Black Bean Quinoa Tacos
Meet your new favorite vegan quinoa black bean tacos recipe! These plant-based tacos are made with a hearty & filling black bean quinoa taco meat. A 30-minute, one-skillet dinner made with pantry ingredients – perfect for meatless Monday AND Taco Tuesday!
Source: Plays Well With Butter
- Serves 4 servings
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 30 min
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry quinoa (see Recipe Notes, Below)
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock (or water)
- 14 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 lime, juiced
- kosher salt & ground black pepper, to season
Directions
- Add the olive oil to a medium skillet (with lid) over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion. Season with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent & fragrant, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir the garlic into the skillet. Cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the spices (chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika) & tomato paste. Stir, coating the onion & garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes more, until very fragrant.
- Add the quinoa to the skillet, stirring to combine with the onion mixture. Let the quinoa toast for about 1 minute before adding in the vegetable broth. Increase heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, add in the black beans. Cover the skillet and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes (see Recipe Notes, below). Once the quinoa cooked, remove the skillet from the heat & set aside to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the lid. Squeeze the lime juice over top and fluff the mixture with a fork. Set aside for taco assembly.
- Prep the cilantro lime cashew crema: Meanwhile, as the quinoa simmers, prep the cilantro lime cashew crema. Add all listed cashew crema ingredients to a food processor or blender. Blend to combine, adding a tablespoon or two of water as needed to reach your desired consistency. Set aside, or transfer to an airtight container & store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Add some of the quinoa & black bean mixture to a tortilla with sliced avocado. Top with a drizzle of cilantro lime crema. Finish with some chopped cilantro, a spritz of fresh lime juice, & any salsas or toppings your taco-lovin’ heart desires. Enjoy!
Cooking quinoa: Quinoa can be kind of finicky to cook properly. Once you bring quinoa to a boil, cover & reduce to a simmer (as directed in Step 3, above), it’s important that the simmer be pretty gentle. If it simmers too vigorously, the liquid will cook out too quickly, resulting in quinoa that’s very “al dente” or undercooked. It’s all very heat-dependent, so knowing the nature of your stove will be helpful. If you run into this issue, feel free to add in a couple extra splashes of vegetable broth to give the quinoa enough liquid to absorb.
