Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
These quick and healthy black bean and sweet potato burritos are completely and utterly the most delicious meal in the history of ever.
Have you ever made something and then nervously waited, cringing and biting your nails, for your spouse or roommate or child or friend or whoever to take a bite because you were pretty surely almost positive they weren’t going to like it but you really, really, really wanted them to love it?
Have you? I have. A lot.
And I was very anxious to know how Brian would respond when he walked in from work to find out we were having Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos for dinner (he’s a meat-loving, hearty meal kind of guy and while he never complains about some of the craziness I put on the dinner table, I know he’s not always doing cartwheels when he walks in and sees vegetable overload instead of brisket).
To his credit, he barely batted an eye (although I did see his nose crinkle a bit) and by the time we had both taken our first bites, we were looking over the heads of our rowdy children at the table and meeting each others eyes in complete agreement that these burritos are completely and utterly the most delicious meal in the history of ever.
This is definitely one of those recipes where I wish I could jump through the computer screen, take your little face in my grubby hands and insist that you make immediately with the threat that I won’t leave you alone until you do. A scary thought, indeed.
If you didn’t know already, sweet potatoes and black beans were meant for each other. Throw in some other vegetables, simple spices and a delicious fresh taste of lime and cilantro and you have an epically good meal.
Roasting all the vegetables together before tossing with the black beans knocks this meal out of the park.
The glorious news is that the vegetable and bean filling can be made the day or so before you want to assemble the burritos which makes for a seriously fast meal when you are ready for the sweet potato and black bean love.
These burritos are on our menu plan for this week {again} and no pressure, but they should definitely make it on to yours, too.
What To Serve With This:
Chips and a really great dip, like this Spinach Artichoke Dip
Fresh, seasonal fruit
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed small (about 3-4 cups)
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
- 1 red pepper, diced small
- 1 small red onion, diced small (about 1/2 cup)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- ¼ – ½ cup chopped cilantro, depending on your taste
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, from about 1 lime
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 6-8 burrito-size tortillas, whole wheat, white or other favorite variety
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potatoes, jalapeno, red pepper and red onion with the olive oil, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Dump the coated veggies onto a large rimmed baking sheet and roast for 18-20 minutes, tossing halfway through. The vegetables should be tender but not mushy at the end of cooking time.
- Let the vegetable mixture cool. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and toss with the black beans, cilantro and lime juice. Taste the mixture and add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Refrigerate the mixture until ready to assemble the burritos or use immediately.
- Place 3-4 tortillas on a microwave-safe plat and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 15-20 seconds until the tortillas are pliable. Place 1/4 cup or so of the vegetable mixture in the center of the tortilla and top with a sprinkle with shredded cheese, a little of each kind.. Fold in the sides of the tortilla and roll up. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until you have all the burritos you need (the filling can be refrigerated and used for 3-4 days).
- Bake in a 375 degree F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until heated through and the top of the tortilla is golden brown. Adjust the baking time as needed depending on if the filling has been refrigerated or not. For a softer tortilla, wrap each burrito in tin foil and heat through. Serve immediately.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from this Tasty Kitchen recipe
Delish with a capital DELISH! Super easy to prepare, and so yummy. Thanks for a wonderful meatless option I can add to our supper repertoire. These paired wonderfully with your Mexican Chopped Salad, BTW
Haven’t made these in a few years – mostly because they got out of rotation and forgotten. Which is so stupid because they are amazing. Had them last night and it was a chorus of angels in my mouth. Ok not quite, but we do love these around our house!
“chorus of angels in my mouth” hahahahaha. Funny girl. Glad you love these!
I made this recipe for the first time about 5 years ago after seeing it on your site, and it’s still one of my favorite meat free meals today! I made them today..perfect combination of veggies and spice.
It was okay. I wouldn’t mind having it again.
Burning question — If I use bottled lime juice instead of fresh, do I need to reduce the volume? Thanks!
I think it should be fine to use the same amount.
This is the year of Mel. We have been trying your recipes left and right! I made these tonight for dinner, and I made half with cheese and half without since half of us have a dairy intolerance. I ate the ones without cheese with some guacamole and salsa and HOLY COW! They were phenomenal! I skipped the cilantro since I hate it, and the only thing I regret is that I didn’t make double. I am going to make a double batch next time and freeze half. My 1 year old and 5 year old also loved them, but my 4 year old wasn’t into it. That’s okay, though, because I know she’ll eventually eat them since these will be a regular on the meal rotation for us. Although, my husband wasn’t here to try them yet and he hates beans and sweet potatoes, so we’ll see 😉 Thanks for sharing this recipe and all your other awesome recipes, Mel!
