Vegetarian Shawarma Tacos
These easy vegetarian shawarma tacos are loaded with roasted chickpeas and cauliflower, quick pickled red onions, and yogurt tahini sauce! Serve leftover chickpea & cauliflower shawarma over rice with all the toppings for an epic shawarma bowl.
- Prep time
- 8 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 12 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 large head cauliflower (cut into 1-inch florets)
- 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic (pressed or minced)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup white vinegar (see notes)
- 1 small red onion halved and thinly sliced
- ½ cup plain yogurt (I used Icelandic)
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic (pressed or minced)
- Pinch kosher salt
- 2-4 tablespoons water
- 12 corn tortillas (warmed)
- 2 small cucumbers (thinly sliced)
- 1 small head romaine lettuce (thinly sliced)
- ¼ cup feta (crumbled)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss the cauliflower, chickpeas and garlic with olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix together the spices then toss them into the mixing bowl with the cauliflower and chickpeas to coat evenly.
- 2
Spread the vegetables out on a large baking sheet (or two if your baking sheet is too crowded!) and bake on the bottom rack for 20-25 minutes, tossing with a wooden spoon halfway through until cauliflower is golden brown and soft (see notes for tips).
- 3
Meanwhile, prepare the toppings, starting with the quick pickled red onion. Pour the hot water over the sugar and salt in a medium jar. Stir to dissolve. Add the vinegar then nestle in the red onion slices. Let sit until ready to serve. The pickles will get even stronger as they sit and will last a couple of months in the fridge.
- 4
In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt until smooth. Add water as needed until it's thin enough to drizzle/splatter on your tacos. This will vary depending on the thickness of your yogurt (traditional v greek v Icelandic) and your tahini.
- 5
When the vegetables are done baking, squeeze lemon juice over the top.
- 6
Assemble tacos: tortilla, cauliflower & chickpeas, romaine, cucumber, quick pickled onions, tahini yogurt, feta.