After soaking, the hazelnuts become soft enough to blend in your food processor and chew without being extra crunchy. The outcome almost reminds me of meat crumbles, especially if seasoned properly.

You can even use the leftover "chorizo" for other meals like burrito bowls, taco salads, or anything else you can come up with.

I love to make my own guacamole but if you want something extra quick, you can just buy pre-made guac! The hazelnut chorizo is smokey and spicy, but the guacamole helps to mellow out the heat.

With a light squeeze of lime and a small bed of arugula, the whole meal comes together for a bright and flavorful dish. This may be one of my favorite new meals!

Ingredients

Serving is 3 tacos. Entire recipe can make 12 tacos.

2 cups raw, shelled hazelnuts

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp oregano

2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp neutral oil (I used avocado)

small flour tortillas

fresh guacamole

1/2 cup arugula

Optional: lime wedges for serving

In a bowl, submerge your hazelnuts in cold water and allow to soak for 1-6 hours. If you're short on time, these can be boil in hot water for 15-20 minutes.

To prepare the chorizo seasoning, whisk together the garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, thyme, and oregano in small bowl.

Once your hazelnuts have soaked, strain the excess water and add the nuts to a food processor. Blend on high until the nuts break down to the size of small pebbles or look like meat crumbles.

Transfer the hazelnuts back to their soaking bowl and add the chorizo seasoning mix, along with the oil and apple cider vinegar, gently tossing with a spatula.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the hazelnut chorizo mixture, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Optional: While the chorizo heats up, you can heat your tortillas in the oven at 350 for no more than 3 minutes.

After about 5 minutes, the chorizo should be warmed up enough to serve. Add a dollop of guacamole on each tortilla, then a small bed of arugula, followed by 2-3 tbsp of the chorizo mixture. Squeeze a bit of lime over the tacos and serve!

I'm recipe content developer and freelance photographer in Chicago. I love eating and I love animals - when you combine those two you get a plant based diet full of flavorful, delicious, not always healthy foods.

I'm recipe content developer and freelance photographer in Chicago. I love eating and I love animals - when you combine those two you get a plant based diet full of flavorful, delicious, not always healthy foods.