Fish tacos pale in comparison to these cauliflower tacos. The cauliflower with panko are crunchy and flavorful. Thanks to the air-fryer, there is no oil and you have a wfpb “fish” taco!

The red cabbage slaw is what makes this taco. Harry said he liked it better than the traditional taco toppings. The poblano cream finishes this off with a creamy richness that complements the crispy cauliflower.

You might also appreciate my crispy artichoke tacos, but you have to try this slaw and crema.

Image of cauliflower taco with red cabbage slaw and poblano crema

Crispy Cauliflower tacos with a red cabbage and corn slaw and poblano creama

I was thinking of fish tacos when I made these. So I used a seasoned flax seed mix on the florets followed with panko breadcrumbs. The slaw is an unusual mixture of red cabbage, corn, red onion, beet leaves, cilantro, chopped preserved lemon, and baby beet leaves with a little lime juices and salt. They are topped off with a poblano creama.
Print Recipe
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Assembly5 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Servings2
AuthorSnap Pea Sheep

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Baking pan with rack

Ingredients

Crunchy cauliflower filling

  • 1 Small Cauliflower
  • 1/2 Tsp Cumin
  • 1/2 Tsp Chile Powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
  • 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
  • 4 Tbsp Ground flax seed
  • 3 Tbsp Lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp Malt vinegar Any unsweetened vinegar of choice
  • 6 Tbsp Pure water
  • 1/2 Cup Panko crumbs I use Ian's gluten free vegan crumbs
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 4 Flour tortillas

Red cabbage and corn slaw

  • 1/4 Red onion
  • 1 cup baby beet leaves Added for color. Any lettuce of choice is fine.
  • 6 Sprigs Cilantro
  • 1/2 Cup Frozen organic corn
  • 2 Tbsp Lime juice
  • 2 Slices Preserved lemon or lime
  • 1 Serrano pepper

Poblano creama

  • 2 Poblano Pepper
  • 3 Tomatillos
  • 1/2 Onion
  • 1 Clove garlic Use minced roasted garlic. Fresh garlic will roast in the oven in 7 minutes if you choose to see fresh.
  • 1 Tbsp Lime juice
  • 1/2 Cup Plant yogurt I use So Delicious unsweetened coconut yogurt
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Start the vegetables for the poblano crema first followed by the cauliflower so they can be cooking while you assemble the slaw.

Crispy cauliflower filling

  • Add together the lime juice, vinegar and tablespoons of water together in a bowl. Sprinkle on the flax seed and gently stir. Allow the flax seed a few minutes to gel.
  • Add seasonings to the flax seed mixture.
  • Cut the cauliflower in half and cut into florets. 
  • Dredge the cauliflower in the flax seed mixture then the panko. The flax helps the panko adhere to the cauliflower and it bakes crunchy to add to the texture.
  • Place cauliflower on a baking sheet with a rack. Place in a convection oven or air fryer at 350 F for 30 minutes.  (The time will vary depending on the size of the florets).
  • 10 minutes before serving, warm the tortillas in the oven or on a burner. If warming in the oven, use something like steel mixing balls to keep the shells from folding up.
    Image of a pita shell held open with steel mixing balls

Red cabbage and corn slaw

  • Finely chop your lettuce, cabbage for the slaw.
  • Rinse frozen corn and soak in water a few minutes to thaw and remove ice crystals. Drain and add to slaw mixture.
  • Rinse salt from preserved lemon slices and chop into a small dice.
  • Chop red onion into a small dice.
  • Remove cilantro leaves from cilantro and chop the leaves. (Use the stems in your creama).
  • Remove stems, seeds and membrane from pepper. Finely chop and add to slaw.
  • Sprinkle slaw with salt with salt and pepper to taste. Add lime juice and toss.

Poblano Crema

  • Remove husks from tomatillos. Place tomatillos, onion, peppers on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until pepper skins are pulled away from the peppers.
  • Place peppers in a brown paper bag, close it and let them sweat about 5 to 10 minutes. Scrape off the char, remove the seeds and roughly chop. Add to blender.  
  • Roughly chop cilantro, stems and all. Add to blender.
  • Add tomatillos, peeled onion, peppers and garlic in the blender with lime juice.
  • Blend until very smooth. Add in yogurt and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse a few times to mix the yogurt and salsa.

Assemble tacos

  • Divide cauliflower among the taco shells. Top with slaw then the crema.
  • Serve with guacamole or avocado slices, a lime wedge and optional taco sauce of choice.

Notes

Used logo
 
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe. 
The cauliflower can be replaced with artichoke quarters (see my crispy artichoke taco recipe).
Frankly, the cabbage slaw on this MADE the recipe. It's more about that and the crema than it is the fillings. 
If you have no air fryer or convection oven, simply turn the cauliflower mod cook to brown on all sides.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email