Lifestyle
How to Eat Vegetarian Tacos Every Day of the Week
If you’re a college student, you most definitely love Taco Tuesdays. And if you don’t love Taco Tuesdays, you may need to rethink calling yourself a legit college student. Below are some hearth-throbbing and mouth-watering ideas for how to make Taco Tuesday every day of the week – woah, what? Yes, it’s a dream come true. You may just pee your pants in excitement. But wait, before you do that, I must also share that these tacos are:
- Easy to make
- Flexible to modifications in ingredients
- (You’ll have to find this last one out at the end… you may be quite shocked)
1. Monday – “Lazy AF Taco”
Photo by Steven Shaltiel
It’s the start of another week full of quizzes, homework and textbooks worth the price of your parent’s home. The last thing you want to do right now is touch a fork, but your taco craving is insane, so something must be done.
Your options for this lazy day are:
- Make a Frito bag taco
- Buy a Taco Bell Meal Kit
- Completely avoid the kitchen and instead go get the best taco in your state
2. Tuesday – “Transformation Tuesday Taco”
Photo by Cherese Shelton
It’s Tuesday and you need that taco fix, but all those Instagram #transformationtuesday posts instantly inspire your new and improved healthy lifestyle. This may only last until tomorrow morning, but for now, you are motivated to make some fit-tacos.
To start off, make Buffalo Tofu Tacos with these ingredients:
- Whole corn or Whole Wheat flour taco shells
- Bleu cheese or a Bleu cheese dressing
- Toppings such as lettuce, cabbage, avocado etc.
- Shredded cheese
- Tofu Buffalo Bites (I tried this recipe and it is BOMB)
Now all you have to do is warm up your tortilla, add those tofu buffalo bites, and top it off with the other ingredients. Hello, abs.
3. Wednesday – “Woman Crush Wednesday Taco”
Photo by Cherese Shelton
It’s Wednesday and er’body be talking ’bout their woman crush. You want to make the day special for your woman crush, but there are just a few problems: you’re a broke college student, you only have a toaster oven, and you can’t cook.
Here are the secret ingredients to make some fancy fish tacos with little effort:
- Corn or flour tortilla
- Frozen breaded fish sticks or fillets (try Gardein’s Fishless Filets, these vegan substitutes will have you mind-blown)
- Tartar sauce (or make this 3-ingredient tartar sauce recipe used with these fish tacos)
- Shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro and other toppings of choice (To get just the amount you need, grab some at a grocery store’s salad bar…bonus – they’re already cut)
To assemble, warm up the tortilla, toast or fry the fillet until crispy, make your sauce and add toppings. Serve it to your WCW and she’ll love you long time.
4. Thursday – “Throwback Thursday Taco”
Photo by Cherese Shelton
It’s Thursday and all the Throwback Thursday (#tbt) posts make you think of your childhood. You soon find yourself craving everyone’s favorite kid-time meal: mac & cheese. But you also want some tacos. Hopefully, you’re a typical college and have some instant mac & cheese stashed in your cabinet.
Grab that box of mac & cheese and make some 10-minute semi-big boy tacos with these ingredients:
- Corn or flour tortilla (crunchy shells work best for this recipe)
- Refried black beans
- Ground beef or Beyond Beef or chickpea meat
- Taco seasoning
- Microwaveable mac ‘n cheese or make your own
- Optional: bacon pieces, BBQ sauce, green onions to garnish
Use crunchy shells, or fry soft shells in oil until crisp. Blot dry. Heat refried beans in the microwave. Cook mac ‘n cheese according to directions. Fry beef with taco seasoning to taste (cook with diced onions and minced garlic for more flavor). Assemble all ingredients in the taco. Sprinkle with crispy pieces of bacon, a drizzle of bbq sauce and green onions.
5. Friday – “Forever Lonely Taco”
Photo by Cherese Shelton
It’s Friday and your best friend is on a hot date, your roomie is at work, and your nerd friends are well…nerd-ing at the library. A cuddle buddy or the motivation to study are non-existent. Your solution: go to Safeway for $5 Friday’s and buy a tub of ice cream and some waffles to be your best friends for the night.
With these ingredients, being forever lonely will be a lot more bearable:
- Frozen waffles
- Your favorite ice-cream (or make some guilt-free ice-cream)
- Crunchy toppings such as cereal, sprinkles, cookies, etc.
- Fruit toppings such as berries, bananas, jams, etc.
- Whipped cream
This is challenging not to eat WHILE preparing it, but you can do this. Heat frozen waffles in toaster oven until crispy, yet soft enough to bend into a taco shape. Once shaped, place in freezer to cool off for about 4-5 minutes. Once cool, add ice-cream, and add all other toppings. This is way better than any hot date ever.
For your next lonely Friday, I suggest trying these Apple Pie Tacos
6. Saturday – “The Pre-game Pizza Taco”
Photo by Cherese Shelton
Finally, it’s Saturday. Your friends finally want to party it up after a long week of quizzes and 2 am fire alarms. Loading up on some carbs is essential for the crazy long night ahead. Your friends suggest pizza, but gosh, don’t they know that tacos are the new pizza?
You can whip up a mind-blowing pizza taco for your friends with these ingredients:
- Frozen thin crust pizza (small to medium sized)
- Ground beef or Beyond Beef
- Black beans
- Taco seasoning
- Toppings such as lettuce, corn, tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, sour cream etc.
- Hot sauce such as tapatio, tobacco, tomatillo, etc.
Cook pizza as directed on box, but about 2-4 minutes shorter to avoid crust from getting too crispy (it still needs to bend into taco shape). On the stovetop, brown ground beef or beyond beef and also mix in canned black beans (1:1 ratio). Add taco seasoning to taste. Once the pizza is done, assemble all ingredients.
7. Sunday – “The Hangover Taco”
Photo courtesy of Ellen Silverman
Last night was crazy…and all your friends are passed out in your living room. Being the good host you are, you whip up breakfast for everyone with the leftover ingredients you have from a week full of tacos. It’s basically a Breakfast Taco Scramble and you can find the recipe here.
But wait…
As mentioned in the beginning, what’s the third point about these tacos? If you haven’t guessed already the tacos in these photos (except the Monday post) are ALL vegetarian.
They look and taste just as good as the real thing, so try out the vegetarian and vegan ingredients suggested and prepare to be astonished. In the meantime, these Black Lentil Tacos can help get the ball rollin’. Happy Taco Every Day!
Not tired of tacos yet? Here are more ideas to continue your taco streak: