Quinoa Black Bean Tacos with Creamy Avocado Sauce
These quinoa and black bean tacos with avocado crema are a simple and delicious weeknight dinner! They're vegan and gluten free, too. Make some tonight!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 22, 2024
These quinoa tacos are inspired by some I ordered last week at my friend’s bachelorette party. I was sitting next to my college roommates, sipping my cocktail very slowly and feeling sappy about how grown-up we are now.
The waiter came by, and I ordered some quinoa tacos, hoping they would be hearty enough to fill me up. They were, fortunately, and they were so tasty that I had to recreate them at home right away.
The quinoa and black bean filling takes cues from traditional ground beef fillings but offers lots of plant-based protein and fiber. I couldn’t resist topping it with a generous spread of creamy, tangy avocado sauce and some romaine lettuce for some requisite crunch. To make the flavors pop, add a few pickled jalapeños and/or crumbled feta cheese.
Perhaps the best part is that these tacos are ready in 30 minutes. I hope they are a new weeknight favorite for you, too!
More Plant-Based Tacos to Try
- Epic Vegetarian Tacos
- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos with Avocado-Pepita Dip
- Roasted Cauliflower and Lentil Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos
Please let me know how your tacos turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Quinoa Black Bean Tacos with Creamy Avocado Sauce
These quinoa and black bean tacos with dairy-free avocado crema are a simple and delicious weeknight dinner! They’re vegan and gluten free, too. Recipe yields about 6 hearty tacos.
Ingredients
Quinoa and black bean filling
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground chili powder
- ½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well in a fine mesh colander
- 1 cup vegetable broth or water
- 1 (14 ounce) can black beans or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Avocado sauce
- 1 large avocado, sliced into long strips
- 1 to 2 medium limes, juiced
- 1 medium jalapeño, deseeded, membranes removed and roughly chopped
- 1 handful fresh cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Everything else
- 6 to 8 small, round corn tortillas (certified gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 ½ cups roughly chopped romaine lettuce, arugula or spring greens
- Optional garnishes: pickled jalapeños or radishes, crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- To make the filling, warm the olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic with a dash of salt for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onions are softened and turning translucent. Add the tomato paste, cumin and chili powder and sauté for another minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the rinsed quinoa and 1 cup broth. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from heat and let it rest, still covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot, drain off any excess liquid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Stir in the drained black beans and add salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and set aside for a couple of minutes to warm up the beans.
- To make the avocado sauce: Simply combine the ingredients as listed in a food processor or blender, starting with the juice of 1 lime. Blend well. Season with salt, to taste, and add another tablespoon or 2 of lime juice if desired.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the tortillas in a single layer, flipping halfway. Wrap the warmed tortillas with a lint-free tea towel until ready to serve. To assemble the tacos, spread quinoa and black bean filling down the center of the tortilla, then top with a generous drizzle of avocado crema, a handful of chopped romaine and any additional garnishes you’d like to add. Eat up!
Notes
Recipe inspired by Picasso Cafe in Oklahoma City and adapted from my roasted cauliflower and lentil tacos and southwestern kale power salad.
Make it vegan/dairy free: Just don’t add cheese!
Make it gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten-free corn tortillas.
Make it tomato free: Skip the tomato paste.
Storage suggestions: Store individual components separately. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the avocado sauce to prevent oxidation. Warm the tortillas and filling just before serving, then top with avocado sauce and chopped romaine.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
My husband, a card-carrying carnivore, recently decided we were going to eat vegetarian for dinner a couple nights a week. I tried out this recipe last night and he DEVOURED it!! The only change I made was I added the black beans in with the quinoa so they’d cook a little bit more so I added more broth. Thank you for this recipe, I’m off to check out your other ones for future dinner ideas!
Thank you, Mitra! I’m glad you found my blog! You have my full support in your vegetarian endeavors. :)
This is one of my favorite dishes ever! Followed the instructions (first time ever was not inspired to change anything) and enjoyed a yummy dinner with my partner, twice now. He loved it as well! Thanks for sharing and good luck! :)
Thank you, Dessi! Glad to hear it!
