Three cheers for summertime eating! Smoky black beans sautéed with kale and garlic and spices, tucked into charred corn tortillas, and topped with the best feisty, punchy green sauce – Aji Verde!
Smoky Beans & Greens Tacos with Aji Verde
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I made this tonight & it was superb! I used your enchilada sauce recipe, some chipotle powder, and our home grown kale! I’m so excited I have leftovers!
Cindy Wright-Jones
These tacos are just one long love letter to FLAVOR. ♡
Smoky chipotle black beans, sautéed with kale and garlic and spices, tucked into charred corn tortillas, topped with fresh, crisp sweet corn cut right off the cob, and smothered with too much (and yet never enough) aji verde.
As of lately I have been affectionately calling these guys “beans and greens tacos”, and OH MY GOODNESS, they are just so delightful. They appear humble with the black bean / kale vibes and a cutesy little name, but seriously, don’t sleep on these. They are a top summer recipe for me this year.
Over the last few weeks these have been repeatedly served to myself, my husband, my toddler, and a random sampling of friends who happened to be over at dinnertime. Everyone has given them two thumbs up, and more importantly, everyone has confirmed what we all know in our hearts: that the real star here is the aji verde.
You Need To Know About Aji Verde
Aji verde is a spicy Peruvian green sauce, and it came into my life last year when I made it as a little drizzley drizzle for this plantain stew (um, incredible). Now here we are in the summer, when stew is out and tacos are in, so I’m revisiting the beloved aji verde for these beans and greens tacos. Because what’s a taco without a good sauce? Sad. That’s what it is. And we don’t do sad tacos. Enter: more aji verde.
What To Pile On Top Of These Tacos
As with all tacos, please, by all means, go big with your toppings. You know I will approve of the more-is-more mentality here. For one, I can confirm that avocado is killer. Slaw or some kind of pico would be excellent. Pickled red onions would truly make the angels sing. And the sweet corn that I generously scooped all over my tacos was a peppy nod to summer and all things sweet, fresh, and a little bit crunchy.
But really, all you NEED need for the base of these are:
- Chipotle black bean and kale mixture (pictured in the pan below, looking spicy, mysterious, and delicious)
- Aji verde x10
Holy smoke show, these were so good. Three cheers for vegetarian tacos that you can look forward to eating and feel proud to serve to friends (aka self). YUM.
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Smoky Beans and Greens Tacos: FAQs
I want to make my own enchilada sauce. Would that work here?
Absolutely! This is the best homemade enchilada sauce and is ready for you in 5 minutes. Seriously!
Is there a way to make this vegan?
Good news! It’s super easy to vegan-ize this recipe. Just swap out the regular mayo for a vegan mayo here.
Are these tacos spicy?
The tacos themselves have a lot of flavor, but they aren’t really spicy. The Aji Verde sauce on the other hand has some heat and punch to it, so if you don’t love spicy food, it’s probably best to limit how much green sauce goes on top of your tacos.
Source notes: Aji verde is a Peruvian green sauce. I based this version off the recipe from A Cozy Kitchen, which is my all-time go-to for this amazing, punchy, fiesty green sauce (with a few swaps based on what I usually have in my fridge). So yummy!
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Smoky Beans and Greens Tacos with Aji Verde
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Three cheers for summertime eating! Smoky black beans, sautéed with kale and garlic and spices, tucked into charred corn tortillas, and topped with the best feisty, punchy green sauce – Aji Verde!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Smoky Beans and Greens
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2–3 cups shredded kale (no stems, please)
- one 14-ounce can black beans
- 1 cup enchilada sauce (I like this one)
- 1 chipotle pepper, minced (or a sprinkle of ground dried chipotle spice)
- salt to taste
Aji Verde
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 ounces of queso fresco (optional)
- 1 jalapeño pepper, with seeds and ribs to keep it spicy (remove for a mild version)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic
- juice of 1 lime
- pinch of salt (to taste)
Taco Extras
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups fresh sweet corn, cut off the cob (frozen corn works too – just sauté in a hot pan for a few minutes or cook in microwave)
- anything else you like on your tacos
Instructions
- Make the aji verde: Blend aji verde sauce ingredients together until smooth.
- Cook the beans and greens: Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add kale; sauté for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add beans, enchilada sauce, and chipotle. Season with salt. Simmer until the kale is very well-cooked and everything has taken on a roasty-tomato-chipotle kind of of vibe.
- Serve: Fill each tortilla with beans and greens, corn, and a heavy drizzle of aji verde sauce. Top with whatever else makes your heart happy. Mwah. So good.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Tacos
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Peruvian-Inspired
Keywords: black bean tacos, taco recipe, vegetarian tacos
More Over-The-Top Delicious Black Bean Recipes
- Couscous Salad with Lime Basil Vinaigrette (a strange and beautiful and completely delicious combo)
- Chipotle Quinoa Burgers (veggie burgers you’ll want to make again and again)
- Migas (a quick and easy meal for any time of the day)
- Healthy Chipotle Sweet Potato Skins (so good and incredibly filling – you need these in your life ASAP!)
- Plantain and Pinto Stew with Aji Verde (a little sweet, a little savory – 10/10 delicious)
Filed Under: All Recipes Dinner Gluten-Free Healthy Kale Legume Lime Main Dishes Quick and Easy Stovetop Summer Tacos Vegan Vegetarian
June 14, 2021
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I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Hello. How do you char the tortillas? Thank you.
Hi Franny! We place the tortillas straight on the burner of a gas stove to char them. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can place them in a skillet or pan on the stove with a bit of oil over high heat for 1-2 minutes per side.
Sounds yummy, but what are you doing with the tortillas to char them? Brush with oil and throw on the grill? Something else? I’ve read the recipe twice and can’t find a reference.
