Veggie-loaded with lots of guacamole, black beans, corn, and peppers, these vegetarian tacos are full-on yummy.
Tacos, I think, more than any other savory food, make people happy. Set up a taco bar with lots of fixin’s, and you’ll have one giddy group of peeps. (Ever had a taco party in the summer? Lots of smoky-grilled toppings and free-flowing cocktails/mocktails/beer makes for one feel-good time.)
Trying to cut back on meat these days? Tacos! Those little flour shells hold all kinds of vegetarian goodness with flair equal to meaty counterparts. Grilled portobello mushroom and onion tacos. Yes! Roasted three-pepper tacos with cotija. Woot! White fish tacos with this taco sauce. Oh, hell to the yes.
And anything that includes guacamole. I made guac-loaded vegetarian tacos this weekend, and they were everything I ever wanted. I had no choice but to share the delicious loaded guacamole word with all you lovely peeps.
You know what I really love about guacamole? It’s so rich and creamy that you can skip the cheese.
I know, cheese, why on earth would you skip cheese?
It’s summer, and with gorgeous vegetables everywhere — practically rolling right out into the street (seriously, there was a watermelon in the road on the way to the post office Saturday morning) — we think about healthier options now more than any other season. Cheese is many things, but I wouldn’t include “healthy” among them.
I’m not giving up cheese any time soon, but I just thought I’d mention the guacamole thing. Try your next vegetarian tacos without cheese but lots of guac, and see if you really miss it.
I also want to share a little secret that few realize: raw corn is rrr’awesome! Now, I’m not going all hippy-dippy here by saying the word “raw,” like I’m trying to get you to stop cooking everything and wear hemp and buy electric cars and stuff. All valid choices, but not my point.
No, I simply mean that corn cut fresh from the cob does not need to be cooked. It’s sweet and tender and sweet and crunchy and sweet, and if there’s one new thing you try this summer, I’d say, raw corn.
Buy a fresh, beautiful cob (or two) from your local farmers’ market, slice the kernels from the cob, and sprinkle them generously over your next salad or cold pasta dish, or mix them into your loaded guacamole.
Transformative.
These vegetarian tacos with guacamole are Meatless Monday, weeknight-meal worthy, 30 minutes to the table, and [boom] dinner. But if you’re extra squeezed for time, buy prepared guac and add the peppers and red onions, and you’re good to go.
Karen xo
- 2 avocados, pit and skin removed, roughly chopped
- 1/2 of a lime
- 1/2 of a lemon
- 1/4 salt (plus extra as needed)
- 1/3 cup corn kernels (raw, from about 1/2 of a large cob, or thawed from frozen)
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons diced poblano pepper
- 1 tablespoon diced red onion
- 1 tablespoon diced jalapeño pepper
- 2 teaspoons minced cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 can black beans (15 ounces)
- 1/3 cup corn kerns (raw, from 1/2 of a large cob, or thawed from frozen)
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup poblano peppers, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 6 small flour or soft corn tortillas
- 2 cups chopped iceberg or romaine lettuce
- 1 tablespoon minced cilantro
- hot sauce, such as Cholula or Sriracha (optional)
- lime and/or lemon wedges
- Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with a fork (or molcajete) until it reaches your desired consistency, chunky or smooth. Add a small squeeze each of lime and lemon juice, along with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well and taste. Add more lime juice, lemon juice, and salt as you like. Stir in the remaining guacamole ingredients. (To make ahead, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and press gently against the guacamole. The entire surface of the guac should be touching and covered by the wrap, to keep air out. Then, cover the bowl with a second sheet of wrap, and refrigerate.)
- Add all of the black bean ingredients to a 2 quart sauce pot and heat over medium-low until hot. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to a very warm, eatable temp (a few minutes should do it).
- If the tortillas are not soft and pliable (or if you like your tortillas warm), stack them on a microwaveable plate, separated with paper towels, and heat for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Line half of each tortilla with lettuce. Spoon the black bean mixture over the lettuce (on half of the tortilla). Spoon guacamole on the other half. Top with a few shakes of hot sauce (optional) and a sprinkle of cilantro. Serve with lemon and lime wedges.
Hi there! I'm Karen, and I hope this post has inspired you to get into the kitchen and start cooking up something delicious. I love sharing my recipes for 
These tacos are beautiful, but we’ll have to choose sides about tortillas. Everyone knows corn rules for flavor and texture, although, yes, they tend to fall apart. I love the idea of a taco bar for a party, along with your mojitos, and there’s certainly room for both kinds.
