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Today’s vegan taco salad recipe is filled with spicy black beans and stuffed inside a baked tortilla bowl. A filling & flavor packed lunch!
It’s a lot easier to eat salad in the summer. Not only are fruits and vegetables at their juiciest, it’s when the weather’s sticky, hydrating produce beckons like Forever 21 to a 14-year-old.
Once the days get darker and stepping outside without a jacket becomes an impossibility, salad loses some of its luster.
It’s hard to get geared up for romaine when you’d rather climb into a Jacuzzi of gnocchi soup and bread.
Still, raw vegetables are good for the body and the palate. It just takes a bit of finagling to make them more appealing in the cooler months.
I like to give salads a fall makeover by adding at least one warm element. It could be homemade croutons, baked tofu, or roasted chickpeas.
To add interest to this vegan taco salad, I added a baked tortilla bowl and spicy black beans. Plus, a healthy dollop of guacamole!
Vegan taco salad
When I was in high school, a taco salad was one of my standard orders at Perkins, the casual chain known for their bread bowls and pies.
A bunch of us would slide into a booth after play practice, hang out after a school dance, or grab an appetizer after a movie.
I haven’t been to a Perkins location in well over a decade. But there was a time in my life when that diner was a regular haunt. The only people who were there more often were the police officers ordering pancakes late into the night.
The taco salads came in a crisp bowl that could be cracked into the mixture of lettuce, or even used to scoop up the salad like a jagged, handmade nacho. The shell crackled under my teeth with every bite of iceberg, tomato, and taco filling.
These days, I make vegan taco salads at home.
How to bake a tortilla bowl
Instead of deep-frying the bowls, I use a metal bowl with a curled shape to bake the tortilla into the perfect taco salad vessel.
If you don’t own such a bowl, no worries. A medium-sized glass bowl that’s oven-safe will do the trick just fine. Simply place your tortilla into it and press it against the sides. Bake for 10 minutes.
I fill my taco salads with spicy black beans.
You’ll find these black beans all over my blog, because they make leftovers that are rife for repurposing. They can be placed in tacos, obviously, on taco pizza, or spread across puffy nachos.
Add any other favorite taco salad fillings like tomatoes, romaine, guacamole, jalapeño slices, and/or cilantro.
With a little spicy kick, those raw vegetables are primed for fall and winter until it’s July again and raw tacos beckon.
Vegan Taco Salad with Spicy Black Beans
Ingredients
- 4 large wheat tortillas
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¾ cup onion chopped small
- 1 ½ cups black beans 1 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- ¼ cup water
- Salt to taste
- 4 cups chopped romaine or green leaf lettuce
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 batch guacamole
- Optional: creamy cashew dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place each tortilla in a metal tortilla shell pan or glass oven safe bowl. Put them into the oven for 10 minutes or until crisp. (If they aren’t brown and crisp, continue baking for a couple minutes longer.)
- While the tortilla is cooking, heat skillet to a medium heat and add extra virgin olive oil to the heated pan. Sauté garlic and onions in pan until fragrant and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add black beans, cumin, ancho chili powder, oregano, coriander, paprika, lime juice, water, and salt to the pan. Use a spatula to fully combine the beans and spices. Once the bean mixture has warmed and any excess liquid has cooked off, remove from heat.
- Remove the bowls from the oven and fill tortilla bowls with a scoop of spicy black beans, lettuce, tomato, red bell pepper, and guacamole. If you like, drizzle creamy cashew dressing on each salad and serve.
Jennifer says
Can’t go wrong with Taco Salads! looks GREAT!
Cadry says
Thanks, Jennifer! Taco salads are always a win in my book too.
Bobbie {the vegan crew} says
These spicy black beans sound like the perfect filling! We’ve enjoyed taco bowls at home a number of times since you posted about how to bake your own some time ago — such a great idea! I don’t know if we have room for any more dishes in our tiny kitchen (not that it’s ever stopped me), but I’m really digging the metal dish made specifically for taco bowls.
Cadry says
It’s funny how just a change of shape from burrito to bowl makes the experience so much more fun, even though it’s the exact same tortilla. I probably wouldn’t have gotten the metal taco bowls either, but David actually really wanted them. So I gave them to him for Christmas last year. It does make taco salad night that much more inviting!
veganinbrighton says
Who wouldn’t love a dish they could eat?! I love a good bread bowl!
Cadry says
It’s true! I rarely see foods served in bread bowls anymore, let alone vegan foods. We need to start a restaurant selling vegan chili in bread bowls ASAP.
Becky says
So cute, and I love the video!
Cadry says
Thanks, Becky!
Kylie - FotV says
Oh yummy! I loooooove black beans, so I need to try your spicy version. Where did you get the taco shell contraption?? I need one 🙂
Cadry says
I bought them here on Amazon. However, I’ve also seen them in lots of cooking stores, and so you should check in your area too. I bet you’ll find them there!
Richa says
love the video. those metal bowls for the shape are so fun!
Cadry says
Thanks, Richa! The perfect shape does make it that much prettier!
Joey says
I think that taco bowl is really cute – am I being a bit retro with that? Still, with the beans in, no one can deny its awesomeness!