Thanks, Charlee! I hope your husband surprises you by loving these. 🙂 They are seriously a favorite of ours even after all these years.
I found this recipe a few years ago and they are one of my very favorite Mexican dish dinners (another is your awesome crunchy tacos/meat!). It takes a little time to chop everything up, but it’s totally worth it. I do leave the cilantro out because I’m a cilantro hater. I skip the ending of wrapping and baking the burrito out of laziness and just let everyone assemble their own. One time I forgot to add lime juice and they were just alright. As soon as I figured that out I hurriedly pulled out a lime and took the burritos back up to AMAZING!
We make these at least once a month. They are sooooo good!
Love love love. Perfect to wrap individual burritos in tinfoil to put in freezer for quick delicious lunches to grab. Made some with flour tortillas and some with corn. Both yummy!! Thanks
My husband, who does not like beans, loved this!! And I did too. I love the slightly unusual spin on Tex-mex. So good.
Delicious.
My family LOVES these!! I leave out the onion, and they are still so delicious and flavorful!
These were so so good. I made them for my family (including my meat-loving sted-dad) and they were a hit with everyone, even my 3 and 1 year old. Seriously so good. They’ll be a regular in my house!
We really enjoy these burritos. I usually make a slightly modified version of them, no olive oil and no cheese and they are still delicious!
I love black beans and sweet potatoes too! I love to put vegetarian black bean veggie soup on top of a baked potato. so yummy!! And I have made black bean sweet potato burgers — so YUMMeee! with BBQ sauce.
I look forward to making these,
This is the best recipe I have found for this type of burritos. The roasting step is the key! I skip the pre-assembly/baking steps. I simply soften the tortillas one at a time on my griddle and let the guests assembly their own. A hit every time. Frequently recommended and shared.
Good Recipe! Will keep this one in mind going into fall. I just became introduced to Chihuahua cheese. It goes brilliantly well in these.
Excellent! Has become a staple in our family.
I come to your site for this recipe and always leave with new pins on my Pinterest board of other recipes to try. Love your site and this recipe especially!
Thank you!
So yummy Mel. I’m an idiot and always forget to buy burrito sized tortillas. Oops. Still tasted great though, just a little hard to wrap 🙂
I finally made these last night. I added some turkey burger to it and that was delish. I am wondering if you could suggest a dressing or sauce that could go over these? Mine were a bit dry and I did the foil wrap. I’m using the rest of the filling for lettuce wraps for lunch today! Loving these healthy recipes!
Hi Pat, I think adding a red or green salsa would work pretty well!
I just made these for dinner and loved them! Great flavor and texture and easy to make. And since the filling and oven were still warm I just turned the broiler on low and put the rolled burritos in for 5 mins to crisp up the tortillas and finish melting the cheese.
These are excellent! Mel, every single recipe I’ve made from your blog has gone into my rotation. I have 7 kids and this recipe was a big hit. Delish! We dipped them in ranch dressing which made them extra yummy. Thank you!
Made my day. Thank you, Karen!
My teenage son pointed out that I say “This is my favorite Mel recipe” pretty much every time, but this really is my favorite recipe on your site. The good news is my boys totally trust your recipes, which is great, this is not something they would ever eat if it didn’t come from you. I wish I would have made a double batch so I could have leftovers for lunch. Now I know for next time! I’m so glad you include a list of your dinner menu for the week, I don’t know that I would have found this otherwise.
My teenage son pointed out that I say “This is my favorite Mel recipe” pretty much every time, but this really is my favorite recipe on your site. The good news is my boys totally trust your recipes, which is great, this is not something they would ever eat if it didn’t come from you. I wish I would have made a double batch so I could have leftovers for lunch. Now I know for next time!
These were great, Mel! I made a double batch and think my burrito sized tortillas must be much bigger than yours. It took a heaping 2/3 cup of filling plus some cheese to fill each. A double batch of filling made 10 for me. Thanks for all your great recipes! I made these with your rice and bean salad with the sweet and tangy dressing. Hope you are having a great week! 🙂
These are so delicious – FULL of flavor! I can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch today. I used two jalapenos (but they were somewhat tiny). A warming meal for a cold, winter day/night. Thank you, Mel!