PS: You take the best photographs, Karen.
Thanks, Darlynne! No argument about the corn tortillas. And I love homemade the best! (I have a huge bucket of masa in my kitchen.) But I’ll own up to the flour tortilla shortcut when time is crunchy.
These look outstanding! I love the heavy-handedness with the avocados. Nice!
Thanks, Allison! I could eat guacamole with a spoon as a meal – naturally, I lay it on thick here. 😉
yep, I do need one of those right now…
I don’t know if I should admit this or not, but I’ve had these for lunch everyday this week. Seems I can’t get enough guacamole these days.
This was great. I made buckwheat tortilla’s instead of buying flour tortillas. it tasted very good, thanks fo the recipe.
Oh my gosh this looks heavenly!
I’m going to give these a try this week – they look SO yummy!
I made this for dinner last night as part of an effort to eat more plant based food and they were SO flavorful! Just had leftovers for lunch and they were just as good, if not better, since the flavors in the guac had time to marry over night. I don’t normally comment on blogs, but this one definitely deserves a high five. Will be making again 🙂
Thank you, Sara! I’m so happy you enjoyed them! It’s definitely one of my go-to meals! 🙂
Just curious, when you heated up the beans. Did you rinse them first or leave them in the juice?
That’s a great question! I always drain, and if things look a bit gunky in the can, like they sometimes do, then I’ll do a quick rinse in the can (using the mostly cut off lid as the strainer). I rarely bother dumping into a sieve and rinsing thoroughly.
Vegetarian tacos would not contain fish. And there are many reasons to give up cheese. Those of us who are vegan could name quite a few. While I appreciate the effort shown here to include vegetarian options, please realize it’s not just about “meatless Mondays”- it’s every day of the week, month and year for those who are truly committed to a healthy lifestyle.
Sharon,
I’m not sure what your intended outcome is by leaving an insulting, drive-by comment on a blog you have never visited before, which is run a person you don’t even know (me).
I was a vegetarian for years, and do you know what made people cringe whenever I admitted I was a vegetarian? They were afraid that I was going to get all judgy and start evangelizing about the evils of eating meat (I know this because I asked — and I asked a lot, and took all of their replies to heart). Folks don’t want to be lectured, and these kind of comments do nothing, other than, I imagine, make *you* feel righteous. I maintained a second blog while I was a vegetarian – you might want to check out this post, which talks about going vegetarian, including perceptions by others.
You will attracts more proponents by walking the walk — being kind, eating and cooking by example, sharing tips and wisdom (when asked) with genuine enthusiasm — than you will over-talking the talk by making somewhat rude comments in random places on the interwebs.
Normally, I would delete such things, but I hope non-vegetarians, who are trying to make healthier choices — and it is really tough in our culture, especially when you have a family — read this and know they have all of *my* support.
I was looking for a black bean taco recipe for an inexpensive dinner and this is EXACTLY what I was picturing. Perfect, thank you so much! And I second the guac love 😉
I agree. Humourless badgering – or any badgering for that matter – is not conducive to enlightening our fellow humans about the joys of vegetarian/veganism to which I’m a recent convert. BTW, regarding the previous comment, where is the fish in this recipe? Anyhow, looking forward to trying this, thanks!
My husband and I are trying to eat better. I’ve recently gone vegeterian again (but do eat fish & eggs occasionally). I’m trying to get both of us to do meatless Mondays, which is hard when you have a big husband who works construction & grew up on the old meat & potato dinners like alot of us. Tonight I made this meal & he LOVED it!! It went on the “make it again” list. Just wanted to say thanks for the great recipe.
This looks really good, and I’m putting it on my “try list” for sure. However, I’m about 99% sure the corn kernels “scattered” around the outside of the plates are kernels of raw corn, but the corn in the actual tacos looks grilled/cooked. (25 years of pickin’ ears) (Iowa girl) experience lol. I think I would grill it as well. Or at least flashboil.
Hi Amanda,
You have a good eye. 😉 The corn *is* lightly cooked in the recipe, but — and it’s been a couple of years since I took these photos — what probably happened is that I prepared the ingredients ahead of time, stuck them in the fridge, and then photographed when the light was good. The corn in the taco filling would’ve sat “cooking,” ceviche style, in the lime juice, possibly overnight. But anyway, since then, I’ve made these tacos over and over again, fresh corn, thawed corn, grilled corn … it’s all good! 🙂