Black Bean and Sweet Potato Oven Tacos
Roasted sweet potato and black beans tucked into corn tortillas with melted cheddar and cool salsa. A savory, not spicy, oven-baked taco night with real browning and no stovetop.
- Total
- 45 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 30
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting · Dicing
- Savory
- Mexican
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 220°C. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Peel the sweet potato and cut it into 2 cm cubes. Drain the black beans thoroughly in a colander.
~10 min
Cutting sweet potato into uniform 2 cm cubes ensures even roasting, so smaller pieces don't burn before larger ones soften.
Cut the sweet potato into even 2 cm cubes so they brown at the same rate; smaller pieces will burn before the centers soften.
Dicing Cut sweet potato into even 2 cm cubes for uniform cooking; irregular pieces cook unevenly and may burn.
-
In the mixing bowl, toss the sweet potato cubes with 2 tbsp olive oil, 0.75 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp black pepper until evenly coated. Spread them on the lined tray in a single layer, leaving space between the cubes.
~5 min
Coating sweet potato in oil and spreading in a single layer promotes browning by preventing steaming from trapped moisture.
-
Roast the sweet potato for 20 minutes, until the edges are browned and a cube pierces easily with a knife.
~20 min
Roasting at high heat drives off moisture and triggers Maillard browning, deepening flavor and softening the sweet potato.
Roasting Roast at high heat with space between pieces to encourage browning; overcrowding steams the food and prevents color.
-
While step 3 cooks
While the sweet potato roasts, grate the cheddar on the box grater and mash the drained black beans lightly with a fork so some stay whole.
~5 min
Mashing only part of the black beans gives the filling body that holds the tortillas together, while whole beans keep the texture from turning pasty.
-
Pull the tray from the oven and push the sweet potato to one side. Add the mashed black beans to the tray and stir them into the hot oil and browned bits. Return to the oven for 5 minutes, until the beans are hot.
~5 min
Stirring beans into hot oil and browned bits picks up fond, adding savory flavor and heating beans through.
-
Lay the 8 tortillas on a second piece of parchment on the tray, overlapping slightly. Spoon the sweet potato and black bean filling down the center of each, top with the grated cheddar, and bake for 5 minutes, until the cheese melts and the tortilla edges are crisp. Serve with the salsa spooned over the top.
~5 min
Baking the assembled tacos melts the cheese and crisps the tortilla edges, contrasting textures.