Happy September! Today, I have a delicious vegan burrito with an addictive chipotle tempeh mince for you. These burritos are so filling and satisfying that they have become my favourite thing to eat for lunch lately.
While at first glance, this vegan burrito recipe may look like a lot of ingredients and quite a bit of process, don’t write it off just yet. Firstly, many of the ingredients are being used in more than one component of this dish and a lot of them are pantry staples! Secondly, this vegan burrito recipe makes a large quantity of food and even if you don’t have a hungry family to feed, make them just for you and you’ll have burritos for days!
All the fillings for this vegan burrito benefit from being made at least one day in advance as resting them gives the flavours a chance to mature and deepen. What I would recommend is going on a vegan burrito meal prep one day and assembling them throughout the week. These vegan burritos with chipotle tempeh mince are full of protein, which makes them very filling.
Both chipotle tempeh and refried black beans are big protein hitters, plus I used special protein rich tortillas (from Mission) and using brown rice instead of white ups the protein content even further. I found that a single vegan burrito was enough for a very satiating lunch and if I didn’t live with always hungry Duncan, this recipe would tie me over for a lunch or dinner for 8 days in a row! I love that man to bits but sometimes I like when he is away kayaking and I can suddenly go from cooking every day to once every few days as all my cooking lasts so much longer!
Anyway, we both enjoyed these vegan burritos with chipotle tempeh mince so much that they have become a bit of a staple. I hope you will try this recipe out for yourself and that they will go down well if you do.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) BAKE THE TEMPEH
I start off by making the chipotle tempeh for these vegan burritos. I pulse the tempeh in a food processor, coat it in a bit of olive oil and bake in a hot oven to crisp up. It takes about 30 minutes with one good stir through at half time. While this is happening I make the sauce – you want a juicy burrito, not a dry one!
2) MAKE THE SAUCE
While the tempeh is baking in the oven, I make a simple tomato sauce flavoured with smoked paprika, cumin and spicy chipotle paste. The heat of chipotle pastes vary enormously among brands so be careful if you haven’t use it before. Start off with 2 tsp and only add more if needed. I used Luchito brand, which I find quite very spicy compared to others available in the UK.
3) COMBINE
Stir baked tempeh into the sauce, adjust the seasoning if needed and let the two mingle for better flavour. Making this component of the filling a day or two ahead would be best, but if you don’t have time, don’t worry. It is still delicious on the day it was made.
4) REFRY THE BEANS
Next, I make refried beans. This picture shows half a portion (one can) so don’t be alarmed – you’ll have twice as much. Also cook rice the way you normally would. While some people think that putting rice in a burrito is a waste of a filling space, rice absorbs all the wetness and also bulks up the filling nicely. If you care about protein, cook brown rice rather than white.
5) MAKE PICCO THE GALLO
Finally make a simple tomato salsa (pico de gallo) but chopping sweet cherry tomatoes, spring onions and coriander finely. Combine them and season to taste with salt, pepper, a good pinch of sugar and a generous squeeze of lime. Let it sit around for 30 minutes or so ideally.
6) ASSMBLE AND TOAST
Now it’s time to assemble and roll out our vegan burritos. I tried taking photos of the rolling process but it was an unmitigated disaster (too messy) so instead let me direct you this fab little short on YouTube that shows you exactly what to do. Once rolled, toast burritos in a dry skillet (seam down first) until nicely charred on both sides. Enjoy with a drizzle of hot sauce, if liked!
CHIPOTLE TEMPEH
- 440 g / 15.5 oz smoked tempeh
- 60 ml / ¼ cup mild olive oil, divided
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely diced
- 400 g / 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2-3 tsp chipotle chilli paste (I used LUCHITO)
- 1 tsp sugar
- a good squeeze of lime
- salt & pepper, to taste
REFRIED BLACK BEANS
- 6 spring onions / scallions*
- 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp mild olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 x 400 g / 14 oz cans of black beans
- juice of 1 lime
- salt & pepper, to taste
PICO DE GALLO
- 4 spring onions / scallions*
- 400 g / 14 oz ripe cherry tomatoes
- salt, pepper & dash of sugar
- small bunch of coriander / cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- 8 x 25 cm / 10″ flour tortillas (GF if required)
- 200 g / 1 cup long grain rice, cooked
- 2 ripe avocados, halved and sliced
- hot sauce, I like Chipotle Cholula
CHIPOTLE TEMPEH
- Set the oven to 200° C / 390° F and line a large baking tray with baking paper. You can skip this step, but I recommend you don’t, it makes the mince so much nicer.
- Slice tempeh roughly and place it in a food processor. Pulse several times until fairly uniformly ground.
- Stir 2 tbsp (30 ml) of olive oil through the tempeh and spread it on the baking tray. Bake for about 30 minutes, giving it a good stir at half way through. Make the sauce while baking the tempeh.
- Heat up the remaining 2 tbsp (30 ml) of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add diced onion and sauté on low heat until almost translucent, before adding diced garlic. Continue sautéing until both are translucent.
- Making sure the flame is low, add both dry spices and a generous amount of salt. Stir them into the aromatics and continue sautéing for another minute or so.
- Next add in chipotle paste (start with 2 tsp and add more if you like more heat) diluted in a tablespoon of water. Sauté for another minute, next add can of tomatoes, more salt and a can worth of water.
- Increase the heat to medium and simmer the sauce until thickened. Taste and season with more salt (I like to add a tsp of soy sauce for depth of flavour), pepper and a teaspoon of sugar and a good squeeze of lime to balance all of the flavours out. Stir in baked tempeh and set aside to cool down or store until next day for the flavours to develop.
REFRIED BLACK BEANS
- Cut green parts of spring onions (scallions) off and save for another use, slice the white and white green parts finely.
- Preheat 2 tbsp (30 ml) of olive oil in a large frying pan on low heat, add spring onions and sauté until almost translucent before adding garlic.
- Once both spring onions and garlic are translucent, add dry spices and a generous amount of salt. Sauté them for another minute or so.
- Next add in drained beans and a small splash of water. Season again. Use a fork (or a potato masher) to squash some of the beans down – I like to keep some texture.
- Cook until excess water cooks out, taste and season with lime juice and more salt, if needed.
PICO DE GALLO
- Chop tomatoes into very small dice, chop spring onions and coriander (cilantro) very finely.
- Stir chopped tomatoes, chopped spring onions and coriander together.
- Season with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. I also like to add a teaspoon of so of sugar to intensify tomatoes’ natural sweetness.
ASSEMBLY
- Heat up a tortilla until warm and pliable on a large frying pan.
- Place a tortilla in front on you, stack cooked rice (if using), beans, chipotle tempeh, pico de gallo and slices of avocado in the middle, close the sides over the filling then roll tightly – see this video for how to do it well.
- Heat up a cast iron skillet or a griddle pan, toast each burrito on the seam side and the opposite side. Cut in half and enjoy with a drizzle of hot sauce, if liked.