I am very pro-taco, and these tacos were born from my slight disappointment over some vegan tacos I’ve had out at restaurants recently.

When I get vegan tacos at a restaurant, they seem to be soft and soggy a lot of the time. No texture whatsoever. Just a bunch of mushy ingredients (albeit delicious mushy ingredients) in a soft tortilla.

Most recently, I had some potato tacos and some nopales (cactus) tacos, both of which were filled with ingredients like cooked onions, pickled jalapeños, and stewed tomatoes. Although they both tasted just fine, I felt like the texture was lacking that all-important crunch.

So! I decided to play around in the kitchen. And many overstuffed tacos later, we have the taco situation that makes my heart sing.

And I know: at first glance, it doesn’t really look like there’s anything all that crunchy on this taco.

But my friend, that’s where that vegan creamy slaw comes in!

We’re using it as an ingredient versus just as a topping. And it goes into the tortilla first to give us something fresh, crisp, and zingy to bite into in the middle of the tortilla.

It’s such a simple thing, but it makes all the difference! Instead of having just a little slaw moment with all of your other toppings, it’s the star of the show, the belle of the ball, bringing you a fresh, crisp-chewiness that is just so delectable.

For the slaw, you’ll need vinegar, oil, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and hummus (which makes it creamy!). Then top that slaw-filled tortilla with some savory stewed black beans, salsa, hot sauce, onion, jalapeño, tomato, peppers, cilantro, or whatever you fancy.

You could say I was slightly hungry when I was shopping for ingredients for these tacos, so I grabbed pretty much every topping I could think of. That said, it’s a very customizable recipe, so use what you have/like!

Don’t knock the whole slaw-first-in-a-taco situation until you try it! In a blind side-by-side taste test, my taste tester (me) preferred the slaw-first method 100% of the time.

And I just don’t know how you can argue with that logic.

Black Bean Tacos with Vegan Creamy Slaw

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My go-to taco recipe these days! This recipe is super simple to make, but it really packs a punch thanks to the crunchy slaw and spiced, stewed black beans!

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 5-6 tacos
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Saute
• Cuisine: Mexican-American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

VEGAN CREAMY SLAW:

• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons hummus
• 1/2 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
• pinch sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 oz finely shredded cabbage

EASY STEWED BLACK BEANS:

• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15-oz can black beans (with the liquid from the can)*
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 handful cilantro leaves, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

FOR THE TACOS:

• tortillas (corn, flour, or your fave)
• salsa
• hot sauce
• onion (green or white)
• cilantro
• thinly-sliced peppers
• chopped tomatoes
• jalapeños
• lime
• or your favorite taco toppers!

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. SLAW: In a medium bowl, whisk your hummus, oil, apple cider vinegar, granulated garlic, sugar, and salt/pepper. Once combined, add your cabbage and toss to coat. Set in the fridge until ready to use.
2. BEANS: In a large skillet over medium heat, add your oil and onion. Season with a small pinch of salt and cook until mostly translucent, stirring frequently (2-3 minutes).
3. Add your garlic, and cook for another minute or so, or until the garlic is fragrant but not browned.
4. Add your beans (liquid and all!), and stir to combine. Add your chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, and smoked paprika, and continue to cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has absorbed but the beans still look saucy, 5-8 minutes. If you run a spoon through the beans, it should leave a trail that closes in about 2 seconds –– see the photo in the post for a visual!
5. Add your cilantro and carefully taste, adding salt and pepper if needed. Because our slaw is so zippy and punchy, I didn’t add any acid to these beans, but feel free to add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to brighten this mixture up!
6. ASSEMBLE: Warm/char your tortillas as desired (I charred mine over my gas burner). Add a large scoop of the creamy slaw into the center of your tortilla. Then add some black beans and your desired toppings!

Notes

*All cans of black beans are seasoned differently, so the salt level of the beans will be fully dependent on that! Use a reduced sodium can of beans if you’re worried about it. I used the blue can from Trader Joe’s.

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They’re here.

And they couldn’t have come at a better time, right?

Because, um…it’s freezing outside. So you will find me snugged between fluffy homemade tortillas, crispy buffalo tofu, and a handful of other toppings and sides.

When life gives you cold weather, you stay inside to make and eat tacos.

And perfect timing, right?! Because football!

