My favorite veggie tacos featuring flavorful roasted vegetables, hearty black beans, and a delicious five minute creamy cilantro sauce. These meatless tacos are simple to make and will satisfy the pickiest of eaters. Jump to the Roasted Veggie Tacos Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them.
Why I Love These Vegetarian Tacos
I hope you will love these vegetable tacos as much as I do. I make them all the time in my own kitchen. Here’s why:
- This vegetarian tacos recipe is super easy to make.
- You can adapt them to whatever produce is in season or in your fridge.
- They are healthy! One serving is under 300 calories, has 11 grams of fiber, and has 9 grams of protein.
- Thanks to a super fast creamy sauce, they are extra delicious and incredibly satisfying!
How to Make The Best Roasted Veggie Tacos
These vegetable tacos could not be easier and are perfect for quick mid-week meals. You can even make everything ahead of time. Both the vegetables and the sauce can be made days in advance. Let’s do this!
Roasted veggies are a staple for us. We even make them in the summer — sometimes using the grill instead of the oven when it’s too hot to turn the oven on. I love to throw roasted vegetables on top of rice, salads, and into sandwiches, but my favorite way to enjoy them is to make these easy vegetarian tacos.
The vegetables can be roasted ahead of time, which helps with meal prep throughout the week. By the way, if you love these tacos, you should take a look at our spiced vegetable quesadillas!
Let me walk you though how I do it:
- Cut vegetables into small chunks and keep them a similar size so they roast evenly.
- Toss the vegetables with a little oil, chili powder, and salt. I love using homemade chili powder, which I truly believe has more flavor than anything sold at the grocery store.
- Roast the veggies in a hot oven until tender (I like using a 425°F oven).
- Five minutes before the vegetables are done roasting, toss cooked (or drained canned) black beans and a little more chili powder on to the baking sheet with the veggies so that they get a chance to warm up.
- Serve the tacos with your favorite taco shells and toppings!
The veggies take around 25 minutes to roast. I love how their flavor intensifies in the hot oven. Their edges become browned and caramelized, adding sweetness and texture.
You could keep these 100% vegetable, but for some added protein I love throwing in the cooked or canned beans. My go-to beans for tacos are black beans, but any bean will work. When I have them in the kitchen, chickpeas are an excellent substitute.
I keep the beans whole, but for a creamier taco base, you could mash them or use refried beans.
Take The Tacos Up A Notch With My Homemade Creamy Cilantro Sauce
If you’ve been following along with our recipes for a while, you know we love our sauces! I love these tacos so much that they were begging for a delicious homemade sauce to accompany them. I wanted the sauce to taste creamy, bright, and fresh. It is made from 4 ingredients:
- Sour cream (for a dairy-free sauce, swap the sour cream with tahini)
- Fresh lime juice (you can also use lemon juice if that’s all you have)
- Cilantro complements the tacos, but most fine herbs will work. Try basil, parsley, dill, or a combination.
- Jalapeño adds a bright fresh flavor.
I love the sauce so much, that we keep a batch in the fridge most days. It takes less than five minutes to make so when the veggies and beans are roasting, you can easily make it.
To make the sauce, I blend the sour cream, lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeño until smooth. Then I check the seasoning and adjust with salt, pepper, and sometimes a bit more lime.
The sauce is amazing drizzled over the veggie tacos, but it can also be used as a salad dressing, sauce for meats, or even drizzled over eggs in the morning.
More Of My Favorite Taco Toppings
You can never have too many toppings for taco night, right? Here’s a list of my favorites:
- Diced avocado or add a spoonful of homemade guacamole.
- Instead of the creamy cilantro sauce, another option for these tacos is to use our vegan dreamy tahini sauce.
- I love adding zesty pickled onions to tacos. They take an hour to make, but last in the fridge for a couple of weeks (I add them to everything).
- Salsas are always welcome, try our roasted tomatillo salsa or for a fresh salsa, try this pico de gallo.
- Shredded cabbage or a simple cabbage slaw like this cilantro lime coleslaw would be amazing.
- Or skip the tortillas and serve the veggies over some cilantro lime rice!
More Easy Vegetarian Recipes
- These Veggie Burgers are packed with vegetables! See how to make homemade veggie burgers that are hearty, flavorful and full of vegetables.
- Joanne could eat this avocado salad with crunchy cucumbers every day.
- This vegetarian pasta recipe has over 1 1/2 pounds of vegetables. This spaghetti is so good, we could eat it every day.
- Try our vegetable packed and easy veggie burritos with spicy cauliflower, onions, peppers, rice, cheese, and beans. Easy to make and freezer friendly!
Recipe updated. Since originally posting this recipe, we have tweaked the article and recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Roasted Veggie Tacos with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
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Extra easy roasted veggie tacos recipe featuring flavorful roasted vegetables, hearty black beans, and a delicious five minute creamy cilantro sauce. Use whatever vegetables are in season, just remember to cut them into similar sized chunks before roasting so that they cook evenly. The creamy cilantro sauce can also be made ahead of time. Store it up to a week in the refrigerator. In addition to topping tacos, use it as a salad dressing or drizzle over meats. If you are vegan, we have shared an alternative (and delicious) sauce in the notes section below.
You Will Need
Veggie Tacos1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 medium red onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 teaspoons chili powder, we recommend our homemade chili powder
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans
12 medium or 24 small corn or flour tortillas
1 medium avocado, cut into cubes Pickled red onions, optional (see our quick pickled onions recipe)
Creamy Cilantro Sauce1/2 cup sour cream (or use tahini for vegan sauce)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 jalapeño, seeds and membrane removed
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves and tender stems
Salt to taste
Directions
- Roast Vegetables
1Heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large low sided baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2Place zucchini, onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes onto the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Scatter three quarters of a teaspoon of chili powder and a few pinches of salt over the vegetables. Toss to coat.
3Roast the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 25 minutes.
4About 5 minutes before the vegetables are done, toss the black beans along with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder and a light drizzle of olive oil onto the baking sheet with vegetables. Continue to roast until the beans are hot and vegetables done.
- Make Cilantro Sauce
1Add sour cream, lime juice, jalapeño, cilantro, and a pinch of salt to a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste then add more lime juice or salt if needed. Refrigerate up to a week.
- To Finish
1Wrap tortillas, in two stacks, with aluminum foil. Place into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through.
2Fill each warmed tortilla with vegetables and black beans. Top with avocado, pickled onions, and a drizzle of the cilantro sauce. Serve with extra sauce on the side.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Lining the roasting pan with parchment paper keeps the vegetables from sticking. It also makes cleanup easier.
- The vegetable and beans can be roasted days in advance and reheat well.
- Vegan Substitute for Sauce: Instead of the sour cream based sauce, try this Dreamy Tahini Sauce recipe. It has tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. It would be delicious drizzled over the tacos.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
These are a hit! I make them for my family often. I add in some corn to the mix – delicious 🙂 The cilantro sauce is amazing. I use it as a salad dressing if there is every any left over! We use corn tortillas so it also gluten free!