This black bean tacos recipe is an easy weeknight dinner. Warmed corn shells are finished with chopped romaine, tomatoes, onions, and avocado.
Ready in just 20 minutes. Vegan & gluten free.
This easy black bean tacos recipe has been a family favorite for many years now. Winter, summer, spring, or fall, tacos just always sound good.
Tacos are an inexpensive meal. They’re made with cost effective pantry & refrigerator staples like beans and vegetables.
Plus, they are ready in about 20 minutes. That’s good news on hectic weeknights or when I’ve waited a little too long to start dinner.
Flavorful black bean tacos are teeming with warming spices like cumin, coriander, and ancho chili powder. Then the beans are piled into crunchy hard shells with all your favorite toppings.
The mixture of spicy, crunchy, and cool ticks all of the pleasure sensors.
In this post:
Why readers love this recipe
“SO GOOD. As a new and struggling vegan I am so glad I came across your blog with quick, easy, tasty, filling options. You rock!” – Kat
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
Oil: Avocado oil is my go-to, but any neutral-flavored cooking oil works well here.
Produce: Garlic, onion, tomato, and lettuce. Then finish with your choice of avocados or guacamole.
Black beans: Either homemade or canned beans will work for this recipe. You’ll need one 15-ounce can of beans (drained and rinsed), or 1 ½ cups of cooked black beans.
Seasonings: Cumin, ancho chili powder, oregano, coriander, paprika, and salt.
Ancho chili powder is made with one ingredient – dried ancho chilies. It is flavorful but not hot. It can be replaced with standard chili powder, which is a blend of seasonings.
Lime juice: Choose freshly squeezed over bottled for the best flavor.
Taco shells: Hard taco shells add delicious crunch, but they can be replaced with whatever tortillas you prefer.
Step by step instructions
This section shows how to make this recipe at a glance with process photos of the steps. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
Sauté onions and garlic in a skillet.
Once they are fragrant, add black beans, spices, a squeeze of lime, and a little water to incorporate everything.
Once any excess liquid has cooked off, add salt to taste.
Put the black bean mixture into corn shells that have been warmed in the oven or air fryer.
Then add your choice of toppings.
Make it your own
You can make this dish your own by varying the filling and toppings.
- Replace black beans with pinto beans or chickpeas
- Finish the tacos with shredded vegan cheese
- Replace lettuce with shredded cabbage mix
- Replace onion topping with pickled red onions
- Add quick pickled jalapenos to the finished tacos for heat
Serving suggestions
Serve your tacos with any of these tasty side dishes:
- Sweet fried plantains
- Pineapple salsa or oven-roasted tomato salsa & tortilla chips
- Guacamole & tortilla chips
- Vegan 7-layer dip
Storage, reheating & repurposing
Store leftover black bean taco mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for 3 or 4 days.
Reheat in the microwave or in a skillet on the stove. If the beans have dried out, add a splash of water.
I usually double this recipe, so that I’m sure to have leftovers. They’re great in any of the following recipes:
- Double decker tacos
- Vegan taco pizza
- Vegan black bean burritos with plantains
- Vegan taco salad in baked tortilla bowl
If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!
📖 Recipe
Spicy black bean tacos
Ingredients
For spicy black beans
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or your preferred neutral-flavored oil
- 1 cup onion chopped small
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 can (15-ounce) black beans drained and rinsed (1 ½ cups)
- 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
For tacos
- 6 corn taco shells
- 1 large tomato chopped small
- 1 cup romaine lettuce or baby spinach, chopped
- 1 batch guacamole or 2 sliced avocados
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (If you prefer to warm your taco shells in the air fryer, you can skip this step.)
- Put oil in a skillet and bring to a medium heat. Set aside 2 Tablespoons of the onions to use as a topping. Then add the remaining onions and garlic to the pan. Saute until fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add drained black beans, cumin, ancho chili powder, oregano, coriander, paprika, lime juice, and water to the pan. Use a spatula to fully combine the beans and spices.
