We have never celebrated Cinco de Mayo, primarily because we are too busy celebrating Tobias’ birthday on May 5th instead 😀 . This year is no exception, but to not lose out completely on all the great Mexican food, we had these delicious Vegan Pinto Bean Tacos as starters yesterday.
I LOVE tacos with all kinds of different fillings and pinto beans are probably my favorite vegan protein. Vegan Pinto Bean Tacos are thus, as you might imagine, a very common dinner over in our apartment.
Like most vegan dishes, these vegan tacos are high in carbs compared to for example fish tacos, but it’s all healthy veggie carbs without a lot of sugar (only 3.8 g per serving), so they are great as a starter or even a full meal.
How to cook your beans
I prefer home-cooked beans a million times over canned beans but for when you crave tacos and you haven’t planned ahead, canned will obviously work just fine.
To cook pinto beans at home, all you have to do is soak your beans in abundant water overnight, then drain and rinse them very well the next day. Add them to a large pot and cover with water about 1 inch higher than the beans. While waiting for the water to boil, peel and very finely chop an onion and add to the pot. Peel and crush 1-2 cloves garlic and add those to the pot too. Lastly, add some salt. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer for 2-4 hours (depending on how firm you like the beans).
The amount of onion, garlic, and salt to use will obviously depend on how many cups of beans you are cooking. I prefer to cook 3-4 cups at a time and then freeze the cooked beans in Ziploc bags. That way I can always pull out a bag from the freezer instead of using canned beans.
I promise you, once you’ve cooked them this way you will never want to eat canned pinto beans again. They are ten times easier to digest and they taste A LOT better.
What to put on your Vegan Pinto Bean Tacos
The tomatoes and avocados give these Vegan Pinto Bean Tacos a fantastic freshness and the sweet corn counteracts the spiciness of the chili, which feels amazing in the mouth and will make you want to eat a lot more tacos than just this starter 😀
Another great option is adding shrimp or marinated white fish. It obviously won’t be vegan anymore, but it will taste AMAZING!
The beans, tomatoes, and avocados give these Vegan Pinto Bean Tacos a fantastic freshness, and the sweet corn counteracts the spiciness of the chili.
- 2 cups cooked pinto beans with bean broth
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- ½ cup sweet corn
- 1 avocado
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- Fresh cilantro (coriander if you are European)
- Lime juice from 1 lime or more if you like
- Salt
- Pepper
- 8 small corn tortillas
- If using home-cooked beans, scoop out 2 cups with a little bean broth and reheat in a large pan for about 5 minutes or until the liquid evaporated enough and the broth becomes a thick sauce. If using canned beans, drain and rinse and then heat up in about ¼ cup chicken or vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Heat a small pan over medium heat.
- Wash and chop tomatoes, wash and slice jalapeños and peel and slice avocado. Wash and finely chop coriander.
- Heat tortillas in the pan about 30 seconds per side.
- Assemble tacos by spooning 1-2 tbsp. of beans onto one tortilla, topping with chopped tomatoes, sliced avocado, sliced jalapeño, corn, and coriander.
- Add some fresh lime juice to your taco right before taking the first bite.
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