How is it Wednesday already?! This first week of March is flying by and I can’t think of a better mid-week recipe than these extremely fun Chipotle Lime Chicken Taco Bowls. For those of you on Tik Tok, did you see seitan is trending this week?! I have never been more proud to be vegan and to already know what seitan is. Seitan is one of my favourite vegan things! But guess what? The origin of meat alternatives like seitan date back to Buddhist monks in ancient China, according to Vice. A lot of vegans currently might be used to making seitan with Vital Wheat Gluten, but the original seitan was created from a soaking and mixing process that removed the starch from the flour and develops strands of pure wheat gluten. Seitan is high in protein and has a “meaty” texture. And people on Tik Tok are (as the kids like to call it) “shook”!
I promise this whole story has a point. See, yesterday I made it my mission to learn the ancient way of making seitan, using only all-purpose flour and water. I followed the recipe by Taiwanese vegan chef @chez.jorge and also some tips from @futurelettuce on Tik Tok. The result was the best seitan I’ve made to date! Their method of twisting and tying the seitan in a knot before cooking makes it flaky and stringy instead of spongey/dense, which is often the case with poorly made seitan. This stuff is the real deal! So similar to chicken and perfect for shredding. My previous seitan recipes have been great for chopping and slicing, but weren’t really shreddable. So I was super pumped about this new method!
I am going to refer you to the videos by the trained chefs for the actual seitan, because the method is easiest explained through video – trust me!
However, if you don’t want to make the seitan from scratch, some substitutes you could use for this recipe are:
- jackfruit, shredded (approx 1 1/2 cups)
- tofu, crumbled (approx 1 1/2 cups)
- store-bought vegan chicken strips, chopped (approx 1 1/2 cups)
But I highly recommend trying the Tik Tok seitan recipe because its so great (and honestly pretty fun to make! Mmm stretchy flour…)
This recipe is pretty straight forward once you have the “meat” made. I recommend making a big batch of the meat to use for various recipes, and so you’ll have some on hand to make these Chipotle Lime Chicken Taco Bowls all week! Then, cook some rice, chop your corn tortillas for the “chips”, whisk up the sauce, and if you’re feeling fancy, make the tortilla bowls (which are so much easier than you think). Get your kids or partner to put all the garnishes in little bowls on the table and you’re good to go in under 30 mins!
I love love love taco night for families because each person can customize their own meal so easily. Just put all the toppings out on the table and let everyone be their own chef for the night! Thats what we did as kids and I have such fond memories.
Chipotle Lime Chicken Taco Bowls (vegan)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
Super fun and tasty vegan chicken taco bowls with homemade tortilla “bowls”!
Ingredients
Spiced Shredded “Chicken”:
- 1 batch seitan, shredded (approx 160g)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Chipotle Lime Tortilla Chips:
- 4 corn tortillas, cut into strips
- spray oil or olive oil (spray is easiest for coating the tortillas)
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
- pinch of salt & pepper
- 1 wedge of lime
Chipotle Lime Aioli:
- 1/4 cup vegan mayo
- 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
- 1 tsp lime juice (about 1 wedge of lime, squeezed)
Tortilla Bowls:
- 4 medium to large flour tortillas
- spray oil or olive oil (spray is easier for spritzing the tortillas all over)
Bowl Filling Ideas:
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
- salsa (measure with your heart)
- guacamole (measure with your heart)
- sliced green onion, optional
Instructions
- Tortilla Bowls: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds to make them easier to work with. Gently lay the tortilla down on the outside of an upside down oven-safe bowl, letting the edges drape over the sides. Spritz all over each with oil, or rub a drizzle of oil over the tortilla. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp. You may have to do batches if you don’t have 4 oven-safe dishes. Simply set aside the finished bowls to cool as you do the rest.
Tortilla chips (see note for air fryer method): place the corn tortilla strips in a mixing bowl and spritz with oil until coated. Add the spices and toss lightly to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet in an even layer and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden and crispy. Remove from oven and squeeze a wedge of lime overtop. Set aside.
- Chicken: Heat a frying pan on medium heat. Add the oil, seitan and seasonings and stir to coat. Fry about 5 minutes or until seitan is hot and beginning to brown. Set aside.
- Chipotle Lime Aioli: in a small mixing bowl, add the vegan mayo, chipotle chilli powder and lime juice and stir until combined.
- Assemble: add 1/2 cup cooked rice to each tortilla bowl. Add 1/2 cup lettuce to each, followed by some seitan chicken, tortilla chips, dollops of the chipotle aioli and dollops of guacamole/salsa. The messier the better! Enjoy.
Notes
Tortilla chips in air fryer: I made the chips in my air fryer and it worked so well! Instead of baking in the oven, simply add to the air fryer basket and cook on 375 F for 10 minutes or so, until golden and crisp.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
Looks good! I wonder how it would work with a high protein flour, such as bread flour. Wish you made a video of this seitan stretching process!
I recommend watching the videos of the Tik Tok and Instagram creators I linked :). They are much better at explaining the process and those videos are what I followed :)! Hope that helps!!