Roasted Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tacos with Charred Autumn Squash
Roasted sweet potato and smoky black beans folded into wholegrain tortillas — plant protein and fibre in every fold.
Best for high fibre · plant protein · steady blood sugar
This is the taco I make when the evenings turn cold and I want something that eats like comfort food but leaves me clear-headed, not heavy. Roasting the sweet potato hard at high heat concentrates its sweetness and gives you caramelised edges, while the black beans go in the same tray with cumin and smoked paprika so they crisp instead of steam. The wholegrain tortillas do real work here — they bring the fibre and a nutty backbone that plain white flour tortillas can't touch. Between the beans and the whole grains you get a complete plant protein with serious staying power.
Ingredients
- 600 g Sweet potato , peeled, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 480 g Cooked black beans , drained and rinsed (about 2 tins)
- 1 red onion , cut into thin wedges
- 30 ml olive oil
- 6 g ground cumin
- 6 g smoked paprika
- 3 g Ground coriander
- 5 g fine sea salt
- 8 Wholegrain tortillas , warmed
- 2 Lime , one juiced, one cut into wedges
- 20 g fresh coriander , roughly chopped
- 40 g Pumpkin seeds , toasted
- 120 g Greek-style yoghurt , for a quick lime crema (optional – can be omitted)
Instructions
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1
Heat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C) and line a large baking tray. Toss the sweet potato cubes and onion wedges with most of the olive oil, the cumin, smoked paprika, ground coriander and salt until evenly coated. Spread them out in a single layer with space between the pieces — crowd the tray and they steam instead of roast.
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2
Roast for 20 minutes, then pull the tray out. Push the vegetables to one side, add the black beans tossed with the remaining olive oil to the empty half, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender with caramelised edges and the beans have dried and started to crisp. Squeeze over the juice of one lime while everything is still hot.
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3
If making the crema, stir the yoghurt with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime. Warm the wholegrain tortillas in a dry pan for about 30 seconds a side until pliable and lightly blistered. Fold a generous spoonful of the roasted beans and sweet potato into each, then finish with fresh coriander, toasted pumpkin seeds, a drizzle of lime crema and a wedge of lime to squeeze at the table.