I’ve just made these and o-m-g, they left my sister and I speechless! I added some diced red bell pepper because I had a half pepper left over in my fridge and I think it really added something, but I’m convinced they would have been as good without the bell pepper.
All your recipes look so good, I just love your blog (and your dog!). I tried out your pineapple fried rice last night (I tagged you on Instagram, I’m @allanwinberg) and we loved it too, thank you so much and keep up your good work!
Thank you so much, Verena! I’m glad the tacos were a hit. :)
I regularly make your recipes, because they are easy to follow and tasty :-) And these quinoa and black bean taco’s are no exception! Thanks for sharing this, it’s going into our meal rotation <3
Thank you! Happy to hear that. :)
Oh man, you should see how many recipes I saved from your blog yesterday. I’m bored by what I’ve been cooking and have been leaning towards more seeds and legumes these days. I whipped these up and topped it with your simple seedy slaw and it was DIVINE! I made 3 filled-to-the-brim tacos and was stuffed. My man could only eat two they were so filling.
The beans I used were canned so they lacked a bit of punch. Next time, I’ll go for fresh ones.
Already looking forward to whipping up more of your goodness!
Hooray! I hope you love each one of them. Great idea to serve these tacos with slaw on top. I kinda just want to eat slaw and tacos these days (cookbook stress!).
I did these tacos today, and a great hit, I ate lunch and I’ll repeat for dinner :) so delicious!!
Stumbled on to these looking for a new black bean taco recipe. Fantastic!!
Poked around a bit and subscribed. Which isn’t something I normally do. Great site, Kate! Thank you!
I made these tacos for my carnivorous boyfriend: he was blown away by how simultaneously healthy and flavorful they were. I used a spicy tomato-based salsa instead of tomato paste–highly recommend this variation. These will absolutely become a weeknight staple. Great recipe.
Perfection! As suggested by others, I added a bit of smoked paprika and chipotle chili powder. I broke in my tortilla press and the corn tortillas were so easy. Served pico de gallo on the side and your Seedy Slaw (which I loved, but hubby prefers the creamy variety…luckily I only dressed the slaw we were eating right away). I do want to try your Cauliflower Lentil Tacos but these are so wonderful, I fear I will not want to try anything else! Thank you! Will post photo on Instagram.
I’ve already commented before but I need to say again that I’m obsessed with these tacos. My 2 & 5 year olds are obsessed too. I turn them into quesadillas for them. My 5 year old said tonight “Mommy thank you for dinner, these are SO YUMMY yummy yummy, i love them and i love you!”, i mean come on – can’t get a better review than that! Thank you thank you!! xo
Adorable!!!! Thank you, Tiffany. :)
Thank you for this recipe! It’s honestly all I ever eat now because it’s so healthy and so easy to make!
I made this the other week for two non-vegetarians and they loved it. It was pretty easy to make, but I found the quiona/black bean ratio was a little too quinoa so next time I make it (this week) I’m going to add less quiona or more black beans. 9/10
That Avocado sauce is the Bomb!! I added a tomato and an onion before processing! Had this for dinner as pictured and for lunch the next day over a bed of kale and topped with fresh salsa!!!!
I have been secretly making recipes from your blog for a while and EVERY SINGLE RECIPE I’ve tried has been AMAZING! And, now these tacos! Even my husband who looooves meat prefers these over meat tacos.The one thing I’ve missed the most since becoming vegetarian is good Mexican food, but these tacos (and the cauliflower and brown lentil tacos) are so delicious and easy to make.
Thanks for posting so many great recipes :)
Thank you so much, Minelli! Delighted to hear that you two are enjoying my recipes so much. I’ve been putting that quinoa and black bean mixture on lots of Mexican recipes lately!
These tacos were absolutely delicious!!! Especially the avacado cream on top. My boyfriend is a gluten free vegan so these were perfect!!! We made them twice last week. Thanks for such a delicious recipe!
Really good and easy to make!! Will definitely make it again.
These tacos are so good and filling! The sauce was super easy to make too. I live in Austin and have eaten a lot of tacos and salsa – these are one of the best I’ve tasted.
