Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos Easy Recipe (gluten-free)

Buffalo chickpea taquitos are mashed chickpeas cooked in a tangy buffalo sauce, rolled tightly in gluten-free tortillas and baked, not fried, until golden and crisp. The filling uses everyday spices like smoked paprika, cumin and garlic powder, and the whole dish, filling, rolling and baking, comes together in about half an hour, making it a straightforward vegan swap for meat-based taquitos.

Traditional taquitos are usually stuffed with chicken, but this version replaces the meat with plant-based chickpeas. They are healthier than most taquitos because they are baked rather than fried, and you can adjust the spice level in the filling to suit your taste, as there is no strict rule for how hot to make it.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos?

For the buffalo sauce

• Chickpeas – 1 can (of 15 ounces / about 425g) or 1 ½ cups freshly cooked
• Oil – 1 tablespoon
• Onion – 1 medium-sized (finely chopped)
• Garlic cloves - 2 (minced)
• Bell Peppers – 1 (finely chopped)
• Tomato Sauce – ½ cup
• Hot Sauce or any spicy sauce - 3 tablespoons (or as per your choice)
• Plant-based vegan milk – 2 tablespoons
• Balsamic Vinegar – 1 tablespoon
• Onion Powder, Cumin Powder, Garlic Powder, Smoked Paprika - 1 teaspoon each
• Coconut Sugar or Cane Sugar – ¾ teaspoon
• Salt, Chili Powder and Pepper – as per taste

For the Taquitos

• Tortillas – 10 (gluten-free tortillas that have a diameter of 14cm)

For the Dip

• Coconut milk or any plant-based milk – ¾ cup (about 180ml)
• Nutritional Yeast – 3 tablespoons
• Tapioca flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot starch – 2 tablespoons
• Sea Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Onion Powder and Garlic Powder – ½ teaspoon each
• Smoked Paprika – a small pinch

How Do You Make Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos?

• Drain the chickpeas in a bowl and mash them well.
• Heat a pan on a stove and keep it medium flame. Sprinkle some oil and sauté the onion and bell peppers for about 3 minutes. Add all the spice mixtures into the pan and sauté for another 3 minutes.
• To this mixture, add the mashed chickpeas and other ingredients for the sauce into the pan and mix the contents well. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes before switching off the stove.
• Now, you can check the mixture to check if you need to add more salt or spice powders. Adjust the taste as needed and set the mixture aside.
• Preheat the oven to 410 degrees F (210°C), and get the baking sheets ready by lining them with parchment paper.
• Spread out the tortillas on a flat surface and fill about 2 teaspoons of the sauce filling into each tortilla. Roll them tightly with your hand. Place the rolled tortillas on the baking sheets in such a way that their seam side faces downward.
• Place the rolls next to one another on the baking sheet and brush the tortillas with some oil.
• Drizzle some vegan sauce over the rolls. To make the sauce, you need to add all the ingredients mentioned “for the dip” and mix the contents well. Next, turn on the stove and cook these contents on a medium flame. Keep stirring the contents continuously and cook until you notice the mixture boiling. When it starts boiling, cook the sauce on a low flame until it becomes stretchy and thick. Now switch off the flame, and your sauce is ready within minutes.
• Bake the tortillas for about 15 t0 20 minutes. The tortillas would have turned golden brown by now.
• Fresh, homemade vegan and baked chickpea taquitos are now ready.

What Tips Help When Making Buffalo Chickpea Taquitos?

• Many times you may get frustrated when the tortillas get ripped when you are rolling them. You can make use of a simple trick to avoid this problem. Before rolling the stuffing inside the tortillas, you have to microwave them for about 20 to 30 seconds so that they get softened up. When microwaving tortillas, keep them covered, to quicken the softening process.
• You can serve these taquitos with any type of vegan queso dips, sour cream dips, guacamole, or salsa.
• To get a balance of the flavours right, you can mix homemade cilantro sauce in addition to the spicy buffalo sauce. The only 4 ingredients you need for making this sauce are fresh cilantro, lime juice, mayonnaise and salt. Blend all four ingredients in a food processer until the contents get mixed well.
• If you want to make this dish healthier than the version explained here, you can prepare a topping of different vegetables while you roll the filling into the tortillas. You can use cabbage, carrots, radishes and other vegetables of your choice in the filling.
• You can make use of cashews to make a quick queso recipe. A creamy and cheesy dip goes well with these spicy tortillas filled with spicy buffalo sauce. To make the sauce, you can follow these steps:
  • First soak about 1 1/3 cups of cashews in hot water. After 20 minutes, drain the cashews into a blender.
  • You can add the other ingredients used for the sauce in the blender along with the cashews. These include 1 tablespoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, tomato puree, hot sauce and paprika, about 2 cups of plant-based vegan milk, some salt and 1 garlic clove.
  • Blend the contents well and adjust the salt/spice consistency.
  • Your dip for all vegan dishes is now ready. You can dip the spicy Buffalo chickpea taquitos in this cashew queso, and enjoy a healthy, filling and colourful vegan snack.
• For very crispy buffalo chickpea taquitos, you can fry them in hot oil after taking them out from the oven. However, we don’t recommend this step, if you are health-conscious. On the other hand, brushing the tortillas with very little oil before baking them does make the taquitos quite crispy.
• It is important to check for the salt and spice before applying the mixture to the taquitos. You cannot add salt or spice powders after this stage, so it is better to taste the contents properly before spreading them well on the tortillas.

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