Vegan Tortas

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These loaded Vegan Tortas might just become your new favorite meal. A fresh roll filled with incredibly flavorful tofu, avocado, vegan cheese, and more make this a delicious and satisfying vegan sandwich.

Hey Internet, we've got a new amazing recipe for you based on a classic Mexican torta. This vegetarian torta recipe has it all: crusty rolls, vegan mayo, super delicious tofu "meat," vegan cheese, onion, tomato, pickled jalapeños, avocado, tomatillo salsa... the list goes on! Is your mouth watering yet? Ours are.

We have a lot of delicious vegan sandwich recipes on the blog already. Our favorites include our Vegan Philly Cheesesteaks, Vegan Meatball Sub, Vegan Lobster Roll, Vegan Bacon Grilled Cheese, and so many more. If you want to see all our ideas, check out our post on the best Vegan Sandwich Fillings!

What do you like to order when you go to a Mexican restaurant? We love to order Tortas Veganas whenever we can. There's a great restaurant we've been to many times that offers a tasty tofu veggie torta.

But we wanted to make our own vegan torta loaded up ZardyPlants style: tons of toppings and tons of flavor! Our favorite parts of this sandwich are (in order!) the tofu (you're going to LOVE this if you love tofu recipes), the pickled jalapeños, salsa verde, creamy avocado, vegan pepperjack (optional), and more.

The great thing about this vegan torta recipe is that it is, in essence, a Mexican sandwich and you can add (or remove) anything you want. Prefer refried beans over vegan mayo? Do it. Like red onion more than white? Use it. It's YOUR sandwich!

If you love Mexican food, you're going to love this dish. It's a piece of Mexican culture that's made it's way throughout the states. This recipe is just our unique take, not the original recipe or anything like that. If you're looking for a classic Mexican sandwich made vegan, this recipe is for you.

This delicious sandwich has all sorts of fillings and is an explosion of flavor. You can even meal prep the tofu meat making this recipe a breeze to make for a quick dinner or lunch.

Why You'll Love These Delicious Vegan Tortas

• Easy to Make: These vegan sandwiches are so easy to make! You'll love the super flavorful tofu meat that simmers in it's marinade, soaking up every bit of deliciousness for incredible flavor. From there it's just building your best torta sandwich.
• Customizable: Build your own torta any way you like. You can swap out the tofu for our Vegan Carne Asada soy curls or keep it legume-based with some refried black beans. Or make your own fillings with oyster mushrooms or any of your favorite vegan meat replacements.
• Fun: You can easily make more of these awesome vegan tortas for guests or even set up a build your own sandwich bar! Set up other goodies like refried beans, other salsas, poblano peppers, red bell peppers, hot peppers, fresh cilantro, shredded iceberg lettuce, mashed avocado or avocado slices (add fresh lime juice to keep the avocado from browning too fast), hot sauce, tomato slices, and more.

Ingredients

Pick up these simple ingredients for this tortas veganas recipe the next time you're at a grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet a certain daily value of any nutrient). I give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

For the Tofu Filling

• 1 Block Super Firm Tofu: I’m talking about the kind in the vacuum-sealed plastic, not a tub full of water. I recommend the super firm tofu if you can find it. I can usually find it in grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s, supermarkets, Asian markets, and even Costco on occasion.
• 1.5 Cups Vegan Beef Broth or Vegetable Broth OR 1 to 1.5 Tablespoons Bouillon Paste and 2 Cups Hot Water: We used the Better Than Bouillon No Beef Base and hot water, but vegetable broth (or even vegan chicken broth) would work as well.
• 4 Tablespoons Lime Juice: Fresh squeezed is best, but if you have to buy bottled, I highly recommend this lime juice.
• .5 Cup Orange Juice: This adds great flavor to our marinade.
• 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar: For balancing the marinade.
• 3-4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 Jalapeño, Finely Chopped / Minced: It has a little kick so don't use it if you hate spicy food. If you want more spice, try using hot peppers or hot sauce in the marinade.
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
• ½ Teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