As a recap:

• If you’re watching the big game this weekend, you should make these tacos.
• If you’re stuck inside because of tundra-like temperatures, you should make these tacos.
• If you have a pulse, you should make these tacos.

Conclusion: You should just totally 100% make these tacos.

We’re taking the crispy Baked Buffalo Tofu recipe that I’m still freaking about, and the Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas that I’ve made four times already, adding a few tasty extras, and calling it a taco party.

I kept it pretty simple. I used purple rice (!!), radishes, carrots, cilantro, mashed avocado, anddd a nice squeeze-o-lime. Plus a small dollop of hot sauce because I love the spice.

I think mashed black beans would be awesome here instead of rice. Not only will it give you a bit of a protein boost (mad gainz!), but it also cuts down on the already carb-happy meal you’re about to enjoy. Totally up to you, but that’s what I’ll do next time, so that’s how I wrote the recipe for ya.

Other awesome additions? Vegan Chipotle Crema, Black Bean Dip, Avocado Cucumber Salsa Verde, Vegan Queso Hummus, Warm & Creamy Vegan Queso, Crazy Addictive 4-Ingredient Lemon Tahini Sauce, and whatever your heart desires, my dear.

I firmly live by this life-motto: There’s no bad way to taco.

I adore these Buffalo Tofu Tacos so much. They’re spicy and flavorful, full of the best taco toppings, and way way too easy to eat.

Not to mention SUPER filling! Because we have quite a few nutrient-dense ingredients here like our homemade tortillas, tofu, and guac, you’ll be left feeling full and satisfied.

Now let’s get cozy with some tacos, shall we?

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How was your weekend? Mine was somewhat relaxing, somewhat kinda crazy. Especially when Maya decided to wake us up at 6:30 am Sunday morning.

Really, cat? Really?

She goes through her phases where she’s a darling little peach for about a week or so, and then the next, she’s totally out to get us. Not letting me sleep in on a Sunday? Are you kidding me?!

I don’t typically sleep in too long. But it’s sometimes so satisfying even just waking up at 7:30 or 8 rather than 6:30 like I do during the week.

But Maya clearly had other plans. So here I am, 7:00 pm on a Sunday, ready to snuggle in bed with a cozy blanket and a good book.

{ps. what are you reading right now? i need some recommendations!}

Anyways! Let’s talk tacos. My very favorite topic of discussion.

(no, I’m not kidding)

Tacos are…just wonderful. My very favorite food right now. Especially when there’s peanut butter involved like today!

I mean. Best way to start the week, right?

If you’ve been poking around Fooduzzi before, you know that one of my fave flavors is thai peanut. We’ve done it in hummus, soup, rainbow salads, zucchini noodle bowls, and burrito bowls. But adding it to tacos may have been my best idea yet.

She says so humbly.

I know the ingredient list might look a little…scary. But seriously, I bet that you have most of them on hand right this very second.

These tacos are made up of four parts:

1. Roasted veggies. You all know I love me some roasted veggie goodness. So that’s what we’re doing here. Broccoli, mushrooms, sweet potatoes – into the oven until nice and caramelized. Feel free to change up the veg to your liking.
2. Thai Peanut Sauce. aka. the sauce that angels sing about. That might be a little dramatic, but I seriously do love this sauce. Gluten free, vegan, and downright addictive.
3. Black beans. Honestly, to save time, open a can of black beans, drain and rinse, and then spoon onto your tacos. If you have a bit more time / want an extra flavorful bean experience, cook them up with some garlic and onions. It’ll only add a few minutes to your cook time, but it seriously does make a difference.
4. Toppings. obv. I went with cilantro, green onion, and radishes, but choose your faves. Extra Sriracha would be especially yummy.

I hope you enjoy these tacos! Especially topped with an extra spoonful of Thai peanut sauce.

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That has to be a thing. Right? I mean, in our house, it’s pretty much Taco Every Day.

A few weeks ago, we went to an event for my brother’s film. It was a bit late at night…okay I guess it was 7:30, but that’s rather late to be out for an introvert like me. Kidding. Sort of.

We were planning on getting dinner (aka. tacos) afterwards, so an hour in, I started to get reeeeal excited for tacos. Like, to the point where everyone started looking like a taco.

It’s possible I was a bit delirious.

But once I sat down and sank my teeth into my beloved taco, I was a very happy camper. We went to a newish restaurant called Bakersfield (they apparently have a handful of other locations in different states), and I’ve slowly become absolutely obsessed with it.