We place the tortillas straight on the burner of a gas stove to char them. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can place them in a skillet or pan on the stove with a bit of oil over high heat for 1-2 minutes per side.
Can you substitute Greek yogurt for the mayo? I’m not a mayo fan.
Yes! We’d suggest using full fat Greek yogurt!
Tasty, super easy, and nutritious. I used a store-bought cilantro-lime ranch dressing instead of the sauce which made this super quick. I used canned corn but I expect it’s even better with fresh corn.
So glad you enjoyed the tacos, Melodie!
I live in an area where I’m unable to source chipotle peppers or ground chipotle spice – any suggestions for alternatives that would give it the same taste? Smoked paprika, maybe?
I just made this without any form of chipotle because I didn’t want it to be too spicy for my kids. It was great without it!
Smoked paprika would be a great substitute!
How do you get 32 grams of fat per serving? It seems way too high for the ingredients.
So simple and such great flavor.
So glad you enjoyed the tacos, Beth!
First of all, love the recipes as does my wife. Not going to tell her where they’re coming from as she keeps asking lol.
I’m not sure I got the quantities right as this made about 5 small tacos from 3 big handfuls of kale and 1 can of drained black beans, is that right?
Also my aji verde was more mush than a runny sauce so I’m not sure if I used too much cilantro or my food processor is crap. Is a bunch in the US the same as a bunch in the UK?
We estimated the recipe to serve 2 people (2 tacos each). Feel free to add in more kale if you wanted to increase the number of servings! I’d guess a bunch of cilantro in the US to be about 1 to 1 1/2 cups packed.
Please adjust the website then, because on the 1x setting, recipe is listed as 4 servings. I am doing this as part of your 2022 meal planning setup, and it was super tasty just not enough for the 4 of us
Hi Becky! Just realized that my response above was a typo, and I’m bummed that I caught it so late. It should have said 4 servings (2 tacos each). But thank you so much for the feedback on how the serving sizes worked for your family!
Just caught this typo! It should say “estimated the recipe to serve 4 people (2 tacos each). So sorry about that!
Please don’t get upset…but, this is the best shit! Honestly 💖💖
Glad you enjoyed it, Michelle!
I made this tonight & it was superb! I used your enchilada sauce recipe, some chipotle powder, and our home grown kale! I’m so excited I have leftovers!
Glad to hear it, Cindy!
Great recipe – I used low-fat yogurt instead of mayo – lighter and tangy-er!
Great idea, Art!
AMAZING! I wasn’t too sure about this recipe because I don’t like kale but it’s honestly so good! Highly recommend! Also several items are covered by WIC in our state, which is important for our family meals. Thank you!!
So glad the tacos were a hit! Thanks for the comment!
We enjoyed it! The aji verde sauce is dang delicious.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Sarah!
Ok! I’ve been waiting two weeks to make this recipe (smoky beans and kale tacos) and did it tonight. And it was worth it. Though there are several moving parts that take a bit of work the final product was better than I had hoped, and I’d hoped a lot! Love the bit of smoky from the chipotle. The hard part was rubbing the kale :-). The flavors were great together and my wife, who doesn’t like cilantro (the soap thing) ate it and loved the tacos. We ate it all! Leftover enchilada sauce for later in the week. Thanks for this one. It’s a keeper.
So glad the tacos were a hit, Ron! Thanks for the comment!
Made these tonight and they were amazing. I subbed Swiss chard for the kale because the chard at our market was too beautiful to pass up. Collard greens would also be great, since collards and beans are a classic. Otherwise we made the recipe as-written and it’s sure to become a staple meal in our home!
The Aji verde blew our palates out a bit (and I LOVE spice – if it’s not spicy it’s bland) so maybe I got a particularly hot jalapeño.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Amie!
These were outstanding! I could drink the sauce! I’ll definitely be making them again and again this summer.
So glad you’ve found a great summer meal in these tacos! Thanks for the comment!
These are delish! I doubled the filling and made it vegan (no cheese, vegan mayo). That sauce is so good! The spice complements the sweetness of the corn and the smokiness of the bean and kale mix. This is a winner!
So glad you could make this a vegan meal!
Hi … these look sooooo good, I’m excited to try ’em! Quick question … do you cook the corn before you slice it off the cob or is it straight up raw?
Straight up raw!
Delicious! I’ve been trying to eat more vegetarian so this was great. Love that it has greens in it. I used beet greens since I had them. Agree the sauce was delicious. I used feta instead of quesa fresco. I halved the sauce recipe and it was more than enough.
I wouldn’t say this serves four, my husband and I almost ate all of it between us!
Although we are very full. Maybe it should have been for four! 😂. It was just so tasty!
Great feedback, Emily! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This dish was delicious, and is definitely my new favorite taco recipe! I omitted the chipotle, jalapeno (because I’m a wuss) and queso fresco and subbed vegan mayo, and it was outstanding. Thanks for a great, easy dinner recipe!!
Glad to hear you were able to make it less spicy and vegan! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
What brand taco shell do you use? Looks yummy.
I think we used La Banderita for this recipe.
Idk why I am surprised by POY recipes anymore. This was amazing and will be going on my rotation. The sauce is so good and I’m going to use the leftovers to make a slaw for chicken tacos. Once again, another stellar recipe.
easy and great recipe! i used a bit more kale than called for and added some yellow pepper too…your magic green sauce would also be an amazing contender for a topping! yum! thank you!! always love your recipes!!
Easy weeknight recipe that whole family enjoyed. Thank you!
Glad it was a hit, Rina!
Made this tonight and it was excellent! I used baby greens from thinning my garden instead of kale and probably added closer to 4-5 cups. I also added two cans of black beans. It was still plenty flavorful and we have extra filling and aji verde as leftovers. Win win!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed the tacos!