The EASIEST Black Bean Tacos topped with a flavorful creamy avocado cilantro-lime sauce! Super quick & healthy vegan weeknight meal!
These are adapted from my Black Bean Lentil Tacos that we love so much. But made even faster since there are no lentils to cook! It’s a perfect weeknight meal. And since I’m always trying to find an excuse to make my creamy cilantro-lime dressing, I did a variation of it to drizzle on top. Pure taco deliciousness!
I love super fast, easy meals packed with flavor, and these definitely fit the bill. The black bean mixture is made in 5 minutes with just black beans, salsa, and cumin. Simple, yet bursting with flavor. If you have a few extra minutes, you can even saute some diced onion and minced garlic in the pan before adding the black beans. Or if you like a smoky kick, chipotle is great. Hope you enjoy them as well!
Tip: we’ve also made these even faster without the cilantro-lime sauce, using tomatoes and guacamole as the toppings. Dinner ready in under 10 minutes? Whoop! Can’t beat that!
Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Cilantro-Lime Sauce
Ingredients
- Two 15 oz. cans black beans
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 tsp. cumin
- Corn tortillas
Toppings of choice
- Lettuce, tomato, onion, roasted red peppers, corn, avocado, cilantro, dairy-free cheese, etc.
For the creamy avocado sauce
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 3/4 cup cilantro (stems removed)
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil (omit for oil-free)
- 1 tsp. agave (or other sweetener)
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Make the avocado sauce: in a food processor or blender, add all sauce ingredients and blend. Add a touch of water to thin if necessary, and tweak seasonings as desired. Set aside, or refrigerate if making ahead of time.
- In a pan over medium heat, add black beans (rinsed and drained), salsa, and cumin. Heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally, until heated through. (Optional: mash beans after heating for a creamier filling.)
- While the beans are heating, chop and prepare your toppings. Warm the tortillas if desired.
- Assemble the tacos: spoon the black bean mixture in the center of the tortillas, drizzle a small amount of avocado sauce over the top, and add your toppings.
Nutrition Per Serving (estimate)
Enjoying these Black Bean Tacos? Feel free to also check out the full “Mexican-Inspired” recipe archives on the site for more plant-based fiesta deliciousness! (Or another one of our favorites: Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers)
mmm these look so flavorful!
Thanks! 🙂
They are!!!!! Super good!!!!
I have been making black bean tacos since going vegetarian a year and a half ago and they haven't changed much, I've been looking for ways to make them more interesting and this looks perfect. Thanks!
Hey Lynette! Awesome! Aren't black bean tacos amazing? Hope you like this new variation! 🙂
These look amazing! I LOVE veggie tacos and the avo sauce sounds like the perfect topping. Can't wait to make these!
Hi Ashlyn! So glad you're excited to try these – hope you love 'em! Avocado makes just about everything better 😉
This was great!. Next time I think I'll serve over rice with lettuce and add
a bit to the cilantro lime mix. There wasn't quite enough, but doubling is probably too much.
Hey Becca! Glad you enjoyed the flavors. Love your idea for next time!!
My boyfriend and I just started the Nutritarian 6 Week Plan (the vegan version!) and I made this (with a few differences) for dinner tonight. They were sooo good, thanks for the recipe inspiration!
I wrote a blog post about it here:
http://caseysroadtohealth.blogspot.com/2014/07/dinner-day-3-black-bean-tacos.html
if you'd like to see! (I linked to this post, of course!)
Hi Casey! Yay, thanks for sharing your link – looks awesome! So glad you enjoyed the tacos, and hope you and your bf have fun with your 6 week plan!! 🙂
Kaitlin, the recipe is absolutely delicious. It's a great alternative from ground beef. And prepping is quick, easy and fun. I found the recipe on Pinterst. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jamillah! Oh I'm so happy you enjoyed these!! Definitely love how quick they come together 🙂 Thanks so much for your sweet comment!
Soo perfect… we are tight on money and I'm looking for ways to use what I already have for meals… never thought of black Bean tacos and I have a lot of dried beans !!! Thanks for the recipe
Hi!! YAY, so happy to hear you're excited to try these. Definitely an easy, delicious budget meal – enjoy! 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight; it was delicious!
Hi Susan!! That's fantastic – thanks for letting me know! 🙂
These are SO good. And that sauce? Omg. I'm an expat in the Netherlands and we don't really have good Mexican here. THIS totally fits that craving and I even used some precious Pace. I also shared on my blog's FB page they were so darn amazing. Great recipe.
Mexican food is the BEST!!! So glad these helped your craving 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
Made these tonight-SO delicious! Can't wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks for sharing!
