In most of America we have a narrow view of how tacos should be made. Usually, the American idea of a taco is a fried corn tortilla filled with seasoned ground beef and topped with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and taco sauce. You will find many people who are averse to trying anything different in how their tacos are prepared. Thankfully, I was turned onto the special treat of fish tacos several years ago down in Ensenada Mexico, and then I had a good friend who had grown up in Mexico City who taught me that there is a very wide array of ingredients to be used in taco preparations that we Americans never consider. Potatoes, and just about any type of meat including bologna for example. When I saw these ZenBurger Street Tacos in my grocery store refrigerator section I thought they certainly looked worthy of a try for a little something different for my lunch. For one who grew up a picky eater, I actually have a pretty open mind about trying different foods…
Reading the box, there is three ways to prepare these street tacos. You can heat them on a cookie sheet in a 450* oven, brown them in a little oil in a skillet, or you can microwave them. I chose the stove top skillet method with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Being thawed, they browned pretty quickly, in about two minutes per side over a medium heat.
Once they were browned I opened one up to discover the filling looks nothing like the tacos on the box. As you can see from the top picture, the filling resembles vegetarian ground beef crumbles. In reality, the filling was like a paste that you can make up your own mind as to what it looks like…
To be honest, it took having a genuine open mind for me to take that first bite. This was not an appetizing visual to me at all.
To my surprise and pleasure, the taste of these street tacos was not too bad at all despite the pasty texture of the filling. These tacos are a product of Carla Lee’s Nut Burgers and taste very similar to their nut burgers. For me, the taste is largely a blend of sunflower seed, cashew and spices. Very similar to their nut burgers but for the additional spice and pasty texture. While I did not find these street tacos to be all that appealing, I would just as soon have these at home over getting my tacos from Taco Bell. At least these did not give me an upset stomach as Taco Bell tacos are prone to do.
Sitting down to do this review, things got a little weird for me. I could find nothing on the internet that lists this product and their nutritional information. Thankfully I kept the box.
These street tacos are a product of Carla Lee’s NutBurgers, and the ingredients and nutrition are almost identical to their line of Nut Tacos. However, the street tacos are not listed in their line of products on their website. I went to the ZenBurger website which is given on the box and found this:
I then went to my grocery store website and there was nothing that came up for this product being in their inventory either. Maybe it is too new or something, I do not know. I just find it odd that a product is in a grocery refrigerator aisle and I cannot find anything about the product online.
As you can see from the ingredient list, there is nothing unhealthy listed.
Nutritionally, these street tacos are satisfactory. There is a fair amount of protein and fiber, the net carbs are not too high. They are a good source of vitamins and minerals too. I find that I can neither recommend nor not recommend these street tacos. If you are close minded about how you believe a taco should be made, you will want to skip them. If you are open minded, you might thoroughly enjoy them. Taste is all subjective to the individual. I will say that four of these tacos filled me up far better than four tacos from any fast food restaurant ever has.
I do agree with you on the appearance of the filling; however, I found these very tasty. My daughter and I are vegetarian and are always looking for a tasty goid for you meal. We were that impressef that we are going to buy their sample pack. I did enjoy your review. Thank you…
Hi Kat, thank you for reading and commenting. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do enjoy a lot of vegetarian foods. Therefore I am always looking for what’s new and different when I do my shopping. I hope you enjoy more of our website and please tell everyone you know about us.😊
I wish I could remember at which store I purchased these. They are delicious! I never even thought about opening them up to look at them. Lol the flavor was spot on and I love the texture. I am not vegetarian or vegan but sometimes I like to buy non-meat products. Now I need to find out where I got them.
I purchased them from Dillon’s which is owned by Kroger. Although I am sure these are carried in other stores. Try Googling Zen Tacos near me and you should find a store that carries them. Thank you for reading and commenting.