Love this recipe and blog! I modified by adding some more veggies and didn’t have time, so just tossed everything into a slow cooker. The week’s dinners are done!
Awesome! Thanks, Akil!
This. Recipe. Is. The. BOMB!!!!
My avocados were bad, so I just substituted ranch dressing in the sauce for some jalepeno ranch :)
Can’t recommend this enough!
Woohoo, thanks Kate!
Hey! Just made this and it tastes soooo good! Are you able to freeze the quinoa and black bean mix? xx
Hi Madeleine, I’m so glad you loved the tacos. I’m not sure about freezing the mix. I’ve never tried, but it’s probably worth a shot!
I love this recipe and keep coming back to make it again. Thank you Cookie & Kate!
Thanks, Christine! So glad to hear it!
I just made this recipe for my picky-eater sister and almost-carnivorous boyfriend, and they loved it. I didn’t have lettuce, so I used finely chopped spinach with a homemade chili-lime vinaigrette. Maybe not as crunchy as lettuce, but very flavorful!
Great! Sounds like it worked out wonderfully.
So good!!! I wanted to take a pic but I couldn’t resist taking a bite immediately
Eating it is the priority! Happy you liked it, Donna.
Just made these tonight. Took out most of the chilli aspects (put in about an 8th of a teaspoon of the powder) as my 4 year old and 7 old aren’t big chilli eaters yet. I did double the amount of cumin and also added cilantro powder.
Also added some chopped baby zucchini and chopped mushrooms for extra veggie content.
Great recipe. Nutritious. The kids loved them and my vegetarian wife also loved them. Will become a mid-week staple.
Glad this was a hit with the whole family, Jake! Thanks for commenting.
LOVE these! These were an instant hit for my friend and me. I typically don’t experiment with new recipes when I have company over, but I decided to give these a try and I’m super glad I did. I am newly vegan, but I definitely do not miss the meat here. These tacos are hearty, flavorful and super tasty. And the leftovers are banging. This will be one of my go-to dishes for sure.
Awesome! I’m so glad this one worked out so well, Rae. Enjoy your new veganism!
This recipe ROCKS. will be my go to for tacos! The avocado sauce was slamming, had to add a little sour cream to it to make it blend better which I think worked out wonderfully as it cut some of the spiciness of the jalapeno so my 5 yr old could eat. He loved it! Thank you!
Thank you, Jennie! So glad it was a hit.
Are we supposed to combine the onions, garlic, seasonings and tomato paste with the quinoa and beans? You discuss cooking them but never combined them with anything.
Please ignore my earlier comment.
Hi Jennifer, the onions/garlic/etc. are cooked in step 1, then the quinoa and black beans are added in step 2.
Is there any substitutions for the jalapenos peppers?
Are you trying to tamp down the heat, or they aren’t available where you are? Some red pepper flakes would work if you’re looking for heat, but you can simply omit it if you’d rather not have them.
I am not one to comment on recipes/blogs, but this avocado crema IS SO GOOD. I paired with the blueberry frozen margs. So much happy.
Sounds delicious with those drinks, Maddy!
Tried it today with garbanzo beans and lentils, was delish to the max!!
Perfect!
These look amazing and as we transition our family of 8 (mom and dad and 6 kiddos) I have to ask the terrible question… what do vegetarians do about the stomach issues (bloat and gas)? My kids don’t mind no meat meals but they (and us grown ups) are a bit stumped about how to eat this way and not be in major gastric pain after. Any tips from any longtime vegetarians??? Thx!
Hi Kelly, I’m sorry I missed your question earlier! So, if you slowly and regularly increase your fiber intake, you won’t experience those unpleasant side effects. Truly.
Kate, This taco filling rocks! I have your cookbook, which also rocks and made the taco salad recipe with the black bean quinoa taco filling. Awesome. Thank you for another great recipe here!
Thanks for getting my book, Dianne! I’m so glad you love the tacos and taco salad.
Made this last night. Absolutely delish. Not much work, either.
Perfect.
Kate,
This was my first recipe I made after discovering your wonderful website. I made these last night (vegan version) and fed them to a die-hard meat and potatoes college kid, and they were a hit! Delicious recipe that I definitely will be making again!
Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you!