They have this mushroom taco that’s topped with THE most perfect kale slaw. I love it so much. So that’s what I decided to try to do here! I’m combining a few of my most recent recipe in this delightful taco recipe. It’s a…culmination of deliciousness, if you will.

So, remember those incredible homemade corn tortillas we talked about last week? And that tofu quinoa taco meat we chatted about on Monday? Yep, the gang’s all here.

PLUS! My new favorite kale slaw. It’s super simple, but the flavor is like woah. We’re taking some kale and shredded cabbage, and then dressing it in a creamy dreamy sauce.

This sauce. omg. I can’t get over it! It’s made from tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, and garlic powder. And it’s AMAZING. It’s slightly tangy, slightly sweet.

I pretty much want to cover every food in this sauce from now into eternity.

Not even being dramatic.

Okay, maybe a little dramatic.

But still! I hope you love these tacos. We sure do! In fact, we had them again for dinner last night.

So much love. So much yum.

Enjoy, friend!

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Tacos are my favorite food. Hands-down.

When I was growing up, it was always pasta. I loved pesto over angel hair, I was obsessed with fettuccini alfredo, I was happy as a clam eating buttered noodles for a meal.

But now? I’ve got tacos on the brain pretty much every day.

They’re definitely the most perfect vessel into which you can stuff your favorite goodies of the season. In summer, I’m all about those grilled veggies. Give me all of the avocado in the spring.

But in the fall…I’m all about that squash.

Mark and I are having quite a moment with these Fall Butternut Squash Tacos. Like, it’s a bit embarrassing how much we love these. We’ll sit at the table, shoveling these into our faces, and in 10 minutes flat they’re gone. I mean, can you blame us?! They’re jam-packed with all of our fall faves:

-Butternut Squash: Probably my favorite squash! I love to roast it so it caramelizes and gets super tender (although it’s pretty darn spectacular in soup form, too). It’s super sweet and fall-apart tender once it comes out of its spin in the oven, so it’s perfect on top of some tacos. I just want to buy it all up before the season is over.

-Coleslaw: OB-SESSED with this stuff. We’re making a creamy Mexican slaw out of some spices, lotsa lime juice, purple cabbage, and (you guessed it) hummus. If you’re new around here, hummus is my very favorite way to make a vegan food creamy. We use it in pasta, we use it in dips, we use it in sauces and in various other applications…and now we use it in tacos. Oh hallelujah.

-Caramelized Onions: aka. our new obsession. I make caramelized onions at least twice a week because they’re pretty much incredible on top of anything. They’re super sweet and tender, and we just can’t get enough of them.

-Black Beans: Not really a fall staple, but we seriously love them any time of the year. We love mixing them with spices like cumin, oregano, chili powder, and garlic!

So yeah, imagine alllllllll of that delicious goodness wrapped in a toasty corn tortilla.

Pretty much the best thing ever, right?

Once you look at the recipe, I know it’ll be easy to be all, “WHAT?! You want me to make THIS?! There are like 5,000 ingredients!”

But there really isn’t! There’s 13, counting the tortillas. It just looks like a lot, but most of the ingredients repeat in the slaw and the black beans so yay!

And I mean, it’s totally worth it. I wouldn’t be so gosh-darn excited to share this recipe with you if it totally wasn’t worth it! Pinky promise.

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Not only are they completely customizable and ridiculously delicious, they also played a huge role in me scoring this dreamboat.

I met Mark during my junior year of college. We instantly became friends, bonding over our love of vegetables, Modern Family, and wine. Because we had so many of the same classes, it wasn’t long before we started working on homework together.

One cold and dreary night, however, we decided it was time to take a break. Because of Mark’s crazy-insane love of chips and salsa and my addiction to all-things Mexican food, a little place called Verde was the obvious choice for a quick and delicious late-night meal (you can read more about Verde on my Pittsburgh Favorites page!).

Now, I had been to Verde before, and I was super excited to show it off to the groovy guy I was totally into. Is there a better way to score a boyfriend than by feeding him the best dang Mexican food of his life? Answer: Nope. Food is always the way to a man’s heart.