For the Vegan Tortas

• Fresh Rolls: The best torta bread for this recipe is the one you like the best! We used bollilo rolls from a local Mexican bakery, but telera rolls are another authentic choice. Other crusty rolls that can work in a pinch include kaiser rolls, soft bread rolls, even burger buns or French bread (sliced from a French baguette). I will say though... I love a golden brown bolillo roll.
• Vegan Mayo: We make our own vegan mayo and tofu sour cream that would both work well for this recipe, but obviously you can use whatever you have on hand.
• Vegan Cheese, Optional: We used vegan pepperjack slices and it was quite delicious, but we found that these vegan tortas were good without cheese too. Use whatever you enjoy or skip it.
• Slices of White Onion: You can also use red onion!
• Slices of Tomato: We like to put these on a paper towel lined plate (and cover with the other side of the paper towel) while we prep everything else to help keep the tortas from getting soggy.
• Avocado: You can use avocado slices like we did or a mashed avocado situation, such as our simple Vegan Guacamole. You could even use the guac instead of the vegan mayo.
• Lettuce: We used romaine for our sandwiches, but you could use iceberg lettuce. green leaf, or a darker green such as spinach!
• Pickled Jalapeños: Optional, but we love these!
• Tomatillo Salsa: Also known as salsa verde, this salsa has a low heat level that doesn't sacrifice flavor.

Substitutions

• Tofu: You could use extra firm tofu instead, but you'll need to remove the excess moisture. A block of extra-firm tofu is slightly more wet than a block of super firm. Some plates and a heavy object (and a few layers of paper towels or tea towels) or a tofu press can help you with that! There are types of tofu out there that don't use soy! The most commonly available type is chickpea based, often made with chickpea flour. It is also known as Burmese tofu. There are also ones made out of split peas and even fava beans!
• Other Meat Substitutes: If you don't want to use any type of tofu, here are some ideas for fillings for your vegan torta: Vegan Carne Asada soy curls, Vegan Chorizo, oyster mushrooms, jackfruit, or store bought vegan meat alternatives. Or use refried black beans to make an amazing black bean torta.
• Garlic: If you don't have fresh garlic, use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.

How to Make Vegan Tortas

1. Prep: Thinly slice or shave the tofu (this is why the super firm or pressed tofu works the best). Prepare the marinade by whisking together the ingredients in a large bowl. Place the sliced tofu in and gently stir. It's ok if the tofu breaks a little bit. Let the tofu sit in the marinade for about 5-10 minutes. It doesn't need to be a long time since we'll be cooking the tofu down in the marinade.
2. Cook the Tofu: In a large nonstick skillet or frying pan, add the tofu and liquid and then cook until all the water evaporates / soaks into the tofu. Stir every once every few minutes and cook about 15-20 minutes. You can cook on high heat at first, but once most of the liquid is gone, you'll want to turn it down to medium heat and pay more attention to it. (Note: If you're making torta ahogada, you'll want to save some of this broth to soak the sandwich, much like an Italian beef!)
3. Prep the Rest of the Fillings: If you want to toast your roll with a bit of vegan butter, go ahead. You can do this in another skillet, a grill pan, or a toaster oven. Note that if you want melty cheese, you can do it easily during this step. Slice up everything else. We like to blot excess liquid off tomato slices with a paper towel so it doesn't make the sandwich soggy.
4. Assemble the Vegan Tortas: Spread vegan mayo or whatever you're using on the sandwich on both the bottom and top bun. Add a generous scoop of the tofu, then add the rest of the fillings and stuff as full as you'd like. It works like regular sandwiches: the more the better until you make it impossible to eat, hah!
5. Serve: Enjoy your vegan tortas immediately.
6. Storage: Store any leftover components in separate airtight containers. The cooked tofu will last in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, though we found it hard to not nibble on it here and there... it's even good cold!

More Vegan Mexican Inspired Recipes

• Tofu Quesadillas
• Vegan Birria Tacos
• Vegan Taco Salad
• Nut-Free Vegan Queso
• Vegan Carne Asada
• Vegan Elote with Vegan Cotija
• Vegan Sheet Pan Quesadillas
• Vegan Loaded Potato Nachos
• Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
• Vegan Taco Soup

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