These buffalo tempeh fajitas with cashew aioli are the perfect fun recipe to bust out for sports night suppers or family fajita night. Consisting of battered (baked) Buffalo tempeh, garlicky cashew sauce, avocado, and more, they’re crave-worthy, and best enjoyed with an ice cold beer.

I love Buffalo sauce, and I love tempeh. Why not combine the two into a delicious fajita recipe? I’ve made a couple of tempeh taco/fajita recipes for the blog over the past couple of years (Californian Tempeh Tacos and BBQ Tempeh Tacos), but these have to be my favourite to date.

The Buffalo tempeh uses a method similar to that of my Spicy BBQ Cauliflower Wings, but instead of cauliflower, we use tempeh, and instead of a combination of barbecue sauce and hot sauce, we use all hot sauce. In this recipe, I highly recommend using Frank’s Original hot sauce; anything else could be too spicy. Frank’s also gives it the classic Buffalo sauce flavour as opposed to other hot sauces.

These fajitas consist of the following components: Buffalo tempeh; cashew aioli; avocado; cabbage; carrots; and cilantro. They’re really simple to prepare, as you’ll be able to get the tempeh into the oven first and then prepare the aioli and slice the vegetables while it’s in the oven. I love serving them with a simple Mexican cabbage slaw for a fun dinner.

buffalo tempeh fajitas ingredients

For the tempeh: Tempeh, chickpea flour, non-dairy milk, garlic powder, sea salt, hot sauce, and arrowroot.
For the cashew aioli: Extra virgin olive oil, garlic, cashews, water, sea salt, pepper, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast.
For the fajitas: Tortillas, cabbage, carrots, avocado, and cilantro.

step by step instructions

Prepare the buffalo tempeh: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Slice each block of tempeh in half, and then slice each half into 6 short sticks. You should end up with 24 tempeh pieces.
In a large bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour and non-dairy milk.
In another bowl, whisk together the hot sauce and arrowroot. Set aside.
Take a piece of tempeh and dip it into the chickpea flour batter. Shake off any excess and transfer onto one of the prepared baking sheets.
Repeat step 5 with the remaining tempeh. Make sure that there is ½ an inch of space in between each piece of tempeh so that it gets a crispy exterior.
Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. It’s ready when it slides off of the parchment effortlessly without leaving any chickpea flour batter behind.
Remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle it comfortably.
Dip a tempeh piece into the hot sauce, making sure all sides are nicely coated, and shake off any excess. Place it back on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining tempeh.
Put back in the oven for 7 more minutes.
Meanwhile, while tempeh is in the oven, make the cashew aioli: Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant. In a blender, combine the water, soaked cashews, salt, pepper, lemon, nutritional yeast, and cooked garlic. Blend until very smooth.
Prepare all of the other components: Slice the cabbage and carrots very thinly, dice the avocado, chop some cilantro, and get any other toppings you like, such as lettuce and tomato.
To serve, arrange two or three pieces of tempeh in the centre of a tortilla and top with some cashew aioli, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, etc.

more vegan + vegetarian super bowl recipes

I hope that you love these buffalo tempeh fajitas! If you make them, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen.

Lastly, I will be posting my final recipe in this year’s vegan Super Bowl menu extravaganza tomorrow, and it’s a vegan ice cream pie with date-walnut crust and peanut butter hot fudge. So you may or may not want to check back for that at some point after 8 a.m. EST. 😉

Enjoy!