Halloumi Tacos With Pepita Salsa, Cherry Tomatoes And Avocados

Halloumi tacos with homemade salsa macha, cherry tomatoes and avocados will give a little Middle Eastern kick to your taco night routine!

This post is a collaboration with Happy As a Yam. I am proud to only work with people and businesses I truly believe in!

Jump to:

• Halloumi tacos with homemade salsa macha, cherry tomatoes and avocados will give a little Middle Eastern kick to your taco night routine!
• Discovering grilled halloumi
• What's halloumi cheese?
• What is Pepita Salsa, or Salsa Macha?
• Blogger Spotlight: Happy As a Yam
• Halloumi Tacos Ingredients
• How to Make Halloumi Tacos
• Adaptations
• Accompanying Dishes
• Pin for Later!
• Recipe

Discovering grilled halloumi

My first time trying halloumi cheese was on a date when I was 15 years old.

After saving our restaurant earnings and tips for over six months, my high-school sweetheart and I decided to go celebrate our anniversary in a local vegetarian restaurant. Over glasses of chilled lemonade and doe-eyed looks, we shared a portion of pasta alfredo and a large, entree-side halloumi cheese salad.

As soon as I tasted those "steaks" of grilled halloumi, my eyes felt like they would pop out of their sockets. The combination of the gooey, stretchy and chewy cheese with the other flavors in the plate - cherry tomatoes, spicy peppers, avocados - was truly a celebration of texture and tastes.

The cheese was delicious, unlike anything else I've tried in my life - and coming from a true cheese-aholic even at the age of 15, that was saying something.

What's halloumi cheese?

But what is halloumi cheese, you ask? Let's break it down!

Halloumi cheese is a Middle Eastern cheese that originates from Cyprus, and is traditionally made from sheep's or goat's milk, or a mix of the two - though today, cow's milk halloumi is also fairly common.

Halloumi is famous for retaining its shape when grilled, instead becoming crispy and browned on the outside while gooey and melted on the inside.

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Is halloumi cheese healthy?

Like most cheeses, Halloumi cheese is high in calcium and is a source of zinc, magnesium and vitamin A and B.

However, it is rather high in salt and fat, so don't eat a whole block in one sitting!

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How to grill halloumi cheese?

Halloumi cheese can be cooked directly on an outdoors grill, or in a pan on a regular stovetop.

To grill halloumi cheese at home, grab a non-stick pan and use it on the stovetop. Drizzle the pan slightly with oil, and preheat the pan over medium-high heat.

Once your pan is pre-heated and oiled, place the halloumi cheese slices directly on the pan; cook them for 2 minutes on one side, and 1 minute on the other.

Remove halloumi from the pan, and use in the halloumi tacos immediately - it will lose its gooey texture and become more rubbery as it cools.

What is Pepita Salsa, or Salsa Macha?

All this talk about halloumi cheese is great, you may think, but what about the other ingredients in our tacos? For example, what is pepita salsa, also known as Salsa Macha?

Salsa Macha is an unusual rich sauce that hails from Veracruz, Mexico. Unlike more typical salsa that is based on fruit or even veggies, Salsa Macha is made from ground and processed dried chiles, garlic, nuts and seeds.

A lot of Salsa Macha is made largely from peanuts or sesame seeds. For my recipe, I wanted to make a salsa based on another seed: pumpkin seed salsa.

In this deeply flavored salsa, ground and toasted pumpkin seeds are joined with mixed dried chiles, sesame seeds and garlic and ground into a delicious, slick pumpkin seed salsa. This salsa goes beautiful with the cheesy flavor of hallomi cheese, but I also love drizzling it on tofu, roasted cauliflower or using in other vegetarian tacos of your choice.

For example, it would go really well on my friend Katia's Curried Jackfruit Tacos.

You can find my pumpkin seed salsa recipe here.

Blogger Spotlight: Happy As a Yam

Let me tell you a bit about the blogger who sparked up this delicious recipe: Katia from Happy As a Yam.

I got to know Katia through Instagram, where her colorful and beautiful feed of gluten-free and vegan recipes made me drool every time. Once we started chatting, I was thrilled to discover Katia was also based in Montreal, spending her days cooking and baking gluten-free dishes, just like me!

With a unique palette, an eye for international recipes and an easy-going, light and bright photography style, Happy As a Yam's recipes offer something for everyone. I can't wait to try her gluten-free and vegan croissants, her savory portobello mushroom spaghetti squash boats, or her eggplant ratatouille once my favourite summer vegetable appears!

For this recipe collaboration, Katia developed mouthwatering Curried Jackfruit Tacos that would put any pulled pork recipe to shame. They remind me of my vegan pulled pork sandwich, only they sound even better!

Halloumi Tacos Ingredients

To make these veggie tacos with grilled halloumi cheese, you will need:

• 1 halloumi
• 1 avocado
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ½ purple onion
• Fresh cilantro, to taste
• Lime wedges, to taste
• ½ cup pumpkin seed salsa (salsa macha)

How to Make Halloumi Tacos

To grill halloumi cheese:

To grill halloumi cheese at home, grab a non-stick pan and use it on the stovetop. Drizzle the pan slightly with oil, and preheat the pan over medium-high heat.

Once your pan is pre-heated and oiled, place the halloumi cheese slices directly on the pan; cook them for 2 minutes on one side, and 1 minute on the other.

Remove halloumi from the pan, and use in the halloumi tacos immediately - it will lose its gooey texture and become more rubbery as it cools.

Assemble halloumi tacos:

Lightly toast your corn tortillas in the same pan you used to fry the halloumi cheese. Lay 2 pieces of grilled halloumi cheese per taco, topping them with halved cherry tomatoes, and a few slivers of purple onion.

Dilute desired quantity of pumpkin seed salsa with a few teaspoons of water to make it more drizzable. Top halloumi tacos with a generous drizzle of salsa and a generous sprinkling of fresh cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Adaptations

vegan and dairy-free

To transform these grilled halloumi tacos into vegan tacos, substitute the halloumi cheese for sliced extra firm tofu. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper before grilling the tofu slices the same way you would prepare the halloumi cheese.

keto, paleo and whole 30

For keto tacos or Whole 30 tacos, sub the corn tortillas for thinly sliced daikon radish. You will end up with miniature, bite-size halloumi cheese tacos that are adorable!

Unfortunately, there's no easy to make these paleo as they would require too many adaptations.

Accompanying Dishes

The following dishes can go nicely alongside these halloumi tacos with pumpkin seed salsa, the ultimate in Mexican - Middle Eastern fusion!

Pin for Later!

To see the step-by-step story on how to make halloumi tacos, check out my web stories!

Recipe