Portobello Mushroom Tacos

Make these portobello mushroom tacos for an easy, flavorful dinner! Creamy vegan jalapeño sauce spices up the tangy, meaty mushroom filling.

Portobello Mushroom Tacos

These may be portobello mushroom tacos, but secretly, they’re all about the sauce. It’s a vegan riff on ranch dressing made with cashews, roasted jalapeños, and cucumber, and it’s so good that I have a hard time not eating it all with a spoon! However, resisting it long enough to top it onto these mushroom tacos is totally worth the wait. Cool, creamy, spicy, and bright, it perfectly accents the tangy, meaty grilled mushrooms and fresh garnishes in this recipe. The combination is really terrific – if you try these mushroom tacos once, they’ll have a permanent place in your Taco Tuesday rotation!

Portobello Tacos ingredients

Mushroom Tacos Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy mushroom tacos recipe:

  • Tortillas – Choose your favorite! Flour tortillas, corn tortillas, or a flour/corn mix would all work here. I love to use my homemade tortillas in this recipe. If you’re gluten-free, be sure to use certified gluten-free corn tortillas.
  • Grilled portobello mushrooms – With their juicy, meaty texture, portobello mushrooms are one of my favorite plant-based taco fillings. Like I do in my veggie burger, portobello burger, and sautéed mushroom recipes, I season them with balsamic vinegar and tamari or soy sauce to bring out their savory flavor.
  • Avocado slices – For creamy richness.
  • Shredded red cabbage – It adds a perfect crunch.
  • Fresh cilantro – A veggie taco essential!
  • Creamy vegan jalapeño sauce – Last, but not least! Make it as spicy as you like. Use 1/2 of a jalapeño for a mildly spicy sauce, 1 for medium, or 2 for extra spicy. Start with less and taste, because you can always add more.

When your taco filling ingredients are ready, char the tortillas and load them up. If you want even more heat, finish the portobello tacos with a few extra jalapeño slices, and enjoy!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Vegan Jalapeño Sauce recipe ingredients

Portobello Mushroom Tacos Variations

If you don’t have these exact ingredients on hand, feel free to swap in what you do have! This taco filling is flexible, and all sorts of variations would work well. Here are a few of my favorites:

Let me know what variations you try!

Mushroom Tacos on a plate

Serving Suggestions

No taco night is complete without cocktails! We love to serve these portobello tacos with classic margaritas, spicy margaritas, watermelon margaritas, or palomas, if we’re in the mood for something different.

On the side, we usually serve chips and salsa, rice, or corn. Here are a few of my go-tos:

For more ideas, check out my top 21 sides to serve with tacos!

Portobello Mushroom Tacos with Creamy Jalapeño Sauce

If you love these portobello mushroom tacos, try another of my favorite vegetarian taco recipes next!


4.9 from 18 reviews

Portobello Mushroom Tacos

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
You'll love the tangy, spicy jalapeño sauce on these mushroom tacos! If you have any leftover, use it as a salad dressing or slather it on a sandwich.
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
Jalapeño Sauce
  • ½, 1 or 2 jalapeños (depending on your spice preference)
  • 1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 3 hours, then drained
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallot
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 clove of garlic)
  • ½ cup chopped and peeled cucumber
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped chives
Tacos
  • 2 portobello mushroom caps, stems removed
  • Splash of olive oil
  • Splash of soy sauce
  • Splash of balsamic vinegar
  • 1 large avocado, sliced
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • Handful of cilantro
  • 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced, optional
  • 6 tortillas, flour or corn, warmed or grilled
Instructions
  1. Roast the jalapeños. You can do this over a gas stove, in a dry cast iron pan, or under your oven broiler. Roast until the skin on the outside is black and blistering. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. Once they're cool to the touch, peel off the skins (you can use your hands or a knife - it should come off fairly easily).
  2. Remove the stem and seeds of your jalapeños and place them in a blender with the cashews, water, vinegar, shallot, garlic, cucumber, lemon, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding more water if necessary to get your blender moving. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt, pepper or lemon to your liking. Stir in the chopped chives. Chill until ready to use.
  3. Slice the portabello mushrooms. Place them on a plate and drizzle them with olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic and freshly ground black pepper. Use your hands to coat the mushrooms on all sides.
  4. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the mushroom slices on both sides until char marks form, about 3-4 minutes per side.
  5. Assemble tacos with mushrooms, avocado, cabbage, cilantro, sliced jalapeños, if using. Serve with jalapeño sauce.
Notes
If you're sensitive to spice, start by adding ½ of a jalapeño to your sauce ingredients. You can always taste and add more. If you've made your sauce too spicy, balance it by adding more vinegar. (If it's too vinegar-ey, add a bit of olive oil).

 

51 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Sally
    04.18.2023

    The tacos are healthy, fresh, delicious. I will be making them again. The sauce was laborious and bland in my opinion. It also wasn’t creamy like the photo. Perhaps I didn’t have the right food processor. I was preparing for a party and the sauce took the longest to make of all the food I was serving but had the least wow factor. I think next time I’ll try a simpler avocado sauce with the tacos. Most importantly, the tacos really shined. Thanks for the recipe.

