Plant based summer squash tacos are made with fresh yellow squash or zucchini, black beans, spinach, and Mexican-inspired seasonings, for a healthy and light meatless meal that comes together in under 30 minutes.
Why You'll Love These Tacos
- Easy & Versatile: This simple vegan taco recipe leaves room for you to make this taco suit your cravings. Feel free to add any veggies or plant based protein you have on hand into the mix while cooking the squash taco filling and mix up the toppings too. I like to add my quick and easy Cilantro Lime Crema to this recipe.
- Meal Prep Friendly: I love making a batch of healthy taco filling for a week of meals. It takes less than 30 minutes to make this recipe and the taco filling can be used in other recipes too, like burritos, taco salads, and on nachos. Check out my oil-free plant based Nacho Cheese.
- Whole Foods Plant Based Diet Friendly: This recipe is oil-free, gluten-free, low-sodium, and made with whole plant foods and simple seasonings, making it suitable for the WFPB lifestyle.
- Supports Weight Loss Goals: Each taco is only 150 calories, so you can fill up on tacos without the guilt!
Ingredients for Summer Squash Tacos
- Summer squash. This includes yellow squash and zucchini squash.
- Cooked black beans. You can use canned black beans or dried black beans that are cooked. I like to make batches of beans from dried in the Instant Pot and freeze them in serving-sized jars to use as needed.
- Spices. Including cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, ground turmeric, salt, and pepper (I know turmeric is not the traditional taco spice, but I like to add it to some WFPB recipes for the anti-inflammatory health benefits).
- Spinach. I used fresh in this recipe, but frozen will work too.
- Avocado
- Shredded cabbage
- Corn tortillas
How To Make Summer Squash Tacos
cStep One
Chop the summer squash into 1/2-inch pieces and drain and rinse the black beans. Heat a large (10-12 inch) non-stick skillet over medium heat with a couple tablespoons of water. Add the chopped squash and black beans to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step Two
Add the spices and mix evenly to season the squash and beans. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes, adding water a little bit at a time if it starts to stick.
Step Three
Add the chopped spinach to the squash and beans and cook another 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the squash is tender. Remove from heat.
Step Four
Heat the tortillas in a pan and, when ready to serve, spoon the squash and bean filling into tortillas and top with avocado, shredded cabbage, and other desired taco fixings.
Storage & Meal Prep Tips
- Storage: Keep the squash and bean mix in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep toppings and tortillas stored separately.
- Reheating: Microwave in 30 second intervals, mixing in between, until hot. To reheat on the stovetop, add the squash and bean mix to a skillet with a little vegetable broth or water and heat over medium heat for a few minutes.
- Meal Prep: For quick and easy meals, divide the squash and bean mix into serving-sized containers and store in the fridge. This taco filling also works great as a meal prep for burrito bowls with rice and salsa. If you want a quick snack, just grab some tortilla chips and eat squash and bean filling as a dip!
I love this healthy vegan taco recipe because it is so versatile. You can replace the squash with any vegetable you have on hand. Potato, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and mushrooms make awesome taco fillings too!
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I hope you enjoy these quick and easy plant based tacos! Whether you’re looking for recipes to use up seasonal squash or just want a light vegan meal, these squash tacos will make a great addition to any menu plan. The simple ingredients for this vegan taco make this recipe both nourishing and convenient – proving that eating plant based doesn’t have to be complicated.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below to help support this blog and help others find easy vegan recipes. Follow @RootyFruityVegan on social media for more vegan meal ideas.
Plant Based Summer Squash Tacos
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 Tacos 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Simple squash and black bean tacos are a whole foods plant based recipe that is easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes, for a quick and healthy vegan dinner without the fuss.
Ingredients
- 3 medium yellow squash or zucchini
- 1 cup cooked black beans
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1 avocado
- 1 1/2 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 8 corn tortillas
Instructions
- Chop the summer squash into 1/2-inch pieces and drain and rinse the black beans. Heat a large (10-12 inch) non-stick skillet over medium heat with a couple tablespoons of water. Add the chopped squash and black beans to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the spices and mix evenly to season the squash and beans. Lower heat to medium-low and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, adding water a little bit at a time if it starts to stick.
- Add the chopped spinach to the squash and beans and cook another 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the squash is tender. Remove from heat.
- Heat the tortillas in a pan and, when ready to serve, spoon the squash and bean filling into tortillas and top with avocado, shredded cabbage, and other desired taco fixings.
Notes
Nutrition information is calculated using black beans cooked from dried, without salt added. Sodium amounts will vary if you use canned black beans with salt added.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 Tacos
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 170 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 47 g
- Fiber: 13 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