These burritos are so healthy and so flavorful! Planning on making them again this week 🙂 I left out the red bell pepper, but added avocado and sour cream. Delicous! Here is my blog post about it: http://busymomrecipes.com/dinner/vegetarian-burritos-black-bean-and-sweet-potato/
Thanks so much for sharing this great burrito recipe!
These are so good! The filling is yummy just by itself to eat. I Added spinach to the leftover filling with an egg on top for breakfast. Will make again and double the recipe.
These are so delicious. If you are considering making these, do it! I’ve made them twice in the past week and am still craving more. We are not vegetarians and even my carnivorous husband loved them. I like the filling over Spanish rice or with a fried egg for breakfast.
Really nice recipe although few notes I would make.
Translation to British Measurements/ingredients for people cooking in Britain
15 ounces = 425 grams (approx)
Cilantro = Parsley
Also the sweet potatoes were a little hard so advise to pre-cook them in the oven for 10 mins before mixing with peppers etc,
Might also be advised to add another teaspoon of cumin or add some salsa before wrapping in tortillas.
This was tasty! Thanks for a wonderful dinner recipe!
We have had a different black bean and sweet potato burrito recipe that is good, but this was refreshingly delicious. We all loved it and even my particular 3 year old wanted seconds, so you know it’s a winner. Sometimes it’s nice to know beforehand that even meat lovers or those with heartier appetites appreciate meatless meals so thanks for sharing! You’re the best!
WOW, these are great. The flavors combine to make an easy meal that is very fresh, and tasty.
Made these tonight for dinner and they were absolutely DELICIOUS! These will definitely be a regular in our house! Even my 5yo and 3yo ate them up! Thanks!
My friend from work sent me the link for your black bean & sweet potatoe borritos recipe. Maybe I missed this but could you send me or tell me where it is posted, the nutrional breakdown? Thanks so much, I am truly looking forward to trying it very soon.
Linda – I don’t provide nutritional info for my recipes, but there are a number of websites that breakdown all of the nutritional information for recipes. Good luck!
These were amazing! I made them last night.. I had to leave out the cilantro because we didn’t have any left, but I didn’t miss it. These were very hearty and delicious. We consider ourselves semi-vegetarians (we eat meat only once or twice a week), and this was a perfect meal for us. I made homemade tortillas along with this, and it was just great!
Mel is right. These things are SO freaking good. So good. Loved them. I rarely post, but I just had to here, because I thought these were amazing. Thanks, Mel! I’m looking forward to trying more recipes on your best of 2013 list.
These were terrific! I have had them on my to-make list since you posted the recipe and my wonderful husband made them for lunch today while I was at work. We all loved them, even the picky kids! Looking forward to having these again. Thanks!
I’m with @Bri. In my experience, comments as downright rude as that left by @infamouscrimes are usually reserved for the privacy of blog email. And that’s bad enough! It takes a special sort to proclaim your nastiness to the world. Move along, nasty.
@infamouscrimes, wow. How about you scroll down and skip the intro. It always baffles me when people are just plain rude. I bet you are a lonely lass.
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself Mel. You don’t mess with my favorite food blogger.
I don’t care about your meat eating husband. How about just getting to the recipe so I don’t have to read about your personal life?
I am so glad you posted these in The Best Recipes of 2013. I made them tonight with your Baked Brown Rice They are so wonderful! My “best” recipe file is overflowing with Mel recipes.
We had these for dinner the past two nights along with your baked spanish rice. Delicious! My husband was skeptical at first since there was no meat but was willing to give it a try. And once again another great recipe from Mel!!
Somehow the jalapeño pepper didn’t make it home from the store (even though it went into the cart! how does that happen?!?) so I added a little crushed red pepper for some heat and it worked great!
Could I freeze these?
Karen – yes, these freeze really well.
We had these for dinner last night & they were delish! Although my husband liked them, he didn’t find it hearty enough for dinner. 5 kids liked them as well. My 2 youngest enjoyed eating the filling out of the tortillas. I agree with other comments that the bell peppers really add to this dish. Also one jalapeno wouldn’t even qualify these as mild! Thanks 🙂
Hi Mel,
These burritos were fantastic! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made this today and loved it! thanks!
These were amazing!!!! My husband couldn’t get enough of them. Thanks for the great recipe!
I love these!!! I’ve made them many times. I double the batch and then freeze them. I make them up and then wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag. I pull them out and then bake them. YUMMY!!! Best freezer meal ever (and of course fresh). Thanks for sharing.