Yay Kari!! So glad you enjoyed them! Excited to hear you're going to try more recipes – hope you love them just as much 🙂
This sounds absolutely scrumptious!
So glad I went perusing Pinterest today. : )
Thanks for sharing.
I'll be back!
Aww so sweet! Hope you love them!! 🙂
Just had to let you know that I just inhaled…. err, ate… these for dinner tonight. SO freakin yum! Thanks for a quick and easy vegetarian dinner for my busy life.
Hey Holly!! AHH – yay! So fun to hear you enjoyed them. Thanks for the sweet message 🙂 Have a great weekend!!
Thanks for the recipe. My sister is coming over to visit, so I need to find some food that she would like to eat. She's vegan, so this seems like a recipe that she would like. Black bean tacos with avocado cilantro-lime sauce sounds amazing. My sister is an avocado connoisseur, so I'm sure that she would gobble up these tacos for dinner. http://eldoradoak.com
Hi Deanna! Lovely to hear! I hope you and your sister enjoy these 🙂 Have a great week!
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious! My meat-loving-husband couldn't get enough and I had to stop myself at 3. The sauce compliments the bean mixture perfectly. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey Bethany!! YAY! I do a little happy dance when I hear meat-lovers going crazy for plants 😉 Thanks so much for your sweet message, and SO happy you two enjoyed them!
I am obsessed with this recipe and have made it several times — it's absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing such innovative vegan recipes! :-), Nicki
AHH! So awesome Nicki!! Fun to hear you're enjoying it. I love how quick and easy it is – but still so delicious! 😉 Have a great week!
I was cooking dinner tonight for two vegans and four meat eaters- and this was well enjoyed by all! We had it with chips, guac and fresh salsa on the side. Yum!
Yay Jen!! Sounds like an awesome Mexican feast – I'm always down for that! 😉 Happy to hear it was enjoyed by all. Hope you guys have a great weekend!
I have had this pinned for who knows how long under my Pinterest 'Mexican food' catagory, I have been looking to eat more healthy and yesterday I found this recipe, it was just what I was looking for, I started with making your restaurant salsa, this was heaven to me, after trying these tacos, I cannot even express how yummy this was, my husband really liked it too. I love your simple whole food recipes! Thank you for doing what you do. I wish we lived closer, I just know we would become fast friends.
Hi!! Thanks so much for your sweet message 🙂 Fun to hear you and your husband liked the tacos so much, yay! Mexican food is SO good!! Hope you two have a wonderful weekend 😀
These were fabulous!! LOVE! The sauce was great… and mashing the beans made them even tastier. Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed them! I agree – isn't it funny how simply changing the texture makes them taste even better? 😉 Wishing you a happy Saturday!
I made this for my Dad and I, and it was amazing! The sauce was so creamy and slightly tangy, with that cool undertone only cilantro can bring out. The bean mixture, too — I would never have thought of adding salsa, or even that cumin. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Marijke! Aw, I love the father-daughter shared meal 🙂 So glad you enjoyed them!!
Making this tonight for my hubby. Very excited about meatless tacos. Wonder is dressing can be used for taco salad?
Nice!! Hope you both loved it last night! This dressing can definitely be used to add a little extra spunk to your taco salads – it's a super versatile recipe so feel free to play around with the flavors a bit! 🙂
Sounds yummy!!! Would it be okay to omit the oil in the sauce or is there a non-oil sub that would work?
Hi Angie! Feel free to omit it! Just add a touch of water to thin if necessary when blending 🙂 Hope you enjoy!!
nice post
the dressing is excellent. I did not have tortillas so I made it with corn chips like Nachos in the oven with cheese very good.
I made this and it was REALLY awesome! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Hey Tabitha!! YAY! Glad you enjoyed these – thanks for the feedback 🙂 Wishing you a beautiful week! -Kaitlin
These are AMAZING. & super easy to make. I love all the flavor!
Awesome!! Thrilled to hear you gave them a try and enjoyed! 🙂 Have a great week! -Kaitlin
Just made this tonight to take to work for lunch tomorrow. What is considered a serving? 2 tacos! So super good. The lime sauce is through the roof!
Haha – so fantastic to hear that! Thanks so much for the kind feedback (and for leaving a recipe rating – very appreciated!) Enjoy your taco lunch today and have an awesome week! 😀 -Kaitlin
I made these tonight – they are pretty good but kind of sweet, just because they use a lot of naturally sweet ingredients and I swapped the agave with honey. The sauce is very good – suuuuper limey. It’s a great easy vegetarian recipe that I’ll probably come back to.
So great to hear you gave these a try and enjoyed, Sara! Thanks for the kind feedback & recipe rating – very appreciated 🙂