Cadry says
Maybe they’re retro or maybe they’re timeless!
gigiveganville says
why do I always forget lime? Thank you for reminding me with this great video! Larry wants a taco bowl now 😉
Cadry says
I think Larry should keep his eye on the prize and find you first! Then taco salads for everyone!
gigiveganville says
hahaha.
Herbivore Triathlete says
Oh my God, I can’t even begin tell you how many late nights I spent at Perkins as a teenager! I also love bowls you can eat, bread or tortilla shells! This looks so delicious. Loving the video!
Cadry says
Oh, that’s great that you spent many teenage nights at Perkins too. Interactive food (like being able to eat the bowl) is always more fun! Thanks for the kind words on the video!
ameyfm says
so fun. It never occurred to me to make a tortilla bowl! I will totally try this. But, as you know, I am totally distracted by your immaculate kitchen. It would take me at least 3 days to get my kitchen that clean. I am AMAZED.
Cadry says
Aw, thanks, Amey! As a person who was known for the first 27 years of her life as being the messy one that really tickles me!
Mel says
Taco bowls are such a great idea – I love the thought of having an edible bowl. What’s up your sleeve next Cadry? An edible nacho hat like the one Homer wore on The Simpsons!
Cadry says
I like the way you think! I could have nachos with me everywhere I go. 🙂
luminousvegans says
Great video! These taco bowls look awesome. I love bowls since visiting Portland. But including a bowl I can eat is like whoa, taking bowls to the next level! I never even thought to make the bowl/shell at home. That’s so smart!
Cadry says
Thanks, Ketty! It’s so easy too and makes salad night a lot more interesting. After you do it the first time, I bet you’ll be hooked!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk says
We have Perkins down here too, and that was MY PLACE back in the day. I’m from a small town in Arkansas, where not much is going on ever, so my high school friends and I (we called ourselves The Freaks b/c we were artsy and “misunderstood” ha!) spent hours drinking endless pots of coffee and smoking cigarettes (back when smoking was allowed in restaurants!). I used to order the fries or the chocolate chipper sundae all the time.
Cadry says
Our groups would have had a lot in common, I think! I went with lots of different people to Perkins, but whenever I went with other drama kids we sat in the smoking section since a lot of them smoked. (It’s funny now to think of that glass partition that separated the smoking from non-smoking section and how little use that would be since smoke rises.) We called ourselves The Benchers, because there were these crappy red benches in the drama room where we would hang out and talk.
Susmitha - Veganosaurus says
The taco salad looks fantastic, Cadry! And I love your recipe video. 🙂
Cadry says
Thanks, Susmitha!
veganmiam.com says
Awesome video! Thanks for the terrific steps! I love spicy salads, especially the black beans & these gorgeous avocados & cilantro/green scallions. I look forward to reading about one of my favorite bloggers, Jackie <3<3
Cadry says
Thanks so much! You’re going to love Jackie’s interview! She is hilarious.
Andrea says
Now, of course, I’m obsessing over the tortilla bowl bakers. People who love kitchenware should not be allowed to watch videos like this. You should have posted a warning. 😀
Cadry says
I’ll see if David can add some kind of warning and siren noise for those with the similar kitchenware addictions! 🙂
Hannah says
You so purrrrrrdy.
Cadry says
Aw, you’re too kind! 🙂
Maggie Muggins says
I had no idea making one of those tortilla bowls was so easy! I have to make this for lunch, I haven’t had taco salad in years! The last time I had one was also at one of those chain diner restaurants, just the Canadian version 🙂
Cadry says
I know! It really couldn’t be simpler!
Shell says
I love the video! It makes it look so easy. I’ve been really interested in your black bean recipe, but was intimidated. I’m not anymore!
Cadry says
Thanks, Shell! It is super easy. Maybe you can add it to your Sunday repertoire! 🙂
Randi (laughfrodisiac) says
Oh wow I want to make this for dinner tomorrow, most definitely. It looks so fresh and joyous.
Ahh, memories of Perkins, how lovely 😛 They all smell the same, like Subways do, right?!
Cadry says
Probably! With all of those chickens’ eggs they’re frying and pies they’re baking, I bet they all smell about the same. It is weird how Subways smell the same everywhere. I passed by one a couple of weeks ago and was amazed that the smell emanating out its doors was so omnipresent and standard.
clairesuellentrop says
Isn’t it funny how much time in high school is spent stuffed in chain diner booths? Sounds like our experiences were similar–though I usually ended up at IHOP or at Village Inn. Anyway, this taco bowl sounds fabulous.
Cadry says
It is funny! I spent so many nights there in those days, and now I haven’t been inside of a Perkins in probably ten years. Thanks for the kind words about the taco bowl!
Marti Mïllër Häll says
This looks YUMMY! We do a lot of taco salads, taco bowls, taco whatevers… I can’t stand the taste of canned beans though, but fortunately we usually have a stash of cooked, or cooked and frozen ones avaiilable.
Cadry says
I bet our freezers look very similar! Mine is always full of beans made from scratch in a variety of types that I freeze for future use. I don’t use canned beans either, but I know a lot of other folks do.
Mandee says
Yum! This looks so fresh and delicious, definitely my kind of meal!
Cadry says
Thanks, Mandee!