After indulging in margaritas and salsa, I ordered these stellar Papas y Hongos tacos. For those of you who don’t remember high school Spanish, Papas = potatoes and Hongos = mushrooms. The potatoes were smoked. The mushrooms were sautéed. It was drizzled with lime, topped with pico de gallo…

Guys…this night was one of those nights you look back on and say, “hot dang, that was perfect.” Killer tacos, delicious margs, and the best company. What more could a girl ask for?

Now, I don’t take the title of this post lightly: I promise you that these are the best damn vegetarian tacos of your life. Never has so much flavor been stuffed into a tortilla before. What really makes these tacos special is the smoked paprika. AKA. the ultimate spice. Mark and I throw smoked paprika on pretty much anything, including popcorn (and subsequently, our couch). It adds such an incredible sweet-smokey vibe to these potatoes without the need of a giant smoker. I’m absolutely obsessed with this stuff, and I’m sure you will be, too, after you try it on these tacos!

Oh, and that pineapple is key. You need some sweet tanginess to cut through some of that smokiness from the potatoes. Truth be told, these little golden nuggets of deliciousness may just have been my favorite part of the entire taco.

We loved topping these tacos with a dab of guacamole for creaminess, some Cholula for spice, and shredded romaine for crispness. As you can tell, these tacos are stuffed. And that’s just the way you should be. One simply should not be civilized when shoving one’s mouth full of tacos.

So, I ate The Best Damn Vegetarian Tacos and got a boyfriend. It’s possible that these tacos are magical. If they can accomplish such an incredible feat in my life, what can they do in yours?

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Although I’m in school for a technology-driven major, I didn’t know the first thing about how to go about hosting my site or designing a theme. Although Fooduzzi was always an idea, it just never seemed like a possibility for me.

Enter: my friend, Mark.

Mark and I attend the same college, and we met through mutual classes. He’s a total brain – he actually built me this beautiful blog with his very own technology-savvy hands. He’s the kind of person you didn’t think lived outside of Disney movies; his positivity and kindness is almost infectious.

Another thing about Mark – he was newly vegan when I first met him. Actually, the first time I cooked for him, I decided upon a simple veggie stir-fry with brown rice. When I showed up, he said something along the lines of, “I’m really glad this is what you chose to cook because I’m a vegan.” While a warning prior to spending $30 on groceries would have been most welcomed, I took this as proof of the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.

We recently went to one of my favorite restaurants, Verde, which is a fresh and inventive Mexican restaurant in Pittsburgh. They have the most sinfully delicious guacamole and chips – While I could seriously eat the entire appetizer myself, I’m always happy to share it with someone like Mark.

Chips and dip are great, but I’m not a huge fan of the fried component of the duo. As a firm believer that tacos should never be served in a “hard shell,” these Guacamole Tacos were born as a way to get my guacamole and chips fix without the added calories and fat. A healthy play on guacamole and chips? Now, that’s an idea I can definitely get behind.

We’re making guacamole today, folks! And no, you don’t have to pay extra for this stuff. I’m not a huge fan of junked-up guacamole, as I believe the standard guac ingredients like avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeño, lime, and salt speaks to the beautiful simplicity of the dish. Woah-oh-oh it’s magic as the fatty creaminess of the avocado is balanced with the zip of the lime and salt, the tomatoes and onion amplify the sweetness, the jalapeño adds some needed heat, and the cilantro brings a wonderful herbiness to the green party. I’m telling you, guacamole may just be the world’s most perfect food.

Now, for the vessel. I chose to serve these tacos with corn tortillas. The only ingredients in these tortillas should be corn and water. There are so many corn tortilla imposters out there, pretending to be all healthy and gluten free. Those phonies are nunyabusiness. You’ll truly be getting the best flavor out of the tortillas when these two simple flavors are doing all the talking.

Last, tacos always need some toppings. I love topping these tacos with some protein-filled chickpeas and some crunchy kale chips. Yes, hipster food at its finest. Chickpeas are the perfect cooling counterpart to our spice in the guacamole. And the kale chips…Kale chips add that beloved crunch we removed via those fried chips. Texture = <3

Creamy avocado, subtle spiciness, crunchy kale chips – I’m telling you: Guacos will become your newest obsession. So bring a little flava to your life via these Guacos, and be sure to share them with a friend. After dubbing them of their name, Mark happily gobbled them down.

Stay classy, Internet friends!

P.S. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’! If you try any of my recipes, be sure to use #fooduzzi! I’d love to see your whole food creations!

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