These spiced black bean and sweet potato tacos are topped with cabbage, Mexican cheese, and topped with salsa verde. I highly recommend you serve them with candied plantains on the side.
Make these vegetarian black bean tacos for Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday!
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Cuba is a popular country to visit, although there's nothing easy about it from what I've read. We head there with an arts group in May, and my fingers and toes are crossed that it all goes as planned. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying these Black Bean Tacos with Sweet Potatoes. They're topped with shredded cabbage, radish slices, and a salsa verde, and come together in about 30 minutes.
🤷♀️ Do Cubans eat tacos?
Cubans have adapted many Mexican dishes to their diets, including tacos, enchiladas, and burritos. You even find arepas there with various fillings for breakfast and snacks.
Cuban food is a blend of Caribbean, African, and Spanish cuisines with a little French thrown in, and many of their dishes feature rice, beans, plantains, and pork.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
Go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post for all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions to make these vegetarian tacos.
- Sweet potatoes
- Black beans - either canned black beans or cooked from dried beans.
- Spice mix - I like to use my Chipotle Spice Rub, Chili Powder, or your favorite Taco Seasoning.
- White onion - red onion is a great option if that's what you have.
- Flour tortillas - either flour or corn tortillas are fine. If you watch your carbs, these are some great much lower carb tortillas that I order online.
- Shredded cabbage - use either light green or red cabbage for a little crunch.
- Queso fresco - or cotija cheese.
- Radishes
- Salsa Verde - either make homemade salsa verde in just a few minutes or purchase your favorite at your local market. Other options are Pico de Gallo, avocado crema, or chipotle crema.
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Baking sheet or sheet pan - to roast the sweet potato
- Vegetable peeler
- Chef's knife
- Large skillet
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Use roasted butternut squash or delicata squash in place of the sweet potatoes.
- Use garnishes that work best for you. Slices of avocado would be a great addition.
- Substitute the black beans for Mexican black beans or pinto beans, if that's your preference.
- Add diced red or orange bell peppers to the black bean filling.
- Swap out the salsa verde for lime crema or sour cream.
- If you like a little heat, add a little hot sauce to the beans in the skillet.
- For a slightly smoother texture, use a potato masher to mash the black beans in the skillet before adding the roasted sweet potatoes.
🌱 Make it Vegan
Use a plant-based vegan cheese in place of the Queso Fresco or Cotija Cheeses. There are many now available, particularly in grocery stores that focus on natural, organic, and whole foods.
🍽 Side Dish Ideas
Candied plantains. The recipe is included in the below recipe card.
Easy Buttermilk Cornbread or Jiffy Mexican cornbread with chopped jalapeño and creamed corn.
Sweet Corn Tomalito - a sweet cornbread commonly served in many Mexican restaurants.
Corn on the cob - either grilled or cooked on the stovetop.
If you like this dish, you may also like my Jamaican Rice and Beans dish. It's vegan and gluten-free and is a twist on traditional Jamaican Rice and Red Peas.
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Cuban Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Candied Plantains
Ingredients
Spicy Black Beans and Sweet Potato Filling
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into ½-inch chunks
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 4 teaspoons Chipotle Spice Rub or your favorite Mexican spice mix or chili powder.
- ½ large white onion, finely diced
- 1 can black beans or 1 ½ cups cooked from dried
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
Tortillas and Garnishes
- 8 tortillas either wheat or corn is fine
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- ½ cup crumbled queso fresco
- ¼ cup thinly sliced radishes
- ½ cup salsa verde
Candied Plantains
- 2 plantains
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
Spicy Black Beans and Sweet Potato Filling
- Preheat the oven to 425˚F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss the diced sweet potato in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon Chipotle Spice Rub. Arrange in a single layer on the lined baking sheet, and roast for 15 minutes or until tender.Alternatively, air fry at 400˚F for 8 minutes, or until tender.
- Heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the diced onion. Sauté for 5 minutes or until slightly tender, and turn up the stove to medium-high heat. Add the beans and ½ teaspoon (or more, to your own taste) Chipotle Spice Rub (or other spice mix to your preference). Sauté for 5 minutes until fragrant and add the roasted sweet potato cubes, a squeeze of lime, and salt. Toss and cook for an additional 2 - 3 minutes.
- Warm the tortillas in the microwave oven for 15 seconds to make them pliable. Then, stuff the warm tortillas with the black bean mixture. Add the grated cabbage, cheese, and sliced radishes. Top with salsa verde. Serve warm with candied plantains.
Candied Plantains
- Peel, halve (across their width), and quarter the plantains. Melt the coconut oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and the quartered plantains. Cook until they begin to soften, turning every several minutes. Add the remaining tablespoon of brown sugar. Cook the plantains, turning only when completely caramelized, until very soft. They should still be easy to remove from the pan, but be very soft.
Heather | All Roads Lead to the Kitchen
Mmmm...anything with plantains and sweet potatoes makes my mouth water. These tacos sound amazing!
Jenni
Carnivorous Maximus! LOL These sound great, with or without meat, Susan! I know you will get to Cuba one day and have the very best time!
Liz
Candied plantains??? Oh, boy, those push these gorgeous tacos over the top!! Fingers crossed you get to explore Cuba soon!
laura@motherwouldknow
Oh my goodness, this looks so fabulous. The candied plantains really appeal to me - I'm so used to the savory version, but honestly, I'm more of a sweet-a-holic. The tacos are yummy looking too, of course:)
mjskitchen
These are some absolutely amazing tacos!!! Black beans and sweet potatoes has always been one of my favorite food combinations so you definitely grabbed me there, but then adding the tomatillo salsa and those candied plantains, just made me want to go out and buy the supplies to make these. What a great meatless meal! Of course I could just eat those candied plantains as a snack.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
These were delicious!!!! The tomatillo sauce really makes these work. And it's a great little sauce to have hanging around anyway!