Fish tacos have fried fish which is not WFPB in any way. Crispy air-fried artichokes are a tasty alternative and easy to make.
Inspired by panko breaded artichokes with marinara, I had to try these with Mexican seasoning. They crisp up in 7-8 minutes in an air-fryer or 30 minutes in a convection oven.
Finish them off with cabbage, onion, and lemon – or with lettuce, tomato, cilantro and peppers like I’ve done here.
You can also try avocado, corn and red onion. Toppings are totally up to you!
A spritz of malt vinegar or lime gives these tacos a pleasant jolt.
Recently I made these with hearts of palm that were equally as good! Just flake the palm heart about four times on each end and flatten it a little before breading.
Crispy Artichoke Tacos
I was inspired by crispy artichoke bites from BJ's brewhouse and wanted to try a Mexican spin on them. These were perfect in a taco. Crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Air fryer or convection oven
Ingredients
- 1 jar Artichokes packed in water
- 1/2 Cup Panko Use gluten free with no egg
- 3 Tbsp Ground flax seed
- 3 Tbsp Lime juice
- 6 Tbsp Sparkling water or dark beer Topo Chico or a Bock beer
- 3 Tbsp Mexican Spice Blend See recipes
- 1/2 Tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 Tbsp Gomasio Optional - Gomasio is a sesame seed and seaweed mix.
- 8 Taco Shells Use organic corn
Top as I did with lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, cilantro, radishes and your favorite taco sauce!
Alternatively, for "fish" tacos, top with cabbage, carrot, onion, cilantro and radish. Add a little non-dairy crema and serrano sauce.
Mexican creama
- 1/2 Cup Non dairy yogurt I use So delicious unsweetened coconut yogurt
- 1 Tbsp Lime juice
- 1/4 Tsp Himalayan salt
Instructions
- Put flax seed in a medium sized bowl with the lime juice and beer. Stir to moisten the flax seed. Let set 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile drain the artichokes and place into a bowl of water for a minimum of 5 minutes but up to an hour. This reduces the citric acid in the artichokes.
- Drain the artichokes and set aside.
- Add Mexican spice blend and salt to the flax seed and stir. Add more lime juice if necessary to get a pancake batter like consistency.
- Set out a bowl of panko.
- Dredge the artichokes in the flax batter then dip into the panko. Place on a wire rack of your air fryer.
- An alternative wire rack works well in a convection oven.
- Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Switch the racks around (top rack gets brown faster). Put in oven another 10-15 minutes as needed until crispy and brown.
- Set out a frying pan with warm water. Dip the corn tortilla in the water just to soften the shell. Be careful not to fold them until pliable or they will break. An alternative is to slip them into a plastic bag and set (one at a time) in warm water for a few minutes.
- Prepare taco shells. I use a rack that makes it much easier to crisp them up. I use steel mixing balls to keep the shells from folding on itself. You can use crumpled parchment if you do not have mixing balls.
- Bake the taco shells for 15 minutes at 350 or until crisp.
- Prepare your toppings. Lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, radishes, jalapeno, corn, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrot, avocado, various taco sauces. It's up to you!
- Assemble about 3 to 4 artichokes in the shell, top with hot sauce and toppings as desired.
Mexican creama
- Mix ingredients and put in a mini squeeze bottle for applying to the tacos.
Notes
A Snap Pea Sheep recipe
Variations:
Use Old Bay seasoning or gomasio plus chili powder to make the artichokes for fish style tacos. Top with cabbage, carrot, onion and cilantro.
I like Yellow Bird Serrano sauce. Use with or without the Mexican creama.
For a totally different variation season the artichokes with Italian seasoning and garlic and serve them with marinara sauce.
Thank you. I am constantly researching topics related to a WFPB lifestyle. I love inventing and sharing recipes!
Thank you. I appreciate your feedback.
Thank you so much for your posting Merilyn! I hope you visit often. I try to post several times a week.