Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
It’s January! Which means it’s time to cleanse my body and get back to eating healthy homemade meals again. Mostly, it’s time to hide the cookies from myself! I love January as a time to reset, leave the past behind and start fresh. If you’re looking for a new tasty recipe, these easy and delicious plant-based tacos are just the thing and can be made in less than 30 minutes. Plus, these tacos are incredibly versatile and can be eaten any time of the day breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Corn Tortillas 101
Funny story, every once in a while we would get corn tortillas from the grocery store, but I was always disappointed with the flavor and texture. Plus they always fell apart while eating. Then one day we decided to put some corn tortillas on the grill and they were soooo delicious. Lightbulb moment, I had no idea you needed to cook corn tortillas! Now we eat corn tortillas all the time, always cooked of course! Like everything in life, cooking is a whole lot of trial and error, LOTS of errors. I hope you can learn from my silly mistakes and make even more delicious food at home. Now let’s get cooking!
Make the Sweet Potato Hash
Chop the sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes and toss them into a saute pan with a little olive oil. Cook them on high stirring frequently to prevent burning. Then, mix up your spices. I especially love this combination of spices (cumin, fennel, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder) with a whole lot of lime juice. The citrus and spices really balance out the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and make this a zesty hash. If your looking to kick up the heat add a little cayenne pepper to the spice mixture. Personally, I like to keep the sweet potato hash mild for my kiddos and load my tacos up with a good spicy salsa.
Next, toss the spice mixture in the pan, add lime juice, water, and give everything a good stir. Reduce the heat down to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. There you have it, the hardest part of this recipe is done, smooth sailing from here!
Toast Up Those Tortillas
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the corn tortillas. Grab another saute pan and crank the heat up to high. Give it a minute or two to really heat up the pan. Toss in a tortilla and let it cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip it over. Cook for another 1-2 minutes on the other side. You’re looking for little toasty brown spots, but you still want the tortillas to be bendable, not like hardshell tortillas.
Lastly, toss the drained black beans in with the sweet potato hash and stir. Grab your avocado, salsa, and sweet mini pepper slices. It’s taco time!
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
These tasty plant-based sweet potato and black bean tacos make a great vegan breakfast or a quick weeknight dinner.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 tacos 1x
- Category: Tacos
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 8–10 corn tortillas
Toppings
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup of sweet mini peppers, sliced
- Salsa (I love 505 Southwestern Hatch Valley Green Chile Sauce)
- Vegan feta cheese crumbles (optional)
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a saute pan and kick the heat up to high. Once the oil has warmed up add the sweet potato chunks and cook on medium-high for 10 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Mix all the spices together (the salt, cumin, fennel, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. Add the spice mixture to the sweet potatoes and stir to mix.
- Add the lime juice and water to the saute pan and stir. Then turn the heat down to medium-low, cook for another 10 minutes until most of the liquid is gone and sweet potatoes are tender.
- Add the black beans to the saute pan and stir to mix everything together and turn off the heat.
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prep the tortillas. Put another saute pan on the stove and turn the heat up to high. Cook each tortilla on high for about 1-2 minutes per side, more if you prefer a crunchier taco shell. I like to cook them until they just start to get little brown spots.
To serve:
- Add a scoop of the sweet potato and black beans to the taco shell.
- Add your favorite salsa, avocado slices, sweet mini pepper slices, and/or cheese
Did You Give This Recipe a Whirl?
Please give it bunches of stars and send a comment to share your thoughts! What was easy? What didn’t work? Did you discover an even more delicious version? I’d love to know to keep improving each recipe.
Sharing is caring! If you love this recipe please pass it along so we can all start eating a little healthier, one delicious meal at a time.
Cheers,
Erica
