Each week while meal planning I always try my best to incorporate at least one plant based dinner that I know both Sidney and Tony will both like. Of course, layering plant based protein sources and veggies is equally important, which is why I love making variations of my cashew cheese sauce, adding extra herbs or spices to make it different, and packing in the nutrition.
Today’s deliciously cheesy vegan taco pasta recipe is in partnership with my friends over at Birds Eye; we’re using their Super Sweet Corn, something this midwest gal ALWAYS has in her freezer (if you know, you know). It’s super sweet and perfect for adding to soups, salads, chili, tacos and even cornbread. CORN LOVERS UNITE!
Vegan taco pasta ingredients
Good news, this easy vegan taco pasta uses pantry & freezer staples so that you can have dinner on the table in no time at all. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- For the sauce: this vegan taco pasta “cheese” sauce is made with raw cashews, water, garlic, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, dried oregano, paprika, salt & a pinch of cayenne pepper (if you’d like).
- Pasta of choice: I love using large elbow noodles, cavatappi or shells, but feel free to use your favorite pasta! You can also use gluten free pasta if you’d like.
- Black beans: for plenty of plant based protein and fiber.
- Salsa: give the pasta that true taco flavor with your favorite salsa or tomato sauce.
- Birds Eye Sweet Corn: you’ll simply cook the sweet corn first, and then add it right to the pasta for amazing flavor and extra texture.
- Optional garnishes: top with fresh cilantro, jalapeño slices, extra salsa, diced avocado, and anything else your heart desires to make it a true taco pasta!
Sweet corn all year round
I love sweet corn (hello I’m a midwest gal!) but of course, it’s harder to come by during the winter months. That’s why I’m always stocked up on Birds Eye frozen veggies for quick and easy meals. Their frozen sweet corn is perfect for mixing into your fav comfort foods like enchiladas, chilis, and of course, this vegan taco pasta.
Tip: Be sure to cook the corn before adding it to the recipe. You’ll simply steam it up in the microwave right in the bag — easy!
Vegan taco cheese sauce LOVE
One of the best parts of this vegan taco pasta recipe is the flavorful vegan taco cheese sauce. If you’ve tried my traditional vegan cashew cheese sauce you’ll fall in love with this creamy goodness. To make it:
- Soak your cashews for 2 hours, or bring cashews + water to a boil, turn off the heat, and let them sit for 15-30 minutes to soften.
- Next, drain the cashews and add them to a high powered blender with the water, garlic, lime juice and all of the spices.
- Taste & adjust seasonings as you like, and add a bit more water if you like a thinner sauce.
This sauce would be amazing drizzled on enchiladas, tacos, as a chip dip and more!
How to make vegan taco pasta with sweet corn
- First, cook your pasta, drain it and add it back to the pot.
- Next, stir in the black beans, cooked Birds Eye Sweet Corn, salsa, and that amazing vegan taco cheese sauce.
- Finally, top your pasta with your fav garnishes!
Customize your vegan taco pasta
- Make it gluten free by using your fav gluten free pasta.
- Not vegan? Stir in some yogurt or cheese for creaminess + extra protein, or even add some cooked chicken breast or cooked ground turkey.
- Add your fav toppings! Fresh or pickled jalapeño, cilantro, extra salsa and corn, diced avocado, and fresh diced tomato would all be delicious.
How to store & reheat vegan taco pasta
Store this vegan taco pasta in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. To reheat, simply do so in the microwave until heated through.
Try Birds Eye Sweet Corn in these delicious recipes
Actually, The Best Vegetarian Chili Ever
Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas
Butternut Squash Green Chile Chicken Soup
Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Black Bean, Corn & Sweet Potato
White Chicken Chili Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread Crust
I hope you love this vegan taco pasta recipe with sweet corn! If you make it, be sure to leave a comment & a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Kickin’ Vegan Taco Pasta with Sweet Corn
Ingredients
- For the vegan taco pasta cheese sauce:
- 3/4 cup cashews + water for soaking
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup water
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- For the pasta:
- 8 ounces large elbow noodles, cavatappi or shells (or pasta of choice!)
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 ¼ cups Birds Eye Sweet Corn, cooked according to directions on the package
- 3/4 cup your favorite chunky salsa (or sub ½ cup tomato sauce)
- For serving:
- 1 jalapeno, sliced
- Cilantro, for garnishing
- Salsa for topping
- Diced Avocado
- Hot sauce, if desired
- If not vegan, yogurt is delicious swirled in too!
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in 2 cups of warm water for at least 2 hours; otherwise I've found that you can easily speed up the process by adding the raw cashews to a pot with water and placing over high heat. Bring water to a boil, then immediately turn off the heat; let the cashews sit for about 15-30 minutes in the hot water, then drain.
- Once the cashews have finished soaking you'll be ready to make the sauce: add drained cashews, ½ cup fresh water, garlic, fresh lime juice, cumin, chili powder, oregano, paprika, cayenne and salt to a blender. Blend on high until sauce comes together. If you want a bit of a thinner sauce or if it is hard to blend, add 2-4 tablespoons more water.
