Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
These Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos are bold, nutritious, and an overall crowd-pleaser. You won’t be able to resist having seconds and thirds of this perfect vegetarian main dish!
Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. I eat them year round and all sorts of ways, often time plain ole roasted, or in a soup like my Indian-Spiced Lentil Soup.
These Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos really step it up a notch with fantastic flavors and textures that will keep you reaching for more!
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Ingredients
Spices are the name of the game in this dish! We get tons of flavor from the sweet potatoes, black beans, onions and cheese, but the spices are really what make this taco recipe so special!
- Sweet potatoes: Nutrient-rich root vegetables with a naturally sweet taste, perfect for roasting. They become soft and caramelized while roasting.
- Red onion: Adds a mild, sweet flavor to the dish and complements the sweet potatoes. The method we roast them leaves them jammy, sweet, and savory.
- Spices: We use Cumin, Paprika, Coriander, Cinnamon, Garlic powder, Onion powder, Salt and Cayenne to add so much to these tacos. The combination provides warmth, smokiness, heat, sweetness, and overall depth to what might look like a simple dish.
- Olive oil: Provides a rich and smooth texture while enhancing the flavors during cooking.
- Black beans: Protein-packed legumes, adding a hearty and nutritious element to the dish.
- Yellow onion: Offers a mild and sweet flavor, complementing the black beans.
- Shredded cheese: Adds a creamy and melty texture, enhancing the overall richness.
- Tortillas: I like using corn tortillas here. We bake them so they get perfectly crispy in the oven!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
- Dice the sweet potatoes and julienne the red onions. Coat the sweet potatoes in olive oil and spices and place on a sheet tray, alongside the onions. Roast at 400 for 30 minutes.
- While those are cooking, sautée white onion and garlic with olive oil in a pan. After a few minutes, add the drained and rinsed can of black beans. Add the spices and cook down for a few minutes.
3. When the sweet potatoes and black beans are done, we can assemble. To a sheet tray, lightly coat the bottom in oil. Brush one side of a tortilla on the sheet tray to lightly coat in oil. To the other side, add the filling. I start with a layer of cheese, then add the sweet potatoes, onions, and black beans, then sprinkle another layer of cheese.
4. Close the tortilla and bake for about 10 minutes, or until crispy
Substitutions and Variations
I think these Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos are absolutely perfect as is. However, you are the one eating them! So here are some ideas for how to make these your own:
- Spices: Feel free to add spices to your liking, including adding more heat with cayenne, or remove it all together. I can’t guarantee results if you differ too much from this recipe, so only go with flavors you’re familiar with.
- Sweet potatoes: I tested this recipe with regular sweet potatoes that are orange in the middle. I do not recommend using white sweet potatoes as they have a slightly different taste and texture (I love them, just not in these tacos!).
- Make it vegan: Remove the cheese. Easy as that! When I don’t add cheese, I don’t roast the tacos. I just load up the tortilla and eat as is. Up to you!
- Add a protein: These tacos are vegetarian but would taste great with some chopped up roasted chicken or some soyrizo!
How to serve Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
- DIY Taco Bar – I have served this dish at a party, by having the black bean sweet potato mixture in a big container with tortillas on the side for people to make their own tacos! It’s super fun.
- Baked – As the recipe is written, we stuff the tortillas with the black bean and sweet potato mixture and cheese then bake, for a gooey center and crispy shell. What’s not to love!
- Toppings – I find these tacos have so much flavor and texture that I don’t add any toppings. But, guacamole is always welcome!
- Taco-less tacos – I honestly love eating the filling on its own. I can top it over a salad, or add it into my omelet in the morning.
Storage
Store leftover sweet potatoes and black beans in the fridge for up to a week. I suggest storing them not as tacos, but just as filling. Warm up the sweet potatoes and black beans in the microwave for a delicious taco filling!
I also use leftovers to add to salads or even omelets!
Top tip
Julienne the onion, it will help with the jammy texture! You do this by slicing the onion in half, from root to stem. Then, continue to slice the onion in about ¾ inch pieces, slicing from root to stem and keeping the onion slices in tact while roasting.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these dinner ideas:
Sweet Treats
Want something for dessert? These are some of my favorites:
Rating
Lastly, if you do make this Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos recipe (then first of all, thank you!!), be sure to rate this recipe and leave a comment and rating below! It would mean the world to me if you tagged me on Instagram or TikTok so I can see your creations.
Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Filling
- 2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into ½ – 1 inch pieces
- 1 red onion
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne optional
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
Black Bean Filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic diced
- 2 15 oz cans black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Tacos
- 1 cup shredded cheese such as cheddar, pepper jack, mozzarella, Monterey Jack
- 12 tortillas
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Take the red onion and slice it in half, from root to stem. Then, slice the onion lengthwise (from root to stem) into 1 inch slices. Do not shred them apart, but rather keep the layers in tact. Using your hands or a brush, line both sides with olive oil and place on the side of the sheet tray.
- Mix the sweet potatoes, olive oil, and all the sweet potato spices together and add to the sheet tray with the onions. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the onions are toasted but not burnt, and the sweet potatoes are soft enough to be poked by a fork.1 teaspoon ground cuminLower the oven to 350 degrees.
- While the sweet potatoes and onions are roasting, make the black beans. Saute the chopped white onion over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the black beans and all the black bean spices to the pan and cook together for about 5-6 minutes. Taste and adjust to your preferences. Option to press down some beans for a more mushy texture. When done, add to a large bowl.
- When the sweet potatoes and onions are done, remove from oven. Toss them together. Add to the bowl with the black beans and combine evenly.
- Option to stop here and just scoop the filling into tortillas and enjoy.
- Otherwise… on another sheet tray, lightly oil the bottom of the tray. Lightly brush one side of the tortillas on the oil, then fill the other side with the sweet potato black bean mixture and shredded cheese. Fold the tacos over and bake for about 10 minutes to get a crispy shell. Note: If you are having trouble keeping the tortilla down, just bake them for a couple minutes then take out and press down, then return to the oven to get crispy.
These wer really good!! Actually not that complicated either