Vegan Torta
One of the GREATEST sandwiches in the world, a Torta with Carne Asada, but this one is totally VEGAN!
I eat tacos and burritos more than I eat burgers, and I wish I ate more tortas! I used to frequent taco trucks, and the ones I went to rarely had tortas. If I ever went to a sit down place (like my beloved Los Chavos RIP) I would almost always get a Torta if it was on the menu.
As somebody who loves sandwiches, the Torta is among my favorites. Not only can you fill it with just about anything you want, but the roll is amazing all on its own. Soft but chewy on the outside, which helps it from getting soggy, and it’s slightly sweet and almost buttery which compliments the savory fillings.
ingredients for vegan Torta
THE ROLL – Tortas typically come on either a Bolillo or a Telera Roll. I like both, but I prefer the Telera in most cases. I’ve never made these from scratch, I will usually just get them at a local Mexican market.
Just make sure they are vegan as sometimes they are made with eggs, milk or lard. But all the ones I’ve found are vegan!
THE MEAT – For this Torta, I’m using my Soy Curl Carne Asada recipe (which I’ve also provided below). That said, you can use whatever vegan protein you like! It’s super customizable!
You could use my Tofu Ground Beef, or Seitan Asada, Tofu Grilled Chick’n, literally anything will work!
THE BEANS – Refried Beans are common on Tortas (at least the ones I’ve gotten here in LA) you can use any convenient canned or bagged of your preference, or make some from scratch using my Refried Beans recipe or Quick Refried Beans!
THE TOPPINGS – The beauty of a Torta is you can really put whatever you like on it. Pickled onions or jalapeños, cheese, grilled or raw onions, cilantro, hot sauce, are just a few of the more common ones I’ve seen.
I’m gonna go with lettuce and tomato, and some vegan sour cream, along with some mashed avocado. These are also fairly common in LA as well!
HOW TO MAKE a Vegan Torta
This couldn’t be easier! First rehydrate the soy curls in some water for about 10 minutes.
Then squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
Make the marinade by combining everything.
Toast the Soy Curls in a pan to dry them out a bit more, then pour over the marinade.
You can add a tablespoon of something like Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet for some color.
Next we just need to reduce the marinade down until it’s mostly absorbed. This will take some time, about 45 minutes or so.
Then you simply need to toast or grill your roll, and then assemble it as follows; Refried Beans, Asada, Tomato, Lettuce, Vegan Sour Cream, Smashed Avocado!
storage
Store in the fridge and eat within 3 – 5 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.
other recipes you’ll dig!
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, please leave a rating & review! It really helps out the blog and it makes my day, thank you!
Vegan Torta
Ingredients
Torta
- 6 Telera or Bolillo Rolls
- 2 – 3 Tomatoes (sliced)
- 1/4 head Iceberg Lettuce (shredded)
- Vegan Sour Cream (to taste)
- 2 cups Refried Beans (or Quick Refried Beans)
- 2 – 3 Avocadoes (mashed and seasoned to taste)
- Vegan Mayo (to taste)
Soy Curl Asada
- 8 oz Dried Soy Curls (1 bag)
Marinade
- 2 cups Beefless Broth
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Vegan Worcestershire (vegan)
- 2 Tbsp Mushroom Seasoning (I used Imperial Taste Brand) (or 2 tsp Miso Paste)
- 2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
- 1 Tbsp Blackstrap Molasses (optional)
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbsp Diced Chipotle in Adobo
- 1/4 cup White Vinegar
- 6 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 6 Tbsp Orange Juice
- 4 – 6 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 1 -2 Jalapeños (small dice)
- 1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne
Instructions
Soy Curl Asada
- Rehydrate the soy curls by covering them in some water for about 10 minutes.
- While soy curls are hydrating, prepare the marinade by adding the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Strain your soy curls, and using your bare hands, squeeze out the excess water. You want them to be as dry as possible.
- Sauté your soy curls in a pan over medium heat in a bit of oil for about 6 minutes or so, until slightly browned.
- Add in the marinade and reduce down to your desired consistency, should take about 30 – 45 minutes.
Torta
- Split your roll and spread some Vegan Mayo on each side, grill in a pan over medium heat until golden brown. Rest on a wire rack.
- Heat up the refried beans, then spread them on the bottom roll. Top with the Soy Curl Asada, Tomato (don't forget to salt the tomato), Lettuce, Vegan Sour Cream, and then spread the Smashed Avocado on the top roll and crown your Torta and enjoy!
Another delicious soy curl recipe. Had plenty of leftovers too, so I threw them in a tortilla the next day and made burritos to switch it up.
Heck yes, best part of leftovers is switching it up! Thank you!
We had this yesterday and it was delicious. We hadn’t had soy curls before (which we bought for this recipe) and the mouthfeel and way they soaked up all the marinade was quite good. We don’t have readily available teleras, so I tried making them from your burger bun recipe in the bread machine…which mainly turned into burger buns in the end! But pan-toasted in butter, along with jalapeños and grilled onions as toppings…man, a sandwich to remember. My only regret is not getting the blackstrap molasses, which I left out because it seems like the kind of ingredient we might not use often. But I bet it would have added some nice depth. (we did do the balsamiq tho)
Thanks for the recipe!
OH awesome, that sounds so good! The Blackstrap is nice, but you really don’t need it, the Balsamic works great too, glad it worked out, thank you!
Yum. This was so good and incredibly flavourful. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
So glad you liked it!! Thank you!