Chorizo Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
These Chorizo Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos are filling, flavorful, and make a fantastic meal! My husband, daughter and I all loved them, so they’re definitely going in our regular dinner rotation. The Mexican chorizo is packed with flavor, the black beans are hearty and delicious, and the sweet potatoes blend beautifully with the Mexican seasonings and add a hint of sweetness. The tacos are so good with the toppings I have listed in the recipe, but I will also include a WW link for just the filling in case you want to change it up. As written, the cabbage added great crunch, the avocado brought creamy richness, the squeeze of lime gave a bit of acidity, the salsa made it juicy, and the cilantro added a bit of freshness. Everything together is pure perfection! Each taco with all the toppings is just 111 calories or 2 WW Points! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app, click here.
Using the Filling Other Ways
As I said above, these Chorizo Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos are great as written, but I think the filling would be tasty in so many ways if you want to get creative! These flavors would be great in a burrito bowl, atop a salad, or as a filling for enchiladas. As such, I made a separate WW link for the topping only which you can get by clicking here. The recipe makes 3 cups of filling total, which I divided into 16 tacos with 3 tablespoons each. I kept that serving size for the filling listing so as not to be confusing, but feel free to change the number of servings in the WW app as needed based on the entire recipe making 3 cups. For example, if you’re using ½ cup each in a burrito bowl, adjust the servings to six.
Heating the Tortillas
There’s really no way around it, I 100% recommend warming the tortillas on the stovetop before filling them. Warming the corn tortillas makes them more pliable, and microwaving them just doesn’t cut it. I’ve tried microwaving them with moist paper towels, etc but the tortillas always split and crack open at the taco fold. When I warm them on the stovetop they fold beautifully every time and never split. So, even though it adds a little time, I strongly urge you to heat the tortillas on the stovetop for 30 seconds on each side before filling them. It makes a huge difference!
Ingredient Notes
- Tortillas: I use and recommend Mission Extra Thin Yellow Corn Tortillas, which are easy to find in my local grocery stores. These are a 6-inch corn tortilla, so if you can’t find that exact product, try to find something similar! The Mission ones come in packs of 24, so you’ll have a some extra to use in other ways.
- Chorizo: For this recipe you’ll want to use raw, uncooked Mexican chorizo sausage. This is generally sold in links, so you’ll just want to remove the casings to use the raw ground meat within. I find links of raw pork chorizo in the Wegmans meat department, but brands such as Premio also make it. You may also see Spanish chorizo in stores, which is a dried, cured smoked sausage, but that’s not what we’re using here! Make sure you get the raw type.
- Sweet Potatoes: The amount of sweet potato used in this recipe is about the uncooked weight of one medium sweet potato. Make sure you peel it and then chop it into small pieces so that it cooks quickly and the size blends well with the meat and beans. My local grocery store (Wegmans) also sells bags of pre-cut sweet potatoes which saves even more time!
- Salsa: I prefer a runnier, more liquid-y salsa for these as opposed to a super chunky one, but you can definitely use whatever you have on hand. My favorite salsa is Wegmans Roasted Tomato Salsa.
- Cabbage: I bought a bag of pre-shredded red cabbage at Wegmans, but you can certainly chop up your own or buy a bag of undressed coleslaw mix to use instead. The cabbage adds crunch which pairs so well with the other textures in these tacos!
More Tasty, Lightened-Up Mexican-Inspired Recipes
Looking for more tasty, lightened-up Mexican-inspired recipes like these Chorizo Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos? Check out my Baked Beef and Bean Tacos, Chorizo Black Bean Quesadillas, Beef Taco Salad with Salsa-Ranch Dressing, Chori Pollo, Beef and Bean Chimichangas, One-Pot Taco Pasta, Layered Meat and Bean Enchilada Bake, Taco Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, Turkey and Chorizo Enchilada Rice Bake, Chicken Taco Rice Skillet, Mexican Street Corn Chicken, and many more in the Mexican section of my recipe index!
Chorizo Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 oz peeled sweet potato, diced into small chunks (about the amount from one medium sweet potato)
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 oz raw Mexican pork chorizo sausage, casings removed
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 16 (6-inch) corn tortillas, (I use Mission Extra Thin Yellow Corn Tortillas)
- 5 ⅓ tablespoons salsa
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 4 oz fresh avocado, sliced into sixteen ¼ oz slices
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, optional
Instructions
- Drizzle the olive oil into a large sauté pan or skillet and bring to medium heat. Add the chopped sweet potatoes and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Stir to coat with the oil and seasonings. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are softened. Remove the contents of the pan to a side plate and return the pan to the heat.
- Add the chorizo to the pan and cook over medium heat, breaking it up into small chunks with a cooking spoon or spatula for 3-4 minutes until cooked through.
- Transfer the sweet potatoes back into the pan and add the black beans. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt, the teaspoon of chili powder, and the ½ teaspoon of cumin. Stir to combine and cook for another 2 minutes or until everything warmed through.
- Lightly mist a griddle pan or skillet with cooking spray and bring over medium heat. Depending on the size of your pan, you can heat the tortillas one at a time or several at a time. Place the tortilla(s) on the heated pan and cook for 30 seconds. Flip the tortilla and cook for another 30 seconds until soft and pliable. Transfer those tortillas to a paper towel lined side plate and repeat with all 16 tortillas.
- To fill each taco, take one of the softened tortillas and add three tablespoons of the chorizo, sweet potato and bean mixture. Top the filling with a teaspoon of salsa, a tablespoon of shredded cabbage, a ¼ oz slice of avocado, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. *If you’re not serving all 16 tacos at once, only build the ones you’re using and store the remaining filling, toppings, and tortillas separately until needed.
Notes
111 calories, 18 g carbs, 2 g sugars, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 4 g protein, 4 g fiber, 244 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Nutrition Information for 3 tablespoons of FILLING ONLY (the amount in each taco), no tortilla, no toppings:
55 calories, 7 g carbs, 1 g sugars, 2 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 3 g protein, 2 g fiber, 200 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
3 per taco (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info) Adapted from Plays Well With Butter
