These Vegetarian Tacos Are So Good, Even a Texan Can Love Them

Welcome to Never Fail, a weekly column where we wax poetic about the recipes that never, ever let us down.

There’s a watermark on my Texas driver’s license that, when held up to the light, reads quite clearly: THIS LADY EATS BEEF. A smiling cow face flashes and winks at you. (The license is also expired, so maybe they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.) The point is, I eat meat. I love tacos. I cook a lot of meaty tacos.

But I’ve got nothing against vegetarians. Some of them are even my friends! And I try to eat pretty "green" most of the week so as not to encourage too many cow fart ozone blasts on my behalf. Luckily, there’s a wide world of vegetarian tacos out there, which is great! However, none of them are even half as good as this recipe for brussels sprouts tacos with a spicy peanut butter sauce, which nearly knocked me off my horse when I made them for the first time this past winter.

Thank you, chef Daniela Soto-Innes, for this beautiful, delicious recipe.

We publish a handful of recipes from chefs throughout the year, but not as many as we used to. They can be...a challenge. Chefs are used to cooking in quantity, and having a team of cooks at their disposal to make multiple sauces and fancy components, so translating restaurant recipes to the home kitchen can be really tough. In most cases, our test kitchen is faced with a choice. They either modifying the recipe to within an inch of its life, thus creating something almost unrecognizable from the dish we were excited about in the first place, or they recreate it as faithfully as possible and it's complicated as hell. But this recipe is a unicorn: Somehow, Soto-Innes gave us something chef-y and layered and cool, but at the same time ridiculously easy to pull off.

Cool and easy things you do:

You make a vinaigrette. Cook down some fish sauce, add vinegar, scallions, ginger, salt. Put it in the fridge and go about your day.

You make a spicy peanut butter sauce. Blend some peanuts with red pepper flakes.

You fry brussels sprouts. In oil, until crispy and browned. (Some reviewers roast them at high heat, and that’s cool too!) Toss with spicy-sour vinaigrette.

You keep some brussels sprouts raw. For texture!

You remember to buy near ripe avocados. For garnish!

You cut some onions, limes, and jalapeños and thoroughly wash your hands. More garnish!

You assemble tacos. Tortilla gets a swipe of spicy peanut butter, add brussels, garnishes, etc. Pour beer.

But this recipe is so much more than the sum of its parts. It's a creamy, nutty, spicy, tangy, hearty, just-as-craveable-as-meat taco. It has a feeling of lightness, because of the lack of meat and the color green, but it’s also incredibly filling from the rich peanut butter and avocado. You will feel full. You will feel innovative. You will make it again and again.

Get the recipe:

Brussels Sprout Tacos with Spicy Peanut Butter