These Black Bean Tacos are cheesy, super flavourful, and come together in around 20 minutes. I've used black beans and kidney beans for the filling, along with a handful of delicious spices. Simply top the tacos with cheese, jalapeños, homemade guacamole, tomato salsa, cilantro, and lime, and you've got yourself a super easy and tasty dinner.
I have to say these veggie bean tacos were SO good. I am a meat lover, so the fact that I would choose this vegetarian taco version over a meat one is saying something. The combination of flavours from the salsa, avocado, cilantro, cheese, and beans just compliment each other so well. I really hope you enjoy this one!!
For those of you looking for more taco recipes, feel free to check out my fish tacos with mango salsa...a solid 10/10 if you ask me, or my speedy ground pork tacos topped with a zingy lime salsa, or my beef and cheese taquitos are fantastic.
And for all my bean lovers out there (hiiiii!!!), two of my favourite bean recipes on my blog is my butter bean and spinach curry recipe, and my kale and white bean sausage soup...both fantastic for the colder seasons.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Vegetarian: Whether you're a meat lover or you're a pure veggie, these black bean tacos are some of the best tacos I've ever made. They're slightly spicy, moist, full of flavour, and honestly so simple to make.
Quick: Taking around 20 minutes to make, my bean taco recipe will (hopefully) become a weekly rotation recipe in your kitchen!
Simple: You only need garlic, onion, black beans, and kidney beans for the filling, with a handful of seasonings. You can then prepare any additional bits and bobs such as avocado guacamole, tomato salsa, coriander, and lime for toppings!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Garlic: I've used fresh finely chopped garlic cloves for this recipe but you can absolutely use garlic powder or granules for this bean taco recipe.
Red onion: A whole red onion adds a lovely warm caramel flavour to the bean filling. You can use white onion or shallots if you don't have red onion.
Cumin: ground cumin adds a mild spice to this veggie taco dish. If you don't have ground cumin, feel free to use a mild curry powder.
Paprika: I used sweet paprika because it's my favourite. But any paprika will do! If you don't have paprika, use a small amount of cayenne or chili powder.
Chilli flakes: Regular store-bought chilli flakes are great for this. Add more or less depending on your spice tolerance. Chipotle chilli flakes are a fantastic option for this recipe too.
Balsamic vinegar: To balance out the flavours of this dish, balsamic vinegar just provides a bit of a dark acidic kick. You could use a splash of white wine vinegar or malt vinegar if you don't have balsamic.
Worcestershire sauce: To contrast the balsamic vinegar, this adds a sweet and warming flavour to the filling.
Black beans: Known for their slightly sweet, earthy flavour and meaty texture, black beans are a great bean to add to this bean taco recipe. Some great substitution options are pinto beans, green lentils, or cannellini beans (despite having a different colour)
Kidney beans: Mild and slightly sweet in flavour, they're another essential bean to put in this recipe. The substitutions are the same as black beans really, so you could swap them out with pinto, green lentils, or cannellini beans!
Cheese: We're using a mixture of grated mozzarella and Red Leicester for colour. Cheddar is also a great option.
Extra bits: For me, the extra bits are also where you gain that next level flavour. So, we've made ourselves a really simple avocado crush, tomato salsa, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges.
For the full ingredients list and method, scroll down to the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Place a frying pan (skillet) on medium heat and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in your minced garlic and sliced red onion. Fry for a few minutes until slightly softened.
Step 2: Next up, add in your ground cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, black pepper, big pinch of salt, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Give everything a mix until well combined.
Step 3: Pour in your black beans and kidney beans with around 30ml water. Break down the beans slightly by smashing them with a wooden spoon. Cook for a further 5 minutes until softened. Taste and season accordingly.
Step 4: Either by removing the beans from your current skillet and using that same skillet, or by grabbing another frying pan. Place it on medium heat and drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil. On your countertop, get a taco and place a couple of tablespoons of the black bean filling on one side, then top with your cheeses and fold in half. Repeat for all your tacos and then place them in the pan (you might need to do these in multiple batches or multiple pans) and fry on each side for 2 minutes until golden and crispy.
Step 5: Meanwhile, prepare all of your toppings from your avocado crush, tomatoes, cilantro, and limes. Once your tacos are golden and crispy, remove from the heat and set aside. If you're doing loads more tacos, then place them in a preheated oven at around 90C/200F. When you're ready to eat, top your tacos with all of your extra bits and enjoy!
What to do with leftovers
If you've got leftover tortillas: If you've got leftover tortillas, I tend to place them in the freezer until I next want to use them.
If you've got leftover filling: For leftover black bean filling, you can either place it in an airtight container and into the fridge for up to 3 days or into the freezer for up to 3 months. I'd use the filling with baked potatoes, you could cook it up with some tomato sauce and then serve it with pasta. Or just have the black bean filling on toast with a few spices or avocado!
If you've got leftover tacos: for any of you who weren't able to finish off your black bean tacos, don't let them go to waste! Place them in an airtight container and into the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply place them in a preheated oven 160C/320F for 10 minutes to heat up. If you place them in the microwave they'll just go soggy.
FAQs
For sure, you can add beef mince (ground beef) to the recipe. Once you've fried the onions and garlic, add in the beef and fry for a few minutes before adding in your black beans and kidney beans.
I love serving black bean tacos with crushed avocado, tomato salsa, jalapeños, cilantro, and lime wedges. If you're looking for more dish-style recipes, then a cilantro rice dish would be delicious, grilled vegetable skewers would be yummy, or corn on the cob!
Pinto beans, green lentils, cannellini beans are all beans that I'd recommend using as replacements for this black bean taco recipe.
More recipes you might enjoy!
If you tried this Black Bean Tacos recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
The BEST Black Bean Tacos (20 Minutes)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 400g tinned black beans drained weight 235g
- 400g tinned kidney beans drained weight 235g
- 6 soft wheat tacos
- 6 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
- 6 tablespoon grated red Leicester or cheddar
Toppings
- 1 avocado mashed with salt and pepper
- 5 baby tomatoes finely chopped and seasoned with salt and pepper
- jalapeños
- cilantro roughly chopped
- 6 lime wedges
Instructions
- Place a frying pan (skillet) on medium heat and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in your minced garlic and sliced red onion. Fry for a few minutes until slightly softened.
- Next up, add in your ground cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, grind of black pepper, big pinch of salt, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Give everything a mix until well combined.
- Pour in your black beans and kidney beans with around 30ml water. Break down the beans slightly by smashing them with a wooden spoon. Cook for a further 5 minutes until softened. Taste and season accordingly.
- Either by removing the beans from your current skillet and using that same skillet, or by grabbing another frying pan. Place it on medium heat and drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil. On your countertop, get a taco and place a couple of tablespoons of the black bean filling on one side, then top with your cheeses and fold in half (see images further up in this blog for reference!). Repeat for all your tacos and then place them in the pan (you might need to do these in multiple batches or multiple pans) and fry on each side for 2 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Meanwhile, prepare all of your toppings from your avocado crush, tomatoes, cilantro, and limes. Once your tacos are golden and crispy, remove from the heat and set aside. If you're doing loads more tacos, then place them in a preheated oven at around 90C/200F. When you're ready to eat, top your tacos with all of your extra bits and enjoy!
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