Deliciously sweet and smoky sheet pan fajita vegetables are the base of these easy vegan tacos. While the filling is fajita style, they are given the taco treatment with crispy corn tortillas and a cabbage slaw for topping. This is a flexible recipe that you can use to clean out your fridge!
Introducing the Fajita / Taco Hybrid
Today we are making a sheet pan / roasting pan fajita filling of sweet, smoky charred veggies… and then pivoting a little. Rather than putting it in flour tortillas with the usual fajita toppings, we are putting them in fried corn tortillas with more taco-like toppings.
Why? Our veggie filling is super soft and melt in the mouth, and I love that tacos can offer a little more texture to contrast with the veggies: crispy fried corn corn tortillas instead of soft flour tortillas, and some shredded cabbage for a fresh crunch.
This recipe was designed to be casual and flexible, for a “let’s use stuff up” kind of evening. It actually came about while I was testing this pasta dish, and I was constantly finding myself with too many mushrooms and peppers left in the fridge, so I would just hack together these fajita taco hybrids when I needed a clean drawer. It’s not proper Mexican cuisine, but it sure feels good to clean out that fridge by eating tacos.
Ingredient and Recipe Tips
- This is a very flexible recipe and the veggies I suggest can be added to or swapped around. Just fill a pan with veggies, whatever they may be. I’m using the classics: onions, peppers and mushrooms. If you don’t like mushrooms, you can simply use more peppers and onions, or you could try other vegetables such as cubes of squash, cauliflower, zucchini or eggplant. You don’t need to over-think your veggie combination too much.
- That said – the cook time for your pan of veggies could vary quite a bit if you aren’t using the same as the recipe states. Mushrooms leach a lot of moisture, which slows down the cooking process, so if you leave those out, it will be faster. It’s also going to be quicker if you use a sheet pan which allows you to spread the veggies out a little more.
- Which leads me onto my next point… I cook my veggies in a deep casserole dish so they stay juicy and sticky and don’t dry out. I don’t pile the dish too high — it’s a single layer, but they do overlap a little bit. That’s OK – but if they are piled any higher, you will struggle to get them to roast or brown well. Take a look at my photo below and use that as a guide – don’t fill the dish any more than I did.
- This recipe comfortably serves two, making 6-8 individual tacos. You can scale it up, but you’ll need to use two pans. If you want to bulk it out without using more vegetables, add a drained can of beans to the pan at the end (similar to what we do in this black bean fajita recipe) which will give you another serving or two without needing any more vegetables.
- I like to use a dried seasoning mix AND a little bit of a sweet sticky sauce to get the perfect fajita veggies. I know sweet chili sauce seems out of place here – you can use fajita sauce or barbecue sauce, whatever you have. For me, living somewhere that good Mexican ingredients are hard to come by, sweet chili sauce works great and is always in my fridge, so it’s just a winner.
- If you can’t get corn tortillas just use the smaller sized flour tortillas – as much as I love the corn tortillas here, it will still be tasty with flour. I would not recommend the crunchy taco shells though – the filling is a little too juicy so it would be quite the mess.
- The cabbage is completely optional, it just gives a little extra crunch to the dish – you could use shredded fresh lettuce if that’s what you have, or leave it out and have a more soft, creamy filling.
- Avocado or guacamole is an ideal topper for these tacos, adding some neutral creamy flavor to the intensely smoky sweet veggies.
More Vegetarian Fajitas & Tacos
Veggie Fajita Tacos
Ingredients
- olive oil, for cooking
- 8 corn tortillas
- 2 sweet or bell peppers, sliced
- 7-8 oz (200 g) chestnut or portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 1 pack fajita seasoning
- 2 tbsp sweet chili, barbecue or fajita sauce
Red Cabbage Slaw
- 1 wedge red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 handful cilantro leaves (fresh coriander)
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Other Toppings
- 1 avocado, sliced
- salsa, to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C / 430F
- Prepare your vegetables. Toss them in enough olive oil to lightly coat everything, add the packet of seasoning and the sauce, and mix until everything is well coated. Scatter them into a 9×13 baking dish and place in the oven for 20 minutes.olive oil, 2 sweet or bell peppers, 7-8 oz chestnut or portobello mushrooms, 1 pack fajita seasoning, 2 tbsp sweet chili, barbecue or fajita sauce, 1 small red onion
- Meanwhile, prep all your toppings. For the cabbage slaw, add the shredded cabbage and a handful of cilantro leaves to a bowl, juice 1/2 lime over the top and add salt and pepper to taste.1 wedge red cabbage, 1 handful cilantro leaves (fresh coriander), Juice of 1/2 lime, Salt and pepper
- Take the veggies out of the oven and give everything a good mix through. Place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are charred, reduced and sticky. Remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes while you warm the tortillas.
- Lightly fry your tortillas in a frying pan with a small layer of oil, until they are crispy but still malleable. (You can alternatively dry fry them with no oil, I just like to have a good crisp in this recipe)8 corn tortillas
- Serve! Spoon your filling over the tortillas, add toppings and enjoy.1 avocado, salsa
