Sweet Potato Taco Recipe

Never underestimate vegetarian tacos. They can be just as good! I’m not necessarily advocating to be vegetarian, since I eat meat myself. However, vegetarian cooking in general can be just as delicious. In fact, sweet potatoes are dense and creamy; they certainly hold their own in whichever food they are in. Besides bursting with flavor, these sweet potato tacos are filled with ingredients varying in texture. Every bite might be a little different. Let’s learn how to make them:

Sweet Potato Filling Ingredients:

1 lb. (16 oz.) sweet potatoes

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt to taste

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. cayenne powder

1 tsp. paprika powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

Bean Filling Ingredients:

1 16 oz. can of black beans

Salt to taste

½ tsp. cumin powder

½ tsp. cayenne powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

Other Ingredients:

10-14 white corn tortillas

Guacamole to taste

Sour Cream to taste

2 tbsp. sriracha sauce

¼ cup mayonnaise

• Preheat the oven to 425 F and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil. You can choose to add a splash of olive oil and spread it out on the baking sheet. Doing so ensures the sweet potatoes will not stick. However, this is optional because the sweet potato mixture we’ll be making has plenty of olive oil in it. Keep the baking sheet in the oven while it preheats.
• Thoroughly wash your sweet potatoes. Feel free to use any type of sweet potato. I generally buy a blend of different sweet potatoes, where the insides of some are more orange, more yellow or more white.
• Chop the sweet potatoes into cubes or bite size pieces. Place the sweet potato pieces into a large bowl.
• Toss the olive oil with the chopped sweet potatoes. Make sure most or all of the pieces are coated with the olive oil.
• Add the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne powder, paprika power and dried oregano to the mixture. Mix thoroughly and ensure the sweet potatoes are coated in the spice blend. You might want to add more cayenne powder if you like it spicy.
• Remove the hot lined baking sheet and spread the sweet potato pieces. The farther away you spread them, the better. If the pieces are too crowded, the sweet potatoes tend to steam. Bake the sweet potatoes for 25 minutes.
• While the sweet potatoes bake, we can make the bean mixture. Heat your stove and empty the can of black beans into a pot. Feel free to use pinto beans or refried beans instead of the black beans if you prefer.
• While the beans heat up, add the salt, cumin powder, cayenne powder, garlic powder and onion powder into the pot as well. Mix well.
• Mash the beans as much as you’d like and cook them until they have reached a desired consistency.
• In a separate bowl, mix the sriracha sauce and mayonnaise; sriracha mayo is an excellent condiment that goes well with a lot of food. You’ll likely have more sauce than you need, so save the rest for another use. I recommend using the sauce in burgers or having it with fries.
• Once the sweet potatoes are done baking, they should look slightly browned. Taste a piece to see if the sweet potatoes are fully cooked. If they are still slightly raw, put them back in the oven until they are fully cooked.
• In order to heat up your tortillas, you can heat a pan and lightly toast them with butter or microwave them between two moist paper towels. Those are my favorite ways, but feel free to heat them up however you prefer.
• Let’s assemble the taco. Place a few pieces of sweet potato on the center of the tortilla. Add beans on top of that. Dollop the sriracha mayo sauce, guacamole and sour cream. Voila!
• Other possible taco fillings include pico de gallo, grated cheese or cilantro (cilantro only for those of you who like it, which I will never understand).

This recipe makes 10 to 14 tacos, depending on how much you fill each taco. Be warned that they are quite addictive. Not only are these tacos delicious, but they are also easy to make. They might not be traditional tacos, but they are a great vegetarian alternative. A margarita or an ice-cold corona beer go well with these tacos too. Enjoy!