- Once the black bean mixture has warmed and any excess liquid has cooked off, add salt to taste.
- Put the corn taco shells in the oven and warm them for 5 minutes. Or warm the taco shells in the air fryer. Tuck the corn shells inside of each other, then put them into the air fryer basket. Heat at 370 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes. Be careful removing them from the air fryer basket. They will be hot.
- Stuff the corn shells with a spoonful of spicy black bean mixture, chopped tomato, romaine lettuce, onion, and guacamole or avocado.
Watch how to make it
Notes
Nutrition
Content updated April 3, 2024. Originally posted March 2012.
Sarah
Black Bean Tacos are the best! These look awesome!!!
Cadry
Thanks, Sarah!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
I could eat tacos every day! I’m always happy to have another taco recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Cadry
My pleasure! I could eat tacos every day too… or I would enjoy trying, at least! 😀
Ginny
I want these tacos Monday through Sunday!
Cadry
Good call! Why should Tuesday get all of the taco love?
Becky Striepe
These look like a perfect weeknight supper. I think my guys would love them!
Cadry
Yes, they are great for weeknights. The whole meal is ready in no time at all, and no one is ever unhappy about tacos! 😀
Jenn
You had me at spicy! Bring on the tacos!!
Cadry
Gladly! 😀
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
Yum yum yum! I am obsessed with tacos since starting to eat them in May. These look so good and so does that guacamole!
Cadry
I still can’t believe you only just started eating tacos in May. You have to eat A LOT of tacos to make up for lost time! 😉
Kat
Today I wanted to throw in the towel. I wanted to stuff my face with pizza with real cheese and just PIG OUT. So I did a quick search and found these tacos. I thought this is the perfect comfort food!!! I already had everything in the house except for taco shells which my husband picked up on his way home. I added some green peppers (something I love and always have on hand in frozen diced form) and guacamole (avocado, tomato, garlic, cilantro, onion powder, garlic powder and the other half of the lime used in the beans) and tofutti sour cream. It hit the spot and kept me on track. SO GOOD. As a new and struggling vegan I am so glad I came across your blog with quick, easy, tasty, filling options. You rock!
Cadry
Kat, your comment made my day! Thank you so much! I’m really glad that I was able to help. I know how hard it can be when you’re transitioning to going vegan, but still have old cravings. If there’s anything I can do to help out, don’t hesitate to ask! 😀
Diane S
I made this tonight with a mango salsa (just mixed one mango, one tomato, some dried chili and cilantro). It was delicious. Great contrast between the mango salsa and the spicy beans. Will definitely make again.
Cadry's Kitchen
Excellent! I’m glad to hear it, Diane! Mango and black beans complement each other so beautifully.
Andrea
I second the idea that this recipe would be a great intro to plant-based eating. It sounds delicious. I love avocado on black bean tacos — it adds the perfect touch of creamy richness. A couple of kalamata olives would also be nice. 🙂
Cadry's Kitchen
Oh, yes, kalamata olives would be a great addition! They’re welcome at any dinner as far as I’m concerned.
Cara
Can we first talk about that avocado dome? Uh…it is the most beautiful thing ever, Cadry! Can one be in love with an avocado dome? I am 🙂 And spicy beans? Girl, this is my post!
Cadry's Kitchen
I’d love to talk about avocado. It’s one of my favorite subjects! Seriously, what isn’t improved upon by avocado?
Cara
I have a feeling that we could have a long chat over tea about avocados… 🙂 ha
Caitlin
yummy!!!!!!!!! i love black bean tacos! your spice combo looks delish!
Cadry's Kitchen
Thanks, Caitlin! Black bean tacos are like pizza – they almost always sound good!
GiGi
Perfect food for a veggie neophyte. What am I saying, perfect food for anybody. The pics are quite grand!!!
Cadry's Kitchen
Thanks, Gigi! Beans are a great gateway food because they’re pretty familiar to people and can be used in such a variety of recipes. They don’t seem to scare people off the way that tofu or seitan can.