This vegan gordita crunch is a vegan Taco Bell copycat recipe that uses 9-ingredients & can be made in 10 minutes.
This Vegan Cheesy Gordita Crunch recipe is super quick and easy to make if you use store-bought vegan ground round and flour gorditas (or make my easy homemade flour gorditas ahead of time). This recipe tastes just like the original but made vegan!
Vegan Gordita Crunch
Vegan Gordita CrunchDAIRY-FREE & VEGAN
If you’ve been craving a Taco Bell Cheesy Gordita Crunch, I wanted to show you a vegan way to make it in 10-minutes! That’s quicker than driving to the drive-thru, not to mention probably better!
Down in the recipe card or in my video, I’ll show you how to turn 9 simple ingredients into a flavourful, crunchy gordita crunch taco wrapped gently in a layer of cheese and soft gordita you can make at home. The layer of vegan cheese is the glue that holds the soft gordita to the hard taco shell. I used my vegan nacho cheese sauce as the glue, but you can also melt vegan cheese in the oven to get the soft gordita to stick to the hard shell.
INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN GORDITA CRUNCH:
- Soft Gordita Tortillas (click here to make homemade flour gorditas)
- Hard Taco Shells
- Veggie Ground Beef
- Taco Seasoning
- Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce or Vegan Queso
- Jalapeño Peppers (for the baja sauce)
- Vegan Mayo (for the baja sauce)
- Vegan Cheddar Cheese (Shredded)
- Iceberg Lettuce
- Tomatoes or toppings of choice!
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT I USED:
SCROLL BELOW FOR FULL INSTRUCTIONS
- Soft gordita tortillas (store-bought or make my homemmade recipe here)
- Hard taco shells
- 1½ cups veggie ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 cup vegan queso or vegan nacho cheese sauce (make ahead)
- ¼ cup vegan mayo
- ¼ cup finely chopped pickled jalapeño peppers (optional if you like spicy)
- 1 ½ cups of vegan cheddar cheese shreds or vegan nacho cheese sauce (to get shells to stick together)
- Lettuce for toppings, shredded
- Tomatoes for toppings, diced
- Get your soft gorditas ready first. You can make them from scratch (recipe here), or buy them at the store. Or you can use mini flatbread/naan bread that would fit around your hard taco shell.
- In a large pan over medium heat, heat your veggie ground beef with a bit of water, and taco seasoning until heated through. Set aside and keep warm.
- In a small bowl whisk together 1 cup of vegan nacho cheese sauce, chopped jalapeño peppers and vegan mayo to make a easy baja sauce. Set aside.
- Now there's two ways of preapring a Cheesy Gordita Crunch
- Option 1: Melt vegan shredded cheese to get soft gordita to stick to hard taco shell
- Set your oven to broil.
- Place gordita tortillas on a baking sheet.
- In an even layer, top each gordita tortillas with a generous amount of dairy-free shredded cheese.
- Place these in the oven on the top rack for 30 seconds- 1 minute, or until the cheese has melted. (A microwave works too).
- Remove the tray from the oven and place a hard taco shell in the middle of the gordita, gently press it to the hard shell on each side until the melted cheese acts like a glue holding the soft and the hard taco shells together. Be careful NOT to press so hard that you crack the hard taco shell.
- Allow the cheese to set for roughly 30 seconds to 1 min.
- repeat with the rest, and layer your tacos with warm veggie ground round, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, vegan shredded cheese, and your baja sauce or vegan sour cream.
- Option 2: USe vegan queso/vegan nacho cheese sauce to get soft gordita to stick to hard taco shell
- One at a time spread some of the vegan queso or nacho cheese sauce in an even layer across the gordita.
- Place a hard taco shell in the middle of the gordita, and gently press the gordita to the hard shell on each side. Be careful NOT to press so hard that you crack the hard taco shell.
- Build your taco & repeat.
- To your gordita wrapped taco shell, add a layer of the taco "beef" and toppings of choice like tomatoes, shredded lettuce, vegan shredded cheese, and your baja sauce or vegan sour cream. Voila!
Hey I’m Candice aka The Edgy Veg – I veganize popular food recipes for vegans, plant-based diets, eco-conscious eaters & people who are trying to eat more plants over… y’know animals or by-products of animals. I hope you enjoy this tasty vegan recipe!
Looking For More Vegan Fast-Food Recipes?
- Vegan Popeyes Chicken Sandwich
- Vegan McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger
- KFC Vegan Popcorn Chicken
- Vegan Big Mac
Made this recipe? Let me know what you think by leaving a ★★★★★ star rating & comment below. It truly helps me & I really appreciate any support! Feel free to share your food photos on social and tag me @edgyveg so I don’t miss it!
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Molly says:
This is such a good way to level up a store-bought Taco kit for taco tuesday