Black Bean Smash Tacos
These Black Bean Smash Tacos are my new favorite! So dang easy and delicious, and perfect for a quick weeknight meal!
I made some Smash Tacos with Chickpeas a little while back and loved them, so I figured I might as well make some more but with Black Beans!
These are just as good, but in a completely different way! I’ve been loading them up with my Cilantro Sauce and have been eating them everyday for lunch and I can’t stop!
This Smash Taco Recipe also makes about 1.5 pounds worth, and I recommend doing 2 – 3 oz. portions, so that’s 8 – 12 Tacos!
ingredients for Black Bean Smash Tacos
- Black Beans – I’m using canned black beans, but fresh will work too. You’ll need about 3 cups (500g) of cooked beans. If you use low sodium canned beans you will likely have to adjust the salt since I used regular canned black beans.
- Flavorings – Soy Sauce, Tomato Paste, Vegan Mayo, will be our wet flavorings. Onion and Garlic Powder, Smoked Paprika, Cumin, Cayenne, Nutritional Yeast will be the dry seasonings.
- Binders – I’ll be using Cornstarch and Instant Potato Flakes for the binders. You can also use Breadcrumbs if you like instead of the Potato Flakes.
- Cilantro Sauce – I made my homemade Cilantro Sauce, as well as some Chipotle Mayo, but use whatever you like!
- Lettuce – I like Iceberg!
- Pico de Gallo – a classic taco topper!!
- Pickled Onions – I also tried out one with Pickled Onions!
- Tortillas – You can use corn or flour, both work great! I did prefer the corn however, so go for those ideally!
How to make a soy and gluten free Smash Taco?
For Soy and Gluten Free, swap the Soy Sauce for Coconut Aminos. I used Potato Flakes and Cornstarch, so it’s naturally GF on that end too. And obviously use Corn Tortillas for GF!
how to make Black bean Smash Tacos
Drain and wash the beans. Add them along with all the other ingredients to a food processor and pulse / blend until it’s smooth but with some good chunks still.
You can also mash this mixture with a fork or potato masher in a large mixing bowl.
To make a taco, simply take out about 2 – 3 oz worth, and roll into a ball.
You can smash the taco in two ways. The first option is to add the bean ball to a hot non-stick pan, then the tortilla on top, and then smash it.
The second option is to smash the ball into the tortilla. I recommend using some parchment or burger paper and a stiff spatula or burger press.
Then add that to a non-stick pan heated over medium with a bit of oil. I like to spray the smashed bean patty with oil too.
Pan fry until browned, about 3 – 4 minutes. You can flip and fry the tortilla for a few minutes as well if you like it to be a bit crispy.
Top with whatever you like! I’ve been doing my Cilantro Sauce or Chipotle Mayo, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo!
Storage
You can store the Black Bean Mixture for 4 – 5 days in the fridge. Then just whip up 2 – 3 tacos as needed!
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Black Bean Smash Tacos
Ingredients
Black Bean Mixture
- 2 (15 oz) Cans of Black Beans
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Vegan Mayo
- 1/2 cup Instant Potato Flakes (or Bread Crumbs, Oat Flour)
- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Cayenne
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 2 Tbsp Pickled Jalapeño Brine (optional)
- Salt & Pepper
For Tacos
- Corn Tortillas (or Flour)
- Shredded Lettuce
- Pico de Gallo
- Cilantro Sauce
- Chipotle Mayo
- Whatever You Want!
Instructions
- Drain and wash the beans. Add them along with all the other ingredients to a food processor and pulse / blend until it's smooth but with some good chunks still. You can also mash this mixture with a fork or potato masher in a large mixing bowl if you don't have a food processor.
- You can store the mixture in the fridge for 4 – 5 days. To make a taco, simply take out about 2 – 3 oz worth, and roll into a ball.
- You can smash the taco in two ways. The first option is to add the bean ball to a heated and oiled, non-stick pan, then the tortilla on top, and then smash it.
- The second option is to smash the ball into the tortilla. I recommend using some parchment or burger paper and a stiff spatula or burger press.
- Then add that to a non-stick pan heated over medium with a bit of oil. I like to spray the smashed bean patty with oil too.
- Pan fry until browned, about 3 – 4 minutes. You can flip and fry the tortilla for a few minutes as well if you like it to be a bit crispy.
- Top with whatever you like! I've been doing my Cilantro Sauce or Chipotle Mayo, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo!
First taste of the mixture, I thought “Wow! Flavor bomb!” These are excellent. I used a flat-bottomed bowl to do the smashing and it worked well! Will definitely make these again.
Oh nice, so glad you dug it! Nice that you can taste them before cooking too! Thanks!!
Had these for dinner tonight, they were so good! Definitely will be going into the regular taco rotation. I made the mixture yesterday so it was a super easy weeknight meal to make tonight!
Awesome, so happy to hear this! I love having the mixture in the fridge for easy tacos!! Thanks!
I made this last night… wow. Delicious!
Glad you dug it! Thanks!
Made as written, came out great, really excellent blend of spices. The people I cook for don’t like black beans so I used pintos instead, which worked just fine, as would mayocoba beans.
I am keen to experiment with these next time, maybe adding like half a cup of soy chorizo to the bean mix to up the protein while still being freezer friendly. You could also a cooked sweet potato instead of one can of beans. A seeded chipotle in adobo sauce with a teaspoon of the sauce would also be delicious in this if you like spicy food. Really easy and fun to make thanks so much!
Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it’s very customizable, those all sound like good ideas!!
These turned out great! Everything came together really fast and they were non vegan husband approved. These are super weeknight friendly.
Awesome, glad they worked out for a quick and easy dinner, thank you!!
SO GOOD! Thank you!
Thank you! Glad you like them!
Super fast and tasty! It’s fantastic to have more than one meal prepped and ready to go for several days. I used my fermented onions on top, and it was terrific. Your cookbook is a great tool as well.
I haven’t made these (yet, i’m printing the recipe for later this week) but I wanted to ask, has anyone tried freezing them? I thinking freezing the version smashed into the tortilla and pulling them out when i need a meal.
Fast and tasty taco recipe!
I made a few tweaks: used leftover rice instead of potato flakes and cornstarch (since that’s what I had in the fridge), and baked the mixture with the tacos to reduce frying.
This recipe is adaptable, and I tasted the batch before adding more salt and seasonings.
It’s a keeper for us!
Made these last night with an added layer of vegan Mexican shredded cheese between the tortilla and the beans, and they were amazing. Also threw some avocado and vegan sour cream on top because I had them on hand. Mexican hubby totally approved.