- Next cook your pasta in a large pot according to the directions on the package; drain the pasta and place back in a large pot. Add in drained black beans, cooked Birds Eye corn, salsa and all of the vegan taco cashew cheese sauce. Stir well to combine.
- Top with your favorite garnishes like jalapeno slices (pickled jalapenos are fantastic!), cilantro and extra salsa or hot sauce and avocado. If you aren’t vegan, I highly recommended stirring in some plain yogurt for extra deliciousness. Enjoy! Serves 6.
Recipe Notes
- Make it gluten free by using your favorite gluten free pasta.
- Not vegan? Stir in some yogurt or cheese for creaminess + extra protein, or even add some cooked chicken breast or cooked ground turkey.
- Add your fav toppings! Fresh or pickled jalapeño, cilantro, extra salsa and corn, diced avocado, and fresh diced tomato would all be delicious.
Nutrition
This recipe is in partnership with Birds Eye. All text and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that help make this site possible!
Both of my kids, my husband and my mother-in-law really really liked this recipe. They would’ve liked it even if I hadn’t added ground beef, which I did but that’s a story for another time. 10/10 recommend.
So happy to hear that! Ground beef sounds good to me 🙂
My family prefer it heated up and eaten warm. But as someone who can’t have dairy I was excited to feel like I was eating Mac and cheese.
Yess! This is seriously the best, glad this recipe was a hit for the whole family ❤️
I made this for family which includes a toddler and it received rave reviews! I followed recipe exactly and served with avocado slices. Adding this to our regular meals rotation!
I’m so happy everyone loved it! Yay!! Thanks so much for leaving a review, Taylor 🙂
This sounds delicious! Can I substitute oat milk for the cashew and water? My son is allergic to cashews.
Hi, there! I haven’t tried subbing the cashews, and the oat milk on its own might be a little thin, but you could try adding a little yogurt (regular or nondairy) too to thicken the sauce up if needed. Let me know how it goes!
Made this recipe the other night and WOW! hands down my favorite vegan pasta recipe I’ve ever made. It was easy, so flavorful and my kids loved it! I have sent the recipe to 3 friends and told them to try it! You would never know it’s vegan.
I am not even vegan and this recipe was delicious! I added ground turkey and it tasted amazing!
That’s such a great idea, glad you loved it! 🙂
Hi,
Can cashew flour (ground cashews) be used instead of the soaked cashews? If so, what amount works?
Thanks!
Allison
I wouldn’t recommend it – sorry! The texture will be much different.
Made this tonight for dinner and loved it! I’ve never had cashew sauce before but it was delicious. I subbed a premixed elote seasoning in place of the spices in the sauce. I lightly sauteed the corn in a skillet to add a little char, and I also used chickpea pasta for an extra boost of protein. Delish, and it made a huge batch! Glad to have leftovers for lunches this week 🙂
Perfect! That sounds delicious 🙂
YUM! I made this for a friend and I and we both loved this pasta! The sauce was super creamy and didn’t taste like cashews whatsoever. It also reheated like a dream the next day! I’ll definitely make this again, but I may try adding a little nutritional yeast to the sauce to amp up the cheesy flavor.
Love it! And great idea to add some nutritional yeast 🙂
Such a creative idea! Never would have thought to fuse Mexican flavors with pasta. I’ve made it a few times now and once used Siete cashew queso when I was too lazy to make the sauce ☺️
Right?? So delicious! and great idea with the Siete queso 🙂
Delicious! I accidentally added 3/4 cup water to the sauce (d’oh), but thankfully it thickened up as it sat while I made the pasta. I added a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt into the sauce, some baked chicken, and 4oz extra pasta. Even with the extra noodles, there was plenty of sauce for all of it. Fire roasted corn from TJ’s gave it a nice boost as well. Glad I tried this!
I’m glad it still turned out delicious! Love the idea of using fire roasted corn 🙂
So tasty! Made this with Banza pasta in order to keep in vegan but add some more protein. Loved it! Also EXTREMELY easy to make.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
Loved this recipe! I added some nutritional yeast to the “cheese” sauce and liked the way that it turned out. But I also tasted it before I added the yeast and it was super yummy as well. Great stuff as always Monique!
Perfect! Great idea!
Delicious! I loved the creamy cashew sauce. It was super easy to make. I meal prepped it for this week and will look forward to eating it each night! Also added some bell peppers to boost the veggies.
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
As soon as Monique posted this I knew I HAD to make it. It was delicious!!! The vegan taco cheese sauce is soooo creamy & delicious. Highly recommend!!
So glad you loved it!!
Super simple and tasty! I had leftover cashew cheese from another recipe and this post came at the perfect time to use up the rest! I love how modifiable the recipe as well – will definitely come back to this recipe for a quick dinner again!
Perfect! And yes, this one’s great for customizing 🙂 glad you enjoyed!