Hooray! I love hearing that. Let me know which other recipes you try!
These are awesome! Made them today. Thanks for the recipe!!!!!!
You’re welcome, Kim!
I made this recipe today, I didn’t have jalapeno for the avocado sauce so with that I learned that next time, note to self, if I do not have jalapeno to use one lime instead because it was a bit sour. On the other hand it turned out good! I also sprinkled on chopped tomatoes to top it off.
I’m glad it wasn’t too sour for you, S, and turned out okay!
Oh-my-gosh!!! This was amazing!!! My husband went back for seconds and my 17 month old couldn’t get enough. This was was pretty easy overall. Only thing is my quinoa took ALOT longer to cook, thus extending the cooking time significantly. Could have been the brand I used or my stove. My only complaint is that there is none left lol Next time I’ll double the mix. Thanks for sharing!!!!
P.S. I used red quinoa and I really like how it tasted and looked.
You’re welcome, Jazzy! This sounds like a hit with the whole family. And you’re right–stove and oven temperatures can vary quite a lot, so that might account for the extended cooking time.
Delicious! I made the filling and avocado sauce according to the recipe – so tasty! I put both over spinach instead of using tortillas. It was great! Definitely will make this again.
Great! The salad version of these tacos sounds great.
My girls ages 6, 4, and 2 DEVOURED this meal. My six year old kept saying “Thank you for making this for us, mom! I love it!” THANK YOU!!
Aw, how sweet! Thanks, Carly.
Not sure what went wrong on this one- I was very excited to make this recipe due to so many positive reviews, but my filling was really lacking in flavor
Sorry this one was disappointing for you, Hannah.
Just started my whole food plant based lifestyle you have awesome resources.
How much filling did you put in each taco?
I loved this recipe. These are now my favorite tacos. I used green chilies instead of jalepenos which I’d recommend as another option. I also used chopped green leaf lettuce or finely sliced cabbage and topped with crumbled queso fresco.
Thank you, Dixie! I appreciate your review.
You, my dear, are a genius! I have avoided quinoa for years because of bad initial experiences. You actually explained WHY quinoa needed to be rinsed (I’m a “why” person…), so that helped considerably. In addition, you laid out exactly how to cook it successfully, such that when I took my first bite of my first vegetarian taco, I exclaimed “WOW! Vegetarians eat this good?!” Cookie must be lucky to have you as a friend!
You are so sweet, Rick! Thank you for giving it a try. I appreciate your review!
This looks great! Will it work with already cooked quinoa (plain) – I didn’t saute the onions or tomato paste with it?
What I would recommend, is to do the first step and then combine the pre-cooked quinoa with the paste mixture. Then, combine and stir in the remaining ingredients from step two(omitting the water and quinoa cooked step). If it seems a little dry, add a splash of water. I recommend following the recipe step by step but this should provide a similar result. I hope this helps!
Great! Thanks so much!
Do you add the black beans to the quinoa initially or to the onion tomato paste?
The black beans come into play in step two, after the quinoa has cooked. It is the later part of step two. I hope this helps!
I have made several of your recipes and all have been great. This might be the best yet. Absolutely delicious. This is my new favourite cooking website.
I love to hear that! Thank you, Alli.
I made this last night and it was AMAZING.
The avo sauce was so creamy while the quinoa was packed with flavour.
Will definitely make this again!
Wonderful, Faye! Thanks for leaving a review and comment.
Ok first off, these are amazing, and secondly the creamy avocado sauce is awesome and I will use this on EVERYTHING. We love it! I will smear it on my FACE when I sleep.
Ha! I’m glad you like it that much. I appreciate the review.
I’ve made this recipe multiple times, one of my favorite vegan taco recipes. I was able to make the black bean and quinoa filling in my rice cooker and it turned out so well!
Thanks for sharing and review, Annie! I’m glad this is a favorite for you.
I tried the recipe and it came out very good. For me I would change one thing and that is to use a packet of taco seasoning.
Avocado sauce is spot on!! I also threw some chunky white onions to make the dish a little more crunchy with the romaine lettuce.
Love it!
Ed
Thanks for sharing, Ed! I appreciate the review.