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      04.20.2023

      Hi Sally, thanks for your feedback! You might like this avocado sauce instead.

  2. Andi
    05.15.2021

    These were delicious!!! The sauce was awesome and so creamy! Even the meat lovers in my family devoured these.

  3. Emily
    09.19.2020

    Mushrooms turned out SO good. Added onions and peppers and cooked on a skillet. I didn’t have enough time to pre-soak the cashews for 3 hours and it’s a definite must. The sauce was completely watery not great.

  4. dawn
    08.04.2019

    i’m allergic to cashews, is there something i can sub for them? maybe chickpea flour?
    i’m not vegan, so i don’t have dairy restrictions.

  5. sharanya
    04.03.2019

    Hi,

    Do you make your own tacos ? Do you have a recipe for making them at home?

  6. Linda
    03.11.2019

    Great recipe. I’m new to vegan eating and this was delicious.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.17.2019

      Hi Linda, I’m so glad you loved it!

  7. Sophie
    07.05.2018

    Holy moly, this recipe was a total hit!! I made it for dinner tonight and it had the taste and appearance (all those vibrant colors!) of a restaurant quality meal! (It’s cool to feel like you’re dining out while staying in.) Also, I want to dip everything in that sauce! Chips, veggies, my fingers–it’s a scene-stealer and I’m not sorry to have a lot leftover for the rest of the week. Thanks for the recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.05.2018

      Hi Sophie – I’m over the moon to hear that you loved it so much! I feel the same way about that sauce 🙂

  8. Jcb from Wordpress
    06.17.2018

    Could I broil the mushrooms in the oven? I don’t have a grill or grill pan. If so, how long should I broil (or bake) them?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.18.2018

      Hi, you can roast them in the oven. Place them on a baking sheet and roast at 400°F until they’re soft and tender – about 5 to 8 minutes per side. The timing will depend on the size of your mushrooms. Hope that helps!

      • Jcb from Wordpress
        06.19.2018

        Thank you. Will make this tomorrow!

    • Jcb from Wordpress
      06.21.2018

      Thanks. Made these by roasting and they were wonderful. Will make them again tonight as I have lots of sauce left over.

  9. Terry
    05.30.2017

    These are so delicious! I made them tonight and was delighted with the flavors. My husband is usually suspect of newer recipes, but he ate his whole plate and said let’s make this again. The seasoning on the grilled mushrooms and the delightful jalapeno sauce made this a perfect recipe and it wasn’t too hard. Thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.30.2017

      Hi Terry – I’m so glad these were a hit and I’m glad your husband loved them too 🙂

  10. Aly Burnett
    09.30.2016

    Is there anyway to make this without cashews? Maybe with toffuti Cream Cheese or Sour Cream?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.02.2016

      Hi Aly, either of those should work, I might start with 1 1/2 cups. Be sure to skip the water in the recipe as well since you’ll be starting with a creamy base already. I’m not sure if those products have salt in them already, so you may need to adjust the seasonings in the recipe to taste.

  11. Lauren
    08.05.2016

    Just made these and my meat loving husband adored them!! Thanks x

  12. Annie
    10.13.2015

    This was delish!!!

    The sauce recipe made too much and I was wondering if I could freeze it. Next time I make it I intend to use half the cashews and 1/2 the water…other than this recipe is a keeper. Thanks.

    • jeanine
      10.14.2015

      Hi Annie, I’m glad you liked it! I’m not sure the sauce will freeze well – but I usually keep mine around for the next few days and put it on other things (thin it and make a salad dressing, spread it on a sandwich or toast, dip chips or veggies into it, dollop it into a bowl of chili, etc). But if you freeze it, let me know how that goes 🙂

    • may
      05.29.2021

      thank you!! I agree, furthermore yours is the first comment from someone who made the recipe. Why do people give 5 stars and admit they haven’t made it!!!

  13. Kit White
    09.03.2015

    This looks so fantastic. I like the idea of how versatile your sauce is. One question, I usually have roasted cashews in my pantry. Is your recipe for raw or roasted cashews? What is the purpose of soaking them? I’ve seen this mentioned in other recipes and wondered. Thanks

    • jeanine
      09.03.2015

      Hi Kit, thanks for asking (I’ll go fix it in the recipe). You really need to use raw cashews for cashew cream sauce (this way the sauce ends up not tasting like cashews, they just provide the creamy element). Soaking is to help your blender, there are also some health benefits (see this article or you can google about it: http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/info/soaking_grains_nuts_seeds). That being said, I forget to soak mine all the time – if you have a really powerful blender and add a little more water, you can skip it.

  14. Medha
    09.03.2015

    Hi

    Wonderful recipes and pictures. Can you please tell me which bran do tortillas you use?

    • jeanine
      09.03.2015

      These were flour tortillas from Central Market (the homemade kind)… but you can use any tortillas you like. I often get the Whole Foods brand whole wheat tortillas.

      • Cait
        04.24.2019

        How do you cook your tortillas? Any tips for keeping them hot for a crowd?

  15. Medha
    09.03.2015

    Hi Love your recipes and pictures. What brand of tortillas do you use? I am going to try these tacos today.

    Thank you very much.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.