was a huge success – Thank You!
I am glad it was a huge success, Martha! 🙂
I love these! Is there a recipe for BBQ ones?
Hey! I am glad you love them. You could use store-bought vegan BBQ sauce instead of hot sauce. 🙂
hey Ela! making this right now. quick question what is the purpose of sugar in this recipe? i would rather avoid sugar as i’m on a weight loss journey.
Just for the taste. You can leave it out. 🙂