Published: Aug 20, 2021 · Modified: Jun 21, 2022 by kaydimaggio

Vegan Fish Taco Bowl

Name: Vegan Fish Taco Bowl
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 cans Hearts of Palm; 1 cup Breadcrumbs; 3 tbs Old Bay; 2 sheets Dry crumbled Nori; 1 Flax Egg; 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour; 1 tsp Salt; 1 tsp Pepper; 1 tsp Garlic Powder; 16 oz Mexican Lager; 1 cup Vegan Mayonnaise; 3 tbs Lemon juice; 1/4 cup Sweet Relish; 2 tsp Fresh Dill; 1 bag Coleslaw mix; 1 Mango; 2 cups Brown Rice cooked; 1/2 Cilantro; Juice and zest of one lime

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This Vegan Fish Taco Bowl will get you so excited. Hearts of Palm are turned into delicious vegan "fish". Such a fun and healthy recipe to make with the family! This recipe is easy to make and a family-friendly meal that the everyone will enjoy! It is full of healthy nutrients and plant-based!

Vegan Fish Taco bowl with rice, coleslaw, mango and tartar sauce — Vegan Fish Taco Bowl

I've always been a picky eater, I never was a fan of fish growing up. However, when I met my husband, he opened my eyes to a whole world of food I hadn't been exposed to. One of those being fish. He is Italian so seafood runs in his family's veins. The first Christmas that I spent with his family, I asked his Nana if I could help with anything and she put me to work cleaning the squid. Talk about a warm welcome!

Soon, I added fish to my diet and learned to enjoy it! Fish tacos were always my favorite, I loved the combination of the fried fish and the acid from the lemon and the coleslaw. I was a little sad about giving up fish when I went plant-based!

This Vegan Fish Taco Bowl is everything you love about fish tacos but it is plant-based and healthy. Hearts of Palm are turned into delightful little fish nuggets and then coated in a beer batter and fried on the stove. Top off your bowl with cilantro lime rice, coleslaw, and mango and you have something that looks suspiciously non-vegan. This recipe will win hearts over!

Check out some other fun bowl recipes like this Big Mac Salad Bowl or this Vegan Poke Bowl with Grilled Watermelon!

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
Vegan Fish Taco Bowl
Food safety

Ingredients

The ingredients for these fish taco bowls are surprisingly easy. You should be able to find almost everything at your local supermarket.

Hearts of Palm, mango, red cabbage, green cabbage, shredded carrots, flax egg, breadcrumbs, brown rice, seaweed, cilantro, Old Bay — Vegan Fish Taco Bowl Ingredients

For the Vegan "Fish"

Hearts of Palm
Breadcrumbs
Old Bay
Dry crumbled Nori
Flax Egg
Salt and Pepper to Taste

For the Beer Batter

All-Purpose Flour
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Old Bay
Mexican Lager

For the Vegan Tartar Sauce

Vegan Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Sweet Relish
Fresh Dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Bowls

Bagged Coleslaw mix
Mango
Brown Rice
Cilantro
Lime

Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Hearts of Palm "Fish"

Drain and rinse the hearts of palm. Using a food processor, combine the hearts of palm, breadcrumbs, old bay, nori, flax egg, and salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined and incorporated. You still want to leave some texture in there to mimic the flakiness of the fish so I normally leave a few chunks of the hearts of palm.

Using clean hands, form into nuggets, you should be able to get around 16 nuggets. Refrigerate for a half hour.

Cilantro-Lime Rice and Toppings

While the Hearts of Palm fish is resting, make the base for the bowl. It doesn't matter if you use white or brown rice for this bowl, I use brown for the nutrient content.

Add the rice to a rice cooker with the zest of one lime. When the rice is finished cooking, add the juice of one lime and ½ chopped cilantro, set aside.

Chop and cube the mango, and toss the coleslaw mix with some cilantro and lime juice.

Combine all of the ingredients for the vegan tartar sauce and set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients for the beer batter and whisk until smooth.

Frying

In a cast-iron skillet, add about one inch of oil. You will want to use an oil with a high smoke point as we will be frying these. I used avocado oil. Take your vegan fish out of the fridge and one by one, dip into the beer batter and add to the hot pan. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, you might have to cook in batches.

Cook the patties for about 2 minutes on each side then add to a towel-lined plate. To assemble the bowls, layer the cilantro lime rice and then top with the vegan fish, coleslaw, mango, tartar sauce, and some lemon.

Hint: Even though this recipe is vegan, I like to use this fish spatula to flip the patties, it helps the batter not to stick to the pan.

Substitutions

If you have specific dietary needs, check out some of these substitutions below!

Low Sodium - Leave out the extra salt when seasoning, additionally, look for a restaurant grade nori that doesn't contain a lot of sodium. Most nori that you find at the grocery store will be filled with sodium. Check out this brand!
Keto - to make this recipe keto-friendly, use almond flour in place of the breadcrumbs in the vegan fish as well as in the beer batter. Additionally, swap out the Mexican lager for so unflavored sparkling water and serve over cauliflower rice.
Gluten-Free - use gluten-free breadcrumbs and gluten-free flour in the beer batter. Note that most beers do contain wheat as part of the fermentation process, either use sparkling water in place of or check out some of these wheat-free lagers.

Variations

Fancy taking this recipe for a spin but what to remix it?

Barbecue Ranch - Try topping your bowl with this delicious Homemade Barbecue Ranch to give it a fun variation!
Deluxe - add this Mango Pico de Gallo or this Roasted Mango Habanero Salsa to make it fun!
Kid-friendly - If your child is texture adverse, serve without the coleslaw and mangos. They will like it just fine!

Check out another fun bowl recipe here!

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. I finally bought a food processor which I love. It has been a total game-changer for me. I use this food processor, it is perfect because it works well and is decently priced.

Storage

These bowls work well for meal prep, I like to store them in an airtight container with the tartar sauce on the side. If I have time, I pop the nuggets into the air fryer for 5 minutes to get them crisp again. These will store well for up to four days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top tip

The nori is key to this recipe. It is what helps the hearts of palm to taste fishlike. Don't skimp on the nori and don't buy nori with any extra seasonings or flavoring added.