Dreaming of a healthier alternative to classic quesadillas? I've got you covered. These vegan protein quesadillas are gluten-free, oil-free, super nutritious - and of course delicious!
My vegan lentil tortilla recipe is by far the most popular recipe from my blog. So many of you love them - including me. They are basically made from only 3 ingredients: red lentils, water and a few spices of choice. And now I take this recipe to the next level! Imagine a big plate of healty vegan quesadillas that are rich in protein and free of oil. Ready? Then let's get started.
We'll start off with the lentil tortillas. Like I said, it's a very simple recipe. Of course, those gluten-free lentil tortillas have a bit of a softer texture compared to flour tortillas but they still work great in this recipe. If you don't mind gluten, wheat or flour in general you can of course go for pre-packaged tortillas.
Next up, we have our filling. I went with the usual: Black beans, onions, corn, and - you guessed it - bell pepper. You can never go wrong with this combo. It's healthy, filling and tasty, especially when seasoned with ground cumin, one of my favorite spices (nothing can top cinnamon, though).
How to Make Stretchy Vegan Cheese Sauce
Now to the most important part of my gluten-free and vegan quesadilla recipe: The vegan cheese sauce. After all, quesadilla literally means “little cheesy thing”.
I wanted to recreate this stretchy texture that you all know of real cheese and the best way to achieve this is by using tapioca starch.
If you don't have it at home, you'll find it at Asian stores or online and it's really inexpensive. And trust me, you can whip up all kinds of fancy things with tapioca starch and even use it for baking. Corn starch is a not good substitute here as the resulting texture will be different. However, if you can't get your hands on tapioca starch, it will probably work, too. The vegan cheese won't be as stretchy though.
Apart from tapioca starch you'll also need coconut milk for that rich creaminess, nutritional yeast for the cheezyness, carrots for colour (and beta carotene) and a few spices you probably already have in your spice rack. Once everything is blended and cooked on the stove, it turns into the promised stretchy vegan cheese sauce which works perfectly in these vegan black bean< quesadillas. Now let's assemble and dig in!
I hope you’ll give this vegan protein quesadilla recipe a try. If you do, let me know in the comments below. And don’t forget to rate the recipe. You can also tag a photo (#veggiejam) to show me your creation on instagram.
More Vegan High-Protein Recipes
- Lentil Bolognese Sauce
- Wholesome Vegan Protein Ppancakes
- Tofu Cacciatore
- Sweet Potato Chili
- Turnip Dhal
- Gluten-Free High-Protein Marbled Manana Bread
- Chickpea Loaf
Recipe
Vegan Protein Quesadillas (gluten-free, oil-free)
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Soaking time (lentils): 3 h
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 40 min (+3 h soaking time)
- Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Dreaming of a healthier alternative to classic quesadillas? I've got you covered. These vegan protein quesadillas are gluten-free, oil-free, super nutritious - and of course delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 recipe 3-ingredient lentil tortillas
For the filling
- 1 red pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 can black beans
- ½ can corn
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- salt and pepper
For the vegan cheese sauce
- ½ cup diced carrots (60 g)
- ¾ cup coconut milk from a can
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (15 g)
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch*
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- black pepper
Instructions
For the tortillas
- Prepare the tortillas according to the instructions in the recipe. (Keep in mind that the lentils need to be soaked for a few hours.)
For the filling
- Thinly slice the onion and bell pepper.
- Sautée the veggies in a bit of water in a pan for a few minutes until soft. Add the drained beans and corn plus the spices and cook for another few minutes until heated. Put aside.
For the vegan cheese sauce
- Cook the diced carrots in boiling water for about 7-9 min until soft.
- Blend all the ingredients for the sauce together with 3 tablespoon of the carrot-cooking water.
- Transfer the sauce to a small pot and bring to a boil.
- On low heat keep stirring the sauce until it becomes thick and stretchy (30-60 sec). Add a few more splashes of water or coconut milk if it becomes too thick. Take the pot off the stove.
- Once you've prepared all the components, assemble the quesadillas by putting some of the filling on one half of the tortilla, followed by a bit of sauce. Fold the tortilla over and cut in half.
- Serve the vegan quesadillas with fresh guacomole, pico de gallo and/ or hot sauce.
Notes
* There is no good substitute for tapioca starch here. Corn starch doesn't make the sauce stretchy, however it may still help to at least thicken the sauce enough to be spread onto the quesadillas.
This post is also available in German (Deutsch).
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